American vs European Attitude To Siamese Cat

There seems to be a difference is attitude between American (here, I mean North American) Siamese cat breeders and Siamese cat breeders in Europe including of course the UK.

How to raise Siamese cats and kittens By Janine Connor refers to the criticism by European breeders and breeders "around the world" of the American breeder's desire to breed Siamese cats with an extreme appearance; meaning very slender and what a well known person in the cat fancy in America has called "rat-like" heads and indeed bodies. If you go to a cat show you can see what she means.

I personally prefer the traditional (Applehead) appearance but I respect other people's views and desires. The question I wish to pose is, "Why do American breeders in general prefer the extreme appearance of the modern Siamese cat?"

I can only speculate and I would love some comments but don't expect to get them. We know that America is a consumer society par excellence. The food there is superb and cheap. People can become obese very easily. Is the desire to bred slender elegant cats a response to the human weight problem? And then rather than simply breed an elegant cat that is slender but not overly so, cat breeders in the true tradition of the human condition just go too far and can't stop or don't know when to stop, breeding a more and more refined appearance until it looks extreme and wrong to a large number of people.

Having got to that point breeders can't go back, in part, because the cat associations have by then fixed the appearance in cement under the constantly revised breed standard. The CFA the largest cat association support the extreme modern Siamese and flat faced Persian and reject wildcat hybrids, an anomaly I would suggest.

Well, that is one odd theory that just popped into my mind which may be completely incorrect.

Javanese Cat another relative of the Siamese

The Siamese cat has an extended family. There are several cat breeds that could almost be Siamese cats but are not treated as such by some cat associations; the CFA being one such association. One breed of cat that is closely related is the Javanese. In the United States, it is a longhaired modern Siamese cat (called the Balinese cat by some associations) with non-standard pointing. It is sometimes described as an Oriental Longhair that is pointed. The Oriental Shorthair is another related cat. The Javanese is a very elegant cat with a wonderful plumed tail. Please remember that the body conformation of the cat in the Helmi picture is oriental meaning slender. This is the body of what I call a Modern Siamese. There are traditional cats that are more normal in conformation.

Javanese cat photo - "4Ever"- copyright Helmi Flick

The photo on this page is protected by copyright ©. Violations of copyright are reported to Google.com (DMCA).

The non-traditional points are:

• cream
• lynx: seal, blue, chocolate, lilac
• tortoiseshell
• flame

Read and see more about the Javanese cat by clicking on this link.

The description "Javanese cat" means something different in Europe and the UK. The Javanese cat has nothing to do with the island called Java; an island that is part of Indonesia.

Blue Point Male Siamese Cat

 
Photo by Lisa Brewster on Flickr.

I am guessing from this cat's facial appearance and body conformation that he is a male cat. What do you think?

One thing I needn't guess about is the fact that he has very nice blue pointing. It shows the difference between seal and blue very nicely.

You can see that blue is a sort of faded black which it is (dilute black in fact).

He looks like a classic to traditional Siamese cat (i.e. in between classic and traditional - see Siamese cat types). He is not as cobby as an Applehead Siamese in my opinion (or at least his face is too elongated to be a true Applehead) but neither is the face so rat-like as to be a modern Siamese. Sorry if that sounds like I am insulting modern Siamese - I am!

Thanks to the photographer for letting us use the picture.

Modern Siamese Cats

Modern Siamese cat - photo copyright Helmi Flick

Modern Siamese cats are not that modern really as their development began mid 1900s. The term refers to the super slender "oriental" in appearance (in cat fancy parlance) Siamese cats that have been selective bred that way because breeders think it is prettier or more elegant, when in fact the vast majority of the paying public, the consumers, prefer the traditional Siamese cat.

The modern Siamese cat has become, however, the de facto standard Siamese cat, pushing out the Applehead or traditional. It is rather strange.

The major cat association the Cat Fanciers' Association (CFA) does not recognise the original more cobby and natural looking Siamese cat. It has been totally rejected by a misguided breed council or the organisers of the breeding programme of the Siamese cat.

Although the CFA have promoted extreme breeding in respect of the Siamese cat at the expense of the cat breed's health, they are firmly stuck in the mud when it comes to what colour pointing is acceptable. They only accept and recognise the conventional pointing colours: blue, seal, chocolate and lilac. It is sometimes hard to distinguish between the last two unless you are in the cat fancy.

Although I disagree with the policies of the CFA in relation to the body shape and appearance of the Modern Siamese cat, I do agree that the cat should have real solid colored pointing as this is what makes the breed what it is.

When the pointing is broken up as is the case with tabby pointing (lynx points) the cat no longer looks like a Siamese.

Read and see more on modern Siamese cats on this well visited page.

The photo and text on this page are protected by copyright ©. Violations of copyright are reported to Google.com (DMCA).