The Colorpoint Shorthair Cat Breed

A great family cat, the breed known as the Colorpoint Shorthair is graceful in looks, active, and very sociable. They thrive on attention, and are even good for people who have allergies.

Even if you've never heard of the Colorpoint cat before, you may have seen several of these elegant animals.

Many people mistake the Colorpoint Shorthair for their close relative, the Siamese cat.

After all, the only real difference in their appearance is that the Colorpoint has a variety of point colors that Siamese cats do not have.

The Colorpoint Shorthair cat has a graceful look like the Siamese, with a long, tapered tail, and a tan or white body color. The points, which include the feet, tail, ears, and face, are of a different color.

Recognized Colorpoint colors include Red, Cream, Cinnamon, Fawn, Smoke, or Silver. In addition, this breed can have tortoiseshell, tabby, or particolor patterns in any color. These cats have a long, narrow face with an almost triangular shape and almond shaped eyes.

These cats are said to be allergy friendly. In fact, one of the main reasons many people decide to own a Colorpoint Shorthair is the fact that these cats are less likely to cause allergies than most other cat breeds.

Of course, someone with allergy induced asthma who is allergic to cats still should not add a cat of any kind to the home. But if you or a family member just suffer from mild allergies and you want to own a cat, then you may want to take a close look at this breed.

Just be sure to spend some time around a few Colorpoints before buying a kitten or adopting a cat so that you know that you can handle your allergies.

Being a low allergy cat, however, is not the only quality this breed has going for it. The Colorpoint is an outgoing, sociable cat breed and loves to spend time with its family and friends.

These cats are certainly ideal family pets, since they seem to enjoy all of the comings and goings in a busy household. Of course, they're very curious, and they also love to see what is in all of those intriguing grocery bags, as well.

If you are away from home a lot, the Colorpoint is a poor choice. This breed thrives on attention.

If you do own a Colorpoint and work long hours, you may want to add a second cat to your household. Of course, two cats can get into twice as much mischief! Like their Siamese relatives, these cats are very active and more playful than most cat breeds.

The Colorpoint requires very little grooming, and as mentioned are considered low allergy. If you are allergic to cats, however, you may want to give your cat a monthly bath to help control dander even further.

Experts who recommend bathing a cat remind you to make sure you use a shampoo that is specially made for cats, and don't over-bathe her. Cats don't normally need to be bathed, and over-bathing or the wrong shampoo can cause your cat to suffer from dry skin or skin irritation. In addition, you should groom your cat weekly (at least) to remove dander and loose hair.

Overall, this breed is very healthy and tends to be long-lived. The breed was created by mating an American Shorthair tabby cat to a Siamese, both of which are long-lived breeds.

To ensure life-long cat health, a high quality, high protein diet is recommended. Since the Colorpoint is very active, however, some experts might add that the best high quality cat food you can get is extremely important for this breed.

In addition, you should always be sure that you discuss an immunization schedule with your veterinarian to keep your cat from contracting any common cat illnesses, such as Feline Distemper (also called Feline Panleukopenia, among others), Rabies, or Feline Leukemia.

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If you want a friendly, active, intelligent cat that won't send your allergies into overdrive, then the lovely Colorpoint Shorthair may be the perfect breed for you.

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