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About the Minuet

Minuet cat
Photo by William Parker, CC BY-SA 4.0
View Minuet breedersSee Minuet kittens

No breeder is on record here yet. Portugal’s FIFe member club does not list this breed in its breeder directory at all, so an absence here says nothing about whether anyone breeds it in Portugal.

Typical life span
9-15 years
Size
Small — from its typical weight
Weight
2.3-4 kg
Height
18-23 cm
Registry status
Recognised by TICA
Breed group
Short/Long-hair
Origin
United States
Known hereditary risks
4 documented conditions, with the test for each

Formerly the Napoleon. Dwarfism-linked: ask what the breeder screens for.

About

What is a Minuet?

Small to medium cat with short legs and round Persian-type face. Also known as Napoleon cat.

Minuet history and origins

Developed in the 1990s by crossing Munchkins with Persians, Exotic Shorthairs, and Himalayans. Named Napoleon for short stature. TICA recognized breed.

Minuet appearance and size

Typically 2.3-4 kg and 18-23 cm at the shoulder — published as one range rather than separately for males and females.

Minuet temperament and personality

Generally described as charming, gentle, curious, extremely affectionate and people-oriented.

That is the breed in general, not a promise about one animal. Ask the breeder what their own line is like, and meet the parents before you decide.

Breed reference from The Cat API.

Pros & cons

Pros & cons for the Minuet

What you get with the Minuet

  • Commonly described as: “Charming, Gentle, Curious, Extremely affectionate”

What you are taking on

  • 2 serious inherited conditions are documented, mainly in eyes and kidneys & urinary. The health guide tab has the test to ask for on each.

Drawn from sources rather than written as an opinion — cited health research, the registry’s own standard, and peer-reviewed longevity. The Cat API; TICA — Minuet breed page. One breeder’s animals can differ from any of it, and an empty column means we hold nothing for that side rather than that there is nothing to say.

Characteristics

TICA divisions

TICA lists the Minuet in these divisions. They are the registry's own groupings — usually hair length — not a list of colours: no registry we hold publishes one. Ask a breeder what colours their line produces.

  • Longhair
  • Talls

Temperament

CharmingGentleCuriousAffectionatePeople-oriented

Breed-level information from The Cat API. It describes the Minuet in general; any individual animal can differ.

Health guide

Health & screening guide for the Minuet

Known hereditary risks for the Minuet breed, and the specific documentation to request from any breeder before paying a deposit. A responsible breeder will have these readily available; deflection is a red flag.

4 conditions documented

Health checklist (PDF)

Bones & joints

Chondrodysplasia (short legs) — inherited via the Munchkin side

MonitorInherent to the breed

The short-legged 'Standard' Minuet carries the same dominant Munchkin leg-shortening gene, with the same lethal-when-homozygous inheritance; the long-legged 'Nonstandard'/'Talls' Minuet does not have short legs but can still carry and pass on the gene. The welfare question this raises (see the Munchkin entry in this dataset) applies equally here.

What to ask for

No DNA test exists for this gene. Leg length is visually obvious; ask whether the cat is Standard (short-legged) or Nonstandard/Talls, and, for Standards, ask about the breeding cat's joint health.

1 source

Eyes

Progressive retinal atrophy, Persian-derived type (PRA-pd)

Serious

A recessive mutation causing retinal thinning and progressive blindness, with photoreceptor loss starting around 5 weeks of age. UC Davis names Napoleon (the Minuet's former name, still used in its catalogue) explicitly among the breeds this test applies to.

What to ask for

UC Davis VGL PRA-pd DNA test on both parents.

1 source

Breathing

Mild brachycephalic conformation — tear overflow and narrowed nostrils

MonitorInherent to the breed

The Minuet's round 'baby-doll' face is deliberately kept less extreme than a modern show Persian's, but TICA's own buyer advice tells prospective owners to check that a kitten's parents do not have teary eyes or excessively narrowed nasal passages — the same tear-duct and airway issues brachycephalic Persians face, at a lower level.

What to ask for

No DNA test. Ask to see the parents in person or on video, and ask directly about tear staining and breathing sounds.

1 source

Kidneys & urinary

Polycystic kidney disease (PKD1) — inherited via the Persian side

Serious

The Minuet is a deliberate Munchkin x Persian-group cross, and TICA's own breed page states plainly that, given the breed's 'heavy Persian background,' a Minuet's parents should be certified clear of PKD. Affected cats develop kidney cysts that enlarge with age and can lead to renal failure.

What to ask for

UC Davis VGL PKD1 DNA test on both parents — TICA names this clearance certificate explicitly for this breed.

2 sources

Gallery

No photographs yet

This is where Minuet owners’ own photographs will go, from the pet profiles they keep here. Nobody has added one to a public page yet.

A photograph in a pet profile stays private to its owner. We will not put one here unless they ask us to.

Kittens

No kittens listed right now

No Minuet breeder has a record on this platform yet, so there is nothing to list. That is a gap in our coverage, not a fact about the breed.

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