- Even in colour, without tabby markings or shading in non-agouti varieties.
- Whiskers and eyebrows in harmony with the body colour.
4 breeders are on record here.
Medium-sized, elegant cat with long tubular body, large ears, and wedge-shaped head. Siamese body type in hundreds of colors.
Developed from Siamese in the 1950s-60s by breeders wanting Siamese type in non-pointed colors. Available in over 300 color combinations. Same personality as Siamese.
Generally described as energetic, affectionate, intelligent, social, playful and curious.
That is the breed in general, not a promise about one animal. Ask the breeder what their own line is like, and meet the parents before you decide.
Breed reference from The Cat API.
Drawn from sources, not opinion: FIFe breed standard; The Cat API; PubMed — Generalized AA-amyloidosis in Siamese and Oriental cats. An empty column means we hold nothing for that side, not that there is nothing to say.
The Oriental Shorthair standard is published by the FIFe (Fédération Internationale Féline), the international federation of pedigree-cat clubs, and it is what show judges apply. This section sums up what it says about coat and colour. It does not assess any one animal: use it to know what to ask the breeder.
Very short, fine, glossy, silky and lying close to the body.
Almost no undercoat.
Shortened from FIFe standard OSH — each label is the standard’s own wording with the verdict lifted into the tag beside it. Read the full clause at source. FIFe lists this standard’s last modification as 2025. Text read on 31 Aug 2026.
A tick means FIFe recognises that colour in at least one variety with that pattern. It does not mean every combination is recognised.
| Colour | Solid | Tabby | Smoke | Silver | With white |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Black | Accepted | Accepted | Accepted | Accepted | Accepted |
| Blue | Accepted | Accepted | Accepted | Accepted | Accepted |
| Chocolate | Accepted | Accepted | Accepted | Accepted | Accepted |
| Lilac | Accepted | Accepted | Accepted | Accepted | Accepted |
| Cinnamon | Accepted | Accepted | Accepted | Accepted | Accepted |
| Fawn | Accepted | Accepted | Accepted | Accepted | Accepted |
| Red | Accepted | Accepted | Accepted | Accepted | Accepted |
| Cream | Accepted | Accepted | Accepted | Accepted | Accepted |
| Black tortie | Accepted | Accepted | Accepted | Accepted | Accepted |
| Blue tortie | Accepted | Accepted | Accepted | Accepted | Accepted |
| Chocolate tortie | Accepted | Accepted | Accepted | Accepted | Accepted |
| Lilac tortie | Accepted | Accepted | Accepted | Accepted | Accepted |
| Cinnamon tortie | Accepted | Accepted | Accepted | Accepted | Accepted |
| Fawn tortie | Accepted | Accepted | Accepted | Accepted | Accepted |
| White | Accepted | Not accepted | Not accepted | Not accepted | Not accepted |
Read from the table at the end of the FIFe standard. Smoke, silver, golden and corin are FIFe’s own names; the exact EMS codes and the eye colours are in the standard.
The colour varieties FIFe recognises for this breed are listed, with their EMS codes, in the table at the end of its standard. FIFe describes each colour group in the General Part of its standards.
The colours and patterns the standard admits, and what it prefers, discourages or disqualifies in each. An accepted colour says nothing about health. Quotations from the FIFe are in English, as the standard publishes them; the headings are ours.
Known hereditary risks for the Oriental Shorthair breed, and the specific documentation to request from any breeder before paying a deposit. A responsible breeder will have these readily available; deflection is a red flag.
2 conditions documentedThis is breed-level literature, not veterinary advice about an individual animal — your vet knows the animal.
Health checklist (PDF)Found in more than about one in twenty of the breed's dogs screened, or described as common in the sources.
Breed-level information from The Cat API. It describes the Oriental Shorthair in general; any individual animal can differ.
An inherited, late-onset loss of the retina's light-sensing cells that leads to blindness: affected cats are born sighted, with changes visible in the eye at one to two years old and failing sight by five to six. It is recessive, so a kitten is affected only if it inherits a copy from each parent. It was first found in Abyssinians, but it is common across the Siamese group, Orientals included. A 2010 survey found it in 14 of 25 unrelated North American Oriental Shorthairs (11 with one copy and 3 with two) and in 5 of 12 European ones, and two Oriental Shorthairs with two copies had the disease when their eyes were examined. A 2022 screen of over 11,000 cats found it in 58 of 229 Orientals, about one in four: 41 of 178 shorthairs and 17 of 51 longhairs, 4 of them with two copies.
What to ask for
UC Davis VGL PRA rdAc (CEP290) DNA test result, on both parents
An inherited, late-onset loss of the retina's light-sensing cells that leads to blindness: affected cats are born sighted, with changes visible in the eye at one to two years old and failing sight by five to six. It is recessive, so a kitten is affected only if it inherits a copy from each parent. It was first found in Abyssinians, but it is common across the Siamese group, Orientals included. A 2010 survey found it in 14 of 25 unrelated North American Oriental Shorthairs (11 with one copy and 3 with two) and in 5 of 12 European ones, and two Oriental Shorthairs with two copies had the disease when their eyes were examined. A 2022 screen of over 11,000 cats found it in 58 of 229 Orientals, about one in four: 41 of 178 shorthairs and 17 of 51 longhairs, 4 of them with two copies.
What to ask for
UC Davis VGL PRA rdAc (CEP290) DNA test result, on both parents
Documented in this breed, but no source says how many of its dogs carry or have them. That is a gap in the evidence, not a sign they are rare.
Amyloid protein deposits build up in the liver and other organs, most often becoming apparent between 1 and 7 years old; the liver can become fragile and rupture, which is frequently fatal. It is well documented in Siamese and Oriental Shorthair specifically, with a genetic (mixed Mendelian/polygenic) basis that research has linked to variants near the SAA1 gene — but this is a research finding, not yet a commercial diagnostic test.
What to ask for
No DNA test is commercially available yet; the SNP associations are a research finding, not a validated clearance test. Ask the breeder about the line's history of unexplained liver disease or early deaths — diagnosis in a living cat is by biopsy, not blood or DNA testing.
Amyloid protein deposits build up in the liver and other organs, most often becoming apparent between 1 and 7 years old; the liver can become fragile and rupture, which is frequently fatal. It is well documented in Siamese and Oriental Shorthair specifically, with a genetic (mixed Mendelian/polygenic) basis that research has linked to variants near the SAA1 gene — but this is a research finding, not yet a commercial diagnostic test.
What to ask for
No DNA test is commercially available yet; the SNP associations are a research finding, not a validated clearance test. Ask the breeder about the line's history of unexplained liver disease or early deaths — diagnosis in a living cat is by biopsy, not blood or DNA testing.