Chartreux: Cat Food and a Description of the Breed
The Chartreux is a cat breed from France. In the course of time this cat with its bright yellow eyes has become one of the most popular breeds in Europe.
History of the Chartreux
It is assumed that the ancestors of today's Chartreux came from Syria and from there they reached France. Targeted breeding only began in 1925 on the largest Breton island Bell-Îlle. The Léger siblings used wild grey cats for this purpose, which lived in large numbers on the island.
In order to avoid inbreeding due to the small population, the Chartreux was temporarily crossed with the British Shorthair during the Second World War. In addition, Persian cats were sometimes crossed with the British Shorthair, which increasingly changed the typical appearance of the Chartreux.
The original Chartreux was at least partially further bred by some breeders in the Benelux and France, so that its classical appearance could be preserved until today.
In the early 1970s the FCI combined the blue Chartreux and blue British Shorthair cats in a common breed standard. After some protests from French breeders, the Chartreux finally got its own standard in 1977.
Appearance of the Chartreux
The Chartreux is a medium to large cat. Males reach a weight of six to seven kilograms and females weigh between five and six kilos. The Chartreux is muscular and strong. They have a well developed rib cage and muscular, medium length legs.
The head of the Chartreux is trapezoidal. Her forehead is flat. She has a broad nose and a square chin. She carries her medium sized ears attentively erect. The eyes of the Chartreux are large and the outer eye rims are turned slightly upwards. The colour of the lively and clear cat eyes should be dark yellow to copper according to the breed standard.
The coat of the Chartreux
The coat of the Chartreux is short and dense. It has a woolly undercoat, which gives the Chartreux's coat a lush appearance. It may have all shades of blue. Blue-grey is preferred. But most important is that the coat colour of the Chartreux is as even as possible.
Character of the Chartreux
The Chartreux has an amiable and friendly character. She is considered to be extremely intelligent and proves to be extremely loyal and affectionate to her owner. She normally gets along with friendly dogs as well as with children living in the household.
The Chartreux is in need of harmony and loves extensive cuddling. At the same time, she also appreciates playing together and proves to be a funny and playful roommate, especially at a young age. With increasing age the play instinct of the Chartreux decreases a little bit and the cat prefers it rather quiet.
Keeping and care of the Chartreux
The Chartreux is an uncomplicated indoor cat, which can usually be kept as a single cat without problems. Nevertheless it appreciates the company of a conspecific. It gladly accepts free time. But it is not absolutely necessary.
In her own four walls the Chartreux should have enough possibilities to be connected to her family. Attention and care are very important to her. However, it should not be too loud and hectic in her environment.
The Chartreux's coat is generally very easy to care for. However, it should be brushed regularly. This helps to avoid knots in the coat and also strengthens the bond between the cat and humans.
Chartreux diseases
The Chartreux is basically one of the mostly healthy cat breeds. Apart from general cat diseases there is only an increased risk of FNI (Feline Neonatal Isoerythrolysis) due to the frequency of animals with blood group B.
Feline Neonatal Isoerythrolysis can occur in kittens born from a mating between a blood type B cat and a blood type A male. It is a blood group incompatibility caused by the uptake of antibodies to blood group A from breast milk.
Affected kittens suffer from red blood cell breakdown, which leads to anaemia and is very often fatal. The Chartreux is the cat breed with the highest predisposition to FNI. Serious breeders therefore have the blood group of their breeding animals determined by a test at the veterinary before mating.
The life expectancy of the Chartreux
The life expectancy of the Chartreux is usually around 15 to 18 years. Good husbandry conditions help to ensure that she actually reaches this age.
In addition, regular check-ups at the veterinarian and common preventive measures, such as vaccinations recommended for cats, should not be neglected. In this way, possible health problems can be avoided or at least detected and treated early on.
The right food for the Chartreux
With a balanced diet you make an important contribution to a happy and vital cat life. So always make sure that you provide your Chartreux with the nutrition it needs. In addition to the right amount of food for your cat, you should of course also pay due attention to the quality of the cat food.
With appropriate cat food from I love my cat, you will be able to feed your Chartreux just right. This tasty wet and dry food for cats is characterised by a complete absence of cereals and a particularly high content of animal protein sources such as fish, meat or insect protein.
You can therefore rely on an excellent digestibility and a needs-based supply of your Chartreux.
In addition to our high-quality cat food, the following food supplements and care products may be useful for your Chartreux:
- Dental powder for the daily dental care of your Chartreux
- Shiimun Skin as nutrient supplier for skin and coat
- Shiimun Immune as natural support for the immune system
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