Oriental Longhair
The Oriental Longhair, formerly known as
the British Angora, is a breed of cat that features a tubular,
Siamese-style body (known in the cat fancy as oriental type),
but with a longer coat than the short-haired Siamese.
The coat can also come in a variety of colors and patterns,
including tabby, "tortie", and solid.
In 2002, the British Angora was renamed Oriental Longhair by
British cat fancies. This avoided confusion with the Turkish
Angora. With no globally recognised naming convention, other
cat fancies refer to this type as Javanese, Foreign Longhair or
Mandarin.
The Angora is the old name for the Oriental Longhair (European
Javanese, Dutch Mandarin) British breed of cat.
This Angora name was dropped by British Cat Registries
in 2002 due to confusion with the Turkish Angora and bring it
into line with Oriental Longhair elsewhere.
They have the body type and nature of an Oriental cat -
lean, sleek, intelligent and inquisitive - and a silky
medium-length coat which is much longer and thicker than that
of a traditional oriental cat or Siamese.
Oriental Longhairs can be any of the standard shorthair
colours.
The range of possible coat colours includes everything from
self-coloured (black, blue, chocolate, lilac, cinnamon,
caramel, fawn, red, cream and apricot), torty, smoke (silver
undercoat), shaded or tipped, tabby or white.
All Oriental Longhairs have green eyes, 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 a shorthaired oriental 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.
The Oriental Longhair is analogous to the CFA Balinese and
Javanese, and the TICA Oriental Longhair breeds in the United
States.
The British "Angora" should not be confused with the Turkish
Angora, one of the most ancient breeds of longhaired cats.
Originating from the mountainous regions of Turkey, the Turkish
Angora is recognized by many official registries including CFA
and TICA.
The Turkish Angora has a svelte, but not Oriental style,
foreign body type. It does not come in pointed colors. It is a
refined and elegant cat, with large ears set high and tight on
the head, and offering smaller boning than the more well-known
Persian cat.
The Turkish Angora is a natural breed of cat, and is
prohibited from outcrossing to any other breed, unlike the
British "Angora" (which has since dropped the name due to
pending GCCF recognition of the Turkish Angora).
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