The colourpoint shorthair is basically a Siamese cat with point colours others than seal, chocolate, blue or lilac. Other colours have been obtained by out crossing of Siamese to short-haired cats (British and American Shorthairs) of the required colours in order to introduce these colours into the points of the Siamese.

Although regarded as Siamese in most countries, and having the same temperament and type, because of the crossbreeding involved in their production, they are classified as Colourpoint Shorthairs in the United States. The colours recognised include red, cream and tortoiseshell points, and tabby (lynx) points in all recognized point colours.