Pedigree, purebred cats have inordinately large eyes. Not all the breeds have the same overly large eyes, but even breeds, such as the Abyssinian, that are meant to be “balanced”, have unnaturally large eyes. Let’s not forget that cats already have large eyes, much larger than ours, relative to head size, as they have evolved for nighttime hunting.
“…all the elements of the cat in proportion….” (Abyssinian CFA breed standard)
“large, bright or expressive….” (Abyssinian CFA breed standard for eyes 1939)
There is no need, in fact, to trawl through boring breed standards to realize that the heads of some cat breeds have shrunk, or the eyes have ballooned, or both.
Let’s compare the original domestic cat, the domesticated wildcat (African and Asian) to the modern Abyssinian, a well balanced cat:
The early Abyssinian had normal sized eyes, more or less. I believe the “problem” (for me) stems from:
- A drift to extreme breeding over many years, from the middle of the 20th century to present, for affect and appearance and..
- Misconstruing the breed standards. All domestic cats have large eyes, much larger than ours in relation to head size. So, when a breed standard says “large” eyes it should mean standard sized, large domestic cat eyes not orbs sticking out of the head like this Sphynx as if the cat were an alien being:
Some other cat breeds with overly large eyes are the Modern Siamese and associated breeds i.e. Oriental Shorthair. The Persian has overly round eyes in keeping with the modern Persian’s overly round body.
Even the American Shorthair, which is meant to be totally standard in conformation, has eyes that are not truly typical of the domestic cat:
no part of the anatomy so exaggerated….well balanced…[eyes] large and wide..(CFA breed standard of American Shorthair)
So What Happened?
The human happened, that’s what happened. As I said, people overdo things. Take anything, literally anything that people are involved in and it will be exaggerated eventually.
Why cat breeders could not accept the already large and beautiful eyes of the domestic cat and leave them alone, is beyond me. Look at that African wildcat. How beautiful is that cat?
And you know what; that cat is possibly not a purebred wildcat. He or she could well be a domestic cat/African wildcat hybrid because they cross-breed. Another example of the impact of humankind on cats.
Associated:
Yes, breeders should keep things much more simple and intervene much less. There should be far fewer cat breeds and they should all have normal sized eyes, ears, heads and bodies 🙂
My sentiments exactly !
As Marc put it extremely well, those “trying” to better the breed accomplish the opposite, let the beauty of each animal show thru.
Best to you & yours,
keenpetite (50+ yrs cat lover, rescuer & helper)
SE Arizona USA
I agree we can’t improve on nature but some people like to think they can try.
I have always criticised extreme breeding. It is a failure and compounds an already hard to justify practice of breeding cats when we are deliberately killing them at shelters at the same time.
Marc are you my long lost son? lol We think aike!
Ruth I always agree with all what you say – and I say the same thing in this instance. The same argument is always valid. Let’s help the beautiful cats in shelters and without the necessary means to survive before doing anything else, let alone makeing a mess of something already beautiful.
If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it, and certainly don’t call it ‘bettering the breed’ because it’s the exact opposite.
Some people think they can improve on Nature but they are wrong!
Cats are perfectly made and made that way for a reason and breeders should stop messing around trying to change them!
I keep on saying the same old thing I know, but I do wish people would see the beauty in ordinary cats rather than creating or adapting more breeds for people to buy and therefore denying many needy cats a home, it’s horrible that those cats are killed because no one wants them, that those people would rather pay to possess a specially bred cat!
🙁