Colorpoint Shorthairs are the first cousins of the Siamese and the Cat Fanciers' Association

Cat Fanciers' Association

The Cat Fanciers' Association was established in the United States in 1906 and is the world's largest registry of pedigreed cats and the predominant pedigreed cat registering association in North America...

 is the only registry that recognizes them as a standalone breed. In all other registries, they are part of the Siamese and Oriental breeds. These cats are distinguished by their elegance in sixteen different "point" colors beyond the four Siamese colors. The Colorpoint Shorthair shares body style, personality, coat length, and pointed color pattern with the Siamese, but in the untraditional colors of red, cream, tortoiseshell, and lynx (tabby) points. Two separate schools of thought exist about the Colorpoint Shorthair: those who think that since these cats are pointed like a Siamese, they should be considered Siamese, and those who deem the Colorpoint a Siamese hybrid. In fact these cats were initially created by hybridizing Siamese with American Shorthairs, the same hybridization that created the Oriental breed of cats.

Description

Colorpoint Shorthair is the name the Cat Fanciers Association (CFA), a United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 breed association, uses to refer to pointed

Point (coat color)

Point coloration refers to animal coat coloration with a pale body and relatively darker extremities, i.e. the face, ears, feet, tail, and scrotum...

 cat

Cat

The cat , also known as the domestic cat or housecat to distinguish it from other felids and felines, is a small, usually furry, domesticated, carnivorous mammal that is valued by humans for its companionship and for its ability to hunt vermin and household pests...

s of Siamese

Siamese (cat)

The Siamese is one of the first distinctly recognized breeds of Oriental cat. The origins of the breed are unknown, but it is believed to be from Thailand. In Thailand, where they are one of several native breeds, they are called Wichian Mat...

 ancestry and type in colors other than the four "traditional" Siamese colors (seal, chocolate, blue, and lilac point). This name is also given to cats of Siamese ancestry in the four recognized colors whose eight generation pedigree show ancestors with other colors. In registries of other countries, however, "Colorpoint (or "Colourpoint") is the name given to cats of Persian type and pointed coloring, as in Himalayan

Himalayan (cat)

The Himalayan cat is a breed of long-haired cat identical in type to the Persian, with the exception of its blue eyes and its point coloration, which were derived from the crossing of the Persian with the Siamese...

s.
In the CFA, a Colorpoint Shorthair cat may also be any of the four traditional Siamese colors; however, they may only be shown

Cat show

A cat show is a judged event where the owners of cats compete to win titles in various cat registering organizations by entering their cats to be judged after a breed standard. Both pedigreed and companion cats are admissible, although the rules differ from organization to organization...

 in the red point (also called flame point in Persian Family) or cream point, or any of the above colors in tabby point (also called lynx point) or tortoiseshell

Tortoiseshell cat

Tortoiseshell describes a coat coloring found mostly in female cats. Cats of this color are mottled, with patches of orange or cream and chocolate, black or blue. They are sometimes called torties...

point.

In all registries except CFA, the Colorpoint Shorthair is not considered a separate breed but merely a color class in the Siamese breed.

Origin

The effort to produce a Siamese-style pointed cat in colors other than the traditional four began in England and in America in the 1940s, carried out by breeders who used foundation crossings between the Siamese, Abyssinian, and the red domestic shorthair. The American Shorthair also became part of the matrix. Initially, the Colorpoint breeders experienced setbacks and failures; in the effort to achieve the proper colors in the proper places, the Siamese body type was often sacrificed. The breeding was further complicated by the difficulty of working with the red coloration because it is a sex-linked color.

Temperament

The Colorpoint Shorthair is a highly intelligent, playful, and people-friendly breed. They are extremely affectionate and outgoing and enjoy lounging around and playing with people, causing them to also be described as "extroverts". They can also be very sensitive with nervous temperaments, which do not adapt well to changes of environment or to strangers. Like Siamese, they can be extremely vocal and attention-demanding, feeling a need for human companionship. They have over 100 vocal sounds, much more than regular cats, making very unusual meows.
Males are sometimes found to be overly aggressive towards other animals, will fight with other cats whenever they feel their territory has been invaded or just to express dominance.

Point Colors

The Colorpoint Shorthair comes in a variety of point colors. They include: Red Point, Cream Point, Cinnamon Point, Fawn Point, Seal Point, Chocolate Point, Blue Point, Lilac Point, Lynx Point (in any of the colors), Tortie Point (in any of the colors), and Torbie Point (in any of the colors). If a solid pointed kitten is born from "Colorpoint Siamese" parents, it is Registered as a "Colorpoint Siamese," because genetically that it what it is.

CFA and CCA does not accept cinnamon points or fawn points as colour point shorthairs, they are considered to be pointed Oriental Shorthairs. CFA does not allow the cinnamon and fawn points to show, however they are acceptable in a breeding program. CCA does allow cinnamon and fawn points to be shown as Oriental Shorthairs.