History and Description
Although there have been many theories about the origin of the Siamese. It is now quite certain that it was a well-loved variety in the ancient Siamese city of Ayudha which was Siam's capital from 1350 until it was burned down by invading Burmese in 1767. The people of Siam did not regard the pointed cats as their only native variety, but particular value was placed on them and they were kept by royalty in their palaces. Siam is now known as Thailand.
The Siamese coat is very short, thin and close-lying. The CCA recognizes Siamese in only the 4 traditional colours: (1) Seal Point – even pale fawn to cream body colour with deep seal brown points (mask, ears, tail, legs); (2) Blue Point - bluish-white body colour with deep blue points; (3) Chocolate Point - ivory body colour with warm milk chocolate points; (4) Lilac Point - glacial white body with light frosty-grey points that have a pinkish tone.
Lilac Point
Lilac Point
The Siamese is medium in size, svelte, elegant and extremely refined with long tapering lines. It has long legs and a long, tapered, whip-like tail. The body is long and tubular.
Blue Point (young kitten – the mask fills in gradually and becomes deep blue)
The head is long and wedge-shaped forming a triangle with straight lines from the tip of the nose to the tips of the ears. The profile is straight to
the top of the head with a strong chin in a straight line with the end of the nose. (Two Photos by Neil Kinnear & Leslie Chung)
Blue Point – Adult, deep blue
Blue Point
The ears are strikingly large, the slanted eyes are almond-shaped and deep blue in colour.
Chocolate Point
The Siamese breed has been used to develop other breeds, among them in the Shorthair Division is the Colourpoint Shorthair (CPSH), the Ocicat, the Oriental Shorthair (ORS) and the Tonkinese. The CPSH and the OSH come in various colours and patterns and they are considered “hybrids” even though they have Siamese-type body structures and can produce “pointed” cats in the four Siamese colours and coat length; the Siamese “look-alikes” from these two breeds are registerable and showable within their own breed class, but they are NOT registered or shown as Siamese in the Canadian Cat Association.
There are also some longhair breeders who have used Siamese in their breeding programs to develop breeds such as the Balinese, Himalayan and Oriental Longhair.
Siamese is a "natural" breed and only it possesses the true "original" characteristics of the Siamese cat. It is garrulous, openly affectionate, often vocal and highly intelligent. It is also a dynamic, high-energy cat requiring owners who are prepared to give and receive a lifetime of devotion. In truth, ONCE A SIAMOPHILE, ALWAYS A SIAMOPHILE ! Owners will say: “You haven’t lived until you've lived with a Siamese Cat!"