Himalayan cat

Himalayan
A chocolate-point peke-faced Himalayan
Other names	Himalayan Persian Colourpoint Persian Longhaired Colourpoint (obsolete) Siamese–Persian (obsolete)
Common nicknames	Himmy
Origin	United States, United Kingdom
Breed standards
CFA	standard
TICA	standard
AACE	standard
ACFA/CAA	standard
CCA-AFC	standard
Notes
Recognized only as a variant of Persian by some organizations, not as a separate breed.
Domestic cat (Felis catus)

The Himalayan (a.k.a. Himalayan Persian, or Colourpoint Persian as it is commonly referred to in Europe), is a breed or sub-breed of long-haired cat identical in type to the Persian, with the exception of its blue eyes and its point colouration, which were derived from crossing the Persian with the Siamese.

There is little or no information from the literature or early pictorial representations to indicate how ancient the four main groups of cats are; these being the two varieties of tabby, the single coloured black or white, and the sex-linked orange (marmalade or tortoiseshell cats). In addition, there are other breeds of cat that are more closely controlled by man, such as the Manx, the Persian, Siamese, and Abyssinian, to name but a few.

The Cat Fanciers' Association considers the Himalayan Persian simply a color variation of the Persian rather than a separate breed, although they do compete in their own color division. It was for the color that the breed was named "Himalayan": a reference to the coloration of Himalayan animals, in particular the Himalayan rabbit. It has been suggested that the Persian long-haired cats are descended from Pallas's cat, Felis manul, a wild cat that inhabits central Asia and which is unmarked with spots or stripes and has very long soft fur. There is, however, no osteological or other evidence for this and it is more likely that the long-haired domestic cats are the result of artificial selection for this characteristic by man.

Tests are still being done to discover the descendants of cats such as Himalayans. An example of this research and experimentation is in that of the following: A rare color variant of the American mink (Neovison vison), discovered on a ranch in Nova Scotia and referred to as the ‘‘marbled’’ variety, carries a distinctive pigment distribution pattern resembling that found in some other species, e.g., the Siamese cat and the Himalayan mouse.