42-628: The Colorpoint Shorthair is a variety of Siamese cat . The only major registries to recognise them are the Cat Fanciers' Association (CFA) and the World Cat Federation (WCF). This breed was established from breeding American Shorthairs with the Siamese to produce different point colors , beyond the four standard Siamese colors. Circa 1948 breeders in the US and UK wished to introduce new colorings into
84-403: A tapetum lucidum , a structure which amplifies dim light in the eyes of other cats. The mutation in the tyrosinase also results in abnormal neurological connections between the eye and the brain. The optic chiasm has abnormal uncrossed wiring; many early Siamese were cross-eyed to compensate, but like the kinked tails, the crossed eyes have been seen as a fault, and due to selective breeding
126-474: A higher rate of morbidity . They are at higher risk of neoplastic and gastrointestinal problems but have a lower risk of feline lower urinary tract disease . A UK study of veterinary records found a life expectancy of 11.69 years for the Siamese compared with 11.74 years overall. The Siamese has been found to have a predisposition to progressive retinal atrophy . The same albino allele that produces coloured points means that Siamese cats' blue eyes lack
168-651: A long-haired variant called the Himalayan . The long-haired Siamese is recognised internationally as a Balinese cat . The breeding also created the hair-mutation breeds, including the Cornish Rex , Sphynx , Peterbald , and blue-point Siamese cat. A description and depiction of the Wichianmat (Siamese cat) first appears in a collection of ancient manuscripts called the Tamra Maew (The Cat-Book Poems), thought to originate from
210-480: A single person. Myrna Milani describes the Siamese as being more diurnal, more likely to stay close to their owner, and less likely to hunt than other cats. Based on Swedish insurance data, which tracked cats only up to 12.5 years, Siamese and Siamese-derived breeds have a higher mortality rate than other breeds. 68% lived to 10 years or more and 42% to 12.5 years or more. The majority of deaths were caused by neoplasms , mainly mammary tumours . The Siamese also has
252-440: A triangle from the tip of the nose to each tip of the ear. The eyes are almond-shaped and light blue, while the ears are large, wide-based, and positioned more towards the side of the head. The breed has a long neck, a slender tail, and fur that is short, glossy, fine and adheres to the body with no undercoat. Its pointed colour scheme and blue eyes distinguish it from the closely related Oriental Shorthair . The modern Siamese shares
294-454: Is a genetic mutation that originated from a litter of kittens born in the 1950s on a farm in Cornwall , UK . One of the kittens, a cream-colored male named Kallibunker, had an extremely unusual, fine and curly coat; he was the first Cornish Rex. The owner then backcrossed Kallibunker to his mother to produce 2 other curly-coated kittens. The male, Poldhu, sired a female called Lamorna Cove who
336-704: Is sometimes referred to as the Greyhound of the cats, because of the sleek appearance and the galloping run characteristic of the breed. According to the Governing Council of the Cat Fancy (GCCF) standard, the Cornish Rex's colour is irrelevant — therefore the cat may be any colour. Aside from the distinctive the coat, the Cornish Rex is set apart by its 'foreign type', slender legs and tail, oval eyes, and wedge shaped head. The Cornish Rex's ears are large and wide at
378-530: Is the cat's pedigree or "paperwork". The Siamese is a part of the foundation stock for crossbreeding with other cats. The crossbreeding resulted in many different types of cats, like the Oriental Shorthair and Colourpoint Shorthair . The Oriental Shorthair and Colourpoint Shorthair were developed to expand the range of coat patterns . The breeding of the Oriental and Colourpoint Shorthairs resulted in
420-496: Is very fine and about 1 cm long. Cornish Rexes only have the undercoat. The curl in their fur is caused by a different mutation and gene than that of the Devon Rex . The breed originated in Cornwall , Great Britain . The coat of a Cornish Rex is extremely fine and naturally curly. Their light coat means that they are best suited for indoor living in warm and dry conditions, as they are sensitive to low temperatures. The breed
462-712: The Ayutthaya Kingdom (1351 to 1767 AD). Over a dozen are now kept in the National Library of Thailand . The manuscripts have resurfaced outside of Thailand and are now in the British Library and National Library of Australia . At the end of the Burmese–Siamese war , the capitol was sacked on 7 April 1767. The Burmese army burned everything in sight and returned to Burma, taking Siamese noblemen and royal family members with them as captives. A Thai legend states that
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#1732870169496504-581: The Colourpoint Shorthair as a distinct breed. Many Siamese cats from Thailand had a kink in their tails, but over the years, this trait has been considered a flaw. Breeders have largely eradicated it, but the kinked tail persists among street cats in Thailand. Siamese are usually very affectionate and intelligent cats, renowned for their social nature. Many enjoy being with people and are sometimes described as "extroverts". Often they bond strongly with
546-647: The GBL1 gene is responsible for the condition in the breed. Siamese cats have been protagonists in literature and film for adults and children since the 1930s. Clare Turlay Newberry 's Babette features a Siamese kitten escaping from a New York apartment in 1937. British publisher Michael Joseph recorded his relationship with his Siamese cat in Charles: The Story of a Friendship (1943). The "Siamese Cat Song" sequence ("We are Siamese if you please") in Disney 's Lady and
588-499: The "Royal Cat of Siam." Some reports say that they had previously been kept only by Siamese royalty. Research does not show evidence of any organised royal breeding programme in Siam. In the 1950s–1960s, as the Siamese was increasing in popularity, many breeders and cat show judges began to favour the more slender look. Breeders created increasingly long, fine-boned, narrow-headed cats through generations of selective breeding. Eventually,
630-514: The 'old-style" foundation stock . The "old-style" Siamese have a round head and body. They have been re-established by multiple registries as the Thai cat . Siamese and Thai cats are selectively bred and pedigreed in multiple cat fancier and breeder organisations. The terms "Siamese" or "Thai" are used for cats from this specific breed, which are by definition all purebred cats with a known and formally registered ancestry . The ancestry registration
672-458: The Canadian wilderness searching for their beloved masters. The book was a modest success when first published but became widely known after 1963 when it was loosely adapted into a film of the same name by Walt Disney . Disney also employed the same Siamese in the role of "DC" for its 1965 crime caper That Darn Cat! , with The New York Times commenting "The feline that plays the informant, as
714-417: The F.B.I. puts it, is superb. [...] This elegant, blue-eyed creature is a paragon of suavity and grace". Cornish Rex The Cornish Rex is a breed of domestic cat . The Cornish Rex has no hair except for down hair . Most breeds of cat have three different types of hair in their coats: the outer fur or " guard hairs ", a middle layer called the " awn hair "; and the down hair or undercoat, which
756-642: The King of Burma Hsinbyushin found and read the poem for the Thai cats in the Tamra Maew. The poem describes Thai cats as being as rare as gold, and anyone who owns this cat will become wealthy. He told his army to round up all the Suphalak cats and bring them back to Burma along with the other treasures. Today in Thailand , people tell this legend as a humorous explanation of the rarity of Thai cats. The pointed cat known in
798-511: The Siamese — specifically red. The first Colorpoint Shorthair was bred from a red (ginger) tabby American Shorthair and a seal point Siamese. In 1964 the Colorpoint Shorthair achieved championship status with the CFA, with cream and red point being the only recognised colours at the time. By 1969 the CFA would allow lynx and tortoiseshell point colorings. The breed is currently also recognised by
840-464: The Tramp (1955), features the cats "Si" and "Am", both titled after the former name of Thailand, where the breed originated. The 1958 film adaptation of Bell, Book and Candle features Kim Novak 's Siamese cat "Pyewacket", a witch's familiar. The Incredible Journey (1961) by Sheila Burnford tells the story of three pets, including the Siamese cat "Tao", as they travel 300 miles (480 km) through
882-457: The United Kingdom, all pointed Siamese-style cats are considered part of the Siamese breed. The Cat Fanciers' Association , considers only the four original fur colours as Siamese: Oriental Shorthair cats with colour points in colours or patterns aside from these four are considered Colourpoint Shorthair in that registry. The World Cat Federation has also adopted this classification, treating
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#1732870169496924-460: The WCF, although without a published standard. It is not recognised as a breed by The International Cat Association , the Governing Council of the Cat Fancy , and Fédération Internationale Féline . The Colorpoint Shorthair should have the appearance of a Siamese in type. It's a medium sized and slender cat with good muscle. The head has a long and tapering wedge and is of medium size in good proportion to
966-506: The West as "Siamese", recognised for its distinctive markings, is one of several breeds of cats from Siam described and illustrated in manuscripts called "Tamra Maew" (Cat Poems). The "Tamra Maew" is estimated to have been written from the 14th to the 18th century. In 1878, U.S. President Rutherford B. Hayes received the first documented Siamese to reach the United States . The cat, named "Siam,"
1008-443: The base with rounded tips and are described as being almost mussel shell shaped. The eyes are medium in size and come in all varieties of eye colour. The body is slender and muscular with small paws. In 2013, researchers identified the mutation that defines the Cornish Rex breed. Genome-wide analyses were performed in the Cornish Rex breed and in 11 phenotypically diverse breeds and two random bred populations. A gene on chromosome A1,
1050-441: The body. The gap between the eyes should be less than the size of the eye. The skull is flat. The neck is long and slender. Nose is long and straight. The ears are large, wide at the base, and pointed. The eyes are blue and almond shaped of medium size. The abdomen should be tight and hips shouldn't be wider than shoulders. The legs are long and slim. The tail is long and thin. The color may be shaded or clear. The color may darken as
1092-409: The breed associations and became more common through breeding programmes specifically aimed at producing these colours. Later, outcrosses with other breeds developed Siamese-mix cats with points in other cat colours and patterns, including red and cream points, lynx (tabby) points , and tortoise-shell ("tortie") points. (For more information on cat coat terminology, see Cat coat genetics .) In
1134-428: The cat ages; however there is a contrast between the body color and the point colour. Siamese cat The Siamese cat ( Thai : แมวไทย, Maeo Thai ; แมวสยาม, Maeo Sayam) is one of the first distinctly recognised breeds of Asian cat. It derives from the Wichianmat landrace . The Siamese cat is one of several varieties of cats native to Thailand (known as Siam before 1939). The original Siamese became one of
1176-408: The contrary, the Cornish Rex's short hair does not make it non- or hypo-allergenic . Allergic reactions from cats are not the result of hair length, but from a glycoprotein known as Fel d 1 , produced in the sebaceous glands of the skin, saliva, and urine. Most people who have cat allergies are reacting to this protein in cat saliva and cat dander : when the cat cleans its fur, the saliva dries and
1218-448: The eye differing from normal felines. Fibres located in the temporal retina cross over in the chiasm instead of remaining uncrossed. The Siamese is predisposed to periocular leukotrichia , pinnal alopecia , and psychogenic alopecia . Young Siamese cats are predisposed to histiocytic cutaneous mast cell tumours . The Siamese is one of the more commonly affected breeds for gangliosidosis 1 . An autosomal recessive mutation in
1260-445: The kittens died soon after the show, their cause of death not documented. By 1886, four Siamese cats were imported to the UK by Eva Forestier Walker (surnamed Vyvyan after 1887 marriage) and her sister, Ada. These Siamese imports were long, had rounded heads with wedge-shaped muzzles, and large ears . The cats ranged from substantial to slender but were not either extreme. The difference in
1302-399: The less extreme type, and any wichianmat cat imported directly from Thailand, under the new breed name Thai . Other, mostly unofficial, names for the traditional variety are "Old-style Siamese" and "Classic Siamese", with an American variation nicknamed "Applehead". The breed standard of the modern Siamese calls for an elongated, tubular, and muscular body and a triangular head, forming
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1344-434: The lysophosphatidic acid receptor 6 ( LPAR6 ), was identified to have a 4 base pair deletion. This induces a premature stop codon in the receptor that is absent in all straight haired cats analyzed. LPAR6 encodes a receptor essential for maintaining the structural integrity of the hair shaft. In humans, LPAR6 mutations result in a form of ectodermal dysplasia characterised by a woolly hair phenotype. The Cornish Rex
1386-458: The modern show Siamese was bred to be extremely elongated, with a lean, tubular body, long, slender legs, a very long, very thin tail that tapers gradually into a point, and a long, wedge-shaped head topped by extremely large, wide-set ears. By the mid-1980s, cats of the original style had largely disappeared from cat shows. Still, a few breeders, particularly in the UK, continued to breed and register them, resulting in today's two types of Siamese:
1428-415: The modern, "show-style", standardised Siamese, and the "Traditional Siamese", both descended from the same distant ancestors, but with few or no recent ancestors in common, and effectively forming distinct sub-breeds, with some pressure to separate them. In addition to the modern Siamese breed category, The International Cat Association (TICA) and the World Cat Federation (WCF) now accept Siamese cats of
1470-501: The most popular breeds in Europe and North America in the 19th century. Siamese cats have a distinctive colourpoint coat, resulting from a temperature-sensitive type of albinism . Distinct features like blue almond-shaped eyes, a triangular head shape, large ears, an elongated, slender, and muscular body, and various forms of point colouration characterise the modern-style Siamese. The modern-style Siamese's point-colouration resembles
1512-511: The pointed coat pattern had not been seen before in cats by Westerners. These Siamese produced a strong impression. One early viewer described them as "an unnatural nightmare of a cat" . Over the next several years, fanciers imported a small number of cats, forming the base breeding pool for the entire breed in Britain. It is believed that most Siamese in Britain today are descended from about eleven of these original imports. In Britain, they were called
1554-404: The pointed colour pattern with the Thai , or traditional Siamese, but they differ in head and body type. The pointed pattern is a form of partial albinism , resulting from a mutation in tyrosinase , an enzyme involved in melanin production. The mutated tyrosinase enzyme is heat-sensitive; it fails to work at normal body temperatures but becomes active in cooler (< 33 °C) areas of
1596-614: The skin. The heat-sensitive enzyme results in a dark colouration in the coolest parts of the cat's body, like the extremities and the face, which are cooled by the airflow through their sinuses . Siamese kittens are cream or white at birth and 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 sufficiently distinguishable 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
1638-420: The trait is far less common today. Still, this lack of a tapetum lucidum even in uncross-eyed cats, causes reduced vision for the cat at night. This trait makes them vulnerable to urban dangers such as night-time vehicular traffic. Unlike many other blue-eyed white cats , Siamese cats do not have reduced hearing ability. The Siamese suffers from abnormal visual projections due to the lateral geniculate body of
1680-466: The vast majority of Siamese had seal (extremely dark brown, almost black) points, but occasionally Siamese was born with "blue" (a cool grey) points, genetically a dilution of seal point; chocolate (lighter brown) points, a genetic variation of seal point; or lilac (pale warm grey) points, genetically a diluted chocolate. These colours were considered "inferior" seal points and were not qualified for showing or breeding. These shades were eventually accepted by
1722-452: Was later brought to America and crossed with a Siamese , giving the breed their long whippy tails and big ears. The Devon Rex looks similar in appearance to the Cornish Rex but has guard hairs and sheds. The Devon Rex mutation is different from the Cornish Rex mutation in that the Devon has shortened guard hairs, while the Cornish Rex lacks guard hairs altogether. Despite some belief to
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1764-828: Was sent from Bangkok to the American Consul. In 1884, the British Consul-General in Bangkok , Edward Blencowe Gould (1847–1916), brought a breeding pair of the cats, Pho and Mia, back to Britain as a gift for his sister, Lilian Jane Gould (who, married in 1895 as Lilian Jane Veley, went on to co-found the Siamese Cat Club in 1901). In 1885, Gould's UK cats Pho and Mia produced three Siamese kittens—Duen Ngai, Kalohom, and Khromata—who were shown with their parents that same year at London's Crystal Palace Show. Their appearance and behaviour attracted attention, but all three of
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