What is a Javanese cat?

The term 'Javanese cat' is confusing. This can happen sometimes in the cat fancy. There is some confusion surrounding the Siamese family of cats and the Javanese is in that 'family'. It depends where you are as to what it means.

Female Adult Blue Lynx Point Javanese Cat
 photo: Wikipedia.

Years ago, I wrote about this so I'll use my own words. This description applies to the USA:

"If the Balinese is a “Modern” Siamese with long fur, the Javanese is a Balinese with “unconventional” (non-traditional) points. Confused? It is also described as an Oriental Longhair with points."

To put it another way, in the USA, the Javanese is a longhaired, contemporary Siamese cat with pointing that is not of the traditional colours such as lynx points (tabby), tortoiseshell points, cream points and flame points. By 'contemporary' I mean the super-slender body conformation compared to the regular domestic cat body conformation which is popular nowadays.

In New Zealand, according to Dr. Morris (Cat World), 'Javanese cat' means a longhaired Siamese cat with spotted or self-coloured coats (having only a single and uniform colour).

In Britain, Dr. Morris says that the term means "long-haired Oriental cats, originally bred to recreate the Angora."

Like I said it is confusing. As the US is the world's biggest marketplace for purebred cats by far, I would take the US definition as the most used and definitive.