In memory of Yeri
Intro: sorry for the tiny pictures. The page was written 15 years ago when the images had to be small as it was pre-broadband. It was dial-up modems. Really slow internet.
The Traditional Persian cat is making a comeback. People are once again realizing that the Traditional Persian is a fine and handsome cat.
People, it seems, are also turning away from the “hyper-breading” of the Persian cat which has resulted in “ultra-typing” (the Ultra or Extreme Persian).Yeri was a fine example of a traditional Persian who shared his life with Daniëlle Rozeboom. Daniëlle runs Cattery Yeri Shaes, a Traditional Persian cattery.
RELATED: 19 Years of Persian Cat Experience
The elegant and impressive photography is by Danielle (all photographs this page ©Daniëlle Rozeboom)
In 1979 the Traditional Persian cat was the breed standard although the 1969 manual refers to the “Peeked” Persian, the standard for which was to look like the “Pekingese” dog.
Yeri lived from May 9th 2002 – March 13th 2006. His nicknames were Yeri, Yeribeer and IJsbeertje. He was a Copper Eyed White Traditional Persian/Doll Face and for me, a truly fantastic cat.
As Deniëlle says, no point of view is necessarily 100% correct. There is always a counter viewpoint. So one cannot say that one breed is better than the other. Some people prefer an “extreme” Persian and some a traditional Persian cat. One thing for sure Persians are one of the most popular pedigree cat in the USA, ranking 5th as at August 2008 – this may change see current results (opens in a new window). Note: about 75% of the people who visit this site and vote prefer the traditional appearance (see Persian cats).
I think too that almost everyone will agree that Yeri was a very impressive looking cat (with a fine temperament). The appearance is not everything though and if we are to be guided on what is the preferred viewpoint on breeding the starting point must be the health of the cat followed by the character. Since the wild cat “came in from the cold” and domesticated him/herself we owe a duty towards this fellow creature to behave responsibly towards him. I’m sure everyone agrees with that.
| Please see: (a) Traditional Doll Face Persian Cats for information on how the cat associations deal with trad and mod Persians and (b) Persian Cats a page on the transformation of traditional to modern or ultra Persian and (c) Persian cat breeding for a bit on the history (d) Orange Persian Cat for a page on just that, a beautiful traditional orange Persian cat. |
If you have not already done so, please visit the other pages on this website on the topic of Persian cats and the breed history.
I thank Daniëlle Rozeboom for granting me permission to publish these photographs.
You can see more of Danielle’s great photography and information about the Traditional Persian cat at www.worldofdani.com (new window)
A list of rescue groups and notes on the subject. A carefully prepared list designed to simplify the search for a rescued Persian cat in the USA, the World and in the UK | |
 |  |
For the photographers, here’s some basic information about these photographs (source: Daniëlle’s website)
- photograph top right: Camera – Canon EOS 10D, Aperture – F5.6, focal length lens – 90 mm, “film” speed – 400 ISO
- photograph of Yeri’s hind leg feet: Camera – Kodak DX4900, Aperture – f2.8, Shutter speed – 1/10 sec, Focal length lens – 7.3mm, Exposure compensation was minus half a stop.
- photograph of Yeri by the window: Camera – Kodak DX4900, Aperture – f3.4, Focal length lens – 8.8 mm
Dani uses light and timing to great effect. Dani also, on occasion, increases the sensitivity of the light receiving cells to allow a higher shutter speed to reduce camera shake and obtain greater depth of field. (These are my words).
The photographs shown here are reduced file size for speed of loading the web page. The original images are of very high quality.
I had a beautiful
I had a beautiful silver chinchilla persian in the 1960s and early 1970s. She was hit by a car at 13 years old. I was heartbroken.I’ve never found another like her, but I want to.
Wow, she sounds beautiful. What a tragedy. Thanks for sharing Virginia.
What a beautiful cat Yeri was, but so sad that he died at an early age.
For me, the original, traditional Persian will always be far more beautiful than the current extreme version. It’s not just that the traditional has a sweeter, more open face, but their body appears better proportioned too. Perhaps it’s the exaggerated fur length seen on the current Persian, but they look more short legged now than previously.
Completely agree with what you say about conformation and hair length. Yeri was a very special cat. He lived in the Netherlands with Dani. Dani was very attached to him. The traditional Persian also seems to have a shortened lifespan. I would have thought they had a more or less normal lifespan.