Image supplied by Animal Photography
Oriental shorthairs are really Siamese with a different colour coat and green eyes. There is a range of possible coat colours – like those in the family, they are active and talkative. Also known as the Foreign White and the Havana.
Health and welfare issues
Although most Oriental shorthairs live long and healthy lives, there are a number of disorders that seem to be associated with the Oriental family – those similar to the Siamese as they are closely related. Progressive retinal atrophy (PRA) has been identified in the breed and flat chested kitten syndrome has also been seen in Orientals.
Important
We have limited the information about inherited disorders to those conditions that are known and proven to exist within a breed. For many breeders and many conditions, insufficient information may be available at this time to know whether any particular breed is necessarily free of any particular condition.
In general, pedigree breeds use a much smaller gene pool for breeding than domestic cats and therefore have a higher risk of developing inherited disorders. In addition, a number of ‘newer’ pedigree breeds are derived from matings between one or more ‘older’ breeds, and in these situations perpetuation of inherited problems that were seen in older breeds is likely within the newer breeds.
Thank you for visiting our website, we hope you have found our information useful.
All our advice is freely accessible to everyone, wherever you are in the world. However, as a charity, we need your support to enable us to keep delivering high quality and up to date information for everyone. Please consider making a contribution, big or small, to keep our content free, accurate and relevant.
Support International Cat Care from as little £3
Thank you.
Donate Now