Oriental Shorthair

Oriental Shorthair – a discussion of the breed standard in reference to the best pictures by the best cat photographer of the best cats in a slide show that is loading right now. Please wait about 2 seconds for this slide show to load. The slide show is courtesy Google and they are the best at this.

It’s great to briefly discuss in outline the Oriental Shorthair breed standard when you can see some of the best cats of this breed at the same time. The breed standards are a bit technical but once deciphered they do tell us what the breed is ideally meant to look like. You’ll see that the cats in the slide show meet many (almost all) aspects of the standard.

oriental shorthair cat
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Photo of Ichan an OSH © and by .m for matthijs

Looking at the photographs in the slide show we can guess that the overall impression of the Oriental Shorthair is that this cat should be “svelte” (dictionary definition: slender or graceful in figure or outline; slim, thin and well built)

In order to be svelte you can’t have any fat and the absence of fat is a requirement of this breed. The picture of Pepper in the slide show, shows off the body conformation well.

The Modern Siamese is called a “Wedgie” in reference to his wedge shaped head. No surprise then that this breed which has the same body conformation as a Modern Siamese should have a long and tapered wedge shaped head. From the nose to the ears there should be a straight line. The photograph of the cat calledDerek Jetter in the slide show, shows of this requirement admirably, I think.

The requirement for a clean lined wedge shaped head is reinforced by the requirement for a long and straight nose that forms a continuation of the forehead without a break (smoothly).

The muzzle should also be wedge shaped (being part of the overall wedge shape of the head this is to be expected).

In keeping with a slender look the neck and legs should be slender and long, while the paws should be dainty. Any element of this cat that can be long and slender is and that includes the tail which should taper to a fine point.

The ears are a major feature of this breed. They should be “strikingly” large, wide at the base and pointed. This is very noticeable in the photographs.

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