The judge lifts a seal point Himalayan/Persian from its cage and drops it dramatically on the table. The audience gasps as the judge turns the coat and the dramatic contrasting white undercoat shimmers in the light, slipping though the fingers like the rest of silk.

Physical Description

Despite the general notion of the Himalayan/Persian as a long-haired white cat, the principle characteristic of the Persian should be the remarkable conformation possible by 100 years of selected breeding. Most incredible are the eyes, huge and mesmerizing, and the nose, shortened, tilted, and even with the eyes. There is a sense of soft roundness to this breed, an impression not shared by Turkish Angora, the breed most often confused by the general public with Persians. Round head, round body, round eyes, round muzzle – the observer should see circles when looking at Persian. Even the 8-inch-long tail fur creates the illusion of a rounded tail, as wide as it is deep and long. The ears should be small and rounded and set to the side of the head, and the eyes should be widely set straight. The body is broad in the chest and broad in the hips, giving the appearance of a sturdy and solid-standing cat. The paws are large and well rounded and set straight ahead, without toeing out. The tail sweeps downward, with no sign of curl or kink tail faults.

There are now more than 100 coat colors and patterns; a tremendous variation in coloring is recognized in the Himalayans/Persians. 
As far as color- points, the CFA recognizes the following: chocolate, seal lilac, blue, red-tortie, cream, seal- lynx, blue- lynx, red- lynx, cream- lynx, tortie- lynx, blue-cream lynx, chocolate- lynx, lilac- lynx, chocolate-tortie- lynx and lilac-cream- lynx. These points are restricted to the facial mask, feet/legs, tail and genitals, with the body in various shades from white to fawn.  The eyes of the Himalayan should be blue, ranging from light, almost clear blue, to a vivid bright blue.  The kittens come into this world pure white or cream. They do not start developing the points for a couple of weeks, and then darken as they mature. The darkening of the points occurs due to the slight difference in temperature from the body to the extremities, a cooling of a couple of degrees, but it is enough to bring out this remarkable change in appearance.

Personality

The Himalayan/Persian looks like a kitten all of its life, with its very round head and large eyes. Preferring cuddling and having people around, the Himalayan/Persian seems to blossom when given the attention its coat demands. But the Persian must be trained early on-starting at age 6-8 weeks – so that it will accept the grooming needed in later life. The desire for human attention makes Persians very responsive to positive reinforcement. They may spend hours following their humans from room to room, watching for the opportunity to jump into the next available lap.

Grooming Requirements

Like the Persian, the Himalayan is also a longhaired cat with a long, flowing coat sometimes measuring six to seven inches long. With a topcoat inclined to silkiness, and an undercoat somewhat not as woolly, the Himalayan coat is much less prone to matting. Nevertheless like all longhairs, the Himalayan requires daily grooming to help rid the coat of dead hair and ensure it is kept tangle free. A bristle brush and a wide-toothed comb are part of the essential grooming kit, with a fine toothed comb for the grooming of ear tufts and facial fur. Bathing with a tearless shampoo is essential for the show cat to keep the coat in flowing show condition.  Additional useful items are a small wire rake, often referred to as a slicker brush, which is useful for picking up stray tufts of hair, and cotton balls for cleaning up eyes and ears. Changes in diet may result in intestinal upsets and messy “pantaloons.” Bottom baths are recommended when this occurs. If this messiness is a regular occurrence, consider clipping the bottom fur very closely. It is also recommended to keep Persians on the same food, not switch quickly from one food to another. This will reduce the frequency of bottom baths.
The cat should be combed everyday starting at or around 4 weeks old. Begin with a coarse-toothed steel comb first to loosen the larger tangles. Then use a fine toothed comb to remove the snarls and loose hair. Remember to comb the entire cat. If the mats are too close to the skin and you can not comb them out do not attempt to cut them. Take the cat to your vet and let him remove them. Sometimes if they are to close the vet will use an anaesthetize on the animal and shave it.

Even if you are vigilant about grooming, your Himalayan may be prone to hairballs. These are formed when too much fur accumulates in the cat's stomach and cannot be passed through the digestive system. You may need to give your cat a laxative formula such as "Petromalt" regularly to help prevent hairballs.

Origins and History

The Himalayan is a cat whose looks have enthralled both breeder and pet owners for many years.
This fascination about the Himalayan stems from the way this breed combines the grace and elegance of the Persian, with the striking color pattern and beautiful blue eyes of the Siamese.
The Himalayan breed was started in 1930 by Dr. Clyde Keller, from The Harvard Medical School, and Virginia Cobb of Newton Cattery. They started out by breeding Siamese cats with Persian cats, trying to develop a long-haired, Persian-bodied cat with the color-points of the Siamese. They bred and crossbred until "Newton's Debutante" was born. This cat was the first cat recognized as beginning the Himalayan Breed.
The breed was accepted by CFA in 1957 as a breed standard, and in the 1980's it was merged with the Persian breed, listing them as a color variation of a Persian instead of a totally different breed. Now in order to breed CFA registered Himalayans, you must have a CFA Registered Persian and/or Himalayan for both the sire and the dam. No Siamese are allowed in the breeding line. 
They were given the name Himalayan because their coat patterns were similar to that of the rabbits with the same name. In Great Britain they were named Colourpoint Longhairs.

(Information was retreived from TheCatSite.com written by Cindy Ball)