Colorpoint shorthair

The origins of the Colorpoint Shorthair are the same as those of the Siamese since it is the same breed. The breed is said to descend from the sacred cats of the temples of Siam. It is believed that they were carefully guarded and bred by the kings of Siam and manuscripts dating from 1350 have been found mentioning these cats with coloured extremities. In 1884, the Siamese left their Asian birthplace for the first time and were very quickly appreciated throughout the world. From 1950 onwards, the physique of the Siamese changes by the will of breeders. Although these are already slender cats, their silhouette becomes even thinner, their ears larger, the legs become thinner and their head may appear large in relation to the body. However, some breeders kept specimens called "traditional", maintaining a physique closer to the original Siamese. These Siamese are now almost no longer recognized by associations in the world. A breed called Thai also causes controversy. For some, these are the traditional Siamese, for others it is an artificial breed aimed at recovering this "old type" physique. The CFA creates the standard for the Colorpoint Shorthair in order to group together the traditional Siamese and those whose colour is not one of the four colours traditionally recognized in the United States (seal, chocolate, blue and lilac).

Like many Oriental cats, the Colorpoint Shorthair is said to be very attached to its owner, qualified as a "dog-cat". It is also said to be talkative, extroverted, lively and demanding attention. It is a cat that would not like solitude. These character traits remain perfectly individual however and are a function of each cat's history.

The silhouette of the Colorpoint Shorthair is long and slender, the legs long and thin but remaining proportionate to the body. The hind legs are slightly higher than the forelegs and the feet are oval. The tail is long and thin. The head is medium-sized, triangular in shape and well-proportioned with the rest of the body. The muzzle is fine and the nose long and straight. The eyes are always blue, spaced by maximum one eye width. They are almond-shaped. The ears are broad at the base, pointed and in harmony with the facial features. They are smaller than in modern Siamese. The coat is short, fine and shiny. It must be well-laid on the body. The only accepted coat is colourpoint. The recognised colours are red and cream and the following colours, only in tabby: blue, blue-cream, chocolate, chocolate-tortoiseshell, cream, lilac, lilac-cream, red, seal and seal-tortoiseshell. The four traditional colours are also recognized but rarer. Crosses with the Siamese are authorized until 2019.