Siamese

Today’s Siamese cat is mid-sized, slender, sleek and lithe.  Its large ears and wedge shaped,  triangular head differentiate it from other breeds, but it’s “point” coloring is probably its most distinct characteristic.  “Points” are the dark color patterns on the face, ears, legs, feet and tail.  The point color is defined as chocolate, seal, blue or lilac.

These point patterns are actually the result of a gene defect, involving a mutation of an enzyme that produces melanin in the coat.  The mutated enzyme doesn’t function properly at normal body temperature, but becomes active in cool areas of the cat’s body – the extremities where the points are found.  Siamese kittens are completely white or beige at birth, and then develop their points over their first few months of growth.

Siamese cats are generally very intelligent and quite outgoing.  Most Siamese like humans a lot, and enjoy their company.  They are also very sociable with other cats.  They’re not loners, and they’re not suited to being the only-cat of a family that is gone for most of the day.

Another distinct trait of the Siamese is their voice.  A low-pitched, very loud bellow that sounds very much like a crying baby.  They are a very chatty, very vocal cat breed, so there’s no shortage of  opportunities to hear their unique vocal stylings.

The exact origin of the Siamese cat isn’t known, but legend has it that they are descended from the sacred temple cats of Siam (Thailand).  It’s also believed that Siamese cats were first seen in the west when the British Consul-General brought home a pair of them from a trip to Thailand as a gift for his sister.  The British liked to claim that Siamese cats were only bred and kept as pets by Thai royalty, and referred to them as the “Royal Cat of Siam”, which was later proven to be untrue.

The Siamese of the late 1800s were quite different to the breed we’re familiar with now.  All of the features we think of as distinctly Siamese were there, but to a lesser extent.  In the 1950s the Siamese began to become very popular, and cats that possessed more extreme versions of those traits were singled out as being exceptional.  Larger ears.  Longer, thinner tails.  Pointier, more angular heads.  Longer, much thinner bodies.  So, breeders began catering to this new style Siamese, and cat fancier organizations followed along, changing their official definitions of the Siamese breed to match.

Today, there are two types of Siamese cats – the carefully designed “show” Siamese, and the original.

In the 80s, many different breeding organizations came together to work on preserving lines of the original or “traditional” Siamese, to ensure they would not be bred out of existence.  However, these various organizations all have their own breeding standards, which can differ greatly.  As a result, the “traditional” Siamese has now diverged into a variety of different breed types – “Appleheads”, “Traditional Siamese”, “Old Style Siamese”, “Classic Siamese”, etc.  This has also lead to a lot of people being sold a cat billed as Traditional Siamese, which has the expected point markings, but is actually predominantly not a Siamese at all.