Mr. Joe Bart Smith founded the Napoleon Cat Breed in 1995. Read about the history as told by Mr. Smith on this page. A Napoleon is defined as: a sweet delight; lovely light crisp layered pastry filled with rich cream. Napoleon Bonaparte is defined as: a brilliant military strategist, known for his beautiful countenance, albeit short stature. Given these two definitions of the word Napoleon, I cannot think of a better name for this breed. My own personal definition of the Napoleon Cat is: Pure decadence in the form of a cat; intelligence to challenge your mind; sweet loving playfulness to soothe your soul, and indescribable beauty that glows with health and warms your heart!
The NAPOLEON General Description is not quite so poetic as mine, but provides more of the basics: The Napoleon is a hybrid of the Persian Breed Group and the Munchkin Breed Group. The Napoleon’s distinctive short legs developed from a spontaneous autosomal dominant mutation. The short legs do not hamper mobility or survival ability. The short legged Napoleon is called a Standard. The Napoleon also comes with traditional length legs, which is called a Non-Standard. The ideal Napoleon is a medium sized, strong cat with nice boning and musculature. The face should be rounded and open with a pleasant sweet expression and large, round, expressive eyes. The Napoleon should be balanced physically and temperamentally; gentle and amenable to handling.
The Napoleons are a winning combination of two breeds - the sweet baby doll faces, round eyes, and laid back lap kitty of the old fashioned Persian with the playfulness and sturdy health of the Munchkin. The Show Napoleons are easily recognizable by two distinct visual features – the roundness of the Persian and the short legs of the Munchkin. Their temperament, disposition, and personalities are an intelligent cat that is laid back, affectionate, and social, with a kittenish playfulness. They are just as happy being a comforting and loving lap kitty for a single person or couple as they are being the family cat – adored by all. They come in a plethora of colors as well as both shorthaired and longhaired versions.
The Napoleon is recognized by numerous cat registry associations; including The International Cat Association (TICA), Southern Africa Cat Council (SACC), Waratah National Cat Alliance (WNCA) of Australia and Catz, Inc. of New Zealand, where they are already in Championship status. The Napoleon is currently in Preliminary New Breed status with TICA, which means they are eligible to compete in the Show Ring. The goal is to continue to advance the breed all the way to Championship status.
The Napoleon comes in both Standard (short legs) and Non-Standard (long legs). The average of Standard to Non-Standard kittens per litter is 50% each. The Napoleon is sweeping the world with breeders and pet owners in nearly every country.
The Napoleon Cat is a Domestic Hybrid Breed, which is defined as: A breed developed from a deliberate cross between two existing domestic breeds, incorporating characteristics of both parental breeds into the new breed.
The two parent breeds that make up the Napoleon are the Munchkin Breed Group, which consists of only the longhaired and shorthaired Munchkin, and the Persian Breed Group, which consists of the Persian, Himalayan, and Exotic Shorthair. These cats make up the acceptable outcrosses. The longhaired and shorthaired Napoleon make up the Napoleon Breed Group. These three Breed Groups make up a Purebred Napoleon. Basically, these are the cats that make the Napoleon the cat that it is in health, temperament, beauty, and dignity.
There are breeders that breed toward the Breed Standard. The Breed Standard is a document that outlines the specific description of what that particular breed should look like. It describes each physical feature of the cat so that when the cat is being Shown competitively, the Judges will be able to determine which cat most closely fits the Breed Standard in order to choose the winners. The founder of the breed, Mr. Smith wrote the original Standard to advance the Napoleon from Experimental New Breed to Registration Only status and it was accepted by TICA in 2005. The Standard was revised, and continues to be tweaked, to more accurately describe the natural development of the Napoleon through the years and to meet TICA guidelines.
As with every other breed, each breeder looks for that special something to set their line apart from others. Many breeders attempt to remain inside the “type” outlined in the Breed Standard. This basically means that while there are minor differences in the look of the cat, they can still be easily identified as Napoleons by their physical appearance. When Mr. Smith temporarily left the Cat Fancy, Napoleon breeders, with no leadership, began to breed away from the Standard; resulting in many different looks over these past years. In 2009, Margie Gardner of Creator’s Cattery decided to try to bring all of the breeders back under one umbrella (Breed Standard) and to re-establish the Napoleon “type”. Her efforts pulled the breeders together and focused the goal toward consistency in breeding and led us toward the advancement of the Napoleon. In 2011, Terri Harris picked up the ball and in September 2011 the Napoleons were advanced to Preliminary New Breed.
Many breeders still choose to breed outside of the Standard, preferring a different “type”. And they find their own market of clients who also prefer their “type” to sell to. The only difference between the breeders that breed toward the Standard and those that do not, is that the ones that do not breed toward the Standard are not producing cats to be Shown competitively. These cats make lovely pets and many make excellent breeding stock for other programs. Those breeders that do breed toward the Standard are actively seeking to promote their line competitively in the Show Ring. And there are many breeders that breed both toward the Standard and away from it to achieve two separate “types” so that they may Show their cats AND breed a differing “type” that they and their clients prefer.
When we talk about the Breed Standard and “type”, we are specifically talking about physical appearance. However, the Napoleon is more than a beautiful cat. The Napoleon’s health, temperament, and dignity are just as important, if not more so, to most breeders and pet owners as their looks. This is why it is so important to know the right questions to ask prior to purchasing a Napoleon. There are many short-legged cats that are called Napoleons, within TICA’s guidelines, that are not bred within the acceptable outcrosses. So, what you end up with is a cat that may look like a very nice Napoleon, but get it home and be very disappointed with it’s temperament. If your kitten is the result of a breeding between a British Short Hair and a Munchkin, it will look like a short-haired Napoleon, but certainly will not act like one. If your kitten is the result of a breeding between any type of cat outside of the acceptable outcrosses, you can be assured that while it can legally be registered as a Napoleon, it will not have the same genetic makeup of the cat Mr. Smith founded all of those years ago. And my opinion is that it will not live up to the high quality purebred cat, in temperament, that you get from those Napoleons bred within the acceptable outcrosses. The Napoleon that has anything other than an acceptable outcross introduced into it’s bloodlines, for at least three generations, takes something indefinable away from it’s uniqueness.
Do your homework prior to purchasing a kitten. Call many different breeders and talk at length with them. Ask them about the kitten you are interested in. Make certain you know what you are getting. Insist on a Purebred Napoleon, the cat that has taken the world by storm. These are rare and pricey companion animals and you should know what you are paying for.
SUGGESTED QUESTIONS FOR BREEDER:
1. Is there a contract for you to review prior to purchase?
2. Is there a health guaranty for you to review prior to purchase?
3. Is there a three generation pedigree for you to review prior to purchase? The answer to this question will tell you whether or not the cat has been bred within the acceptable outcrosses for at least three generations. That is an acceptable number of generations to ensure you are getting a Purebred Napoleon. It will tell you if your cat is going to have the temperament of the Napoleon and not just the look. It is also to ensure you that the cat is not too closely inbred. Line breeding of purebred cats is acceptable, but too closely related parents (example: brother/sister) can result in some health issues with your kitten. And if you plan on using the cat as a breeder, you need to ensure it is not too closely related to your other cats in your program.
4. How does the breeder socialize their kittens in their program? Kittens raised in out buildings rather than inside the home are sometimes not as social.
5. What is the breeder's program like (everything from housing, feeding, health care, etc.)? This can give you great insight into whether or not this breeder is the right one for you.
6. What are the breeder's goals for their program (what are they trying to produce in their kittens)? A good breeder is more interested in the health and welfare of their cats and that their kittens are going to good homes than anything else.
7. Does the breeder Show some of their cats? If the breeder is Showing cats, then they are usually breeding for healthy, well socialized kittens. But, you have to beware of those few breeders that give most of their attention to their Show cats because their pet quality cats often are left without much socialization.
8. Is the breeder a TICA Member? This is important to the breed. TICA counts every member and every cat registered. The more members and cats registered with TICA, the better the Napoleon’s chances for advancement to Championship status. Not being a TICA Member does not mean the breeder’s kittens are not of great quality and healthy.
9. Is their cattery registered with TICA? Same as above.
10. Will this kitten have a Championship registration number with TICA? While Napoleons have not advanced this far yet, this question will tell you if there are unknowns or unacceptable outcrosses within the past three generations and whether or not the cat can compete in Shows at the Championship level once we do advance and whether or not it will produce Championship Showable kittens if you want to breed your cat. It is basically the same question as number 3, but unless you are experienced in reading cat pedigrees, this question can pinpoint exactly whether or not you are getting the breeding you want in your Napoleon.
11. Is this cat PKD clear? PKD is a genetic kidney disease prevalent in the Persian Breed Group/Hybrids, such as the Napoleon. All breeders should be able to show proof that the kitten's parents are PKD clear, which makes the kitten PKD clear. Never purchase a Napoleon kitten without a written guaranty that the kitten is PKD clear and if it is not, what the breeder will do to make it right. Not only is this an important health question regarding any kitten you purchase, it is important to the breed. Most reputable breeders will not breed a cat that has not been PKD tested first. We would like to wipe this disease out in the Napoleon population. That is very doable if no one will purchase a kitten without this guaranty!
None of these questions or considerations alone, should deter you from purchasing a kitten from a particular breeder if you feel comfortable that you are getting the kitten of your choice and that you have enough information to base your purchase decision on. This information is provided as an educational tool, to help you feel comfortable when choosing a breeder. It is meant more as hints and tips about purchasing from any breeder and come away feeling happy with your choice of kitten and knowing the decision to purchase your kitten was an informed one.