The Oriental Shorthair in a silky, semi-long coat: slender, with huge ears, in nearly every colour but points.
The Oriental Longhair is simply the Oriental Shorthair with a longer coat. It has the same slender body, the same big ears, green eyes and chatty nature. It just wears a fine, semi-long coat and a plumed tail. It has many names. In Europe it is also called Mandarin, some registries call it Javanese, and in Britain it was the British Angora until 2002.
Very people-oriented and always wants to be near you.
After playing it likes to curl up on its favourite person's lap.
Plays like a kitten all its life, and many learn to fetch.
Lively and agile. It climbs, jumps and wants something to do every day.
A real talker with a loud voice that it uses a lot.
Clever. It quickly learns tricks and fetch, and works out how cupboards open too.
Not shy, but sensitive. With visitors it may need a little time.
Usually fine with older children who play with it, less so in a busy home with toddlers.
Often gets on with other pets, but little is known about dogs. Introduce them slowly.
Loves other cats, ideally an Oriental or Siamese friend.
Dislikes being alone. A second cat or someone at home helps a lot.
Does well indoors if it can climb, play and has company.
The Javanese comes from the island of Java.
No. Javanese is just a name registries use. Some mean the Oriental Longhair, while America's CFA means a coloured Balinese with points.
A longhaired Oriental is an Angora.
No. In Britain it was called Angora for a while, but that got it mixed up with the Turkish Angora, a different breed. So it was renamed in 2002.
Two shorthaired parents never have a longhaired kitten.
They can. The long-hair gene can stay hidden. If both parents carry it, some of the kittens can still have long hair.
First came the Siamese, then the Oriental Shorthair: the same cat without points, in all sorts of colours. Once breeders had a longhaired Siamese, the Balinese, others wanted that silky coat on the Oriental too. They crossed Orientals with Balinese and other longhaired cats. The long-hair gene hides, so the first kittens still had short coats. Only their kittens could grow long hair.
Siamese and solid-coloured cats of the same type reach Britain. The pointed Siamese becomes popular and the solid ones are forgotten.
British breeders cross Siamese with other cats. This gives the solid-coloured Orientals.
America's CFA gives the Oriental Shorthair championship status.
Breeders cross Orientals with Balinese and other longhaired cats. The first kittens still have short hair.
The European federation FIFe recognises the Oriental Longhair.
CFA accepts the longhaired Oriental and from then on calls the breed simply Oriental, with a shorthair and a longhair division.
The Oriental Longhair gets championship status in CFA.
In Britain the British Angora is renamed Oriental Longhair, so nobody mixes it up with the Turkish Angora any more.
Long, slender and elegant, with fine bones and firm muscles. The body of the Oriental Shorthair, just in a silky, longer coat.
The same cat with a very short coat. Shorthairs and longhairs may be bred together, so one litter can have both.
Recognition: One standard for both in FIFe, one Oriental breed with two divisions in CFA.
The longhaired Siamese, with points and blue eyes. The Oriental Longhair has no points. Breeders may use the Balinese in their crosses.
Recognition: Its own breed in the same FIFe standard as the Oriental Longhair.
An Oriental Longhair with white: a little, about half, or nearly all white with colour only on the head and tail.
Recognition: A colour of the breed in FIFe, WCF and CFA. GCCF treats the Oriental bicolour as a separate breed.
Cat registries write colours as an EMS code. The letter is the colour (n black, a blue, d red, f tortie), s means silver or smoke, y golden, and the numbers tell you about white (01–09), shading (11, 12), the tabby pattern (22–25) or colourpoint (33).
Black (ebony)(n)
Chocolate (havana)(b)
Red spotted tabby(d 24)
Red classic tabby(d 22)
Chocolate spotted tabby(b 24)
Chocolate smoke(bs)In WCF van and harlequin can be registered but not shown. GCCF treats the Oriental bicolour as a separate breed.
FIFe and WCF have no pointed, shaded, golden, caramel or apricot Oriental Longhairs. Seal point is not allowed in CFA either; CFA does allow a few other point colours, and GCCF allows shaded, caramel and apricot.
CFA counts over 150 colours and patterns in the Oriental, and over 600 combinations once you add short or long hair.
Britain's GCCF counts 816 possible mixes of colour, pattern and coat length in the Oriental cats.
Oriental Longhair, Mandarin, Javanese, Foreign Longhair: the breed has another name in every country and registry.
Mate a longhair with a shorthair and every kitten has short hair; mate such a kitten with a longhair later and about half get long hair.
A neutered Oriental Longhair usually grows a much fuller coat than an entire male.
Usually about 12 to 16 years. There is no study of the Oriental Longhair itself; most Oriental-type cats reach their mid-teens.
The light-sensing cells in the eye slowly wear out, so the cat sees less and can go blind. A kitten only gets it if it inherits the gene from both parents; carriers stay healthy.
How it is found: DNA test of the parents. Carriers are only mated with cats that are clear.
A faulty protein builds up in the liver and sometimes other organs, which then work less well. Mostly young cats, from about 8 months to 7 years, get it. There is no cure. In an old Dutch study about 1 in 16 Siamese and Oriental cats examined had it.
How it is found: There is no DNA test. Breeders do not use affected cats or their relatives.
Red, sore gums and bad teeth are common. In a large Finnish survey about 4 in 10 cats of the Siamese and Oriental group had a tooth or mouth problem, and about 1 in 5 had inflamed gums.
How it is found: There is no test. Have the teeth checked at every vet visit and brush them if you can.
Little work for a longhair. With no undercoat the coat hardly mats, so a weekly comb is usually enough. Check the big ears now and then too.
Tall cat trees, play together every day and hunting games. Many Orientals love a game of fetch.
It does not like being alone. If you are out a lot, keep two cats, so it always has a friend.
Good cat food that suits its age. It needs no special diet.
Not hypoallergenic. It sheds little, but that is not the same as fewer allergens.
Checked on 21 October 2026
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