What is a Napoleon and what is a minuet?
What is a Napoleon? And how is it different from a Munchkin? The Munchkin is known for having short legs or is a dwarf cat breed. If you like the short legs of the Munchkin and you like the traditional face of the Persians then this breed is for you. These two breeds were crossed to produce a new breed which had been named the Napoleon. Joe Smith was the founder of this breed and that is how he felt too. Also he hoped that any non-standard or normal legged kittens would look like Persians so they were less likely to be into the shelters. This new fad of crossing other purebreds to Munchkins has caught on to involve several new breeds now called the dwarf or designer breeds. There are several comparison pictures at the bottom of this page. There are many new dwarf designer breeds. So the difference between the Munchkin and the Napoleon is the head type. But this is not true for some of the other designer breeds. The Bambino has no hair and looks like a Spynx with short legs and the Lambkin looks like a Selkirk Rex with curly hair and short legs. For more information go to TDCA The Dwarf Cat Association http://www.the-dwarf-cat-association.com/indexTDwarfCA.html
The Napoleon breed is a rare, hybrid breed created from the Munchkin with dwarf legs and the baby doll or traditional faced Persians or Exotics. An example of a Napoleon is above. This is a shorthair brown tabby male. A litter of kittens can have both short legged (standard) and long leg or normal legged (non-standard) kittens in it. The non-standard kittens look like Persians or Exotics depending on whether they have long or short hair. Our cats do not have the extreme flat face like show Persians have. These cats have a muzzle. The nose has a stop and a slight turn outward or "L" shape. Therefore the Naps do not suffer from the same problems that extremely flat faced Persians have. The Munchkins only outcross is the Domestic cat therefore the Munchkin has a head with a long sloping nose like the Domestics noses look. Munchkin come with short hair or long hair. Comparison pictures are at the bottom of this page.
The Naps have been accused of not having enough consistency in the looks of the breed. Since this is a new breed new breeds need a large population of outcross cats brought into the breed for hybrid vigor. At the present time the Nap breeders are breeding the larger population of the Persian group cats into to Naps. The parent breeds are the Persian group cats (includes Himalayans and Exotics) and Munchkins. Naps can be bred to any of their parent breeds and to other Naps. So the look of the kitten that you buy will depend on which parents were used to produce this litter of kittens and how much of each breed is back in the kittens pedigree. The majority of the Nap kittens will most likely be first or second generation Naps. The flattness of their faces will not only depend on the cats in your kittens pedigree but also the typiness of the the parents used. if show quality Munchkin was used the the kitten will have a longer nose. If an extremely flat faced Persian or Exotics was used then the kittens will have flatter faces. The correct Persian or Exotic that should be used to produce Nap kittens are the traditional or doll faced Persian which is what Persian exhibitor considered pet or breeder quality.
According to the Napoleon breed standard they should look like traditional or doll faced Persians (longhair) or Exotics (shorthair) with a round head and round eyes. Their ears should be medium to small and the long hairs have a silky double coat. This means that the shorthairs have a thick, teddy bear coat just like the Exotics. The shorthairs are not as difficult to groom of course and Napoleons don't have the extreme flat face that can cause many health problems. The Napoleon comes in all the colors that Persians/Exotics have plus the Munchkin adds sepia and mink to the possibilities of colors. Naps also can come in the same patterns as well but the Naps do produce the chocolate group, odd eye bicolors, blue eyed bicolors which are little more difficult to get like in the Persians. The chocolate group includes, lilac, cinnamon and fawn. The latter two being more difficult to produce.
The Napoleon personality is quite unique. They never show aggression and they get along well with other animals very well. This includes other cats, dogs, parrots, rabbits, etc. They have a very affectionate, loving nature and they are loyal to their owners. They have been known to follow thier owners through the house. They are smart and easy to train. They can easily get used to a routine and they seem to understand how things work in their surroundings. They love discovering new things and they like cuddling any time of the day. Many kitten buyers come back to buy the long legged or normal legged Naps just to get a cat with this wonderful personality. Most Nap breeders offer a two kitten deal where a non-standard second kitten can be sold as a companion to go with the standard Napoleon. That is why the normal legged version is almost as popular as the shorties are. I call my standards shorties.
The board of directors of TICA the registering association, decided that the name Napoleon was offensive to the French people therefore the Napoleon breed group had to rename the breed. As of January of 2015 the breed name was changed to Minuet. Most of these breeders did not want to change the name and are refusing to call our cats "Minuets". These breeders have contacted CFF and asked if the Napoleon breed and breeders could join their association. CFF has acepted us with open arms and nothing but kindness. The Naps will not be able to apply for championship until 2016 but this is much better than what TICA had offer.
The Napoleon breed is a rare, hybrid breed created from the Munchkin with dwarf legs and the baby doll or traditional faced Persians or Exotics. An example of a Napoleon is above. This is a shorthair brown tabby male. A litter of kittens can have both short legged (standard) and long leg or normal legged (non-standard) kittens in it. The non-standard kittens look like Persians or Exotics depending on whether they have long or short hair. Our cats do not have the extreme flat face like show Persians have. These cats have a muzzle. The nose has a stop and a slight turn outward or "L" shape. Therefore the Naps do not suffer from the same problems that extremely flat faced Persians have. The Munchkins only outcross is the Domestic cat therefore the Munchkin has a head with a long sloping nose like the Domestics noses look. Munchkin come with short hair or long hair. Comparison pictures are at the bottom of this page.
The Naps have been accused of not having enough consistency in the looks of the breed. Since this is a new breed new breeds need a large population of outcross cats brought into the breed for hybrid vigor. At the present time the Nap breeders are breeding the larger population of the Persian group cats into to Naps. The parent breeds are the Persian group cats (includes Himalayans and Exotics) and Munchkins. Naps can be bred to any of their parent breeds and to other Naps. So the look of the kitten that you buy will depend on which parents were used to produce this litter of kittens and how much of each breed is back in the kittens pedigree. The majority of the Nap kittens will most likely be first or second generation Naps. The flattness of their faces will not only depend on the cats in your kittens pedigree but also the typiness of the the parents used. if show quality Munchkin was used the the kitten will have a longer nose. If an extremely flat faced Persian or Exotics was used then the kittens will have flatter faces. The correct Persian or Exotic that should be used to produce Nap kittens are the traditional or doll faced Persian which is what Persian exhibitor considered pet or breeder quality.
According to the Napoleon breed standard they should look like traditional or doll faced Persians (longhair) or Exotics (shorthair) with a round head and round eyes. Their ears should be medium to small and the long hairs have a silky double coat. This means that the shorthairs have a thick, teddy bear coat just like the Exotics. The shorthairs are not as difficult to groom of course and Napoleons don't have the extreme flat face that can cause many health problems. The Napoleon comes in all the colors that Persians/Exotics have plus the Munchkin adds sepia and mink to the possibilities of colors. Naps also can come in the same patterns as well but the Naps do produce the chocolate group, odd eye bicolors, blue eyed bicolors which are little more difficult to get like in the Persians. The chocolate group includes, lilac, cinnamon and fawn. The latter two being more difficult to produce.
The Napoleon personality is quite unique. They never show aggression and they get along well with other animals very well. This includes other cats, dogs, parrots, rabbits, etc. They have a very affectionate, loving nature and they are loyal to their owners. They have been known to follow thier owners through the house. They are smart and easy to train. They can easily get used to a routine and they seem to understand how things work in their surroundings. They love discovering new things and they like cuddling any time of the day. Many kitten buyers come back to buy the long legged or normal legged Naps just to get a cat with this wonderful personality. Most Nap breeders offer a two kitten deal where a non-standard second kitten can be sold as a companion to go with the standard Napoleon. That is why the normal legged version is almost as popular as the shorties are. I call my standards shorties.
The board of directors of TICA the registering association, decided that the name Napoleon was offensive to the French people therefore the Napoleon breed group had to rename the breed. As of January of 2015 the breed name was changed to Minuet. Most of these breeders did not want to change the name and are refusing to call our cats "Minuets". These breeders have contacted CFF and asked if the Napoleon breed and breeders could join their association. CFF has acepted us with open arms and nothing but kindness. The Naps will not be able to apply for championship until 2016 but this is much better than what TICA had offer.
After breeding Napoleons (Minuets) for over 3 years now I feel comfortable enough to really put myself out there and make a guarantee. "I guarantee that my Napoleon kittens and cats that come from my home are always affectionate!" The Napoleon breed's personality is never aggressive in any form. These kittens or cats do not ever show aggression, bite, scratch or anything like this. They may be afraid of something and struggle to try to get away from it and in doing so you may get scratched but that would be an accident and a sign that the kitty's nails might need to be clipped. Of course I can not make this guarantee for my cats that may have been living with someone else. At time my cats have shown to be a bit timid and sometime will run and hide from something that frightens them but I have never seen any of my cats start any disagreements with any other cats, dogs, etc and especially not humans. Since I do not have small children i can not make any guarantees how one of my kittens or cats might react to being handled excessively by a small child so I do recommend adult supervision when a small child is interacting with a Napoleon kitten or cat. Wile selling my recent litters of kittens, I have been asked this question a few times. My immediate thought was no way, I have never seen any sign of aggressiveness in this breed of cats.