Long-haired cat breeds

The breeds

A heavy coat in a hot country is a real cost. So is a health certificate that names the wrong gene, which in this group is common.

Aphrodite's GiantA Cypriot mountain landrace with two published WCF standards, a contested TICA status, and no lawful route into India.BalineseWhat a Balinese actually costs in India, why two of the top-ranking price pages are now Indonesian gambling sites, why the long...BirmanWhat a Birman actually costs in India, why the published prices disagree by twenty times, the 90-second check that separates a...British LonghairOne cat, five registries, and no agreement on whether it is a breed. What that means for an Indian buyer, and what the price...Chantilly-TiffanyA North American semi-longhair that began twice, was renamed in 1992 to stop a clash with a British breed, and ran out of...CymricOne tailless gene, four tail lengths, five registries that cannot agree whether this is a breed, and a welfare question the...HimalayanThe Himalayan is a pointed Persian, and whether that makes it a breed has no single answer. Six registers were opened for this...JavaneseThe name survives in exactly one registry, where it labels a colour class inside another breed's standard. Everywhere else it has...LaPermA dominant curl from an Oregon farm colony, recognised by five registries and mapped by nobody.Maine CoonWhat a Maine Coon actually costs in India, why published prices disagree by more than Rs 5,75,000, and why the size premium...NebelungA rare blue longhair with no Indian market, no FIFe code and no CFA breed council. What the numbers actually show, and what a...Neva MasqueradeThe colourpoint Siberian, coded as a breed by exactly one registry of six, described inside the Siberian's own standard even...Norwegian Forest CatThe published Indian price, the profile test that separates it from a Maine Coon, and the two DNA tests worth more than the...Oriental LonghairA svelte green-eyed longhaired cat that five registries file five different ways, was called the British Angora until 2002, and...Persian CatWhat a Persian cat actually costs in India, why published prices disagree by more than Rs 2,90,000, and why a flat face plus a...RagamuffinA large, sweet-tempered longhaired cat split from the Ragdoll in 1994, recognised by three registries under that name, and...RagdollWhat a Ragdoll actually costs in India, why published prices disagree by twenty times, the life expectancy figure no Indian...SiberianA heavy triple-coated Russian forest cat sold in India to allergy sufferers, on evidence that comes to four fur samples from 1999...SomaliThe longhaired Abyssinian, fixed for one coat allele, carrying two inherited diseases with real numbers and real tests, and...TiffanieThe semi-longhaired variety of the British Asian cat, held at GCCF championship since 2003, down to 20 registrations a year, and...Turkish AngoraWhat a Turkish Angora cat costs in India, why the published prices disagree by a factor of thirty, how the written breed standard...Turkish VanA semi-longhaired highland cat from the Lake Van basin, held by six registries, studied by a Turkish state university, and...York ChocolateAn American farm cat with a chocolate coat that four registries still carry on paper, that the French national studbook...

Compare the breeds side by side

To compare these 23 breeds directly, read across the table rather than down the guides. Heat tolerance is a Bonbeno rating out of 5 for Indian conditions, and the reasoning behind each one sits on the breed's own page.

What matters in this group

The points below are what the evidence on these 23 guides actually supports, not what the category is assumed to mean.

• The mutation-transfer error is the most useful thing on this page. The A31P and R820W MYBPC3 variants are validated in the Maine Coon and Ragdoll and are described in the specialist consensus as almost completely specific to them. Testing another breed for those variants, or accepting a certificate that names them, is not screening.
• The Maine Coon and Norwegian Forest Cat are separated by their registries in mutually exclusive terms. One standard requires a straight nose profile from brow to tip; the other states that exactly such a profile is not acceptable. The disqualification lists then invert. That is a test a buyer can run in a seller's front room.
• Grooming load is the cost that ends most of these ownerships. A coat that mats in Indian humidity needs daily work or a professional schedule, and the monthly figure is usually missing from every price published.