Other Name
The Oriental is a natural athlete — long, lithe, svelte. He is lively and fun-loving, always into everything. Orientals like to supervise all family activities and offer running verbal commentary on how things should be done.
You might think that the Oriental is a recent development, but written mentions of a solid-colored Siamese cat date to the late nineteenth century. It wasn’t until the 1950s that European breeders began to develop the cat into a recognized breed, through crossing Siamese with Russian Blues, British Shorthairs, Abyssinians and domestic shorthairs, then crossing the offspring back to Siamese. A few American breeders showed interest in the cats and formed Oriental Shorthair International, a club that achieved recognition for the breed from the Cat Fanciers Association in the 1970s. The increase in recognized colors and patterns helped to catapult the breed’s popularity. The Oriental is the tenth most popular breed recognized by the CFA.
