Breed · Cat
Chartreux
A French blue-grey breed with a long history and a near-extinction in the twentieth century.
Chartreux are famously silent — many barely vocalise at all — and famously attached to one member of the household. They are heavy, slow-moving, dense-coated cats that observe more than they participate. If the Siamese is the cat that tells you everything, this is the one that tells you nothing and follows you anyway.
At a glance
- Lifespan
- 12–16 years
- Adult weight
- 4–7 kg
- Daily attention
- 30 min
- Alone time tolerated
- Well
- Grooming
- Weekly
- Noise level
- Almost silent
- With children
- Good
- With other pets
- Generally easy
- Indoor only
- Recommended
Colours · 1 listed
One colour only — blue-grey, wool-textured, with copper to gold eyes. That is the breed.
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Blue-grey
Right for you if
- You want a genuinely quiet cat.
- You are out at work and want a cat that copes.
- You want a one-person cat and you are that person.
- You will groom a dense double coat weekly.
Wrong for you if
- You want a talkative, demonstrative cat.
- You want a cat that loves everyone equally.
- You want an athlete — these are deliberate, heavy cats.
- You want a kitten that stays small.
What to ask about
- No breed DNA test exists for hypertrophic cardiomyopathy outside the Maine Coon and Ragdoll, so ask whether the parents have been scanned by a cardiologist and when.1
- The double coat is wool-textured and does mat, particularly at the ruff. Weekly is enough; nothing is not.
- They are heavy for their size and put on weight easily. Weigh rather than eyeball.
Sources
- Kittleson MD, Meurs KM, Harris SP. The genetic basis of hypertrophic cardiomyopathy in cats and humans. Journal of Veterinary Cardiology 2015; 17 Suppl 1:S53-73. International doi:10.1016/j.jvc.2015.03.001 PMID 26776594 Review confirming the two known feline HCM mutations are one each in the Maine Coon and Ragdoll. It does not establish how common the disease is.
Every source here was checked, not recalled. Where this page makes a health statement and no source appears against it, that is not an oversight we have hidden — it means the claim is not yet sourced, and the build reports how many are in that state.
Availability, registration and keeping requirements differ from place to place. Check the rules where you live before you commit to any animal — we describe animals, not law.