Is My Cat A Pallas Mix??

[Leo3an]

hello. Please take a look at the photographs

During night time, my cat’s pupils are round like normal cats. But during the day time, they turn into small circular pupils instead of vertical slits.

Normally, the pupil should turn to vertical slits, no?

He is 10 years old. Not sure of the breed. But i saw Pallas cat images and mine sort of looks like one...

Is my cat a wild pallas cat that has been domesticated???? My wife got him from an old lady in Los Angeles...10 years ago.

 

[StefanZ]

He is a fairly purebred persian, that is what he is. Possibly even a purebred for real. You have recently cut down his fur, no?

If this is his usual natural fur, he is instead an Exotic - whom are essentially shorthaired persians.

 

[Leo3an]

Thank you Stefanz.

Is having pupils that contract & dialate circular a trait that Persian cats have?

I’m not sure why the pupils are always round shaped, but size changes. Instead of contracting pupils to vertical slits, they contract to round shaped pupils like humans..

 

[fornana]

He's a cutie for sure!
Looks like a persian to me, but I'm not 100%. Did he get a haircut out of curiosity?

Cats communicate partly through their eyes and that can explain why their eyes change shape all the time. The link below was an interesting read:
What Are My Cat's Eyes Telling Me?

Another reason why the shape changes is because of light. I believe a cat's eyes should react with light like so:

I do know the pupils should not be different sizes, or fixed. That can be very dangerous. Since your kitty is older he may have some macular degeneration or cataracts. I would suggest taking him to the vet to be sure.

 

[Elfilou]

I've never seen my Persian have tiny little dot pupils like that, no. I'm pretty sure they should be slits. The eyes are like that so the eye can handle more light to come in, thus allowing better vision. This to me suggests that your cat sees less than a normal cat would. Is he near-sighted or becoming a bit blind, you think?

I found this on "The Naked Scientist" (I find your cat very interesting and had to look it up!) But I can't find much.

"Round pupils are characteristic of "big cats" and many oriental breeds of domestic cat. They seem to be associated with "canine-like" behaviours compared with the typical feline behaviour patterns of a small European moggie.

IIRC the slit pupil makes kittens very sensitive to horizontal movement but requires exceptional retinal sensitivity for night hunting, whereas the round-pupil cats tend to hunt by day and by pouncing on static prey rather than swiping moving objects."

Considering that your cat has blue eyes, and nearly all blue-eyed cats are in some way related to Siamese (an "Oriental" breed), this seems a good fit.

 

[abyeb]

He's lovely! I agree that he has some clear Persian influence. I can see why you were thinking he might be a Pallas cat, because they also have a flatter face, but these are wild cats, and I believe it is still unproven if they can breed with domestic cats.

 

[posiepurrs]

Without papers he wouldn't be considered a pure Persian or exotic, but that is what he resembles more closely than a Pallas cat.

This is the head of a Pallas cat - notice the head is not shaped like your cats. The nose is much lower and the Pallas has a muzzle, while a Persian does not. Eye shape is incorrect too. They have more almond shape while a Persians is round. I also don't believe that a Pallas has ever been successfully domesticated or crossed with a domestic cat. From what I have read, they live in high altitude locations and would have trouble surviving in lower altitudes. Here is a photo of a pet quality Persian so you can see the difference. Sorry for the large size. As for the shape of the pupil, I just checked one of my Persians with a light. It contracted to a rounded vertical shape. If your cats pupils are truly round like a ball like this- o, and not a rounded vertical shape like this () I would show it to the vet - it could be a cause for concern.

 

[1CatOverTheLine]

.
L Leo3an - Unfortunately, this is beyond my scope of knowledge. As far as I recall, circular dilation in cats is limited to the four Lynx species, Pallas Cat and the Caracal, and the cause is a part of the phenotype and the genotype. Within the opsin gene array, the G Protein (the Superfamily of guanine nucleotide-binding proteins) is an encoditure which acts as a signalling protein (being X-linked MW and LW opsin genes), and which, by that virtue, changes both the pupil size and shape, in concordance with the photoreceptors.

A mutation in the G Protein would account for circular dilation, as would a Hybrid cross with Pallas Cat. I don't know of any confirmed crosses, but there is certainly anecdotal evidence which supports Pallas/Domestic Hybrids, and Pallas Cat is 2n = 38 with 32 Autosomes, so there's no reason to doubt the genetic possibility. Personally, I think that Doctor Leslie Lyon would be very interested.
.

 

[Leo3an]

Thank you for the replies. Here are more photos of him with different eye dialation. They all seem circular rather than vertical. I took photos of him on different lighting conditions.

Sorry for the large images. Im writing this and uploading from my phone.

My wife and I always thought this was a normal trait (eyes contracting to small circles, like humans) for 10 years, because we never owned any other cats or came close to other cats. So we never mentioned this to the vets. They never mentioned anything.

My wife says his eyes always became small circular pupils in the sun, ever since a kitten. And never had any sight issues. He hunts flies, butterflies, moths and other flying insects well.

I have rarely seen other cats before but he does seem to act like other cats.

 

[StefanZ]

To speak the truth I dont remember the vertical split om my cats either. So Im baffled.

Perhaps because they all are kept strictly indoor and thus never get the full daylight om them??

 

[Leo3an]

I do not think it is because my cat lives indoors. He goes out to the sun everyday out on the backyard. That is when his pupils are the tiniest circles.

 

[basscat]

Lots of oriental breeds have round pupils. He sure has that "chin/muzzle" thing going on though.

 

[StefanZ]

Sure this is a "domestic" cat? I would guess on some wild specie. Even if it apparently got tamed and domesticized.

Lots of oriental breeds have round pupils. He sure has that "chin/muzzle" thing going on though.

 

[basscat]

If you still have all of your fingers, he's not a Pallas cat

Sure this is a "domestic" cat? I would guess on some wild specie. Even if it apparently got tamed and domesticized.

Not wild, Not domestic, just somewhat Tame.

 

[Elfilou]

Thank you for the replies. Here are more photos of him with different eye dialation. They all seem circular rather than vertical. I took photos of him on different lighting conditions.

Sorry for the large images. Im writing this and uploading from my phone.

My wife and I always thought this was a normal trait (eyes contracting to small circles, like humans) for 10 years, because we never owned any other cats or came close to other cats. So we never mentioned this to the vets. They never mentioned anything.

My wife says his eyes always became small circular pupils in the sun, ever since a kitten. And never had any sight issues. He hunts flies, butterflies, moths and other flying insects well.

I have rarely seen other cats before but he does seem to act like other cats.

Honestly this looks very special to me. No one else? My cat has beautiful long slits when she is relaxed and hanging out in broad daylight. The tiny dot pupils look human to me, not feline.

But as I read and as someone else mentioned; this seems normal for some oriental breeds, and all blue-eyed cats are related to the Oriental breed siamese.

These were both outside in broad daylight, and as I said, beautiful long vertical slits. Not dots like in your cat's!

 

[Elfilou]

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• Elfilou
• Dec 16, 2015

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• Elfilou
• Dec 14, 2015

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• Elfilou
• Dec 14, 2015

I don't have many of these (I don't take many pictures at night) but just for reference, at dim light Elfie does have rounded pupils. At night = big saucer pupils, daytime outside = thin slits.