Meet the Himalayan

Unlike our Persian and Siamese ancestors, we Himalayans are a very new breed. In 1931, Virginia Cobb and Dr. Clyde Keeler of Harvard University started an experimental breeding program. They wanted to learn more about how certain genetic traits were inherited, so they started to cross Persians and Siamese cats. It took a few tries but they were finally able to produce a longhaired cat with the Siamese colorpoint markings! This first true Himalayan was named Newton’s Debutante. Their study proved that both the longhaired gene and the colorpoint gene are recessive, which means that both parents have to have the gene in order for the babies to have it.

Cobb and Keeler never meant to start a new breed, so once they figured out all the science stuff, they stopped experimenting. Other humans (both in the US and the UK) were very interested in this Persian/Siamese hybrid, but World War II got in the way. It looked like the Himalayan would never come to be, but in 1950, an American named Marguerita Goforth was cat-sitting for a friend. Her friend’s cat was a longhaired seal point shelter cat named Princess Himalayan Hope, and she got permission from her friend to use her to start a breeding program. Her efforts were a success, and our breed was officially recognized by the CFA in 1957.

Today, though we are beloved and recognized by cat registries across the world, not all the humans agree whether we should be a standalone breed or a type of Persian. We’ve had a lot of names, too. In the UK, when we were first recognized we were called the Longhaired Colourpoint. Today, we are also known as Colorpoint Persians and Himalayan Persians. According to the CFA and TICA, we are part of the Persian breed, but other organizations recognize us on our own. Either way, we Himalayans always stand out from the crowd!