The Oriental Longhair is a breed of domestic cat. It is closely related to the Oriental Shorthair.
The Oriental Longhair is analogous to the CFA Balinese and Javanese, and the TICA Oriental Longhair breeds in the United States. With no globally recognized naming convention, other cat fanciers 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.
Description
Oriental Longhairs feature a long, tubular, Oriental-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, smoke (silver undercoat), shaded or tipped, tabby 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. However, if these kittens are reintroduced into a breeding program as adults, approximately half of their kittens will have long coats.
Temperament
The oriental longhair is a really active cat that likes to play a lot. 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, without breaking any objects due to its agility and elegance. The oriental longhairs are extremely intelligent and are ideal companions for people who like their pets always around since they will follow their owners everywhere. They are very loyal and get along well with other cats especially if they are of the same breed; they even cuddle with each other. These cats remain playful through their adulthood. These cats are not adapted to a life of living with quiet people and they get along best with other cats, children and dogs.
References
External links
- Iams website: Oriental Longhair cat
- Oriental Longhair Colour Overview (with photos)
