Питомник донских сфинксов и ориенталов

The Oriental may well be the most colorful cat breed on the planet. This breed has the same svelte chassis, silky fur and chatty personality as the Siamese, but comes clothed in myriad colors. Nor is the Oriental bound to the Siamese's point-restricted pattern - the breed has many patterns from which to choose. This breed is growing in popularity and appeals to the cat-lover who wants the elegant Siamese body type and outgoing temperament but with fresh, colorful packaging.

History and Origin

The Oriental is a deliberately created Siamese hybrid. Breeders wanted to develop a breed that looked and acted like the Siamese but came in a wider range of colors and was not confined to the pointed pattern. First in Britain in the 1950s and then in America in the 1960s and early 1970s, breeders set out to create a new look by crossing Siamese cats with American shorthairs, Russian blues, Burmese and Abyssinians.

Orientals are a man-made breed that originated in the 1950s in England. After World War II the number of breeders and breeding cats was reduced. Some of the remaining breeders became quite creative as they rebuilt their breeding programs. Many modern breeds developed from the crosses done at that time. One such breed is the Oriental Shorthair/Longhair. Russian Blues, British Shorthairs, Abyssinians, and regular domestic cats were crossed to Siamese. The resulting cats were not pointed and were crossed back to Siamese. In surprisingly few generations, there were cats that were indistinguishable from Siamese in all ways except color. As the Siamese pointed color is genetically recessive, pointed kittens were also produced. The best Siamese colored cats from these crosses went back into the Siamese breed, enlarging and strengthening the Siamese gene pool. The non-pointed cats were the ancestors of our modern Orientals.

Initially, each color was developed and named as a separate breed: such as Foreign White, Havana (chocolate), and the Oriental Spotted Tabby. Soon it became apparent that there were too many possible colors to have a breed for each. All the non-pointed cats were grouped into one breed, the Oriental Shorthair/Longhair. Orientals were imported into the United States in the 1970s. New crosses between American Shorthairs to top show Siamese created yet more colors. Interestingly, "Havanas" were imported into America early on but evolved into a distinct breed called the Havana Brown, which are quite different from solid chocolate Orientals.

Orientals want to spend every waking moment with their owners -- from folding laundry to loading the dishwasher. Owners of this breed soon find that they have a loving shadow. This is not a breed that should be left alone for long periods, as it can become depressed and destructive. Orientals love heat and will race to find a seat on the heating vent or above the dryer. They also like to climb and will not be satisfied until they've come as close to the ceiling as possible. Orientals are "talkers" much like their Siamese cousins, and will carry out long, involved conversations with their owners and each other.