- Oriental Shorthair
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Oriental Shorthair 
An Oriental Shorthair Blue Eyed White. The line of the nose, eyes, and middle of the ear form a triangular wedge. Alternative names Foreign Type Origin Thailand Breed standard FIFe standard CFA standard TICA standard GCCF standard AACE standard ACFA standard ACF standard CCA standard Cat (Felis catus) The Oriental Shorthair is a breed of cat. This cat combines the Siamese body with a diversity of colorings and patterns.
Contents
Oriental Shorthairs as pets
Oriental Shorthairs are intelligent, social animals who bond very closely to their people. They are inquisitive, friendly, emotional, demanding and often quite vocal. They will depend on and trust you forever if you love and take care of them. Their purr can be extremely loud when happy.
Description
The Oriental Shorthair is a member of the Siamese family. They can be found in solid colors (white, red, chocolate, cream, ebony, blue, lavender, cinnamon, or fawn), smoke (white undercoat to any of the above except white), shaded (only the hair tips colored), parti-color (red or cream splashes on any of the above), tabby (mackerel/striped, ticked, spotted, and blotched/classic), and bi-colored (any of the above, with white). In total, over 300 color and pattern combinations are possible.
In CFA, some of the pointed cats from Oriental Shorthair parents are considered any other variety (AOV), and depending on the pedigree, some compete as Colorpoints. In TICA, as well as in the majority of worldwide cat associations, these cats are considered to be and compete as Siamese.
Oriental Shorthairs, like any of the Siamese type, have almond-shaped eyes and a wedge-shaped head with large ears that fit in the wedge of the head. Their bodies are very elegant yet muscular. When seeing an Oriental Shorthair, one would never guess them to be as solid as they are.
The longhaired version of the Oriental Shorthair, Oriental Longhair, simply carries a pair of the recessive long hair gene.
Origins
'"Orientals represent a diverse group of cats that have their foundation in the Siamese breed. When the Oriental Shorthair was accepted for championship status in 1977 it rapidly became one of CFA’s most popular breeds. With the 1995 addition of the Oriental Longhair into this family of sleek, muscular felines the Oriental breed can provide a cat for just about anyone."
Bob Agresta and Joann Kultala, CFA Breed Profile: OrientalThe Siamese cat was imported to Britain from Siam (Thailand) in the later half of the 1800s. According to reports, both pointed and solid colors were imported. The gene that causes the color to be restricted to the points is a recessive gene, therefore the general population of the cats of Siam were largely self (solid) colored. When the cats from Siam were bred, the pointed cats were eventually registered as Siamese the others were referred to as "non-blue eyed siamese" or foreign shorthair. Other breeds that were developed from the moggies of Siam include the Havana Brown and the Korat.
It was not until 1977 that the Oriental Shorthair was accepted for competition into the CFA. In 1985, the CFA recognized the bicolor oriental shorthair. The bicolor is any one of the accepted oriental shorthair color patterns with the addition of white to the belly, face, and legs/paws.
Patterns
"With over 300 different colors and patterns to choose from, you’re guaranteed to find an Oriental that will tickle your fancy. Imagine a Siamese wearing a head to toe coat in white, red, cream, ebony, blue, chestnut, lavender, cinnamon or fawn. These are our solids. For a sparkling undercoat, stir in the silver gene (to all but the white), and you have a smoke Oriental. Perhaps, instead, you'd like the color restricted to the tips of the hair. For this, we have the shadeds to whet your appetite. Paint splashes of red and/or cream on any of these coats and you have a parti-color."
Bob Agresta and Joann Kultala, CFA Breed Profile: Oriental- Solid
- Coat color is the uniform across the entire cat. Each hair shaft should be the same color from shaft to tip and be free of banding and tipping.
- Tabby coat pattern
- Tabby patterns include ticked, spotted, mackerel, and classic. Each hair shaft should have a band of color around the middle of the hair shaft.
- Bicolor pattern
- The bicolor pattern is created by the addition of a white spotting gene to any of the other accepted colors/patterns. The cat will have white on its belly, legs,and an inverted V on the face.
- Shaded pattern
- A Shaded cat will have a white undercoat with the tips being colored.
- Smoke pattern
- The hair shaft will have a narrow band of white at the base which can only be seen when the hair is parted.
- Parti-Color
- A parti-color is essentially a patches of red/cream. patches may be well defined blotches of color to merled. This color is referred to as Tortoiseshell coat pattern in non-pedigreed cats.
Pointed As the breed originated from Siamese you can have pointed Oriental Shorthairs. Pointed meaning the colouring is on the extremities(face, ears, tail, feet/legs) with shading in the body as the cat gets older. CFA doesn't allow pointed Oriental Shorthairs to be shown. CCA does allow pointed Oriental Shorthairs to be shown.
Oriental Shorthair varieties
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Ebony Solid Male
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Ebony White Bicolor male
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Ebony Silver Ticked Tabby and White female
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Ebony Smoke and White female
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Ebony Silver Ticked Tabby male
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Blue and White female
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An Oriental Shorthair ebony-ticked tabby
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Ebony White Bicolor male
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Litter of kittens with mother.
Categories:- Cat breeds
- Cat breeds originating in Thailand
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