Also known as Javanese, British Angora, Foreign Longhair, and Mandarin cats, Oriental Longhairs are part of a larger group called the Oriental. These cats were developed using Siamese cats as key foundation members, with the goal of creating cats with the body style and personality of a Siamese, in a variety of different coat colors and patterns.
The Oriental story began in England in the 1950s. There, many cat breeds were brought to near extinction during the second world war when food shortages and constant bombardment placed a massive strain on society as a whole. As breeders worked to rebuild their foundations, new colors and patterns emerged.
The Oriental Shorthair and the Oriental Longhair have similar backgrounds: Both have Siamese heritage along with Russian Blue, Abyssinian, British Shorthair, and various domestic genetics that ultimately enlarged and improved the Siamese gene pool. After all, color is the only thing that distinguishes an Oriental from a contemporary Siamese cat.
At first, breeders tried to come up with a separate breed name for each colored Oriental cat that resulted from various pairings. Thus, we’re graced with such breeds as the Havana Brown, Foreigh White, and of course, the Oriental Bicolour. Over time, cat breed registries decided that there were just too many different color and coat combinations (all of them wonderful!) and the Oriental Shorthair / Longhair terminology was adopted.
While the Oriental Shorthair was accepted by the Cat Fanciers Association (CFA) in 1977, the Oriental Longhair didn’t gain official CFA recognition until 1995.
The International Cat Association (TICA) granted recognition in 1979 and today, the breed or variety is recognized by cat breed registries worldwide.