Persian Cats
The Persian cat is one of the oldest breeds of cat. In Britain, it is also called the "Longhair" or "Persian Longhair" (tipped varieties are known as "Chinchilla").
The Persian cat originates from Persia, an empire which took in areas from the North West including Turkey, South down to Syria, Jordan, Israel, around the top of the Red Sea, bordering on its Western side with parts of North East Egypt, East to Iraq, Iran bordered by the Southern shores of the Caspian Sea, Afghanistan, and on into some of the Southern former Russian states, East to Pakistan, and the Western borders of India, a large area.
Interbreeding of Angoras with native British domestic longhairs in the 19th Century makes the true origin of the breed unclear. The Persian's European debut is credited to an Italian traveller, Pietro Della Valle.
A show-quality Persian has an extremely long thick coat, short legs, a wide head with the ears set far apart, large eyes, and an extremely foreshortened muzzle. The breed was originally established with a short (but not non-existent) muzzle, but over time this feature has become extremely exaggerated, particularly in North America, and Persians with the more extreme brachycephalic head type (roughly speaking, brachy meaning broad, cephalic meaning, of or related to the head) are prone to a number of health problems (specifically affecting their sinuses and breathing) caused by it. However, conscientious breeders eliminate this by careful choice of breeding stock with more moderate head type, as the goal is first and always healthy cats.
Persian cats can have many colour or markings including pointed, tortoiseshell, blue, and tabby. Persian cats with point are referred to as Colourpoint Persian in Europe and Himalayan (cat) in United States.
Colourpoint
Pointed, point coloration, colourpoint all refer to animal coat coloration with a pale body and relatively darker extremities, i.e. the face, ears, feet, tail, and (in males) scrotum. It can be found in other breeds of cats and indeed in rabbits as well.
Technically, you will be pleased to learn, point coloration is a form of partial albinism resulting from a mutation in tyrosinase, an enzyme involved in melanin production. The mutated enzyme is heat-sensitive; it fails to work at normal body temperatures, but becomes active in cooler areas of the skin. As a result, dark pigment is limited to the coldest areas of the body, that is, the extremities. Pointed kittens are born white, since there is little temperature difference in the womb. As the kitten ages, the cooler areas darken while warmer areas remain cream to white in colour. Points are not limited to solid colours or dark colours. It is possible to have a red (orange colour) or fawn (pale warm grey) point. It is also possible to have a tortoiseshell or tabby point. If the points are not black or at least very dark, the coloration is called colourpoints.