Javanese cat
The Javanese cat shares ancestry with the Siamese, colorpoint shorthair, and Balinese. It is also called colorpoint longhair. Its hair is medium length and comes in lynx, tortie, or red/cream. It resembles a siamese cat. This cat’s coat is fine and silky, and it doesn’t have an undercoat, so it lies close to the body. The Cat Fanciers Association (CFA) used to think of the Javanese as a separate breed, but now it is just a color variation of the Balinese, which is basically a Siamese with some longer hair.
A Look at Breeds
Names other than Colorpoint Longhair
Personality: friendly, curious, and affectionate
HEIGHT: Between 5 and 12 pounds
LENGTH: Up to 14 inches
The coat’s length is fine and silky, with no downy undercoat. It lies close to the body.
You can get a lynx point, a tortie point, or a solid point in red, cream, cinnamon, fawn, or smoke.
Eye color: very bright blue
Life expectancy: 10 years or more
Origin United States of America
Things that make Javanese unique
Similar to the Siamese, colorpoint shorthair, and Bengali breeds, the Javanese are known for their alertness, curiosity, and deep affection. The Javanese are very close to their people, just like the Siamese.
This breed will follow you everywhere, even to the bathroom, and want to be a part of everything you do. The Javanese cat breed is friendly and accepting, so they usually get along well with other pets, such as cats or dogs that are good with cats.
People who like the Javanese breed say that they talk a bit less and aren’t quite as loud as Siamese cats. The Javanese are very smart, and it might be fun to teach them tricks and games using positive training methods, like clicker training and lots of tasty treats.
How did the Javanese get their name?
In the 1970s, some breeders started to try adding new colors and patterns to the Balinese breed. The Balinese breed got its start when breeders in the 1950s took advantage of a natural change in the Siamese that made hair longer.
They collaborated with the CFA to incorporate these “new-color Balinese” into the Balinese breed standard, but ultimately, they reclassified and renamed the cats. In 1986, the CFA declared the breed a championship breed. It is now known as “Javanese.” The breed was named after Java, a nearby island.
For more than 30 years, the Javanese was shown as a separate breed. Eventually, the two breed councils for Javanese and Balinese decided to combine the two breeds under one standard. The Javanese are now a part of the Balinese.
The TICA does not recognize the Javanese as a separate breed from the Balinese. This is because the TICA Balinese breed standard accepts all pointed colors and patterns, including those found in the Javanese. According to TICA, a Javanese is simply a Balinese.
The only difference between the Javanese and the Balinese is the colors and patterns they wear. The Balinese division only has the four traditional Siamese solid point colors, which are seal point, chocolate point, blue point, and lilac point. The Javanese division, on the other hand, has more solid point colors, such as red, cream, cinnamon, fawn, and smoke, as well as different lynx point colors and parti-color point colors.
Personality of the Javanese
Like most oriental cats, the Javanese is active and has a loud voice. Cats need cat trees and high perches to stay healthy. In the absence of these, the Javanese will use anything tall as a perch because her thin body hides the strength of a strong jumper.
Care in Javanese
Work Out
Javanese people are very active and need to do a lot to stay happy. To make sure your indoor cats get enough exercise, give them things to climb, like cat trees, perches, and tall scratchers. You might want to get your cat more than one scratcher of different kinds so it can scratch in the right places and not on your furniture. Some cats prefer to scratch vertically, such as on cat trees or scratching posts.
Other cats prefer to scratch horizontally, such as on cardboard or sisal scratchers. Other cats, however, like both types. You should play with your Javanese as much as possible. Use a variety of toys, such as fishing poles or feather wands, balls, fuzzy mice, and interactive toys like puzzles.
Hair Loss
The single coat of a Javanese cat is about shoulder-length, but it looks shorter because it is fine and close to the skin. The hair on the back legs and tail looks longer. This type of cat coat is easy to care for. The coat doesn’t bunch up or mat up very often, and it doesn’t shed much.
Grooming
To get rid of loose hair, brush it once a week with a soft slicker brush or a stainless steel comb. Give your Javanese a bath when it needs one, or if it gets dirty. Cut your nails short every week or every other week, and look inside your ears every so often for signs of dirt or redness. To clean the ears, use a cotton ball or gauze square with an ear cleaner that is safe for pets. Do not use cotton swabs because you could damage the eardrum by accident.
If your Javanese’s ears appear red, swollen, or dirty, or if you see it scratching at its ears, you should take it to the vet for a checkup.
Troubles with Health
Some health problems in purebred cats are more likely to happen because of their genes. Javanese cats are usually healthy, but they can get some of the same health problems as Siamese, Balinese, and Colorpoint Shorthair cats.
These include crossed eyes and other eye problems, renal amyloidosis (a disorder that affects the kidneys), amyloidosis (a disease that happens when the protein amyloid builds up in body organs, mostly the liver), dental problems, and congenital heart defects, such as hypertrophic cardiomyopathy.
Some Javanese and Balinese cats are also sensitive to anesthesia, so you should talk to your vet about this before your cat has surgery.
Good cat breeders check the health of their adult cats for genetic diseases and don’t breed cats that have those diseases. A lot of the time, good breeders will also guarantee that their kittens will be healthy.
How they look
Both the Siamese and the Balinese have the same body type, which is medium-sized, long, tubular, and muscular. The breed is slim, elegant, and athletic, with fine lines and bones. The legs are long and muscular, but the bones are very small. The back legs are a little taller than the front ones. The Javanese breed standard says that the ears are “strikingly large.” The shape of the head is a long, tapering wedge, with the nose and ears forming a triangle.
The eyes are always a deep, bright blue, about the size of almonds. The single, fine, silky coat is about shoulder-length and lies close to the body.
Food and nutrition
A Javanese person should be fit and not too fat. Javanese cats are naturally active, so as long as they have enough playtime with you and lots of chances to run, climb, and play inside, they should be able to stay at a healthy weight. Monitor your cat’s weight to ensure it remains healthy.
This can help keep them from getting diabetes, heart disease, and arthritis. Free feeding, or leaving food out all the time, is not a good idea.
Instead, give your Javanese set meal times (twice a day for adult cats) with measured amounts of food. Find out what kind of healthy food your vet or breeder thinks is best for your Javanese.
Pros
Lots of love and affection
Good with kids and pets
The coat is easy-care and doesn’t mat or shed much.
Cons
Not easy to find
Needs a lot of care.
I struggle when left alone for extended periods of time.
Where can I buy a Javanese Cat or adopt one?
You might have to wait a while if you really want to bring home a Javanese kitten or adult cat because they are difficult to find. If you want to buy a kitten, you should contact a Balinese breeder. Both the Cat Fanciers Association and the International Cat Association have lists of Balinese breeders on their websites.
You might be able to find an adult Javanese cat in an animal shelter or breed-specific cat rescue group if you’d rather adopt than buy. However, it might be hard to find one this way.
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