What Is A Head?

What is a head? Besides being the front end of a cat, and the brain repository, it can be the hardest part of a Selkirk to evaluate. Because of the breeds we are using for outcrosses, the heads of our Selkirks can reflect a range of looks from good or bad Brit to extreme, unattractive Persian, rather than the combination of the two our standard describes. The difficulty in breeding a good head is defining what is meant by a "perfect" head.

In addition to the range of looks, learning how to define the "correct" head becomes difficult when faced with the variety of experience embodied in the breeders. Some have developed an "eye" to see and evaluate the show quality of their kittens. Others never seem to be able to see the discrepancies between the standard and the cats they are producing. This occurs in all breeds, and in breeders who have been breeding for 20-30 years, as well as those who have only been around for a couple of years.

Attempting to define what the "perfect" head should look like becomes problematical, because what may seem like a short muzzle to one breeder could be seen as medium when compared to an Oriental, Siamese or Maine Coon or long when compared to a Persian, all depending on the breeder's experience. Using words to try to define a look immediately causes misunderstanding, if you've ever played games where one person has to tell someone else how to do something and the other person follows the directions, EXACTLY. Watching this process can make you ROTFL!!!

Having detailed drawings, describing exactly how the head should look, along with pictures that clearly show the same as the drawing, would be the perfect solution, and would enable all the breeders to work from the same page. This would require the expertise of an artist whose specialty is anatomy drawings. Folks, that ain't me!

When we first started developing the proposal for advancement, Cathy Hummer (not the judge) created some drawings showing her interpretation of the standard as it applies to the head. She included profiles and full-face drawings and showed full-face drawings of "wrong" heads, as well as a "good" head. I have taken her drawing of the profile and created some other "looks" to show the various head types that show up in Selkirks. A note: these are not exact drawings and there may be some exaggeration. These are meant to be guides for your own exploration and to make sure we are all talking about the same thing.

Flat "Brit"-type Head

This is the flat head associated with the British Shorthair. As you can see, the profile flows in a smooth curve from the stop at eye level until it flattens out and continues flat through the ears. This is acceptable for British Shorthairs in CFA, but not acceptable for Selkirks.

This type of head usually indicates a less "extreme" head, since this is closer to the "domestic" cat type of head than the Persian head. If this is the type of head that your kittens or cats have, using a Persian with a rounder top head should be considered.

The feel of this head is very subtle - there is no palpable change in direction, but with experience, feeling the flattening out of top head becomes easier to determine.

Persian Inversion Head

This head can have either a flat spot or an actually inversion above the eyes. Unlike the Brit-type flat head, this head doesn't have a smooth curve from the stop to the top of the head. In this type of head, there are a couple of changes in direction on the way to the top head.

The first is just above the eyes. A change in the smoothness of the curve indicates the start of the inversion. The change can range from an extremely subtle feel to a quite noticeable ridge.

The inversion can be either flat or an actual dip in the skull. The more dip there is, the easier it is to feel. However, even a subtle change can be felt with experience.

This can sometimes be seen in photographs of the head when seen at 3/4 view (neither full face, nor profile). This picture of Ch,Pr Woolibaar Bruce Woolis shows a 3/4 view of his head. If you follow his profile from the stop at eye level upwards, you will see his head has the Persian Inversion. It then changes into a smooth curve above the inversion.

This seems to be the most common head type fault seen in Selkirks being shown today. The Persians used for breeding should be evaluated for this head type before being brought into a Selkirk Rex breeding program. This seems to be a dominant trait so the only way to avoid it is to make sure it is not brought into your program.

If this is the type of head your cats are exhibiting, using a rounder headed Brit, or using a Persian with a rounder head for breeding is indicated. If the inversion is severe (and cannot be corrected in one generation), seriously consider removing the cat from your breeding program. While this seems harsh, producing cats with the inversion is not doing the Selkirks any favors.

"Perfect" Head

So what should the perfect head look and, most importantly, feel like. One judge has stated that Selkirks should look like what they are - a cross between a Persian and a Brit. They shouldn't look too Brit, nor should they look too Persian. But what does that mean, exactly?

Persians have round eyes, round head, small ears, an extreme break and a flat face. Brits have a round head, round eyes, medium ears, a stop and a "regular" face. So what combination should our cats have to make them perfect? As you can see from the picture to the right, there should be no flatness either above the eyes (Persian) or on the top head (Brit). This discussion is not about the full-face look (for another issue), so the various features as seen from full-face view aren't being considered. There are some things we can view from the side that can differentiate a Persian look from a Brit look from a Selkirk look.

A Persian, even without the inversion, has a very definite look - the flat face, the extreme break, the short nose, and in those cats that don't have the inversion, a very round top head. A British Shorthair has a stop, a flat top head and a medium length to the muzzle. So, a cat with a combination of the two, which looks like neither one and which meets the standard, should have a smooth, round head, a stop, and a medium length muzzle. While this may appear to make the breed look too much like the Brits, the roundness imparted by the Persian can create a look distinct from either breed.

When picking a cat or line to use for your Selkirks, check out the top heads of parents (if available) and definitely the cat you want to use. I've clerked and watched the profiles of some otherwise very nice Persians that had that flat forehead. Unfortunately, the judges either can't recognize it or don't care as much as I do, since they have finalled those cats. From what I've seen of the Persian standard, that is something the Persian breeders want to get rid of. Seems, though, that too many judges are not sure what they should be looking (or feeling) for.

It used to be that the best Persian heads (fully round forehead and tophead) used to be the "doll-faced" Silvers/Goldens. However, as they have used more Persians in their lines to meet the Persian standard, it is becoming harder to find even a Silver with a round forehead and tophead.

Check out the profiles of your Selkirks. Are the heads smooth and round or do they exhibit either the Brit flat head or the Persian Inversion flat head? The standard describes a round head without flat spots. Be sure the cats you are showing actually meet the standard. It can be tricky to see the flat forehead when the cat appears to have a round head. Look carefully at the profile. Check it out at several angles (cat looking down, looking up, level, etc.).

Please send any comments, responses, etc. to Donna at woolibaar@selkirkrexcats.org. Your opinions are as important as anyone elses, especially if you have words that will enlighten the rest of us.

Next issue: full face

from JOAN MORRIS: JOAN'S WORLD: From the Contra Costa Times, August 6, 2003