The Tabby Persian by Sue Helmke Cat Fanciers' Almanac, October 2000 My romance with Tabby Persians began

when I acquired GC Harwood Rock Promise of Marhei from Dorothy Persson almost 20 years ago. When I got Rocky he was an eight-weekold red kitten with stripes EVERYWHERE! Rocky grew and he grew. I was a rank novice at the time, so I took him everywhere. I even flew to Pennsylvania (from Miami) for FOUR points to get his grand, and we went to Chicago and to the Pennsylvania Poconos in mid-winter. In 1981 he was CFAs Best Red Mackerel Tabby Persian (I think he was the only one). Prior to Rocky my introduction to the Tabby Persian was through GC Palmettos Sunchaser, a gorgeous shaded cameo tabby bred and owned by Pat Lichtenberg. He was, for the most part, different from the other tabbies of his day, as he had a copious coat and extreme type. I was quite smitten. One of the best things that resulted from my travels with Rocky was that I was introduced to the Tabby Persian division. GC Tabbylands Timothy of Gold Coast (a wonderful agouti red classic tabby bred by Beverly Witbeck) lived in Miami. When I flew to Maryland, I got to meet other Tabbyland cats and Beverly Witbeck herself. Huge Tabby divisions were common in the Northeast in the late 1970s and early 1980s.

I must make a distinction about tabbies based on my experience with them. The vast majority of red tabbies that are shown in the Tabby Persian division are tabbied reds. There are blacks with tabby marks and blues with tabby marks that are not shown as tabbies, nor will they ever produce what I consider to be the determining factor, a brown tabby, blue tabby or silver tabby. Most red tabbies are out of solid color breedings. This is not a factor in the show ring since judges are not judging the heredity of the cat. (There are more red tabbies registered than any other color tabby.) Heredity is certainly a consideration, however, in a tabby breeding program. Some very fine tabbies out of solid lines have done extremely well on the campaign trail. They are beautiful cats, striped, spotted and swirled. The agouti tabby gene expresses itself as brown tabby (black without the gene), blue tabby (instead of blue), cream tabby (rather than cream), red agouti tabby (as opposed to red or red tabby), and brown patched and blue patched tabby (as opposed to tortoiseshell or blue-cream). Consequently, a black will never produce a brown tabby (unless bred to one). A red tabby out of a solid program will never produce a brown tabby (unless bred to a cat carrying the agouti gene). Red tabbies out of brown tabbies may or may not carry the agouti gene. The only way to determine what they are is to breed them. In some cases red agouti tabbies have distinctive facial markings, especially a pale colored chin, which leads one to strongly suspect their genetic makeup. The same cannot be said of creams from agouti breedings. My first true tabby arose from a cream out of smoke breeding that agouti gene again. (Smokes have also played an important role in breeding tabbies.) What looked like a blue-cream turned into a blue patched tabby, patina and all. Obviously, the cream was really a cream tabby! The word "tabby" is thought to have originated in the Attabi quarter of Baghdad in ancient Persia, where silks and cottons were produced in different colors and patterns. A specific pattern of a wavelike appearance on silk taffeta is thought to have evolved into the name "tabby." Many of the cats roaming the area had patterns much like the fabric;

hence, their name. There is much speculation as to how the Persian moved from Persia to England and then to the United States. Every cat historian has a different slant. In an article entitled "Bars and Stripes Forever," which appeared in the 1984 CFA Yearbook, Phil Maggitti states: "Ultimately, most discussions about the origin and migration of Tabby Persians, like the markings on these striking cats themselves, tend to be circular." Suffice it to say that the first reference in the English language to tabby cats appeared in 1695, and tabby eventually came to mean "cat." In the late 1800s Tabby Persians became the first English show cats.

One of the early U.S. Tabby breeders was Jane Martinke, who bred tabbies at her Minqua Cattery for over 50 years. She wrote at least two articles for CFA Yearbooks: one in 1961 and an extensive one for the 1966 edition. There were no brown tabby grands in any association until the late 1950s! (By this time Mrs. Martinke had been breeding 30 years.) One of the first grands, GC Minquas Gingersnap of Co-Mc, went to Virginia Coughlin and her daughter Jeanie (McPhee) in Texas. "Gingersnaps" sire was Tpl Ch Sunny-Land Calumet of Minqua, bred by Klara Schick of Miami, FL.; the dam was Sunny-Land Nerrisa of Longhill. Combined with Nikki Horners Shawnee lines (colorbred blues), the Co-Mc brownies were off and running. Many catteries famous for their tabbies have their origins here: Wynden, Tabbyland, Duncan, Georgetown, Your Pets, Winterset and Sarouk. Beverly Witbeck wrote an article titled "The Stylish Persian Tabby" for the April 1979 edition of Cat-Tab. Two more articles published in 1993, one by Carol Krzanowski titled "The Tabby Persian" in the June 1993 Cat Fanciers Almanac, and "Best of Tabbies" by Colleen Power, in the February 1993 Persian News, are worth adding to your reading list for more extensive background material which will not fit in this space! For a detailed description of the various colors of Tabby Persians, please refer to the Show Standards available from CFA. Also of interest is an article written by Helen Smith (Smithway) for Cat World (May/June 1977) on the peke-face red tabby. I have not personally seen a peke-face in the show ring in over ten years (not since an Invitational Show in St. Louis). The only national-winning brown tabby shown in the mid-1980s was GC, NW Pa-Has

Hot Chocolate, a brown mackerel tabby female bred by Pat and Harvey Gober of Brooksville, FL. No article about Tabby Persians would be complete without mention of GC, NW Q-T Cats Danny Boy, a red tabby bred by Leon and Marcia Samuels, who was CFAs 2nd Best Cat in the 1989-90 show season. He was a stunning cat with all the accoutrements of a magnificent classic pattern, even to the butterfly across his shoulders (which Marcia always called a moth). His overall balance and type were such that he could have competed in any color class. His tabbiness was the icing on the cake! Some of the more competitive tabbies of today can be traced back to several important cats and catteries. PaJean (Jean Bassett) has had great success bringing in Gemenee cats from Evelyn Huey in Washington State. According to Evelyn there were several prepotent Gemenee cats that helped her create her look: GC Gemenees Nermal, CFAs first blue mackerel tabby grand; GC Gemenees Swiss Miss, a brown mackerel tabby female; and CH Gemenees Surprise Package, a brown patched tabby. [Dearborn (Pam LeFave) was also using Evelyns cats. KirLu (Luann Fleming) has incorporated Dearborn with other lines to produce GC, RW Kirlus Woodchip, a brown mackerel tabby.] Jean Bassett acquired GC Gemenees Tiffany of PaJean, DM, a silver mackerel tabby female, and GC, RW Gemenees Tiara of PaJean, DM, a brown patched tabby female, as small kittens. In the case of "Tiffany," about half of her pedigree is from solid lines, the other half from cameos, smokes, shadeds, silvers and brown and blue tabbies. Jean feels that the lovely white undercoat on her silver tabbies has been enhanced by this combination. Tiffany is the mother of GC, NW PaJeans Trinket Love, DM, CFAs 1994 Best Cat AND the first silver tabby to make a national win. "Trinket Love" produced GC, NW PaJeans To Sir With Love, a silver mackerel tabby that was CFAs 8th Best kitten in 1997. Trinket Loves full sister, CH PaJeans Tassel, produced GC, NW PaJeans Trademark, a silver mackerel tabby male that was CFAs 12th Best Cat in 1998. "To Sir With Love" produced GC, NW PaJeans Tango, a red mackerel tabby who was CFAs 13th Best Cat in 2000! The only word that comes to mind is prodigious! "Tiaras" pedigree has a background in commom with other successful tabby lines. Her pedigree includes CH Bevrons (Ron and Beverly Talty) Hot Fudge of Wilcha (Wm. C. and Char Peterson), who has a Duncan (Patricia Chase and Kenneth Duncan) brown tabby on his mothers side. "Hot Fudge" is also behind Pa-Ha (Pat and Harvey Gober), KiKicat (JoAnn Miksa), Willafred (Freda Watts), Great Oaks (Paula McLean), Purrkay (Kay Sanders), Marhei and Red Sky (Gary Powell). Hot Fudge produced CH, PR Wilchas Shadow Dancer of KiKicat and half brother GC Wilchas Chocolate Mousse of Pa-Ha. "Mousse" produced GC Pa-Has Fire N Ice of Willafred. The mother of Fire N Ice was a daughter of GC Palmettos Sunchaser (that shaded cameo tabby I loved so much)! "Shadow Dancer" and CH Debos Shasta of KiKicat, DM, became a very successful breeding pair. JoAnn Miksa says, "Shasta (a blue tabby) became available. I brought her to my home. A short time later I purchased a black smoke named Wilchas Shadow Dancer. Ironically, both catteries went out of catsmaking the winning combination more valuable." Shadow Dancers first 26 kittens were males, and

one of these males, GC KiKicat Higgens of Whitthaven, was the grandsire of Tiara. Tiara produced GC, NW PaJeans Tallahassee, CFAs 25th Best Cat and first brown patched tabby national winner in 1992. The repeat breeding of "Tallahassee" produced GC, NW PaJeans Topeka, a brown patched tabby, CFAs 5th Best Cat and Best of Breed in 1993. PaJean has brilliantly combined tabbies with the very top solid lines (notably Christy and Randy Millers Candirand) to produce PaJeans most recent tabby national winners. Gary Powell, from Minneapolis, has always loved tabbies. He worked with Harvey and Pat Gober (Pa-Ha), Freda Watts (Willafred), and Sue and Chuck Helmke (Marhei). Freda doubled up on GC Wilchas Chocolate Mousse, breeding GC Pa-Has Fire N Ice of Willafred to Pa-Has Carmel of Willafred. Carmel is out of a Debo (Patti and Timothy Debiasse) queen closely related to CH Debos Shasta of KiKicat, DM; also related to Debos Diorling of Midas (Marianne Byrne). Fredas breeding produced GC Willafreds Excalibur, a brown tabby. Meanwhile, I had too many cats, as usual, and sent Marhei Babe Ginger Elle home with Gary to be bred to "Excalibur." "Ginger Elle" combined the very best of Marhei in a brown tabby wrapper. (Ginger Elles littermate, CH Marhei Post Toes Tees of Aladar sired some very nice brown tabby kittens for the Dowds). Ginger Elles father was GC Marhei Toe the Marque (COTY in Europe), a GC Mystichill on the Marque, DM son; her mother GC KiKicat Praise Ye TLord of Marhei "Raisin"). Raisins mother was a daughter of GC, NW Bar-B (Barbara Sumner) V.I.C., DM, and her father was CH, GP KiKicats Anointed One, a silver tabby out of CH Wilchas Shadow Dancer of KiKicat and CH Debos Shasta of KiKicat, DM. Diane Silvermans (Mystichill) "Shelley," Tao-Lus Shalimar of Palmaire, DM (a DM at least three times over), was Shastas grandmother on her daddys side. The webs we weave are almost as exciting as the tabbies themselves! But I digress The breeding of Ginger Elle to Excalibur produced three lovely kittens: a black male grand, a brown tabby female, and GC, RW Red Sky Wooden Ships, DM, a homozygous (produces nothing but tabbies) brown classic tabby male. To date "Woody" has produced 27 grands! Ginger Elle went on to produce two very nice brown tabby and white male grands when bred to a bi-color, a breeding which doubled on CH, GP KiKicats Anointed One. "Woodys" Grands include Himalayan (lynx point) and Bi-Color Persians, Exotics, six or so regional winners and almost two dozen different cattery prefixes: Red Sky, Oakheaven (Linda Berg), Marmondy (Susan Johnson and Sheryl Joyce), Willafred, Becton (Becky Orlando), Beaudee (Molly Sherrick), Wishstar (Linda Mercer), Joleigh (Sue Bloomquist), Don-Mar (Donna and Mark Thompson), Truelegance (Valerie Christoffersen and Rebecca Head), Heatherbrook (Diane Poitevin), Lafourre (Michael Foreman), Tomorow (Patricia Toft), Satterlee (Charles, Mary and Ann Satterlee), Jeannel (Donna Jean Thompson), Thunderheart (Jennifer Schwanberg), and Primadowdy (Tamra Dowdy). To say that "Woody" has left his MARKS in the tabby world is truly an understatement! Cozmo (Carol Krzanowski) has been successfully breeding tabbies using a "Woody" son, GC Willafred Wooden Nickel of Cozmo, in her program. Two of her new grands are pictured in the July 2000 Cat Fanciers Almanac: GC Cozmo Cassidy and GC Cozmo Cabernet. A brown mackerel tabby littermate brother of Cassidy is working on his grand. According to Carol, they both"have exceptionally warm [brown mackerel tabby] color; both have good markings, but Cassidys are truly outstanding." "Wooden Nickel,"

when bred to GC, RW Cozmo Summer, produced GC Cozmo Cabernet, a red classic tabby. "Summer" is a daughter of GC, NW Q-T Cats Danny Boy. Summers mother is out of a D-Jon (Dolores Johnson) x Sierra (Doris Taylor) male. Also, Beaudee, Dolcevita (Maria and Robert Groppi) and GC Anz Nicholas Nickelby, DM (bred by Anne Waddington) appear on the dams side a veritable "whos who" of the Persian cat world over the last ten years!!!!! Thus far "Woody" has produced one Distinguished Merit offspring, GC, RW Wishstar Go Calforum, DM, a brown mackerel tabby bred and owned by Linda Mercer, of the Chicago area. The dams side of the pedigree contains Joyville (Pauline Joy), Basha (Robbin Schulte), Kitty Charm (Darlene and June Feger) and Jovan (Cheryl and Bob Lorditch).

Belcats (Diana Belfatto) has also been working with similar combinations, using as her base, GC KiKicat High Hopes of Belcats (KiKicat and Marhei), a black bred to various twists on Chocolate Mousse and Shadow Dancer with the addition of some South Paw (Judy Brocato) to produce some lovely tabbies: both silver tabbies and brown tabbies. Diana has produced six grands over the last several years or so. "In my silver tabby program, I am trying to achieve clarity of pattern." GC, RW Belcats Cookies N Cream may be the first silver patched tabby to have reached a regional win, and is pictured in a recent issue of the Almanac. In addition to the PaJean national winner of this past season, another red mackerel tabby was a national winner: Randy Primmers GC, NW Boberans Wild Ride, a beautifully typed young male out of top lines including Cattrax (Dianna and Manuel Fekete), Vickits (Kenneth and Vickie Lanham), Bolo (Robert and Linda Bantz), Connaught (Claudia Moore) and Bastis (Wain Harding and Bob and Janet Chorneau). In the running presently for a national win is Mark Hannons 2000 Southern Region Kitten winner, GC, RW Marcus Cheyenne, a brown mackerel tabby out of GC, RW Le-Hi (Betty Sauls) Cinnamon Swirl, a red tabby (Quin-Jo [Rich and Becky Jones] and Marhei) and GC, NW Beaudees Shiloh of Marcus, a brown mackerel tabby and white (Beaudee to Beaudee with "Woody" as one of the grandsires), 1999 CFA Kitten of the Year. [Youll have to pardon the author for observing that this is the epitome of a tabby pedigree.] As far as Tabby Persians in Europe are concerned, several tabbies were sold to Switzerland by Teragram (Peggy and Steve Stolpe). Peggy and Steve combined Marhei

and KiKicat to produce GC Teragram Little Joseph of Cashiba. This boy has beautiful markings, huge eyes and cobby body and was shown in marvelous condition by the Stolpes. He produced Cashiba Gaeltarra of Layout, who as a six month old kitten made four finals in a CFA show in Fallingbostel (Germany). This little package has beautiful color, markings, body, bone and big round eyes, and now has a litter of her own. Manuela Schellenberg (Cashiba) is the leading breeder of tabbies and silver tabbies in Switzerland. Her cats are known for their outstanding tabby markings.

The Himalayan Persian by Linda Berg INTRODUCTION The Himalayan Persian cat is one of the most beloved of pedigreed cats. Enjoyed and appreciated by judges, pet owners and breeders, over 343,000 Himalayans have been registered since 1957. In 1998 there were 2,428 Himalayans shown; that is an average of 5.6 entries per show in kittens, championship and premiership. Himalayans have achieved over 41 national awards since 1981 and over 175 regional awards since 1992. HISTORY The Persian is a widely recognized and popular breed and formed the basis of the early hybridizations that resulted in the development of the Himalayan cat. The early evolution of the Persian most likely occurred on the high, cold plateaus of Persia (now Iran and Iraq). When these cats with a longer, silky coat were brought to Europe by the Phoenicians and the Romans, the Europeans were impressed. Over the years the Persian cat has been purposely bred to perpetuate and accentuate the longhair trait. . Work to develop the colorpoint Persian, or Himalayan, began in the U.S. around 1950. The genetics of the Siamese color were known to involve a single recessive color factor which produced both blue eye color and the colorpoint pattern. The colorpoint pattern (also referred to as the Himalayan or Siamese pattern) is caused by the Siamese gene, one of the genes in the albino series. All of the albino genes influence whether and where pigment will be deposited in an animal's hair and skin. The effect of the Siamese gene is also impacted by the temperature of the skin. Pigment (color and pattern) is deposited in

the hair at the coolest parts of the body, the parts that receive the least circulation: the extremities of the body feet, face, ears and tail. The first step in working toward a colorpoint Persian was to cross the Siamese and the Persian. This early work was followed by years of breeding the offspring to obtain a group of cats with long hair and the colorpoint pattern. The colorpoint longhairs were bred back to Persians, and their offspring were interbred. After many years breeders had cats with many of the basic Persian characteristics and colorpoint coloring. At this point, the next step in the work began - that of obtaining breed recognition from bona fide registry organizations. In England, Brian Sterling-Webb perfected his long-haired colorpoint over a period of 10 years. In 1955 he approached the Governing Council of the Cat Fancy (GCCF) and requested recognition for this new variety of longhaired cat. Since he and other breeders were prepared to describe and defend the work that had gone into the development of this new color, recognition was granted and the Longhaired Colourpoint was accepted as a breed in England. In North America, Mrs. Goforth applied for breed recognition at the CFA Annual Meeting held in Washington, DC on December 18, 1957. Mrs Goforth contended that although the Himalayan standard was identical to the Persian standard, the cat was not a Persian, but a new breed of longhair. With this philosophy as a basis for the Himalayan, these cats received recognition and were granted foundation record registration with CFA. The rules governing the acceptance of new breeds and colors at the time required breeders to show three generations of pure Himalayan colorpoint breedings in order to be eligible for championship competition. THE HIMALAYAN TODAY Over the next ten years the Himalayan grew rapidly in popularity. The vast majority of Himalayans, however, failed to meet the breed standard, which called for Persian type. Many breeders had stopped using regular crossings to solid color Persians in their breeding programs. Instead, they were breeding existing colorpoint to colorpoint and as a result, the advancement of the Himalayan as a breed that met the Persian standard was small and, in many cases, not measureable. The Himalayan was becoming a long-nosed, colorpoint longhair. In the 1970s Himalayan breeders began to look at and evaluate the goals that they were attempting to achieve. It was apparent to many that they needed to begin to work in earnest toward breeding cats that had better Persian type. To accomplish this, they began

to outcross to Persians on a regular basis, and kept the best of the offspring to be used in their breeding programs. After a time, colorpoint longhairs with better Persian type began to appear in the show ring. These cats looked more like Persians, and as a result, were able to compete with Persians for those coveted final awards. The next logical question to follow was: If our cats look like Persians, and are now competitive in type with Persians, why are they competing as a separate breed? Many breeders began to discuss the possibility of creating a place for the Himalayans within the Persian division system. Even so, there were still a number of Himalayan breeders who enjoyed the "old" Himalayan style and whose cats could no longer compete in the show ring with the typier colorpoints. Some of these breeders began a movement away from the Persian type toward a standard that was based on the way the cats looked in the '60s. One glance at the Himalayans in the show ring today tells you that this vision was not achieved. In 1984 the Persian Breed Council had the following question on their ballot: "Should the current Himalayan Breed be accepted as a Division of the Persian?" The question presented on the Himalayan Breed Council ballot, on the same subject was: "The Himalayan Breed should: A) Remain as is B) Become a new division of the Persian Breed." Both breed councils voted against the proposed change, and yet the CFA Board of Directors elected to move the Himalayan into a division of the Persian breed. The rationale for this highly controversial determination was that the decision added consistency to the breed structure. Bi-Color Persians had shorthairs behind their pedigrees and were considered hybrids, and yet they were accepted to championship in 1970; therefore, the fact that Himalayans had Siamese behind them should make no difference to this transition of acceptance as a division of the Persian breed. For the last 14 years Himalayans have been consistently winning in the show ring. Overall type has dramatically improved, and many fine examples of the breed have gone on to achieve regional and national wins. As with any breed, the Himalayan is still a masterpiece in the making, but early and contemporary colorpoint Persian breeders can be very proud of where we are today. COLORS AND PATTERNS The Himalayan has made enormous progress in type over the past 20 years. Much of this is related to the devotion and the hard work of the breeders and some of it is related to the merging of the Himalayan breed into the division structure of the Persians. The

Himalayan of today is a vastly different cat from what it was at its conception. In 1957 the Himalayan was recognized in CFA in seal, blue, chocolate and lilac point. These colors were followed by the flame and tortie points in 1964, blue-cream points in 1972, cream points in 1979, and lynx points in 1982. While seal, blue, chocolate and lilac points have been recognized the longest, it has only been recently that the chocolate and lilac point Himalayans have become competitive. Since 1992 we have seen a large increase in the number of chocolates and lilacs achieving grand champion status. The genetics of chocolate and lilac are complex. As a result, there have been only a few breeders willing to work with those colors. The improvement in type is a direct result of the dedication of these few breeders. Chocolate is a recessive and in its homozygous state produces chocolate and lilac. In other words, both parents must carry the recessive allele for chocolate in order for any of their progeny to show the color. If the recessive color factor is inherited from both parents, the cat will show chocolate. If the recessive color factor is inherited from only one parent, the cat will be heterozygous for chocolate, carrying the chocolate factor invisibly and showing the colors of the dominant genes. These cats are known as chocolate "carriers." The flame points and the tortie points have always been the darlings of the Himalayan world. With the contrast between the blue eyes and stark white coat of the flame point and the wonderful mottled patterns that can be presented in the tortie point, these are VERY striking colors. In addition, the tortie and flame points are known for their "special" personalities which we blame on the "red" factor in their genetic makeup. The cream points and the blue-cream points are the dilute versions of the flames and torties. The cream points and the blue-cream points can be very striking with their softness of color, and often have a much clearer coat than their dominant relatives. Last, but not least, come the lynx points, which are currently the most sought-after colors. The lynx points have striped or tabby points which separate them from other colorpoints. These colors are the result of the combination of the dominant agouti (tabby) gene and the recessive melanin-inhibiting gene of the Himalayan color pattern. Documentation of breedings between tabbies or silvers to Himalayans started showing up in the 1970s. PERSONALITY For the most part the

Himalayan is not a hyperactive cat; that is to say, they are not moving all the time. They like to play and they are active, but they like their lap time and prefer to be doing whatever you are doing! The best way to describe colorpoint Persians is to say they are "people oriented." As I sit here writing this article I have a Himmy on my lap and another on my desk. They like their people! Himalayans will often attempt to "help" you do whatever it is that you are doing, whether it is reading the paper, making the bed or reading blueprints. (My husband just loves it when they help him read blueprints from work!) They ARE in the middle of all of your activities, and they express themselves with a wonderful melodious voice. All they ask of us is our complete devotion! CARE AND MAINTENANCE As with any longhair cat, the Himalayan requires grooming maintenance. The Himmy should be groomed on a daily basis, and weekly baths are not uncommon in many catteries. If you are thinking of entering a cat show, then the Himalayan requires a much more rigorous grooming schedule. (When I say rigorous, depending on the coat, it could mean a bath every other day! It all depends on the coat your Himmy is wearing.) For the most part Himalayans have been groomed and bathed since they were young kittens so they agree to the process without too much complaining. Breeders of the colorpoint Persian are sometimes criticized for breeding "extreme" cats with "pushed in faces" and "running eyes." Responsible breeders pay close attention to the overall beauty of expression no matter how short the nose. It IS possible to breed a beautiful Persian with a very short nose that breathes and tears normally. They are not PRONE to respiratory problems - they are generally healthy, vigorous cats. THE FUTURE OF THE HIMALAYAN CAT As popular as the Himalayan is, it is hard to believe that its fashionableness might diminish over the years ahead. Since there is not a specific disease or genetic fault that plagues the Himmy, we can expect that the breed will remain healthy well into the next century. As responsible breeders we do, however, owe the future breeders of the Himalayan cat a legacy of health, diversity and harmony. This means we need to face our health issues, such as PKD (Polycystic Kidney Disease) or PRA (Progressive Retinal Atrophy), head on and work to eradicate them from the breed so our Himalayans can remain healthy for the next generation of breeders. Which brings us to an important challenge facing us as breeders - the mentoring of new breeders. The cat fancy in general needs new breeders and new breeders need mentors. As you place your kittens with their new owners/breeders, take the time to use your expertise to teach them so that they can continue the breed in the same positive way that you have. We all know how easily one can be discouraged when there is no one with whom to talk over problems or questions. Take the time with a new breeder; it will pay off with healthy, happy Himalayans well into the future. References * Newton, N., "The Himalayan - The Impossible Dream." 1980 CFA Yearbook. * Lamb, B., "Celebrating The Legacy - Renewing The Dream." 1987 CFA Yearbook. * Lamb, B., "The Himalayan Persian...And the Dream Goes On!" 1998 CFA Yearbook. * Jacobberger, P., CFA Judge.