Blue Point Siamese cat - photo copyright Red~Star and reproduced under a creative commons license granted by the photographer
The blue point Siamese cat is one of the four classic Siamese cat colors and allowed by the Cat Fanciers Association. Funnily enough the cat heading this post, Pearl, who is 17+ years old (I hope she is OK still as 17+ is a good age for a cat) is a Traditional Siamese cat and astonishing as the CFA do not recognize the traditional Siamese cat. They only recognize the Modern Siamese. Fortunately the TICA (The International Cat Association) do now, after some considerable lobbying, accept and register the Traditional Siamese but sadly call this cat a "Thai". The cat breeders who breed the Thai might not agree that the Thai is a Traditional Siamese cat, however.
I think that there are too many cat associations pulling in different directions. There needs to be a firm co-ordinating leadership at the top (just my thoughts).
Still, it really won't matter to Pearl. You don't have to be a purebred cat accepted by the cat registries to be a great cat. Pearl is a classic looking traditional Siamese, nicely proportioned. Some cat breeders called them "Appleheads" (rounded head).
The history of the Siamese cat tells us how cat breeders developed the Siamese from a cat similar the type (appearance) above (although the first imported Siamese cats were the original seal point Siamese - a dark brown/black point).
The color "blue" in the cat fancy describes a dilute black (see cat coat color dilution for some genetic stuff). It is more a blue/gray color. There are four purebred grey cat breeds that have to be this color to be accepted as a purebred cat. A color point outside the CFA palette is the Lynx point Siamese.
There is a post on pointed cats here. And another post on the dilution of cat coat color here.
Here's another Blue Point Siamese cat, which I show on another posting somewhere. This photo is copyright Barb Henry and the cat's conformation or body shape is probably more inline with the classic Siamese, which is in between the gangly Modern Siamese and the Traditional. However, there is no clear demarcation in the spectrum of Siamese cats from Modern to Traditional. Perhaps this cat is more Classic/Modern?
Finally, here is a close up of the face of a blue pointed Siamese:
Photo by Flickr photographer: iampeas |
From Blue Point Siamese cat to Siamese cat history
i was thrilled to see a pic that came close to my Boo. He is a purebred bluepoint, 11 yrs old. My baby and i ARE INSEPERATABLE - don't know what i will do when the day comes when he is no longer with me...HELP!!!!! i'm 40ish and happily married with 2 wonderful sons and a grandaughter but i'm telling you my cat is my baby!!!! one day i'm gonna be lost...
ReplyDeleteYou are one of us. I know how you feel about losing your cat one day. My lady cat is about 19 and I am mentally preparing for the day when she dies.
ReplyDelete