siamese cats

The Breed

Description

All Siamese have a creamy base coat with coloured points on their muzzles, ears, paws and lower legs, tails and (in males) scrota. The pointed pattern is a form of partial albinism, resulting from a mutation in tyrosinase, an enzyme involved in melanin production. The mutated enzyme is heat-sensitive; it fails to work at normal body temperatures, but becomes active in cooler areas of the skin.^[1] This results in dark coloration in the coolest parts of the cat's body, including the extremities and the 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 a kitten is four weeks old the points should be clearly distinguishable enough to recognise which colour they are. Siamese cats tend to darken with age, and generally adult Siamese living in warm climates have lighter coats than those in cool climates.

Originally the vast majority of Siamese had seal (extremely dark brown, almost black) points, but occasionally Siamese were born with blue (a cool grey) points, genetically a dilution of seal point; chocolate (lighter brown) points, a genetic variation of seal point; or, more rarely,lilac (pale warm gray, a dilution of chocolate) points. While initially regarded as inferior seal points that should not be bred or shown, each of these shades was eventually accepted by the breed associations, allowed to compete in shows and became more common through breeding programs specifically aimed at producing these colors. Later, outcrosses with other breeds developed Siamese-mix cats with points in other cat colours and patterns including red point, lynx (tabby) point, and tortoise-shell ("tortie") 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 Fanciers' 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 trait has been considered to be a flaw and breeders have largely eradicated it, although it persists among street cats in Thailand. Many 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.

Temperament

Siamese are affectionate and intelligent cats, renowned for their social nature. They enjoy being with people and are sometimes described as "extroverts." They are extremely vocal, with a loud, low-pitched voice that has been compared to the cries of a human baby, and persistent in demanding attention. They usually get on well with other cats, though they tend to be somewhat dominant, but they also have a great need for human companionship. Often they bond strongly to a single person. These cats are typically active and playful, even as adults.^[2][3]

The social orientation of Siamese cats may be related to their lessened ability to live independently of humans. Siamese coat coloration is appealing to humans but not effective as cryptic coloration. They are less active at night than most cats, possibly because their blue eyes lack a tapetum lucidum, a structure which amplifies dim light in the eyes of other cats. Like blue-eyed white cats, they may also have reduced hearing ability. Therefore, being dependent on humans may have been a survival trait for ancestors of the Siamese. ^[3]

History

"Wichien-maat" (Siamese) cats have existed for centuries in Thailand (formerly Siam). The pointed cat known in the West as "Siamese" is one of several breeds of cats from Siam described and illustrated in manuscripts called "Tamra Maew" (Cat Poems), estimated to have been written ca. 1700s. </ref>^[4]

The breed was first seen outside their Asian home in 1884, when the British Counsul-General in Bangkok, Edward Blencowe Gould (1847-1916)^[5], brought a pair of the cats back to Britain for his sister, Lilian Jane 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 longer and less "cobby" in body, had heads that were less round with wedge-shaped muzzles and had 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. Several sources give Gould's brother Owen Nutcombe Gould (1857-1929) as the British Consul-General in Bangkok, but Owen was only 27 in 1884 and not known to be in Bangkok. In their early days in Britain they were called the "Royal Cat of Siam", reflecting reports that they had previously been kept only by Siamese royalty. ^[6] Later research has not shown evidence of any organized royal breeding program in Siam. ^[4]

The original Siamese imports were, like their descendents in Thailand today, 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, as the Siamese was increasing in popularity, 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, narrow-headed 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-shaped heads topped by extremely large, wide-set ears. The major cat organizations altered language and/or interpretation of 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, particularly in the U.K., continued to breed and register them, resulting in today's two types of Siamese – the modern "show-style" Siamese, and the "traditional" 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 organized in order to preserve old, genetically healthy lines from extinction, educate the public about the breed's history and provide information on where people could buy kittens of the more moderate type. Several different breeders' organizations have developed, with differing breed standards and requirements (such as whether or not cats must have documented proof of ancestry from an internationally recognized registry). Partially due to such disagreements, there are several different names used for the cats, including "Traditional Siamese", "Old Style Siamese", "Classic siamese" and "Appleheads" (originally a derogatory nickname coined by modern-type Siamese breeders as an exaggerated description of less extremely wedge-shaped heads). The popularity of the older body style has also led to pointed mixed-breed cats that may have few or no Siamese ancestors being sold as "Traditional Siamese" to uninformed buyers, further increasing confusion over what a "real" Siamese looks like. ^[7]

In Germany, in addition to the regular Siamese (Siamkatze) breed category in which modern show-style Siamese are shown, a breed called Thaikatze ("Thai cats") is recognized, which includes Siamese cats of the less extreme type but in which some crosses with other breeds is permitted.

Other Breeds Derived from the Siamese

• Balinese – a longhaired Siamese. In the largest US registry, the Cat Fanciers Association (CFA), limited to the four traditional Siamese coat colors of seal point, blue point (a dilute of seal point), chocolate point and lilac point (a dilute of chocolate point). Other registries in the US and worldwide recognize a greater diversity of colors.
• Burmese is a breed of domesticated cats descended from a specific cat, 'Wong Mau', who was found in Burma in 1930 by Dr. Joseph G. Thompson. She was brought to San Francisco, California, where she was bred with Siamese. While technically not derived from Siamese, the breed was considered to be a form of Siamese for many years, leading to cross-breeding.
• Colorpoint Shorthair – a Siamese-type cat registered in CFA with pointed coat colors aside from the traditional CFA Siamese coat colors; originally developed by crosses with other shorthair cats. Considered to be part of the Siamese breed in all other cat associations, but considered a separate breed in CFA. Variations can include Lynx Points and Tortie Points.
• Himalayan - Long-haired breed originally derived from crosses of Persians to Siamese and pointed domestic longhair cats in order to introduce the point markings and the colors chocolate and lilac. After these initial crosses were used to introduce the colors, further breed development was performed by crossing these cats only to the Persian breed. In Europe they are referred to as colourpoint Persians. In CFA they are a color division of the Persian breed.
• Javanese – a longhaired version of the Colorpoint Shorthair in CFA. In Europe, an obsolete term for the longhaired version of the Oriental Shorthair.
• Ocicat – a spotted cat originally produced by a cross between Siamese and Abyssinian.
• Oriental Shorthair – a Siamese-style cat in non-pointed coat patterns and colors, including solid, tabby, silver/smoke, and tortoise-shell.
• Oriental Longhair – a longhaired version of the Oriental Shorthair.
• Serengeti Cat – a spotted breed created to resemble the Serval, from Siamese, Oriental Shorthair, and Bengal crosses.
• Snowshoe – a cream and white breed with blue eyes and some points that was produced through the cross-breeding of the Siamese and bi-colored American Shorthair in the 1960s.
• Tonkinese – a cross between a Siamese cat and a Burmese. The Tonkinese are "pointed" cats but their bodies are of a darker color than the Siamese.

Famous Siamese cats

• Bucky Katt from Get Fuzzy
• Genghis - Growltiger's enemy in Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats by T. S. Eliot
• Jason - Seal-point on BBC TV's Blue Peter
• Koko & Yum-Yum - from Lillian Jackson Braun's "The Cat Who..." novels
• Misty Malarky Ying Yang, pet of Amy Carter
• Pyewacket, the witch's familiar in the film Bell, Book and Candle
• Tao, from Sheila Burnford's novel The Incredible Journey
• Sagwa in the children's book Sagwa, the Chinese Siamese Cat by Amy Tan and animated TV series of the same name
• Shan Shein - White House cat owned by Gerald Ford's daughter, Susan
• Si and Am - the evil, havoc-wreaking Siamese duo from Lady and the Tramp'
• Syn, who played the title role of "D.C." in the 1965 Walt Disney film That Darn Cat!
• Kit the Cat, the "familiar spirit" of the main characters in Charmed
• Solange from 9 Chickweed Lane

See also

• The Cat Who... books(Series of fictional mystery books in which an amateur detective is aided in his detection by his Siamese cats)

Notes

1. ^ D. L. Imes et al. (April 2006). "Albinism in the domestic cat (Felis catus) is associated with a tyrosinase (TYR) mutation" (Short Communication). Animal Genetics 37 (2): 175. Retrieved on 2006-05-29.
2. ^ Breed Portrait of the Siamese Cat (PDF document). Cat Fanciers Federation. Retrieved on 2006-08-10.
3. ^ ^a b Myrna M. Milani, D.V.M. (1987). The Body Language and Emotion of Cats. New York: Quill. ISBN 0-688-12840-8.
4. ^ ^a b Clutterbuck, Martin R. (2004). Siamese Cats: Legends and Reality. Bangkok: White Lotus. ISBN 9744800534.
5. ^ Edward Blencowe Gould or Owen Gould. Retrieved on 2006-08-14.
6. ^ Weir, Harrison [1889]. Our Cats.
7. ^ Dr. Cris Bird. The Types of Siamese. Retrieved on 2006-09-27.