The Oriental Longhair is a variety of domestic cat. It is closely related to the

Oriental Shorthair The Oriental Shorthair is a breed of domestic cat that is developed from and closely related to the Siamese cat. It maintains the modern Siamese head and body type but appears in a wide range of coat colors and patterns. Like the Siamese, Ori ...

. The Oriental Longhair in some registries, such as

The International Cat Association The International Cat Association (TICA) is considered the world's largest genetic cat registry. Originally a North American organization, it now has a worldwide presence. The organization has a genetic registry for pedigreed and household pet cat ...

(TICA), is a separate

breed A breed is a specific group of domestic animals having homogeneous appearance (phenotype), homogeneous behavior, and/or other characteristics that distinguish it from other organisms of the same species. In literature, there exist several slig ...

. In others, such as the

Cat Fanciers' Association The Cat Fanciers' Association (CFA) was established in the United States in 1906. The CFA is currently the world's largest registry of pedigreed cats. Originally headquartered in Manasquan, New Jersey the CFA moved to Alliance, Ohio in 2010. ...

(CFA), it is a division, along with the short-haired variety, of a merged breed, the Oriental. With no globally recognized naming convention, other

cat fanciers The cat (''Felis catus'') is a domestic species of small carnivorous mammal. It is the only domesticated species in the family Felidae and is commonly referred to as the domestic cat or house cat to distinguish it from the wild members o ...

may refer to this type as Foreign Longhair or Mandarin. It was formerly known as the British Angora before being renamed in 2002 by British cat fanciers in order to avoid confusion with the

Turkish Angora The Turkish Angora ( tr, Ankara kedisi, "Ankara cat") is a breed of domestic cat. Turkish Angoras are one of the ancient, natural breeds of cat, having originated in central Anatolia (modern-day Turkey, Ankara region). The breed has been document ...

Description

Oriental Longhairs feature a long, tubular,

Oriental The Orient is a term for the East in relation to Europe, traditionally comprising anything belonging to the Eastern world. It is the antonym of ''Occident'', the Western World. In English, it is largely a metonym for, and coterminous with, the ...

-style body but with a longer silky coat. The range of possible coat colours includes everything from self-coloured (black, blue, chocolate, lilac, cinnamon, caramel, fawn, red, cream and apricot),

tortoiseshell Tortoiseshell or tortoise shell is a material produced from the shells of the larger species of tortoise and turtle, mainly the hawksbill sea turtle, which is a critically endangered species according to the IUCN Red List largely because of its ...

, smoke (silver undercoat), shaded or tipped,

tabby A tabby is any domestic cat (''Felis catus'') with a distinctive 'M'-shaped marking on its forehead; stripes by its eyes and across its cheeks, along its back, and around its legs and tail; and (differing by tabby type), characteristic striped, d ...

or white. The eyes are almond shaped. The preferred eye color for Oriental Longhairs is green; except for the whites, which may have green or blue eyes, or be odd-eyed (two different colored eyes). If an Oriental Longhair is bred to an Oriental shorthair or a Siamese, the kittens will all be short-haired. This is because the gene for long hair is

recessive In genetics, dominance is the phenomenon of one variant (allele) of a gene on a chromosome masking or overriding the effect of a different variant of the same gene on the other copy of the chromosome. The first variant is termed dominant and t ...

. The kittens will, however, be a ''variant'', a carrier of the long-hair gene. If such a "variant" is bred to a cat with long hair, or to another variant, they may produce both short-haired and long-haired kittens. Variants may have a slightly longer coat than Oriental Shorthairs, but this is not always the case.

Behavior

The Oriental Longhair is an active cat that likes to play. If the owner does not have the time to do so, it will find a toy to play on its own. This breed enjoys jumping and does it really well, usually without breaking any objects due to its agility and elegance. The oriental longhair is extremely intelligent and are ideal companions for people who like their pets always around. Some have been known to follow their owners everywhere. They are very loyal and most get along well with other cats, especially if they are of the same breed group. These cats are not adapted to a life of living alone and prefer an interactive home. Some Oriental tend to gravitate to one person in the home. Oriental Longhairs, like their cousin breed the Siamese, have loud and expressive voices that are used often. They are smart cats, with some being quite willful in getting their own way. Many Orientals take to leash training quickly if started young. They have been known to open cabinets, doors and even refrigerators. This breed group is often recommended for more experienced cat keepers.

References

External links

Iams website: Oriental Longhair catOriental Longhair Colour Overview (with photos)
{{Cat nav Cat breeds