Okay, so I’ve been getting really into Persian cats lately. Like, REALLY into them. I’ve always loved their fluffy, majestic look, and I finally decided I wanted to learn more about maybe, possibly, someday breeding them. One of the things that totally blew my mind was the sheer variety of colors they come in! So, I started on this quest to create my very own Persian cat breeding color chart. It sounds fancy, but trust me, it was a bit of a wild ride.
Digging Through the Internet
First, I just started Googling. Like, a LOT of Googling. “Persian cat colors,” “Persian cat breeding,” “cat genetics” (that one got a little scary) – you name it, I searched it. I found tons of websites, some helpful, some… not so much. It felt like I was wading through a sea of information, and honestly, I was getting a little overwhelmed.
Getting Organized (or Trying To)
I knew I needed to get organized. I mean, I’m dealing with, like, dozens of colors here! So, I grabbed a giant piece of poster board – the biggest one I could find – and a pack of colored markers. My initial plan was to make this beautiful, hand-drawn chart, all color-coded and perfect.
Yeah, that didn’t last long. I’m no artist, and my handwriting is, let’s just say, “unique.” It started to look like a toddler’s art project gone wrong. Plus, every time I thought I had all the colors down, I’d stumble across another website mentioning a variation I’d never heard of! “Chinchilla Silver”? “Shaded Cameo”? My brain was exploding.
Spreadsheet Savior
I finally gave up on the poster board and admitted defeat. I switched to a spreadsheet. Thank goodness for spreadsheets! It was still a ton of work, but at least I could easily add, delete, and rearrange things. I started making columns for things like:
- Color Name: (Obvious, right?)
- Description: (Trying to put it in my own words, not just copying from websites.)
- Genetics: (Okay, this part was tough. Lots of letters and symbols I didn’t understand.)
- Picture: (Because, who doesn’t love pictures of fluffy cats?)
- Notes: Any other info. I needed.
The Never-Ending Project
I spent days on this. I’d find a new color, add it to the spreadsheet, then try to find a picture that accurately showed it. Sometimes I’d find conflicting information, and I’d have to dig even deeper to figure out which source was more reliable. I even joined a few online forums for Persian cat breeders, which was a whole other experience! (Let’s just say, some people are very passionate about their cats.)
Finally Some Order
It’s still a work in progress. It is not perfect, but, I have a pretty comprehensive spreadsheet! It’s got all the major color divisions (solid, tabby, parti-color, etc.) and a whole bunch of the individual colors within those divisions. I even managed to figure out some of the basic genetics, although I still get a headache when I look at that part.
The biggest takeaway? Persian cat colors are WAY more complicated than I ever imagined. But it’s also been incredibly fascinating. I’ve learned so much, and I feel like I’m finally starting to get a handle on this whole color thing. Now, whether I’ll ever actually breed Persian cats is a whole different story, but at least I’ve got my color chart! It’s messy, it’s digital, and it’s definitely a labor of love. But, I did it!
