Oriental Shorthair Cat

A comparatively recent development, Oriental Shorthairs already run the gamut and patterns. Their sleek lines, intelligence and extroverted personalities come largely from the foundation of Siamese on which they were built. Did you know that your Oriental Shorthair will be happier if you monitor its weight and body condition and adjust feeding amounts accordingly.

History

In the 1950s, a British cat fancier created a brown shorthair with green eyes and a Siamese body. Photographs of two such kittens appeared in the August 1954 issue of the British journal Our Cats. At first the chestnut brown kittens were called Havanas, according to some authorities, after the rabbit of the same color. Others say they were names after Havana tobacco. When the governing Council of the Cat fancy in Britain recognized these chestnut brown cats for championship competition in 1958, the name Chestnut Brown Foreign was chosen for the breed. In 1962, another British breeder and geneticist began working to produce a blue eyed white cat of the same foreign type. These cats were not deaf, as some other blue eyed cats are, and they were accorded championship status in Britain under the name Foreign white.

Peter and Vicki Markstein, two of the better known Siamese breeders in the USA, were so taken with the Foreign Whites and similar cats that in 1972, they decided to seek acceptance in the USA for all foreign shorthairs as one breed, to be called the oriental shorthair. The foundation stock for the oriental shorthair was the Siamese, from which comes the body type, plus American shorthairs and Abyssinians, from which come the colors and patterns. The Oriental shorthair was first accepted for championship competition in the USA in 1977 and all the other USA registries have since followed suit. In other countries, these cats are slightly smaller and are regarded as separate breeds called Orientals or Foreigns of various colors.

Description

The body is like that of the Siamese, sleek, slender and refined in every respect. The medium sized torso is graceful, long and svelte, combining fine bones and firm muscles. The shoulders and hips continue the tubular lines and the hips are never wider than the shoulders. The abdomen is tight and firm. The head is a long, tapering wedge, starting at the nose and flaring out in straight lines to the tips of the ears to form a triangle, with no break at the whiskers. The muzzle is fine and wedge shaped. The tip of the chin lines up with the tip of the nose in the same vertical plane, neither receding nor excessively massive. The nose leather should harmonize with the coat color.

The almond shaped eyes are medium size and slant upward from the nose, following the line of the head and ears. They should not be crossed and any hint of a crossed eye is ground for disqualification on the show bench. The eyes are usually green, but white Orientals may have blue, green or odd eyes (one blue and one green). Ears are strikingly large and pointed, and open at the base. The legs are long and slim with dainty, small, oval paws. The paw pads should harmonize with the coat color. The long, thin tail tapers to a fine point and has no kinks.

The Oriental comes in both shorthair and longhair varieties. The short, fine coat of the Oriental Shorthair is glossy and lies close to body. An occasional combing to remove dead hair and a wipe over with a damp chamois to make the coat gleam are all that are needed by way of grooming. The medium length coat of the Oriental longhair is fine and silky with no downy undercoat. It lies close to the body, except on the tail, which is long and feathery. More frequent combing is necessary to keep this type of coat in good condition.

Varieties

Both shorthair and longhair varieties come in many patterns and more than 300 colors. These include the normal solid colors, as well as chestnut, lavender, cinnamon and fawn, plus tabby patterns and spotted coats. With the addition of the silver gene, they also come in smokes of all colors. It would not be possible to list all the color combinations, but a few of the most popular are:

White – pure white, with pale pink nose leather, dark pink paw pads and sapphire eyes.

Blue – even blue right to the root of each hair, lighter shades preferred in the USA, with blue nose leather and paw pads and green eyes.

Ebony – pure jet black right to the root of each hair, with black nose leather, black or brown paw pads and emerald eyes.

Silver tabby – silver background with dense black markings, black or brick red nose leather rimmed with black, black paw pads and green eyes.

Lavender tabby (lilac in Britain) – beige background with lavender gray markings, faded lavender or pink nose leather rimmed with lavender gray, faded lavender paw pads and green eyes.

Red ticked tabby – bright apricot background with deep rich red markings, each hair is ticked with shades of apricot and red, pink or pink rimmed with red nose leather and blue paw pads. Green eyes are preferred in the USA, green to copper in Britain. The face, legs and tail must show distinct tabby striping and there should be at least one distinct necklace.

Ebony ticked tabby (brown in Britain) – warm coppery brown background with dense black markings, each hair ticked with shades of brown and black, black nose leather or pink rimmed with black, brown or black paw pads, eyes may be rimmed with black and green is the preferred color. The face, legs and tail must show distinct tabby striping and there should be at least one distinct necklace.

Chestnut spotted – warm coppery brown background shading to creamy ivory on the undersides, with clearly defined markings of dark brown in a classic tabby pattern on the head and numerous round or oval spots on the back and legs, spots or broken rings on the tail, brick red nose leather, black or dark brown paw pads and green eyes.

Smoke – pure white undercoat with the hair of the top coat tipped in one or more darker colors, the nose leather and paw pads are in keeping with the contrast color and green eyes. Any color is possible as the contrast color.

With such a tremendous range of possibilities, it is no wonder that these cats are becoming so popular worldwide. The only limit seems to be the imagination of the breeders.

Temperament

Oriental cats are intelligent, gentle and love company. They dislike being left alone and can be mischievous if bored and lonely. They will do anything to get your attention and remain playful, high spirited and affectionate well into maturity. The queens have large litters and are careful and loving mothers. The kittens do not change color as they mature as Siamese kittens do.

The ancestors of the Oriental Shorthairs are, like the Siamese, from Thailand. They are, in fact, just like Siamese cats but will all over coat color and pattern rather than the Siamese colorpoints on face, ears, tail and legs.

The eyes of the Orientals are usually green rather than the Blue of the Siamese, although in the solid White, they may be blue or orange (though the British standard rejects teh orange eyed). Virtually all color and pattern variations are represented, except, of course, the colorpoints, making this one of the most diverse of all cat breeds and groups.

A red oriental can show the tabby markings that come with its red genes, but preferably no white hairs at all. You can see this cat’s Siamese heritage in its large ears and long, straight nose.

In the United Kingdom and Europe, the self colors were originally known as Foreign Shorthairs but the other varieties have always been known as Orientals. Each different color was given a separate breed category to enable the cats to be entered at shows, as they were excluded from the Siamese classes. In the United States in the 1970s, all the variations were grouped together in the one category of Oriental Shorthairs, and this broad term is now universal. However, the British cat fancy still classifies the different colors and patterns as distinct breeds. There are four fundamental sub divisions: solid colors, shaded, smokes and tabbies.

A wedge shaped face, both in profile and from the front, is characteristic. This Black Oriental Shorthair also shows the long legs and neat oval paws so typical of breed.

The Oriental Shorthair tyoe was developed during the 1960s by mating Siamese with indigenous cats such as the British, European and American Shorthairs. They have since only been outcrossed to Siamese, so have a very similar temperament. They enjoy human company generally, and do not like being left alone for too long. In many ways, their response to humans is dog like, they may run to greet their owners on their return home, and need to be played with. Their athletic physique has also led to canine comparisons, their length of body and they way they move is like the feline version of a whippet complete with whip like tail.

The coat of the Havana is a gloriously warm brown. It is a purely Oriental cat, unlike the Havana Brown of the United States.

Apart from a wide range of self colors, the Oriental Shorthair comes in every shade and pattern of tabby. This chocolate classic tabby may have a Siamese and a good quality, but non pedigreed, Tabby in its distant ancestry.

This black on silver spotted tabby was once known in the United Kingdom as the Egyptian Mau. Now it is classified as an Oriental Shorthair, and the Mau is quite a different breed.

A spotted tabby deminstrates that the back legs of the Oriental shorthair are longer than its forelegs, and that the general body line suggests slender strength.

Oriental Shorthair Cat Breed Information

Coat – short, soft, fine, lying flat along the body

Eyes – almond shaped, slanted, green with no flecks (except Foreign White – brilliant blue)

Other features – loud voice as in Siamese, large ears, big personality

Grooming – easy, can be polished with soft glove

Temperament – intelligent, lively, inquisitive, active, need company