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Breed guide · Cats
He follows me into the shower to keep the conversation going. I leave the door open.
Last updated 14 October 2026
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What they brought with them.
Tap a card to see what is going on.
At home
A running commentary from the moment you wake up, and loud demands at the food bowl at 5am.
What's going onThey were bred back to the Siamese for its personality, and the voice came too. Answer them in the day, and let an automatic feeder handle the 5am demands.
At home
Into the bathroom, onto the desk, and back again whenever you move.
What's going onThey were bred to be near you. A shelf or a cat tree in the rooms you use lets them watch you from somewhere they feel safe.
At home
Cupboard doors open, curtains climbed, and something knocked off the shelf.
What's going onCupboards are the puzzle they find for themselves when there isn't one on offer. Puzzle feeders and a few minutes of training a day give that mind something better to do.
At home
Crying after you leave, a puddle on your clothes, or licked fur when you get back.
What's going onThat is distress, not spite, and it is treatable. Film them while you are out and show the film to a vet.
At home
Thin fur on the belly, flanks or inner legs, often after a change at home.
What's going onOver-grooming from stress can start in the junior years. Skin trouble can look the same, so a vet looks first, before anyone calls it stress.
At home
On the warm keyboard, under the duvet, or in the one patch of sun on the floor.
What's going onTheir coat is about as fine as a cat's gets. Give them a warm bed out of the air conditioning, and they may leave your keyboard alone.
The bit nobody tells you.
Their company
Built for: Bred to be with their people, room to room.
In Dubai: A flat where everyone leaves at eight.
Their voice
Built for: Bred to talk, and to be answered.
In Dubai: Often nobody home to answer until evening.
Their mind
Built for: Clever, curious and quick to learn.
In Dubai: Cupboards and curtains, if nothing else is on offer.
The shouting, the opened cupboards and the licked fur mostly come from that gap.
The ten things below are how you narrow it. If they panic when you go, a vet can help with that.
Your plan is built around what an Oriental Shorthair is prone to at every age, from their teeth and airways to their heart, and the care that goes with each one.
Join the founding families. AED 1,999 of essential care for AED 199.
Ten things that make their life better.
They talk to keep in touch, and a predictable day lowers the demands.
Every age, most of all 7 months to 2 years
Why
They talk to keep in touch, and a predictable day lowers the demands.
What to do
Talk back. Keep play, food and lap time at the same times each day, so they know when your attention is coming. Try not to get up for a 5am yowl: an automatic feeder can do breakfast.
They are very active, and a laser dot they never catch leaves them wound up.
Every age, most of all 7 months to 2 years
Why
They are very active, and a laser dot they never catch leaves them wound up.
What to do
Move a wand toy like prey, away from them and behind furniture, two or three short sessions a day. Let them catch it, then feed them. Many Orientals fetch: if they bring the toy back, throw it.
A bored Oriental will choose their own job, and it will be your cupboards.
Every age, easy puzzles from 11 years
Why
A bored Oriental will choose their own job, and it will be your cupboards.
What to do
Put part of their food in a puzzle feeder. Teach them to come, to sit and to touch your hand with their nose, using treats from their daily food. Swap their toys round each week.
They were bred for company, and long days alone are hard on them.
Every age
Why
They were bred for company, and long days alone are hard on them.
What to do
Arrange for someone to visit, play and talk to them on long days and when you travel. A feeder alone is not enough for days away. Talk to a vet before getting a second cat for company.
Many cats like them find time alone hard. It is treatable, and home fixes can make it worse.
Every age
Why
Many cats like them find time alone hard. It is treatable, and home fixes can make it worse.
What to do
Film them for the first half hour after you leave. Look for crying, pacing, peeing on your things or over-grooming. They are frightened, not naughty, so a telling-off only makes it worse. Show the film to a vet.
They climb and they watch birds, and cats fall from balconies more often than pet parents expect.
Every age, most of all kittens and juniors
Why
They climb and they watch birds, and cats fall from balconies more often than pet parents expect.
What to do
Fit cat netting to any balcony they can reach, and check it for gaps. Put restrictors on every window that opens. Stay with them whenever they are out there.
Their coat is very fine and their body lean, so cold air conditioning gets to them.
Every age, most of all kittens and from 11 years
Why
Their coat is very fine and their body lean, so cold air conditioning gets to them.
What to do
A bed with a blanket out of the flow of the vents, up high if you can, where they can see you. A fleece over the back of the sofa helps too. Keep the flat no colder than you need.
Over-grooming and bladder trouble can both start in the junior years, and both are easy to mistake for bad behaviour.
Every age, most of all 7 months to 6 years
Why
Over-grooming and bladder trouble can both start in the junior years, and both are easy to mistake for bad behaviour.
What to do
Once a week, look at their belly, flanks and inner back legs for thin patches. Scoop the tray daily and notice the clumps. A male cat straining, crying or going in and out of the tray with little or nothing coming out may have a blocked bladder. That is an emergency: contact your vet now. If a female cat is straining, contact your vet the same day. A baseline urinalysis (a urine test) is in your plan in their junior and prime adult years.
Dental disease can start in the junior years and stays a risk into old age.
Every age, start as a kitten
Why
Dental disease can start in the junior years and stays a risk into old age.
What to do
Lift their lip and look at their teeth and gums. Start brushing as a kitten with a finger brush and cat toothpaste, a few seconds at a time. Call your vet if they drop food or chew on one side. An annual dental evaluation (teeth and gum check) is in your plan from their junior years.
A change in how much they talk can be the first sign that something is wrong.
Every age, most of all from 11 years
Why
A change in how much they talk can be the first sign that something is wrong.
What to do
Weigh them once a month: stand on the scales holding them, then without them, and write down the difference. Notice if they go quiet, start calling at night or stop jumping up, and call your vet. A weight and behavioural evaluation is in your plan in their junior and prime adult years.
Three of these are in your plan. The rest you can do at home.
Join the founding families. AED 1,999 of essential care for AED 199.
Their health, at every age.
How old are they?
Their age
the first six months
What to watch for
The care that goes with it
Their age
7 months to 2 years
What to watch for
The care that goes with it
Their age
2 to 6 years
What to watch for
The care that goes with it
Their age
7 to 10 years
What to watch for
The care that goes with it
Their age
11 to 14 years
What to watch for
The care that goes with it
Their age
15 years and over
What to watch for
The care that goes with it
Breed predispositions indicate an increased risk rather than certainty of disease. What is right for them always comes from their own history and an evaluation.
Before they come home.
Types of Oriental Shorthair
Every Oriental has the same long, lean body, wedge-shaped head and big ears. What changes is the coat: a single solid colour, tabby stripes or spots, tortie and smoke shades, or white with patches of colour.
Colours
The solid Orientals alone run from black and chocolate brown (called Havana) to lilac, cinnamon, cream and soft apricot, and most look back at you with green eyes.
The first six months
Their vaccination course, microchip and Dubai Municipality registration come first, and a vet looks at their eyes at those first visits. Start a routine from the first week, answer their calls, and get them used to you looking in their mouth while the adult teeth come through.
Kitten health, 0 to 6 months
Getting the home ready
Net the balcony and fit restrictors to the windows before they arrive. Set up a warm bed out of the air conditioning, ideally up high where they can see you, and work out who will visit on your long days.
Ten things that make their life better
Before you commit
An Oriental needs company, conversation and play every day, and finds long days alone hard. A vet checks their eyes from the first visits, and their teeth, eyes and breathing need regular care from the junior years, so plan for those visits from the start.
Before the clinics open
AED 1,999 of essential care for AED 199. No payment now.
If it's a kitten: First 30 days with a new kitten · Kitten vaccinations in the UAE
When it is not behaviour.
He'll still follow you to the bathroom door. If he stops, call your vet.
Before they were yours.
Old Siam
The Oriental shares the Siamese root: the cats of old Siam, now Thailand, described in the Thai cat-book poems as cats who lived in houses, close to people.
What they still carryThe closeness, and the voice.
1950s, Britain
British breeders crossed Siamese with other shorthairs, then bred back to the Siamese again and again. The aim was the Siamese body and temperament without the pointed coat. The chestnut, later called the Havana, came first.
What they still carryEvery bit of the Siamese, except the points.
1970s, the United States
American breeders took up the Oriental, and the Cat Fanciers' Association recognised it. Show breeding pushed for an even longer body, a wedge head and bigger ears.
What they still carryA lean body in a very fine coat, always looking for the warm spot.
Today
Most live indoors, often in a flat that is empty for much of the day.
What they still carryThe need to be with people, which makes the hours alone the hardest part of their day.
The ones you type at midnight.
If the Oriental Shorthair suits you, so might these.
SiameseThe same kind of cat: the breed the Oriental was bred from, with the same voice, in a pointed coat with blue eyes
BurmeseThe same kind of cat: another people cat from the Siamese family, more compact and muscular, and a little quieter
SphynxThe same outgoing, talkative nature and need for company, with no coat at all and weekly baths
AbyssinianA similar size, an easy short coat and the same ease in warm weather, in a quieter cat who would rather explore than talk
