Siamese Cat

A Brief History of Siamese

Siamese Cat:

The Siamese Cat breed has existed for many centuries although there is much disagreement as to their true origin. While there are many legends and stories about the origination of the Siamese breed, the most probable theory is that the breed had it's origins somewhere in southeast Asia, in what are known as the Malay States, Indo-China, Burma or the Himalayan region.

For many generations the Royal cats of Siam where jealously guarded by the King of Siam at his Palace in Bangkok. It is probably owing to this confinement of the 'Palace' cats that there is little known of their true origins. The original Palace or Temple cats of Siam were said to be dark-colored with yellow eyes, not exactly what we would expect now as Siamese. In any event, sometime in the past centuries either one or several mutations occured which caused the distinguishing 'Points' and Blue eyes that make the Siamese so distinctive. It is unfortunate that there are no records of who was responsible for encouraging and breeding this mutation, for without this person or group of persons, the Siamese breed may never have come into existence.

While the true origins of the Siamese may always be conjecture, we do know when the breed first began to appear outside of Siam, or Thailand as it is called now. In 1884, a pair of Siamese cats were brought to Britain by Mr. Owen Gould, then the British Consul-General in Bangkok. This pair was given to Mr. Owens sister, Mrs. Veley who went on to cofound the Siamese Cat Club in 1901, and were shown at the Crystal Palace in 1885. During 1886, another pair of Siamese cats and two kittens were imported by a Mrs. Vyvyan and her sister into Britain. These cats along with several others brought into Britain in the following years comprised the base breeding pool for the Siamese breed. Therefore, all modern Siamese, especially those in the US, can trace their lineage back to these original Siamese brought into Britain during this time. This has been estimated to be at most only eleven cats !

Siamese Legends

Kink Tails

It is said that there was once a Siamese Princess who was frightened of losing her rings while she bathed in a stream. Looking around for somewhere convenient to place her jewelry, she noticed that her favorite cat had crooked his tail for her benefit. Ever since that time all Siamese cats have been born with a tiny kink at the end of their tails to hold the Princess' rings.

A young cat took his wife into the jungle to search for a royal goblet that was missing from one of the Siamese temples. Upon finding the treasure, they decided that the female should remain in the jungle to guard it while the male went back to the city to inform the priest of their discovery. So the little cat took up her position among the leaves and tangled foliage, her tail twisted around the stem of the goblet to make quite sure that no one would try to take it away. Four nights later her husband returned to find he was the father of five sweet little kittens. But, in spite of her new responsibility, the loyal mother cat had not forgotten her earlier trust. Indeed, so conscientious had she been in her protection of the goblet that a permanent kink had developed in the end of her tail. What was more, all five kittens had a similar kink in their tails !

Breeds

Depending on the country and organization, there are differing numbers of what would be called Official Siamese breeds. Rather than get into feline politics, we've just listed some of the more accepted breed types and some of the links to access more detailed information.

Seal Point

Chocolate Point

Blue Point

Lilac Point

Color Point

The Siamese is one of the first distinctly recognised breeds of Oriental cat. The exact origins of the breed are unknown, but it is believed to be from South-East Asia, and are said to be descended from the sacred temple cats of Siam (later Thailand). Their Thai name is "Wichien Maat."

All Siamese have a creamy base coat with coloured "points" on their muzzles, ears, paws and lower legs, tails and scrotums in males. The dark coloration on the "points" of the coat is produced by an enzyme that is heat-sensitive; it fails to work at normal body temperatures, but becomes active in cooler areas of the skin (such as the ears, legs, tail and face (which is cooled by the passage of air through the sinuses). All Siamese kittens, although pure cream or white at birth, develop visible points in the first few months of life in colder parts of their body. By the time the kitten is four weeks old the points should be clearly distinguishable enough to recognise which colour they will be. Siamese cats tend to darken with age, and generally adult Siamese living in warm climates have lighter coats than those in cool climates.

Originally Siamese were all seal-pointed (an extremely dark brown, almost black), but occasionally Siamese were born as blue point (a dilute of seal point), chocolate point or lilac point (a dilute of chocolate point) each of which was eventually accepted by the breed associations and allowed to compete in shows. Later, outcrosses with other breeds developed Siamese cats with points in other cat colours and patterns including red, lynx-point, or tabby point and "tortie" or tortoise-shell point. In the United Kingdom, all pointed Siamese-style cats are considered to be part of the Siamese breed. In the United States, the major cat registry, the Cat Fancier's Association considers only the four original colorations as Siamese: seal point, blue point, chocolate point, and lilac point. Oriental cats with colorpoints in colors or patterns aside from these four are considered Colorpoint Shorthairs in the American cat fancy.

Siamese have almond-shaped, bright blue eyes and short, flat-lying coats. Many Siamese cats from Siam had a kink in their tails but over the years this traits has been considered to be a flaw and breeders have largely eradicated it. Many of the early Siamese were cross-eyed to compensate for the abnormal uncrossed wiring of the optic chiasm, which is produced by the same albino allele that produces coloured points. Like the kinked tails, the crossed eyes have been seen as a fault and through selective breeding, the trait is far less common today.

The breed was first seen outside their Asian home in 1884, when the British Counsul-General in Bangkok, Mr. Owen Gould, brought a pair of the cats back to Britain for his sister, Mrs. Veley (who went on to be co-founder of the Siamese Cat Club in 1901). The cats were shown at the Crystal Palace in 1885, and the following year another pair (with kittens) were imported by a Mrs. Vyvyan and her sister. Compared to the British Shorthair and Persian cats that were familiar to most Britons, these Siamese imports were somewhat longer and less "cobby" in body, had heads that were less round and larger ears. These differences and the pointed coat pattern which had not been seen before by Westerners, produced a strong impression--one early viewer described them as "an unnatural nightmare of a cat"! But these striking cats also won some devoted fans and over the next several years fanciers imported a small number of cats, which together these formed the base breeding pool for the entire breed in Britain. It is believed that most Siamese today are descended from about eleven of these original imports.

An example of a traditional or "Old Style" Siamese cat

The original Siamese cat imports were medium-sized, rather long-bodied, muscular, graceful cats with moderately wedge-shaped heads and ears that were comparatively large but in proportion to the size of the head. The cats ranged from rather substantial to rather slender but were not extreme in either way.

In the 1950s - 1960s, many breeders and cat show judges began to favor the more slender look and as a result of generations of selective breeding, created increasingly long, fine-boned, extremely "Oriental" cats; eventually the modern show Siamese was bred to be extremely elongated, with thin, tubular bodies, long, slender legs, a whip-thin tail and long, narrow, wedge- or triangular-shaped heads topped by extremely large ears.

The major cat organizations altered their official breed standards to favor this newer streamlined type of Siamese, and the minority of breeders who stayed with the original style found that their cats were no longer competitive in the show ring.

By the mid-1980s, cats of the original style had disappeared from cat shows, but a few breeders continued to breed and register them, resulting in two types of purebred Siamese – the modern show Siamese, and the "traditional," or "Apple Head" Siamese, both descended from the same distant ancestors, but with few or no recent ancestors in common. In the late 1980s, breeders and fans of the older style of Siamese, concerned that the old lines were threatened with extinction, organized to preserve them, to educate the public about the breed's history and to provide information on where people could buy kittens of the more moderate type, which became known primarily as "Traditional Siamese Cat".

The Siamese voice, which they use frequently, is unlike that of other breeds, and has been compared to the cries of a human baby. As they are "wired for sound", they can meow loud enough to compete with fire and rescue equipment. The Siamese

Siamese cats crossed with Bengal cats are known as Serengetis. The Serengeti is a new breed of spotted cat.

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