Chartreux

Chartreux
Standard FIFé: CHA, TICA: CX
Fur length	Shorthair cat
size	medium to large in size
Weight	Male: 6–7 kg. Cat: 4–5 kg
allowed colors	all shades of blue
colors not allowed	all other colors
permitted coat drawing	drawing free
not allowed coat drawing	tabby
List of cat breeds

Carthusian - Chartreux

The Chartreux , known in German vernacular as the Carthusian or Maltese cat since the long-haired variety of the same color of the Angora cat was imported to Europe , is a French pedigree cat with blue-gray fur and amber-colored eyes.

origin

→ Main article : Carthusian cat

Due to their fur structure, it is assumed that the Chartreux originally came from the mountains of Syria or the rocky mountains between Turkey and Iran . Accordingly, the breed came to France through trade movements with the Middle East and was very important for the fur industry and for food production until the 19th century. Modern breeding began in 1925 by the Léger siblings on the island of Belle-Île , the largest of the Breton islands, as there was a sufficient population of wild gray cats (the forerunners of today's Chartreux).

Although it is obvious, this breed has nothing to do with the Carthusian monks . It is believed that the Chartreux was named after the similar in color, blue-gray type of wool Pile des Chartreux , which was imported from Spain .

history

Since the number of Chartreux was very low in the Second World War and inbreeding was to be avoided, the British Shorthair (BKH) was temporarily crossed with the French Chartreux , which is no longer allowed in the breed associations today. At the beginning of the 1970s, the blue colors of both breeds were combined under the common name Chartreux by the international breed association FIFe , and in Germany and Austria they were Germanized to Carthusian monks . In addition, Persian cats were crossed, which increasingly displaced the characteristics of the original Chartreux; only the typical blue color of the fur and the color of the eyes were essentially reminiscent of this breed.

In parallel, the few original French Chartreux continued to be bred, especially in France and the Benelux countries, but not crossed with other breeds. The characteristics of the Chartreux have been preserved to this day. Through the efforts of the president of the Club Du Chat Des Chartreux, Jean Simonnet, who had presented the differences between the BKH and Chartreux breeds in several publications, the FIFe recognized the Chartreux as an independent breed with its own standard in 1977. Today only the Chartreux Carthusians are allowed to call themselves, but this does not prevent some breeders of the British Shorthair from still referring to the blue representatives of the breed as Carthusians .

Appearance

The Chartreux is strong and muscular, the tomcat bigger than the cat. Both skulls and muzzle are well defined, as is the chest. The head is trapezoidal . In a hangover, the cheeks frame the face like a hood. The medium-sized ears are set relatively narrow and high and stand upright, which gives the face an attentive expression. The slightly slanted eyes have an intense yellow color. The fur is plain blue-gray, short, dense and slightly woolly.

character

Chartreux with boys

The Chartreux is considered an intelligent breed that quickly becomes at home in a new environment and follows its people everywhere. In her native France, they also referred to it as a dog-cat , as they often listening to her name and retrieving can learn.

The voice of this breed is rather fine and calm. In addition to being kept indoors, it is also suitable for being kept free because of its robustness and dense fur. Over centuries of survival in the wild, the Chartreux has preserved the originality of the natural breed to this day.

Breed standard

properties

Breed standard Chartreux using the example of the Fédération Internationale Féline (Category III - shorthair & somali)
body part	feature	description
head	shape	trapezoidal, broad below and narrow above, flat forehead
	nose	medium length, wide and straight, no snub nose
	snout	angular, but relatively small
Ears	shape	medium-sized
	location	Sitting high on the skull, attentively erect
eyes	shape	large and wide open, not too round, the outer edge of the eye turned slightly upwards
	colour	lively and clear, dark yellow to deep copper, pure and intense
body	anatomy	strong and muscular with a broad chest
legs	shape	medium in length in relation to the body, strong muscles, large paws
tail		In the same color as the body, medium length, matching the body, it can be a little thinner, but the tip must be rounded
hide	structure	smooth, dense, woolly undercoat, lush growth, standing upwards
	colour	All shades of blue are permitted, light blue-gray is preferred, but the decisive factor is the uniformity of the shade
particularities		Cats are significantly smaller than tomcats, with narrower chests and narrower cheeks

error

Faults include a snub nose, round eyes, a cloudy or pale eye color and a missing eye rim. Ring drawings on the tail, ghost drawings or other fur drawings on the tail or body are also undesirable .

A round or oriental head shape and green eyes are also not allowed. Defects in the coat include white hair, sand tones, brownish or reddish coat colors and an excessively pronounced color difference between the outer coat and the undercoat.

rating

Point scale FIFé
		Points (total 100)
head	general shape, nose, jaws and teeth, forehead, chin, placement and shape of the ears	25th
eyes	Shape and size	30th
body	Shape, size, bone structure, shape of the legs and paws	25th
tail	Shape and length	10
hide	Color, quality and texture, length	25th
Status		80

Disease disposition

Due to the frequency of blood group B, there is a risk of feline neonatal isoerythrolysis in the kittens when a cat with blood group B is mated with a tom with blood group A or AB .

genetics

In blue cats like the Chartreux, but also the Korat and the British Blue ( BKH ) or Russian Blue, the black eumelanin is diluted to blue by a diluter (= thinner; d / d). The gene that represents the diluter through a mutation has been identified as MLPH ( melanophilin ). It is inherited in a fully pervasive, autosomal recessive manner. The allele turns orange / red cats into cream-colored, chocolate-brown cats into lilac. The mutation is a single missing base pair in exon 2 of the gene that causes transcription to be terminated . This results in enlarged pigment granules that are distributed unevenly in the hair shaft. This results in poorer light absorption and lightening of the fur.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ History of the Chartreux at kartaeuser.net
2. ↑ History of the Chartreux at Carthusian & Co.
3. ^ The Cat Fanciers' Association
4. ↑ breed standard FIFe (PDF; 125 kB)
5. ^ Christiane Weingart: Blood transfusion in cats. Indications, implementation, transfusion reactions and results (1998–2001). Berlin 2003, (Berlin, Free University, dissertation, 2003; online ).
6. ↑ Yasuko Ishida, Victor A. David, Eduardo Eizirik, Alejandro A. Schäffer, Beena A. Neelam, Melody E. Roelke, Steven S. Hannah, Stephen J. O'Brien, Marilyn Menotti-Raymond: A homozygous single-base deletion in MLPH causes the dilute coat color phenotype in the domestic cat. In: Genomics. Vol. 88, No. 6, 2006, pp. 698-705, doi : 10.1016 / j.ygeno.2006.06.006 .
7. ↑ homepage.usask.ca
8. ↑ Yasuko Ishida, Victor A. David, Eduardo Eizirik, Alejandro A. Schäffer, Beena A. Neelam, Melody E. Roelke, Steven S. Hannah, Stephen J. O'Brien, Marilyn Menotti-Raymond: A homozygous single-base deletion in MLPH causes the dilute coat color phenotype in the domestic cat. In: Genomics. Vol. 88, No. 6, 2006, pp. 698-705, doi : 10.1016 / j.ygeno.2006.06.006 .

Web links

Commons : Chartreux  - collection of images, videos and audio files

• European interest group of Chartreux breeders, information, photo gallery, young animals
• Comparison of Chartreux and British Shorthair blue
• Breed portrait with cat nature
• Breed portrait at the KKÖ