What is the Khao Manee cat?

Here is what we can all agree on: the Khao Manee is a pure-white beauty of a cat and a near-perfect household companion. The Khao Manee has just the right balance of curiosity, intelligence, activity, and affection.

We can also agree that the Khao Manee, even if you acquired yours from a breeder in the United States or some other country, has ancestors who hailed from Thailand. That much we know is true.

After that, the story of the Khao Manee, one of the rarest cat breeds in the world, is open to your own interpretation.

What does Khao Manee mean?

Even this isn’t straightforward. Some say that “khao manee” translates from the Thai language into English as “white gem.” Others say it means “white diamond,” a nod to the starburst pattern in the iris of the eyes, which can look like a cut diamond.

But my dear Thai friend, whose first language was Thai but who also speaks fluent English, explained to me that “khao manee” means simply, “pure white.”

What is the history of the Khao Manee?

Like the Korat, Siamese, and Suphalak, the Khao Manee originated in Thailand. Some claim that all of these cat breeds are ancient, some of the oldest cats in the world. They point to an old manuscript, called the Tamra Maew, which depicts these cat breeds, as proof.

Are Khao Manee featured in the Tamra Maew?

The Tamra Maew, which means “The Cat-Book Poems,” is a collection of manuscripts that some people say date to the Ayutthaya Kingdom in Siam. Ayutthaya was the center of power in Southeast Asia from 1351 to 1767. Siam was the original name for the country now called Thailand.

What is the Tamra Maew?

The Tamra Maew contains beautiful portraits of the cats of Siam with short descriptions of each type. It probably served as a kind of breed standard document during the time it was created.

Many people think that the Tamra Maew is a window into cat-dom thousands of years ago.

The problem with the Tamra Maew

The problem with the Tamra Maew is that it’s impossible to date. The manuscripts we have today are only a few hundred years old. This means that the featured cats might thus not actually be ancient breeds, as some claim they are.

On the other hand, the fact that the manuscripts are relatively modern, doesn’t rule out the possibility that cat breeds depicted within them are ancient. The Tamra Maew was handwritten and drawn on palm-leaf or bark parchment and when an individual manuscript started to fall apart it was carefully copied by hand. The damaged pages were simply thrown away.

So, the Tamra Maew could be thousands of years old or as few as 700 years old.

Is the Khao Manee mentioned in the Tamra Maew?

There is an all-white cat in the Tamra Maew, but it’s called Khao Plort, not Khao Manee. Also, the Khao Plort is shown with eyes that are the same color, while many of today’s Khao Manee have distinctive odd eyes.

Is the Khao Plort really a Khao Manee?

It’s possible that the odd-eye phenomenon in the breed happened after the Cat Book Poems were written. Thai cat breeders might have only been focused on breeding a pure-white cat, and the odd eyes could have just showed up along the way by chance.

So, we don’t really know if the Khao Manee was featured in the Tamra Maew, or if the Tamra Maew is referring to a different white cat.

The modern history of the Khao Manee

Thailand’s current monarch is King Maha Vajiralongkorn. His great grandfather, King Rama V, was known for adoring the Khao Manee and keeping a small hoard of white cats at his palace.

King Rama assigned various cat care and breeding responsibilities to his son and daughter, who eventually pawned the chores off to a more distant royal relative, a film producer named Namdee Witta (pictured above).

Witta ended up spending his own savings to run a Khao Manee cattery and a “Cat Museum” out of an old Thai house that was part restaurant in a down-on-its luck neighborhood.[1]

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.[2]

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).[3] 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 tips. The eyes are either blue or gold or both, a condition called heterochromia.

The tail may have kinks – these are even perfectly acceptable in the show ring.

Are all Khao Manees white?

There are actually three ways, genetically speaking (that we currently know of), for a cat to end up with any white fur. I go into all of the details about white cats in this post.

The way that Khao Manee cats get their white fur is through the dominant-white gene.

Unlike albino cats, whose white fur is the result of the lack of coloration, the dominant-white gene overrides a cat’s “real” fur color. A cat may be genetically programmed to be black, for example, but if he has one dominant-white gene, the white will hide the blackness.

Because of this, a non-white Khao Manee will occasionally show up in a litter of all-white kittens. While these colorful non-white Khao Manee’s can’t be shown, they are valuable to breeders. White cats with blue eyes are prone to deafness, and adding cats who do not have the dominant-white gene back into a breeding program can reduce the number of kittens born deaf.

Do all Khao Manees have two different-colored eyes?

No. Khao Manees with odd eyes are often pictured because they’re so striking and unusual, but many Khao Manee cats have two eyes of the same color.

What is the personality of a Khao Manee cat?

Some would say that Khao Manee has a “perfect” personality. Khao Manee are friendly, social, and intelligent. They’re active and athletic, but also love to snuggle on your lap or ride on your shoulders.

They get along great with the other pets in the household, and they’re actually a good choice for families with well-mannered children.

Khao Manee cats are interested in everything you do, and they love to play with you. Many cats of this breed really love a good game of fetch.

Some Khao Manee are more vocal than others. They often have a lot to say and seem to feel a need to express their feelings.

I love this quote about the Khao Manee:

“They have a sense of humour, if that is possible for a cat, they do silly things, then look to see your reaction. They also purr, and I mean purr from the time they see you until you leave and go elsewhere.”^[4] 

Do Khao Manee have any known health problems?

Khao Manee are generally very healthy cats, but any white cat with blue eyes has the potential to be born deaf.

This is because the stem cells that prevent color from showing up in a cat’s fur can also prevent the proper development of a special layer of cells in a kitten’s ear.

Cats with only one blue eye have the potential to be deaf on just the side with the blue eye.

But, it’s important to note that not all white cats with blue eyes are deaf.

Love Pinterest? Here's a Pinterest-friendly pin for your boards!

Dawn LaFontaine

Dawn LaFontaine is a lifelong animal lover who always seems to have a little pet hair in her keyboard. Her blog, Kitty Contemplations, helps cat guardians better understand and care for the special beings they share their lives and homes with. Her cat-products business, Cat in the Box, sells beautiful, well-made, and award-winning products that she designed to meet the biological needs of cats.