The Mystery of the Long Coats

Around 1933, breeders in France crossed the Chartreux with Persian cats in order to deepen the eye color and shade it more towards copper. One of the results of this genetic cross was an occasional expression of the Persian long coat in a few Chartreux kittens. Some of the long-coated kittens may have also come from crossing Chartreux with feral cats, which took place much earlier. Probably the last such feral cat introduced into a breeding program was Laura, who was captured in the Ardennes forest and who subsequently became the mother of CH. I. O'Manouche du Bois de Meudon. Laura added a great deal of vigor to the breed. From even older pedigrees we find the names of many feral cats: Dim, Trisette, Titote, Prince, Penelope, Nana, Lune, and Zolouska. We know very little of these feral cats in North America, but we can assume they had the blue coat and build of the Chartreux; any or all of them could have been carrying the long-coated gene.

Long-coated Chartreux from Aneise Cattery, 1992

Uthia, 1972 Blue Persian

You can see the strong similarity between a long-coated Chartreux bred at Aneise Cattery in 1992, and the 1972 Persian blue (shown on the right, photo by Sarafino from the Cat Club of Paris Cat Show Catalog, October 1972). I have had a number of long-coated Chartreux at Aneise Cattery. In 1991 I bred Finette des Lilas Bleus to Gordonstoun Flin 'N Fire, a cat from two European Chartreux I purchased in Canada. The litter had one long-coated kitten, two mismarked kittens, one solid male and one solid female, registered as Aneise Gacinthe. Gacinthe was bred in 1992 to Bienaimebleu's French Lover. The litter had one long-coated kitten, and one kitten with a semi-long coat. The next time Gacinthe was bred, in 1993, she again had one long-coated kitten. Later breedings of Gacinthe, in 1995 and 1996 to GC. Aneise Jaime, resulted in litters with one and two long-coated kittens, respectively. I also found one long-coated kitten in the litter from breeding another French import, Chatomist Gizelle, to Bienaimebleu's French Lover in 1993.

It has been my experience that there are two types of long coats, one with a full coat and with neck ruff, and the other like the Maine Coon with a flatter, somewhat longer coat.

Before closing on the long coats, it has been argued for some years that the monks of the Carthusian order at Les Grande Chartreuse monastery in the French Alps had been connected in some way with the Chartreux cats. This order is contemplative, the monks seldom leaving their cells and, pon taking orders, have little or no contact with the outside world. Founded in 1084, from the beginning they were not to beg or accept charity, which meant it was necessary for them to find some means to support themselves. They grew crops, made masts from the huge stands of pine trees for the French fleet, processed woods from the forest into charcoal, and extracted iron ore from local mines, becoming metallurgists. Finally, in 1737, they developed and produced the famous Chartreuse liqueur which has been their main source of income since that time to the present.

Did they have anything to do with Chartreux cats? Research does not reveal if they did or did not, as the records of the monastery have been lost in time and through fire. However, Alan Edwards, CCCF Judge and breeder/exhibitor of British Shorthairs, recently sent the following to me:

"Domestic or Fancy Cats"
by John Jennings, published by L. Upcott, London, 1893

The French: In France a breed of long-haired cats has been perpetuated, at least for some centuries, and have been given the name "French" to a variety not indigenous to the country. The coats are exceedingly long and wonderfully silky, in which respect they partake of a Persian and Angoras combination. They are wholly colored chiefly blue and erstwhile were bred by the Chartreuse monks, who, in common with the brotherhood of kindred monasteries, carried out secretly such valuable experiments in the breeding and crossing of domestic animals. A certain amount of ingenuity was displayed by these brethren in seclusion, pardonable perhaps inasmuch as their institution derived the sole benefit by all sales, and as the income from this source was considerable, and therfore important; it is not surprising to learn that many purchases failed in reproduction, though whether due to circumstances or conditions, or both, I am not in a position to state. I only know that similar cases happened with a breed of rabbits, the Andalusian, in which size was a specialty-breed under the same monastic supervision.

Why document this information? It's because I'm sure, in view of the pedigrees of these cats, that there are other Chartreux breeders who have similar experiences. These cats are all adopted out to homes as pets (where they exhibit the same loveable qualities we adore in all Chartreux), so they do not continue in a cattery's breeding program. We need to record these breedings and the pedigrees to give future breeders a reference point when long-coated Chartreux show up in their cats.

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