Here’s what we will all agree on: the Khao Manee is a pure-white great thing about a cat and a near-perfect family companion. The Khao Manee has simply the suitable steadiness of curiosity, intelligence, exercise, and affection.
We are able to additionally agree that the Khao Manee, even in the event you acquired yours from a breeder in the USA or another nation, has ancestors who hailed from Thailand. That a lot we all know is true.
After that, the story of the Khao Manee, one of many rarest cat breeds on the planet, is open to your individual interpretation.
What does Khao Manee imply?
Even this isn’t simple. Some say that “khao manee” interprets from the Thai language into English as “white gem.” Others say it means “white diamond,” a nod to the starburst sample within the iris of the eyes, which might seem like a lower diamond.
However my expensive Thai good friend, whose first language was Thai however who additionally speaks fluent English, defined to me that “khao manee” means merely, “pure white.”
What’s the historical past of the Khao Manee?
Just like the Korat, Siamese, and Suphalak, the Khao Manee originated in Thailand. Some declare that every one of those cat breeds are historic, among the oldest cats on the planet. They level to an previous manuscript, known as the Tamra Maew, which depicts these cat breeds, as proof.
Are Khao Manee featured within the Tamra Maew?
The Tamra Maew, which suggests “The Cat-Ebook Poems,” is a set of manuscripts that some folks say date to the Ayutthaya Kingdom in Siam. Ayutthaya was the middle of energy in Southeast Asia from 1351 to 1767. Siam was the unique identify for the nation now known as Thailand.
What’s the Tamra Maew?
The Tamra Maew incorporates lovely portraits of the cats of Siam with brief descriptions of every sort. It in all probability served as a form of breed commonplace doc throughout the time it was created.
Many individuals assume that the Tamra Maew is a window into cat-dom 1000’s of years in the past.
The issue with the Tamra Maew
The issue with the Tamra Maew is that it’s not possible so far. The manuscripts we’ve immediately are just a few hundred years previous. Which means the featured cats may thus not truly be historic breeds, as some declare they’re.
Alternatively, the truth that the manuscripts are comparatively fashionable, doesn’t rule out the chance that cat breeds depicted inside them are historic. The Tamra Maew was handwritten and drawn on palm-leaf or bark parchment and when a person manuscript began to crumble it was fastidiously copied by hand. The broken pages have been merely thrown away.
So, the Tamra Maew might be 1000’s of years previous or as few as 700 years previous.
Is the Khao Manee talked about within the Tamra Maew?
There may be an all-white cat within the Tamra Maew, but it surely’s known as Khao Plort, not Khao Manee. Additionally, the Khao Plort is proven with eyes which are the identical colour, whereas lots of immediately’s Khao Manee have distinctive odd eyes.
Is the Khao Plort actually a Khao Manee?
It’s attainable that the odd-eye phenomenon within the breed occurred after the Cat Ebook Poems have been written. Thai cat breeders may need solely been centered on breeding a pure-white cat, and the odd eyes may have simply confirmed up alongside the way in which by likelihood.
So, we don’t actually know if the Khao Manee was featured within the Tamra Maew, or if the Tamra Maew is referring to a special white cat.
The fashionable historical past of the Khao Manee
Thailand’s present monarch is King Maha Vajiralongkorn. His nice grandfather, King Rama V, was identified for adoring the Khao Manee and protecting a small hoard of white cats at his palace.
King Rama assigned varied cat care and breeding obligations to his son and daughter, who finally pawned the chores off to a extra distant royal relative, a movie producer named Namdee Witta (pictured above).
Witta ended up spending his personal financial savings to run a Khao Manee cattery and a “Cat Museum” out of an previous Thai home that was half restaurant in a down-on-its luck neighborhood.
His cat museum no longer exists and it is not clear whether Namdee Witta is still alive.
The Khao Manee comes to the United States
In 1999, when the number of Khao Manee had plummeted, an endangered species specialist, Colleen Freymuth, was permitted to bring the first few Khao Manee to the U.S. Her intention was to set up a breeding and conservation program.
Today there is exactly ONE Khao Manee registered breeder (registered with both major U.S. cat clubs, CFA and TICA). Fédération Internationale Féline, the French cat fancy society, and The Governing Council of Cat Fancy in the United Kingdom each have zero registered Khao Manee breeders.
The Khao Manee is thus one of the rarest cat breeds in the world.
Are American-bred Khao Manee the same as Thai Khao Manee?
The Western cat world has a very different idea about what it means for a cat to be “purebred” than the Thai cat world.
In Western registries, a cat must be the result of the breeding generations of like-kind cats for him or her to be considered purebred.
But in Thailand, there is only one native Thai cat, called the Maew Boran, which happens to come in many different color variations. The different “colors” can be freely bred together, and street cats can be added to a breeding program so long as they match the descriptions found in the Tamra Maew.
Consequently, while there are differences in body conformation and other qualities between an American-bred Khao Manee and a Siamese, for example, in Thailand there is only one “type” of cat.
What does a Khao Manee look like?
The first things you’ll likely notice upon meeting a Khao Manee is the glistening white coat and large luminous eyes.
A Khao Manee is a muscular, medium sized cat (males weigh eight to 11 pounds, females weigh six to eight pounds). The body is flexible and has a “springy” rather than heavy feel.
This cat has a gorgeous face with high cheekbones, and relatively large ears with oval suggestions. The eyes are both blue or gold or each, a situation known as heterochromia.
The tail might have kinks – these are even completely acceptable within the present ring.
Are all Khao Manees white?
There are literally 3 ways, genetically talking (that we at the moment know of), for a cat to finish up with any white fur. I am going into all of the details about white cats in this post.
The way in which that Khao Manee cats get their white fur is thru the dominant-white gene.
Not like albino cats, whose white fur is the results of the lack of coloration, the dominant-white gene overrides a cat’s “actual” fur colour. A cat could also be genetically programmed to be black, for instance, but when he has one dominant-white gene, the white will conceal the blackness.
Due to this, a non-white Khao Manee will sometimes present up in a litter of all-white kittens. Whereas these colourful non-white Khao Manee’s can’t be proven, they’re precious to breeders. White cats with blue eyes are susceptible to deafness, and including cats who don’t have the dominant-white gene again right into a breeding program can cut back the variety of kittens born deaf.
Do all Khao Manees have two different-colored eyes?
No. Khao Manees with odd eyes are sometimes pictured as a result of they’re so hanging and weird, however many Khao Manee cats have two eyes of the identical colour.
What’s the persona of a Khao Manee cat?
Some would say that Khao Manee has a “good” persona. Khao Manee are pleasant, social, and clever. They’re energetic and athletic, but in addition like to snuggle in your lap or experience in your shoulders.
They get alongside nice with the opposite pets within the family, and so they’re truly a sensible choice for households with well-mannered youngsters.
Khao Manee cats are taken with all the pieces you do, and so they like to play with you. Many cats of this breed actually love a superb sport of fetch.
Some Khao Manee are extra vocal than others. They typically have lots to say and appear to really feel a necessity to specific their emotions.
I really like this quote concerning the Khao Manee:
“They’ve a way of humour, if that’s attainable for a cat, they do foolish issues, then look to see your response. In addition they purr, and I imply purr from the time they see you till you permit and go elsewhere.”[4]
Do Khao Manee have any identified well being issues?
Khao Manee are typically very wholesome cats, however any white cat with blue eyes has the potential to be born deaf.
It’s because the stem cells that forestall colour from exhibiting up in a cat’s fur may forestall the right improvement of a particular layer of cells in a kitten’s ear.
Cats with just one blue eye have the potential to be deaf on simply the facet with the blue eye.
However, it’s necessary to notice that not all white cats with blue eyes are deaf.
Love Pinterest? This is a Pinterest-friendly pin to your boards!
Daybreak LaFontaine is a lifelong animal lover who all the time appears to have somewhat pet hair in her keyboard. Her weblog, Kitty Contemplations, helps cat guardians higher perceive and look after the particular beings they share their lives and houses with. Her cat-products enterprise, Cat in the Box, sells lovely, well-made, and award-winning merchandise that she designed to fulfill the organic wants of cats.
“Appearance and Temperament.” In Temperament the Khao Manee Has a Amiable Temperament and Is Very Sociable, www.yabz.com/km/appearance.html. Accessed 23 June 2025.
