Is the Oriental the Right Breed For You?
Do you love the temperament of the Siamese cat breed, but wish you could find a cat with a very different coat color? If so, the exuberantly affectionate Oriental is the perfect breed for you. These charming cats are closely related to the Siamese and are even considered to be Siamese by many cat associations. However, the Cat Fanciers Association considers these cats to be a distinct breed that just happens to be descended from the Siamese cat breed.
The Oriental was originally a shorthair breed, but longhairs are now available, as well. While the Oriental breed is said to have been founded in Great Britain in the nineteen fifties, Siamese with a wide range of colors have been around for hundreds of years. In the early nineteen hundreds, breeders decided they only wanted Siamese to come in the traditional point colors, and the color variations became much less common. In the nineteen fifties, there was a renewed interest in the colored Siamese, and British breeders began to call these cats Foreigns. However, American breeders called them Orientals, and British breeders decided to go with that name to make things a bit less confusing.
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