It’s very difficult to predict whether a kitten will have long hair, which makes a visit to the breeder all the more important. You can go ahead and purchase a kitten if you want, but there are plenty of things that could happen to change his coat in the future.

Hair length is determined by the genes present in your cat’s parents. For example, if you have an American shorthair cat and an Oriental shorthair cat, your kittens will likely have both long and short hair.

But if you mate two Persians together, all of their offspring will be Persians with long hair. The same principle applies to tabby patterns as well; it’s possible for one parent to pass on both genes for black stripes, while another parent passes on both for orange stripes.

Breeders will often tell you about their breeding programs so that you know what kind of coat pattern or length you can expect from their kittens’ parents. They’ll also tell you about any health conditions that may be associated with certain breeds (such as heart disease in Persians). If they don’t respond well when asked about these matters (or don’t answer at all), then they may not be honest breeders and should.

Last modified: August 2, 2022