Chartreux cat | Facts & Information

Temperament: affectionate, very intelligent, sociable

Chartreux is a cat with short gray-blue hair, shiny plush fur and a smile like that of Mona Lisa. Chartreux, known as the smiling cat of France, has had its ups and downs throughout its secular existence. Due to his nature, the Chartreux cat managed to get over these with a simple smile. Chartreux will always hypnotize you with her copper eyes.

As the legend says, the Chartreux breed developed near Paris, in the French Alps, right in the monastery of Le Grand Chartreux. Here, the Carthusian Order of monks in the monastery raised Chartreux cats in their spare time, between praying, making liqueurs and forging weapons. At the monastery, although founded in 1084 by St. Bruno, the Cats appeared only after the end of the Crusades in the thirteenth century, when the Crusader knights left their homes and retired to monastic life.

They also brought with them the goods they had conquered during the crusades, including the blue cats, which they had apparently taken as prey from Syria. According to legend, monks selectively bred these felines to create silent, slightly talkative specimens so that cats could not disturb them during meditations. Another legend claims that the Chartreux is derived from the Syrian cat, described in the sixteenth century as a robust cat with a blue-gray wool coat and copper eyes, which was first brought to Europe during the Crusades.

After the First World War, French cat breeders became interested in preserving the Chartreux as a unique breed. In the 1920s, two sisters, Christine and Suzanne Leger, discovered a colony of blue cats on a small island in the French province of Bretagne, Belle-Ile, far off the coast of France. These stray cats lived around a hospital in the town of Le Palais and matched the description of the Chartreux breed.

The Leger sisters decided to take care of the breed, devised a breed standard and, in 1931, displayed the Chartreux for the first time. Unfortunately, World War II decimated the breed, and after the war no Chartreux colonies could be found in the wild. The few remaining Chartreux cats were paired with British Shorthair blue, Russian Blue and Persian blue to prevent the breed becoming extinct.

Chartreux first arrived in the United States in 1970, when a Californian heard about these cats and decided to make a trip to France, where she brought 3 specimens of Chartreux breed. Today's Chartreux looks very much like the robust French stray cats of the 1700s.

Chartreux was officially recognized only in 1987.

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Appearance Chartreux Cat

Chartreux has a robust, vigorous body, short limbs and a fine bone. However, Chartreux is agile and elegant like any other feline. Her body is of medium length, robust, with a wide back, a deep thorax, strong musculature and resistant bone. The limbs are short, with fine bone, but the endurance ends with large and round paws.

The tail is of medium length and conical, with a rounded tip. Males are larger and have much more conspicuous musculature compared to females; they have often been compared to walking fortresses. Females are smaller, but that doesn't mean they're not full-bodied.

The head of the Chartreux is rounded and wide, being provided with strong jaws and full cheeks. The muzzle is relatively small and conical, and its mysterious smile is part of the breed standard. The nose is straight, and between the eyes you can notice a slight depression.

The ears of medium size are located at the top of the head and have a very vertical position. The eyes are round, large and expressive, adding to the smiling, cute expression. The color of the eyes is from copper to gold, bright orange being preferred.

One of the characteristic features of this breed is its woolly, plush-like fur. Grey-blue uni is the only colour and the only accepted pattern. The coat is medium short and has a woolly texture and a solid fluff. It is thick, soft to the touch and waterproof, perfectly structured to ensure the cat's survival in the cold and humid climate of the French Alps. Always, the pads and nose should be blue-gray.

The male Chartreux is noticeably larger than the female. Mature males tend to reach a body weight of up to 9 kg, while females weigh around 3.5-6 kg. Both male and female seem a bit larger than they really are due to their rather bulky fur.

Chartreux is a breed of cats with a late maturation, reaching adult sizes only around the age of 3-4 years

Chartreux Cat Behavior

Friendly and loyal, Chartreux is an affectionate and sociable cat. When you sit next to her, you will inevitably wake up with a big blue cat in your arms.

Chartreux cats are quiet and quiet, so it will be amazing to hear short, faint squeaks coming from these powerful bodies, and it will be a rarity to hear them moaning. Even if they are not very talkative, they purr with great enthusiasm.

Not as active as other cat breeds, Chartreux is calm and self-confident. However, these cats also have a playful side that they keep well hidden in adult life.

Because of their strong hunting instinct, these cats tend to prefer moving toys. Toys with feathers that you can twist in the air are especially appreciated.

Chartreux cats are friendly to strangers, small children and other pets. They are very intelligent cats that quickly learn their names and come promptly when they are called. The Chartreux is a pacifist cat, preferring to avoid a fight than to provoke it, but this does not mean that it does not know how to defend its rights and interests.

She is also a cat that easily accommodates to any circumstances, traveling well and not interfering with being left alone for long periods of time. Their reassuring and friendly presence makes them a very good choice for older people or those who live alone.

Features Chartreux Cat

The color of the coat and eyes in puppies is a little different than that of adults. Thus, kittens may have Brindle marks that fade most frequently around 6-12 months of age. Likewise, the eye color is defined around the age of 3-4 years and a blurring of its intensity can be noticed in the elderly cat.

The Chartreux has a deep, frequent fluff that causes the fur to move away from the body and for this reason requires additional care compared to other short-haired breeds.

The fur does not tend to tangle, but it is still good to brush it once or twice a week with a good quality steel comb to remove dead hair.

During the moulting seasons, spring and autumn, you will need to brush it more often, respectively once every two days. To the contrary, your cute companion will leave you a blanket of gray-blue hair wherever she sits.

Diseases Cat Chartreux

The Chartreux are generally a robust and healthy breed, but some lineages are known to possess the determining gene of patellar dislocation (patella dislocation). If it gets worse, it induces pain and limp. Since this condition is genetic, many breeders test their prasila specimens, excluding suspicious cats from breeding programs.

Also, some Chartreux specimens are prone to gingivitis if their teeth are not cleaned periodically. Chartreux is sensitive to very consistent foods, which is why most cats are switched to an adult diet around the age of 5 months. To prevent obesity, adult cats may need to be fed light diets.

Males, as with any other breed of cats, are not safe from feline urological syndrome (formation of pebbles in the kidney or bladder), which is why attention should be paid to nutrition and the occurrence of possible difficulty urinating.

The Ideal is that after the age of 6-8 years, even if you have a healthy specimen, to make a routine check and some investigations (ultrasound, X-ray, blood and urine tests) to detect early any sensitivities and to try to remedy them through a proper diet or with the help of an appropriate treatment.

The average life expectancy of Chartreux is about 9-15 years.

Cat Chartreux Cat

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