The Myth of Siamese Cats

Siamese cat myths often tell of humans whose souls have stayed for a time in the body of this royal cat. It is a cat of longevity, and a cat that confers longevity to its owner. Siamese cats don't like to be patronized or trifled with, and their wish is to be with one person, or perhaps two people at one time. Once, in its long history, the Siamese cat was the guardian of the King of Siam's children, and this accounts for the diversity in the cat's vocalisation. No cat has more to say than does the Siamese. If you do not talk to this cat, he will challenge you to do so! If he thinks you are being too quiet, he will put his paw to your lips to make you talk! The Siamese voice is legendary. They speak both with their voice and with their body. They are the quintessential 'people' cat, for they love to be in your lap, on your bed, at your table - and in your heart!

It is said that Siamese were once sacred cats with jobs guarding the Buddhist temples. One day, a valuable cup went missing and a pair of cats was dispatched to find the stolen treasure. After a long journey, the cup was discovered and the female cat stayed to guard it while her male partner went back to tell the good news. So worried was she that the cup might go missing again, that she wound her tail tightly around its stem and it became permanently kinked. For days and nights she sat watching over the prized cup and by the time her partner returned, her eyes had developed a squint. Later she produced a litter of kittens - all of which had kinked tails and squints, because of her vigilance in guarding the lost treasure.

History of Siamese

The breed originated in the Far East. The Thai National Library in Bangkok houses manuscripts form the ancient city of Ayudha, founded in 1350 which was the capital of Siam until 1767 when it was burned down by the invading Burmese. The traditional Siamese cats were a well-loved variety of the native cats and they were particularly valued and kept by royalty in their palaces. The King of Siam was very jealous of keeping the breed entirely as royal cats. It is thought that the Siamese travelled from the orient into Great Britain with merchants along the ancient Silk Road form China. The breed was first exhibited in Europe in 1871 at the Crystal Palace Exhibition. These early 20th Century kittens were less fine-boned than today, and very round-headed with round eyes which are what we know today as traditional Siamese cats. They were a rapid success, although it was notoriously difficult to obtain Siamese cats and rear kittens. Despite this the breed became well-established in Great Britain and for a long time conformed to the traditional Siamese type. Unfortunately the traditional Siamese fell out of favour in Britain in the last 20 years and the traditional Siamese is no longer shown in cat shows. A small number of people however now insist on maintaining the traditional old-style Siamese as these are the only true Siamese cat.

The last 30 years in the UK

The original Siamese Cats shown in ancient manuscripts were pale-coated with seal points, but with smaller areas of colouring at the points than the Siamese of today. These manuscripts refer to the black points together with white hair and reddish eyes. The blue eyes of Siamese today still reflect a reddish glow, especially when photographed. The Siamese breed had now been known in the West for about 130 years. The first standard on points was devised in Britain in 1892 and was re-written some ten years later. Then the Siamese was described as "a somewhat curious and striking cat, of a medium size if weighty but not showing bulk". These traditional Siamese cats were very round-headed compared with even the more moderate modern Siamese of Europe.

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Twenty-five to thirty years ago it could be argued that the Siamese was the most popular pedigree cat in the UK. In the late 50s and early 60s classes for Siamese at championship shows boasted more entries that any other breed. They were still of the traditional Siamese type. The picture on the left, probably dating from the 50s, shows Lawrence Olivier with a very nice traditional Siamese.

Sadly for the breed this state of affairs no longer exists. Classes at shows today have very often only two of three entries and sometimes classes are cancelled. Why is this? The recent breed standards issued by GCCF describe the Siamese as "of medium size, long and svelte body with slim legs ….. and a long tapering tail. The head should be long, with width between the ears, narrowing… to a fine muzzle. The ears are to be large and pricked, wide at the base and the eyes should be oriental in shape and slanting." This is indeed a far cry from the traditional Siamese cats shown in the ancient manuscripts referred to above. The modern European Siamese cats are certainly not "weighty", nor are they rounded-headed and round-eyed as were the traditional Siamese bred in Europe in the early part of the 20th Century. This is why many of us wish to breed back and produce the traditional siamese kittens which were popular in the first part of the last century and reflect the true siamese cat.

In addition to these new standards, so different to the traditional Siamese look of the early cats imported into this country there has now been a development of many new colours. These have now been added to the original colours of seal, chocolate, blue and lilac points seen in the traditional Siamese Cat. These colours are cinnamon, caramel, fawn red and cream point. They are all recognised by the GCCF. They were not, of course, the colours of the traditional Siamese cat.