Khao Manee
“The Diamond Eye cat: Thai 'khao manee', white gem”
By Priya · The careful onePublished August 21, 2026Updated August 26, 20267 min read
Contents
Khao Manee photos
Real photos, so you can see what the breed actually looks like: coats, ear tufts, ruff and build.
White Khao Manee cat with striking odd eyes, one blue and one green
Photo: Janet Poulsen · CC BY-SA 3.0 · via Wikimedia Commons
Vital stats
Origin
Thailand
Thailand, with a manuscript . 's and 's own materials trace the breed to the Tamra Maew, the Thai cat treatises whose earliest versions date to the Ayutthaya period, where a white, jewel-eyed cat appears among the auspicious breeds. Modern population genetics backs the geography: Jaito et al. 2024 places the Khao Manee genetically close to its Thai cousin breeds, with the Siamese lineage as the one outlier of the family. TICA accepted the breed for registration, advanced it to Preliminary New Breed in May 2012, and voted it to full Championship unanimously in January 2015.
Weight
Female
6-8 lb (2.7-3.6 kg)
Male
8-11 lb (3.6-5 kg)
Life expectancy
Three independent brands converge on 10-12 years ('s own stat box, Purina UK, Royal Canin US), all unsourced. The SEO-content sites that diverge upward (to 12-16) cite nothing. No measured lifespan study includes the breed. A commonly cited estimate; no measured study exists.
Coats
Pure white (the only coat)
Gold eye
Blue eye
Green eye
One color IS the content: pure white, with the interest moved to the eyes, in four classes converged on by three separately read standards (, , ): blue, gold, green, or . The one concrete nuance almost no page carries: all three standards allow a small color headcap on young cats until exactly 18 months of age. That is why a kitten with a head smudge is not automatically disqualified. Our identification page covers the whole checklist.
Understanding the coats (and their genetics)Size
TICA's registry range is the only published figure, quoted as such: males typically 8-11 lb (3.6-5.0 kg) with slightly heavier boning, females 6-8 lb (2.7-3.6 kg). No measured weight study of the breed exists anywhere in the reachable literature. We state that absence as the finding, rather than filling it with an invented number.
Did you know
The name means 'white gem' in Thai, and the breed's paper trail runs through the Tamra Maew manuscripts of the Ayutthaya period, centuries before cat fancy existed. The 'diamond eye' look that made it famous is one of four accepted eye classes. And kittens can wear a temporary color headcap the standards tolerate until exactly 18 months.
Personality
Affection4/5
Energy4/5
Intelligence4/5
Friendliness4/5
Independence2/5
Vocal4/5
Shedding2/5Compatibility
Good with children4/5
Good with other pets4/5
Apartment friendly4/5Editorial ratings on our five-point scale, anchored in the registry descriptions and the measured behaviour studies cited on this profile; individual cats vary, and our members' own ratings below are the counterweight.
Still torn between this breed and another?Compare the Khao Manee trait by trait, or filter every breed by what matters to you.
What our members say
What our members say
Nobody has described their Khao Manee here yet. As soon as the first profiles come in, this is where the community averages will show up: temperament, food, lifestyle.
Describe my Khao Manee
Pros & cons
Strong points
- A manuscript-deep history: the Tamra Maew treatises, attributed to CFA's and TICA's own accounts
- The breed's own club publishes the fancy's most candid deafness document, hedges included
- Genuinely low-maintenance short white coat, per both reachable registries
- Real, structured pricing from named catteries: eye-color tiers, not mystery quotes
Things to consider
- White-coat deafness risk is real and individual: only a BAER test answers for a given cat
- No measured weight, lifespan or behaviour study exists: the file is registry prose, labeled
- A genuinely tiny market: two named US catteries, no active Canadian or Australian program found
- A people-attached, talkative cat that does poorly alone, by three-way convergent accounts
Is a Khao Manee right for you?
A household that wants a rare, historically deep, people-centered white cat. One that will do the one test that matters (, especially for a blue-eyed cat), and can work a market where the honest answer is two named US catteries and a waiting list.
Is the Khao Manee right for YOUR home?
Answer a few questions and we'll email you your personalized result.
Take the quiz · 2 min
Getting to know the Khao Manee
One color, four eye classes, and a deadline written into three standards. The Khao Manee is pure white in every registry, with eyes in four classes (blue, gold, green, ). The most useful identification fact almost nobody quotes: all three separately read standards tolerate a color headcap on young cats until exactly 18 months. Our identification page turns that into the checklist the Reddit threads are missing. It ends with the honest limit: without registry paperwork, no checklist can prove ancestry.
The deafness file is the fancy's most candid. The breed club's own Breeding Policy states the white-coat mechanism, then hedges its own best news in its own words. The lower-frequency claim is 'anecdotal'. The all-hearing UK founding imports come with no total. The one documented case sits in an 11-litter record with no denominator. We publish all of it exactly that hedged (and the UK's checkable rule beside it: requires a or OAE certificate before any white cat breeds). No reassuring conclusion follows, and none is printed.
The market is two named catteries and an echo. Real pricing tiers by eye color ($1,000-1,700 standard, $2,000-2,300 , both structures independent). The internet's '$7,000-11,000' Khao Manee traces to no named breeder anywhere, and our price page carries the tiers, the UK's live-vs-evergreen gap, and the documented Canadian and Australian zeros.
Health: what to watch for
A few predispositions are well documented. The good news: they can be screened for or avoided by choosing a reputable breeder and keeping an eye on the right signals.
This is information, not veterinary advice, and it cannot tell you what is wrong with your cat. Our rule is a simple one: if something is wrong with your cat, call your vet, and call an emergency clinic if it is out of hours. Nothing you read here is a reason to wait.
White-coat deafness: the mechanism, the gradient, and the club's own hedges
MODERATEThe mechanism is general and real: coat pigment cells and an inner-ear cell layer share stem-cell origins. So epistatic white with blue eyes carries deafness risk: blue-eyed cats most, odd-eyed cats a partial risk usually on the blue-eye side ('phenotype is not a definite indicator of deafness', the club's own words). The breed-specific material is published exactly as hedged as its source. The club calls its lower-frequency claim ANECDOTAL, with no rate. The UK's BAER-tested founding imports were all hearing (no total given). One US breeder's 11-litter record shows one unilateral case (no denominator). Only a BAER test answers for an individual cat.
The UK's checkable rule: BAER/OAE before breeding
LOWGCCF's Registration Rule 1g requires every white cat, of every breed, to hold a BAER or OAE hearing certificate before progeny can be registered. The Khao Manee club's own registration policy repeats the rule, with a microchip-ID requirement. For a UK buyer this is the one-sentence due-diligence question; elsewhere it is simply the test worth paying for.
What is NOT in the file, stated because absence is data
LOWNo measured weight, lifespan or behaviour study includes this breed, and no condition beyond the white-coat deafness complex is documented for it anywhere in the reachable literature. That reflects a young, rare, lightly studied breed, not a proven-healthy one. Routine vet care, and a call at anything abnormal, remain the whole plan.
Go deeper on health
Prevention, warning symptoms, costs and insurance: our guides, researched and sourced.
Also worth a look
Chausie
“The jungle-cat hybrid built for the wild silhouette, not the spots”
Singapura
“The Kucinta, Singapore's 'love cat', and one of the smallest breeds alive”
Peterbald
“St Petersburg's bald aristocrat: an Oriental frame in five coat classes”
Pixie-bob
“The legend cat: a bobcat look on paper-documented domestic genetics”
Grooming & living with one
Grooming
Genuinely low-maintenance, and both reachable registries say so in their own words: a short, close white coat needing weekly brushing at most, routine nails and teeth. White coats show dirt honestly, which is a housekeeping fact, not a grooming burden.
Living together
The registry portrait is sociable with children and other pets, with the usual caveat that no measured study exists. The practical convergence worth planning around: three independent sources state the breed does not like being left alone. Company, a companion animal or a busy household fits best.
Food & diet
No breed-specific feeding angle exists, checked and stated as a finding: general feline nutrition applies, portioned by body condition with your vet.
Price & budget
$1,000 to 2,300
Price of a kitten from a registered breeder, in the United States
This price reflects the quality of the breeding program: parents' health tests, registry pedigree, socialization. A very low price should raise a red flag. The real cost, though, plays out over the years.
Find a verified breederKitten price, by market
United States
$1,000 to 2,300
United Kingdom
£150 to 500
Each figure is that country's real market price, researched separately, not a conversion of the others. The smaller line is only there so you can gauge one against your own money: European Central Bank reference rates of 2026-09-18, refreshed daily.
Work out your food budget
Type of food
Estimated monthly budget
$13
≈ 2.2 oz (63 g) per day
A ballpark figure, food only, using the same arithmetic as our portion tool (resting energy requirement × 1.2, a neutered adult). Real needs vary with age, activity level and body condition. Ask your veterinarian for advice.
Verified catteriesThe registry-checked directory, plus a kitten alert near you. Filter it by breed.
Should you insure a Khao Manee?
Our sources list several predispositions in the Khao Manee: White-coat deafness: the mechanism, the gradient, and the club's own hedges, The UK's checkable rule: BAER/OAE before breeding, What is NOT in the file, stated because absence is data. A predisposition is not a foregone conclusion, and many of these cats live their whole lives without ever developing anything. It does change the nature of the follow-up, though: you monitor, sometimes for life, and it's that monitoring that weighs on a budget, more than a one-off accident.
One thing to weigh before deciding: this is a cat you will live alongside for well over a decade, and that is the span the real cost is spread across, premiums and care alike. Where a breed has a measured life expectancy that differs from the figure usually quoted, we say so in the lifespan section above rather than repeating the quoted one here.
Khao Manee cats in our community
No Khao Manee here yet
Got one? Add a photo and yours gets to open this page.
The vet's take
Veterinary review
Are you a vet?
Your professional read belongs here: every verified practitioner can leave a note, published once our editors have reviewed it.
Sign in and get your license number verified. We check it in the public register, we never ask for or keep a copy of your diploma, and your number is never published.
Frequently asked questions
+What is a Khao Manee?
Thailand's 'white gem': a pure white, short-coated breed with eyes in four accepted classes (blue, gold, green or odd-eyed), documented back to the Tamra Maew manuscripts and holding full TICA Championship since 2015. The odd-eyed 'diamond eye' look is its signature.
+How do I know if my cat is a Khao Manee?
The checklist: pure white coat, eyes in one of the four classes, and for a young cat possibly a color headcap the standards allow until 18 months. Definitively: registry paperwork tracing to Thai lines, because epistatic white odd-eyed cats occur in random-bred populations everywhere. Our identification page walks the whole test.
+Are Khao Manee cats deaf?
Some can be, like any epistatic-white breed: blue-eyed cats carry the highest risk, odd-eyed a partial one. The breed club's own document says, in its own word, 'anecdotally' that frequency runs lower than in European white breeds, with no rate behind it, and we print it exactly that hedged. A BAER hearing test answers for any individual cat.
+How much does a Khao Manee cost?
From the two named US catteries: $1,000-1,700 with standard eye colors, $2,000-2,300 odd-eyed. The widely repeated $7,000-11,000 figure traces to no named breeder anywhere. Canada and Australia currently have no active domestic breeders we could find.
+Why does my Khao Manee kitten have a colored spot on its head?
It is a documented allowance, not a defect: all three standards we read tolerate a small headcap of color on young cats until exactly 18 months of age. If it persists past that, the cat cannot be shown, and remains a perfectly good cat.
+Do all Khao Manee have odd eyes?
No: odd eyes are one of four accepted classes, alongside blue, gold and green, which is exactly why breeders price odd-eyed kittens $600-1,000 higher. A solid-gold-eyed Khao Manee is just as registrable.
+How long do Khao Manee live?
Three independent brands converge on 10-12 years, all unsourced, and no measured study includes the breed: treat the range as an estimate. The sites claiming 12-16 cite nothing at all.
+Are Khao Manee hypoallergenic?
No cat is: allergen production is glandular, not coat-based, and no source makes an allergy claim for this breed. Spend time with the specific cat and involve your allergist before deciding.
+Can Khao Manee be left alone?
Not happily, by a three-way convergence of independent sources: this is a people-attached, talkative breed that wants company. Plan for presence, a companion, or a busy household.
+Is the Khao Manee recognized by the major registries?
A different tier at every one, and none is 'refused': TICA full Championship (2015), CFA Provisional (promoted May 2026), GCCF name recognition (noting 'no active interest by GCCF breeders'), CCA-AFC a full standard with zero listed breeders, and no Australian recognition at all.
Community questions
Got a question this page doesn't cover? Ask it: the best ones get published here with their answer.
Sources & references
Data checked against reference sources (TICA and CFA standards, genetics laboratories, veterinary schools).
- TICA: Khao Manee breed page
- TICA: Khao Manee breed standard PDF
- CFA: Khao Manee breed standard PDF
- CFA: Khao Manee registration rules PDF
- GCCF: Unrecognised Breeds list (Khao Manee holds name recognition only, no breed page exists)
- Khao Manee Cat Club: Breeding Policy and Registration Policy PDF (the candid deafness section)
- GCCF: BAER testing for white cats (Rule 1g)
- Jaito et al. 2024, Genomics & Informatics: Thai breed population genetics (PMID 39085978)
Worth keeping a paw on
Pin this profile
To compare later, or to show someone still torn between two breeds. One click and it sits in your board.
Pin it on Pinterest
Purr or PassStill deciding? Find the perfect breed for your home.
A quick quiz that factors in your lifestyle, your kids and your other pets.
Which breed fits my home?Keep exploring
The floor belongs to our members. Keep it kind, links are not allowed, and images go through moderation before anyone else sees them.