By Diane P. Loving

     I am Diane P. Loving and my cattery name is All Aglitter Persians.  I fell in love with Silver and Golden Persians when I was a child.  In 1994 I bought what I thought was my first silver kitten, but to my surprise, this silver kitten turned out to be a shaded tortoiseshell.  Undeterred, I began reading everything I could find on the Silver and Golden Persians and found a wonderful friend in Lavinia Blair of Ramayana Persians, who had been breeding Silver and Goldens since 1987.  She took me under her wing and has been a great teacher and friend.  She lent me several years worth of The United Silver Fanciers, The Silver Lining, Persian News, The Cat Fanciers' Journal and back issues of The Cat Fanciers' Association Annual yearbooks.  One of these yearbooks was the 1987 issue with "Silver Persians You've Come a Long Way Baby!" by Janice G. Reichle. (Later Lavinia bought me a copy of this yearbook as a gift.)  I also tried to locate books about Silvers and Goldens, and discovered that one of the best is The Proper Care of Silver and Golden Persians by Dee J. Single.  I have learned a lot since the first kitten purchase and now I am working to improve the Silvers and Goldens that I love and raise.

     While I combed through years of articles written about Persians and all that goes into the raising of them, I started collecting articles that I thought could be of help to me.  I put them into a book by topics and have found it very useful.  It contains everything from Janice Reichle's recipe for a meat concentrate to an IRS cattery audit.  One of my favorite sections is about Silver and Golden Persians: it contains information dealing with golden color, genetics, tarnishing of Silvers, etc. I ran across an article in the June 1989 issue of The Silver Lining, dealing with golden color, which is so good, that I want to share the information and hope that you find it interesting.  I have also combined some general information is the beginning of this article.

     Golden kittens are born almost black and most have mackerel or classic tabby markings.  The kitten's temple area usually indicates the adult color.  The brighter the gold color the brighter the adult coat will be.  The Goldens can go through color changes before reaching adulthood and some Goldens do not reach their true color until the age of two or three years. Goldens under two years of age without leg or body bars and that have an evenly tipped coat are rare.

     Goldens come in different hues of gold.  The colors can usually be broken into six color groups.  The amount of tipping on the cat determines whether it is Chinchilla, Shaded, or Tabby.  Chinchilla and Shaded Goldens ideally should have no barring but ghost bars are sometimes seen on Chinchilla's and Shaded's sometimes have bars on the front legs.  Barring is a fault in the Chinchilla and Shaded cats.  At this time Golden Tabbies are not recognized for Championship status in CFA.  The following color groups address the color of the cat between the root of the hair to where the tipping begins:

          HONEY PLATINUM- Buffy beige; pale to light ash blond with silvering to platinum hue.  The undercoat and color around the armpits and trousers contribute to the overall platinum effect.  Tummy, bustle and pantaloons are creamy in color, and tipping is seal brown to black.

          HONEY GOLDEN- Wheat color; pale blond with a yellow hue.  It show a faint platinum hue in some cats.  There is no apricot, orange or red in this coat.  Tummy bustle and pantaloons are pale yellow/cream.  Tipping may be black, seal or medium brown.

          HONEY APRICOT- A true strawberry color, with a delicate pink tone blending to apricot, wheat with light reddish hue.  This coat shows little or no silvering.  Tummy bustle and pantaloons are a pale honey blond.  Tipping is a deep apricot rather than black or seal brown.

          APRICOT- An apricot with an orange hue and some yellowing and pinking but no silvering.  This is a coveted color by Golden breeders.  The CFA standard calls for a cream undercoat, but in my opinion, erroneously this is not reasonable for the apricot, which should be just that, apricot. Tipping can be deep apricot, medium brown or seal brown.  Black tipping spoils the intensity of the Apricot Golden.  The tummy bustle and pantaloons are a honey apricot color.

Note:  As an article in The Silver Lining points out, the hocks of the back legs of these four colors are light, varying from platinum to apricot and a light brown in the Apricot Golden.  Hocks on the following two colors are darker, deep chocolate brown to black.

          RED GOLDEN-A true "red head", with a ground color of deep apricot to auburn.  This is another coveted color by golden breeders, and again not in the CFA show standards.  Tipping is usually very dark, seal brown to black.  Tummy bustle and pantaloons a definite apricot.  There is no graying in this coat color.

          BROWN GOLDEN- Definite brown hued cat with very dark tipping the "brownie", the color is a deep, warm brown.  A hot red at the spine is sometimes there but no where else.  The overall cat is a definite brown hued cat with very dark tipping.  tabby barring is more pronounced in this color group.  We tend to see more blue-gray color fault on the Brown Golden and the Honey Platinum than on the Honey Apricot , Apricot and the Red Golden Persian.

     While these six color groups are not officially recognized, experienced golden breeders can identify kittens in their litters and coats on the show bench by these color groups.  All Goldens fall into one or the other, and whichever color you prefer is a matter of choice.

     I have been blessed to have wonderful friends in Silver and Golden breeders, and to have beautiful golden colors in my lines.  I wish to thank my dear friends for their help and encouragement and for letting me have one or more of their babies.  A special thank you to Lavinia Blair of Ramayana Persians, Richard Moss of Pepper Mill Persians, Penny Robinson of La Gemini Persians and to Sue Hinkle, who gave me permission to use part of her article published in The Silver Lining.

"The Color of Gold"

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