The head is somewhat rounded with typically chubby and prominent cheeks. The nose is straight with a gentle dip between the eyes. The muzzle is slightly longer than broad with rounded whisker pads. The ears are medium in size and relatively high set. The eyes are large and round.
The neck is short and strong.

The body is compact and medium long, with sturdy bone structure and a broad rounded chest. The Cymric gives a solid and substantial appearance. The flanks are deep. The back and rump are rounded, giving the Cymric that specific rounded appearance.
The legs are strong and the thighs of hind legs are very strong, hind legs are noticeable longer than the front legs, thus the rump appears higher than the shoulders.

The Cymric has no tail.

The coat is medium long, becoming gradually longer from the shoulders to the back. The coat is quite dense and well padded (pillow effect). The breeches, the hairs at the abdomen and the frill are longer than the hairs on the body. The frill is quite long and looks like a bib.

See also the shorthaired variant - the Manx.

History

The literature is not very clear. Some say that the Cymric co-existed naturally together with the Manx (the shorthair version) on the Isle of Man. Some claim that it is a man-made breed, where Persians had been crossed with Manx in the 1930s (see Richard H. Gebhardt, former CFA president, in The Complete Cat Book).
Cymrics appeared on cat shows around 1963, and were first recognized by CCA in the late 1970s and by TICA in 1979.
In 2005 the Cymric was also recognized by FIFe.

Temperament

The Cymric shares the Manx’s pleasant temperament. They are even-tempered, calm, intelligent and generally very affectionate to their human companions. The Cymric makes a good family pet and gets along with other companion animals very well. They like to play and are fascinated by water. They are remarkable jumpers because of their powerful hind legs, no shelf is too high for them.

Grooming

Because of the semi-long coat and thick undercoat, some grooming is required. However, the fur does not mat and therefore doesn’t require as much grooming as other longhaired cats. But the dense coat needs combing with a good quality steel comb, at least two or three times a week to remove dead hairs.