 The
Oriental Longhair is a breed of cat that features a tubular,
Siamese-style body (known in the cat fancy as oriental type), but
with a longer coat than the short-haired Siamese. The coat can also
come in a variety of colors and patterns, including tabby, "tortie",
and solid.
In 2002, the British Angora was renamed Oriental Longhair by British
cat fancies. This avoided confusion with the Turkish Angora. With no
globally recognised naming convention, other cat fancies refer to
this type as Javanese, Foreign Longhair or Mandarin.
Breed Profile
The chantilly/tiffany, a dipped-in-chocolate brown feline breed with
a confusing name, is prized for a beautiful semi-long coat, long,
semi-foreign body style, and gently pleasing personality. While
currently rare, the breed has a small but devoted group of cat
fanciers with a taste for chocolate. In fact, this breed is billed
as the chocoholics delight.
Despite rumors to the contrary, the chantilly/tiffany is not, never
was, and never will be a longhaired Burmese. The body, head and coat
types of the two breeds are entirely different, and Burmese have
never been used in the chantilly/tiffany breeding program.
History and Origin
For a new breed, the chantilly/tiffany has been around for a long
time. The breed was discovered in 1967 when the breed’s original
proponent, Jennie Robinson, bought two longhaired chocolate-colored
cats from a pet shop in White Plains, New York. The two – an
18-month-old male, Thomas, and a 6-month-old female, Shirley –
produced their first litter in May 1969. During the next 7 years,
Thomas and Shirley produced some 60 longhaired solid chocolate brown
kittens. The American Cat Association (ACA) registered the cats as
“sable foreign longhairs” and in the early 1970s Thomas and several
kittens were exhibited in shows on the east coast.
Eventually, Robinson stopped breeding, but in the 1970s breeder
Sigyn Lund bought Robinson’s cats and continued working with the
breed. Because show judges thought the name “foreign longhair” was
too general, Lund named the breed “tiffany” after the Tiffany
Theater, whose name she associated with class and elegance. Since
Lund was a Burmese breeder, fanciers assumed the breed was a
longhaired Burmese bred from her stock, although this was not so.
The misinformation spread, however, and articles and books repeated
the error, creating confusion. In 1979, TICA accepted the tiffany,
but in the Burmese breed section. ACA dropped the breed from
recognition because it was so rare. When Lund stopped breeding in
the mid-1980s, the breed came close to extinction.
The breed probably would have vanished if not for fancier Tracy
Oraas of Onoway, Canada, who fell in love with the tiffany in 1988.
After a lot of detective work, Oraas concluded that Burmese were
never used in the breeding program. She and breeder Jan DeRegt
created a new breeding program using European Angoras, Havanas,
Somalis and nebelungs.
In 1992, Oraas was asked to rename the breed because of possible
confusion with the British tiffanie. They chose “chantilly” because
they wished to preserve the elegance the tiffany name represented.
The breed is now known as the tiffany, the chantilly and the
chantilly/tiffany, depending upon the cat association. Still rare,
the breed is slowly gaining in both numbers and acceptance.
Appearance
The ideal chantilly/tiffany is a striking feline with a slender,
long, semi-foreign body elegantly clothed in glossy, silky semi-long
fur. The fur lacks the downy undercoat that would mat easily. The
tail bears a glorious plume, and ear furnishings extend from inside
the ear like long streamers. A handsome neck ruff frames and softens
the gentle contours of the face.
The head is a broad modified wedge shape with gentle contours,
further softened by the long fur. The muzzle is strong, broad and
softly squared. The vivid yellow, amber or gold eyes are modified
ovals set far apart and at a slight angle. The ears are medium in
size, rounded, and set well apart.
Originally only accepted in solid chocolate brown, today the
chantilly/tiffany comes in a range of colors and patterns. Accepted
colors are chocolate, blue, cinnamon, fawn and lilac. Accepted
patterns are solid, mackerel tabby, spotted tabby and ticked tabby.
Personality
With a low-key, warm personality as pleasant as a cup of cocoa on a
cold night, chantilly/tiffanies are gaining fanciers. They are
gentle, quiet cats that nevertheless enjoy a good game of fetch, or
any game in which you participate. They have temperate personalities
– not too docile, too active, or too vocal – in fact, say fanciers,
just right. They enjoy making conversation with their favorite
humans but their voices are quiet. Their soft, sweet chirps sound a
bit like pigeons cooing.
Chantilly/tiffanies usually bond with one or two family members and
become devoted and loving but not overly demanding companions.
They’ll follow you from room to room but won’t pester you for
attention the way more active breeds will. Don’t get the idea that
they don’t need companionship, though. Very people-oriented,
chantilly/tiffanies need human interaction and don’t do well if
ignored or left alone for long periods. Although loyal to their
favorite humans, they are usually reserved around strangers.
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