By Omar
I live in Dubai and I know the concept of the “Shirazi” cat. Here they call them “Shirazi” the “Domestic Long Hair”.
I bought kittens, from the animal market, byb (back yard breeder) if you want to call it, and when I went to the vet to get a health card the doctor refused to describe them as “Persian” as a breed because they don’t have the flat face.
But the doctor agreed to write in Arabic “Shirazi”. In short this is just the Arabic name given for a doll-face type of domestic long hair, basically a cat for which no pedigree is availible will be called “Shirazi”, and where I live these are medium-long hair cats, sometimes with just a fluffy tail, that are a mix between Angora and Persians cats of unknown origin.
I don’t think the Egyptian Mau has anything to do with the “breed”, not even the Arabian Mau, present here as a street cat, because short hair is dominant and any mix with such a cat will produce first generation shorthair kittens carriers of the longhair gene, but of course if these shorthair kittens would be bred back to “Shirazi” they could produce some long hair kittens again.
If you go to the animal market anywhere in UAE they will give a cheaper price for the cats/kittens which have longer ears and face and shorter hair than other long hair cats and they will refer to them as “Shirazi”. If they are only slightly fluffy with a motley tail only fluffy and longer fur around the neck and longer face they will call them “Turkish” or “Turkish Angora” cats. If they have a flat face they would be called “Peke Face Persian”. If they have a round face but not flat they would be called “Moon Face Persian” but all these are unregistered cats of unknown history, hobby or backyard breds.
In brief, there is no certified or registered breed called “Shirazi”, but this is the most popular cat “breed” as home pet in UAE, and because it is a mixed breed it doesn’t have many health issues, except for ringworm and earmites. It comes in all colors, but the most popular are the Himalayan colors and it even suffered an interesting “mutation” on the eye color of the white and Himalayan colors where the Himalayan cats were bred with Himalayans over many generations: the eyes are no longer blue but white color. There are still white and Himalayan “Shirazi” cat with blue eyes, just some of them have white.
Needless to say that these cats, coming from a mix of breeds, are a good business here, because they are cheap and prices start at 200dhs and toping 2000dhs ($544), they reach breeding age at 8-9 months old, unlike breed cats and they usually go back on heat after one month after birth, they make an average of 5 kittens per litter and don’t need medical assistance for delivery.
P.S. this is a comment (modified very slightly by Admin) on an earlier page by me on the Shiraz cat.
The name Omar or your comment did not appear on the version I received, Thanks anyway. Yes it’s refreshing to see input from that part of the world.
Hi Michael. A very interesting article only marred by the lack of information as to the original author. He or she is obviously a well informed an intelligent person, Nobody should be concerned about a cat not having any pedigree or not being a recognised breed. We all know that pedigree cats do not have any specific characteristics that make them superior to non-pedigree cats especially in regard to health matters. The inferred superiority is a marketing technique designed to increase their value. The term pure bred is often used, but this actually means inbred with the potential of genetically induced health problems and suppressed immune systems. Not even the purebred claim has any validity because DNA analysis shows that pedigree breeds rarely have any significant relationship to the breeds they are supposed to belong to. Thank you for posting this article.
I agree with all you say. It would be nice to know the author’s full name. He provided the name you see. I have told him that his comment has been made into an article so he may comment. I found it interesting too as it comes from a person who knows cats and lives in the Middle East. It is rare to get that combination.