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Breed guide · Cats
She looks unimpressed by everything I do. I still wipe her eyes every morning.
Last updated 12 October 2026
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What they brought with them.
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At home
Tears down the side of the nose, and a brown stain in the fold under the eyes.
What's going onTheir flat face squeezed the tear ducts, so tears spill instead of draining. A daily wipe with a damp pad keeps the skin clean. If you see a squint or a cloudy eye, contact your vet the same day.
At home
Flat out on the cold floor, or refusing to leave the coolest room in the flat.
What's going onA flat face and a thick coat make cooling down hard work, and the cold floor is how they cope. Keep the air conditioning on while they are home alone, from spring to autumn.
At home
Sleeps most of the day, plays for a minute, then stops. Lets you brush and carry them.
What's going onPersians were chosen for sitting still, and they still do. That makes pain easy to miss. Notice when they stop jumping onto the sofa, or groom less.
At home
A knot behind the ear one day, a felted patch under the leg a few days later.
What's going onTheir coat was bred far longer than any cat can groom alone. Comb right down to the skin every day, and keep the fur around their bottom short.
At home
Kibble dropped on the floor, the wet food finished and the dry food left.
What's going onA short face makes food physically harder to pick up, and crowded teeth trap more of it. A wide, flat dish helps. Dropping food or chewing on one side can mean a sore mouth.
At home
The water bowl empties faster, and the clumps in the tray get bigger.
What's going onPolycystic Kidney Disease (PKD, cysts in the kidneys) runs in Persians and stays quiet for years. Drinking more, or bigger clumps in the tray, is worth telling your vet about.
The bit nobody tells you.
Their look
Built for: A face and a coat, bred for the show bench.
In Dubai: Eyes that do not drain, and a coat that mats if you miss a day.
The heat
Built for: Nothing. Nobody bred them for heat.
In Dubai: A Dubai summer a street cat would sleep through. Their body struggles with it.
Pain
Built for: A calm cat who sat still to be groomed and shown.
In Dubai: A cat who will not tell you when something hurts.
They need your help with their face and their coat every day.
Ten minutes a day with a damp pad and a comb is when you are most likely to spot a new squint, or a sore patch under a mat. The ten things below are how.
Your plan is built around what a Persian is prone to at every age, from their kidneys and eyes to their teeth, and the care that goes with each one.
Join the founding families. AED 1,999 of essential care for AED 199.
Ten things that make their life better.
Their tear ducts drain badly, so tears sit on the skin and stain it, and a damp fold can get sore.
Every age, start as a kitten
Why
Their tear ducts drain badly, so tears sit on the skin and stain it, and a damp fold can get sore.
What to do
Once a day, use a soft pad dampened in cool boiled water. Wipe from the inner corner of each eye down along the nose, with a fresh pad for each eye, then dry the fold under the eyes. Look as you go: are both eyes open the same amount, clear and bright? A brachycephalic airway and tear-duct evaluation (a breathing and tear-duct exam, given their flat face) is in your plan as a kitten, and eye and tear-duct care in their junior and prime adult years.
Their eyes sit further forward and are more exposed, and an injury to the surface of the eye can get worse quickly.
Every age, most of all kittens after rough play and older cats
Why
Their eyes sit further forward and are more exposed, and an injury to the surface of the eye can get worse quickly.
What to do
If they squint, keep one eye shut, paw at their face, or you see a cloudy or blue patch on the eye, contact your vet the same day. Do not wait to see if it clears.
Their face and their coat both make cooling down harder, and heat is what their body handles worst.
Every age, most of all kittens and older cats
Why
Their face and their coat both make cooling down harder, and heat is what their body handles worst.
What to do
Air conditioning on while they are home alone, from spring to autumn. Never on a balcony or in a parked car. Cool the car before they get in, and keep the carrier out of the sun. If they breathe with their mouth open, cool them with a damp towel and contact your vet now.
Their coat mats in days, and mats pull at the skin.
Every age, most of all 7 months to 6 years
Why
Their coat mats in days, and mats pull at the skin.
What to do
A wide-toothed metal comb, then a finer one, behind the ears, under the legs and along the belly. Five minutes, with a treat at the end. Keep the fur around their bottom short and clean. Never cut a mat out with scissors: the skin sits right under it. In their junior and prime adult years, your vet sets a daily coat grooming plan for them, as part of your plan.
They will not ask to play the way a louder cat does, but they are still a hunter, and a short hunt keeps their weight steady.
Every age, slower and lower from 7 years
Why
They will not ask to play the way a louder cat does, but they are still a hunter, and a short hunt keeps their weight steady.
What to do
A wand toy moved slowly along the floor, away from them and behind furniture. Two or three minutes, twice a day, in the coolest room. Let them catch it, then give them a small meal or a treat. Stop if their breathing gets louder.
Their face makes eating awkward, and a quiet cat gains weight without anyone noticing. Extra weight also makes breathing and cooling harder.
Every age, portions reset after neutering
Why
Their face makes eating awkward, and a quiet cat gains weight without anyone noticing. Extra weight also makes breathing and cooling harder.
What to do
Feed from a wide, shallow dish, so they can reach their food without pushing their face into it. Weigh their daily food and split it into small meals. Once a month, weigh yourself holding them, then without them, and note the difference.
Polycystic Kidney Disease (PKD, cysts in the kidneys) is the first risk on their health record, and it is silent for years.
Every age, start wet food as a kitten
Why
Polycystic Kidney Disease (PKD, cysts in the kidneys) is the first risk on their health record, and it is silent for years.
What to do
Some wet food every day. Two or three wide water bowls around the flat, away from their food and their tray, washed daily. Notice if they start drinking more, or the clumps in their tray get bigger, and tell your vet. A PKD renal ultrasound (a scan of the kidneys) is in your plan as a kitten, a junior and a prime adult.
Bladder trouble shows in the tray first, and long fur holds on to litter and faeces.
Every age, most of all 7 months to 6 years
Why
Bladder trouble shows in the tray first, and long fur holds on to litter and faeces.
What to do
Scoop daily in a low-sided tray with unscented litter, kept in the same quiet place. Watch for them going in and out often, straining, crying or passing blood. A male cat straining, crying or going in and out of the tray with little or nothing coming out may have a blocked bladder. That is an emergency: contact your vet now. If a female cat is straining, contact your vet the same day.
Their teeth are crowded into a short jaw, trapped food means gum disease, and cats keep eating with sore teeth.
Every age, start as a kitten
Why
Their teeth are crowded into a short jaw, trapped food means gum disease, and cats keep eating with sore teeth.
What to do
Lift their lip gently and look at their teeth and gums. Start brushing as a kitten, a few seconds at a time, with cat toothpaste. Tell your vet if they drop food, chew on one side or go off hard food. An annual dental evaluation (teeth and gum check) is in your plan from their junior years.
Their health depends on being handled: eyes wiped, coat combed, mouth looked at. A calm cat on the table is also easier to examine properly.
Every age, start as a kitten
Why
Their health depends on being handled: eyes wiped, coat combed, mouth looked at. A calm cat on the table is also easier to examine properly.
What to do
Leave the carrier out, door open, with a blanket inside, so it is somewhere they sleep. Every day, touch their face, paws and belly for a few seconds, then give them a treat. On the day of a visit, cover the carrier with a towel and carry it level.
Four of these are in your plan. The rest you can do at home.
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Their health, at every age.
How old are they?
Their age
the first six months
What to watch for
The care that goes with it
Their age
7 months to 2 years
What to watch for
The care that goes with it
Their age
2 to 6 years
What to watch for
The care that goes with it
Their age
7 to 10 years
What to watch for
The care that goes with it
Their age
11 to 14 years
What to watch for
The care that goes with it
Their age
15 years and over
What to watch for
The care that goes with it
Breed predispositions indicate an increased risk rather than certainty of disease. What is right for them always comes from their own history and an evaluation.
Before they come home.
Show type or doll face
Show lines have the very flat face that judges rewarded through the twentieth century. The longer-faced type, often called doll face, dropped out of the show ring. The flatter the face, the more the tear ducts, airway and teeth are pushed out of place. If yours already has the flatter face, the daily wipe and comb matter even more.
Colours
Almost every colour between, tabby and tortoiseshell included. Whatever the colour, the coat needs the same comb every day.
The first months
A few seconds a day with a damp pad, then the comb, then a treat. A kitten who learns it now is an adult who lets you, and their face and coat will need you every day of their life.
Getting the home ready
Air conditioning that stays on while you are out, a wide, flat dish, and a low-sided tray with unscented litter. Give them somewhere low to hide as well as somewhere to climb, then keep it all where it is. Change stresses them more than it looks.
Before you commit
Polycystic Kidney Disease (PKD, cysts in the kidneys) runs in Persians and stays quiet for years, so a breeder should be able to tell you how both parents have been, their kidneys most of all.
Before the clinics open
AED 1,999 of essential care for AED 199. No payment now.
If it's a kitten: First 30 days with a new kitten · Kitten vaccinations in the UAE
When it is not behaviour.
She'll still look unimpressed. Keep the pads by the kettle, and call your vet when her eyes change.
Before they were yours.
The 1600s
Long-haired cats came to Europe from the Persian world, carried by travellers as a curiosity.
What they still carryThe coat. Nothing in this period touched the face.
1871
At Crystal Palace in London, long-haired cats drew the crowds. From then on Persians were judged, and bred, on how they looked. The name stuck, though DNA now places them closer to European cats than to cats from Iran.
What they still carryA calm cat who sits still to be admired.
The 20th century
Judges rewarded a shorter nose, and breeders gave them one. Scans of Persian skulls show what that moved: tear ducts that drain badly, a narrower airway and crowded teeth.
What they still carryThe face on their health record.
2004
Researchers found the gene behind Polycystic Kidney Disease in Persians. It is dominant, so a cat with one copy has the disease.
What they still carryThe first risk on their health record, from kittenhood.
Today
A very common pedigree in the UAE, living indoors in air conditioning, which suits them well.
What they still carryA calm, long-coated, flat-faced cat whose comfort depends on you every day.
The ones you type at midnight.
If the Persian suits you, so might these.
HimalayanThe same kind of cat: the same flat face, long coat and calm, with colourpoints and blue eyes
Exotic ShorthairThe same kind of cat: the Persian's face and build, in a short, plush coat that needs only a weekly comb
British ShorthairThe same calm, quiet, undemanding temperament, in a round shorthair with a normal nose that copes better with heat
Domestic LonghairA similar size and a long coat too, with no pedigree and no flat face, brushed a few times a week instead of every day
