Seal Point Siamese with a bit of tabby cat

Photo by NH53 (Flickr)

This is a Siamese cat in Italy; Tuscany in fact. A beautiful part of the world and this is a beautiful, clean standard looking Siamese cat. There is nothing extreme about this cat, which I think is what makes him or her all the more attractive.

What I would like to ask, however, is whether this cat is purebred and whether there is hint of tabby cat lurking inside. You can see the banding on the tail and on the sides of face and in fact on the forehead.

These indicate the presence of the genes that create the tabby cat and the lynx point Siamese cat. I don't know but I would doubt that this cat would do well at cat shows. That is not to criticise. It is more in praise. Perhaps this is normal for Siamese cats but you don't see banding in Siamese cat show cats as far as I am aware.

There is a nice patch of dark fur on the left thigh area. This would indicate that that area is cooler than the rest of the center part of the body. I wonder why.

Seal Point Siamese Cat in Thailand

This is an interesting photo of a Siamese cat in Siam - well it is called Thailand now but does this cat give us a clue as to what the original Siamese cat looked like before being picked up by the English cat fancy in the late 1800s.

The picture was taken where the marker in this map indicates:


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This is the photo:

Seal Point Siamese Temple Cat in Thailand

You can see that this cat is not oriental in shape but mid range moggie shape (semi-cobby) and a little fat actually!

Cat breeders in the USA justify breeding very slender cats on the basis that the shape is what the Siamese cat was like in Thailand - rubbish obviously. Or if they don't try and justify selective breeding in that way they are clearly breeding cats that are unnatural and unpopular with the public.

You can see the tabby banding on the forelegs. This cat has, it seems, an element of tabby pointing about him (lynx points).

Dark Old Siamese Cat

Dark Traditional Siamese Cat photo by iamcootis on Flickr.

I am guessing that this nice looking traditional seal point Siamese cat is old. I make this assessment on the basis that he is fat - no..only kidding. It is because he is very dark on the torso. Although older cats have a tendency toward obesity until they are very old when they lose weight.

His torso is almost as dark as the points (the extremities).

This darkness of the color of the hair where it should be creamy white is due to the skin being colder in that area than it would be in a young cat.

When the skin is cool at the extremities the pigmentation - melanin - is created in the skin. Where the skin is warmer in the center of the body it is not created - usually - unless the blood circulation is poor due to old age when the skin is cooler in the center of the body as well.

Interesting point: very old cats are less likely to get fleas because there is less blood under the skin due to poor circulation.

Siamese Cat in Siam (Thailand)

Siamese cat in Thailand.

This Flickr photographer, xiffy, has managed to photograph the real thing, a Siamese cat in Siam; now Thailand, of course. The photo was taken near or in Chiang Mai International Airport.


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It is really nice to see the "real thing". This cat is probably more purebred than a purebred Siamese in the USA! Despite not not being registered with any cat association. I mean the genetics are probably more pure.

Several things stand out to me. The cat has normal sized ears. Modern Siamese cat breeders tend to breed cats with ears that are far too large - abnormally so.

Secondly this is the classic seal point. What you would expect in Thailand. The color of the eyes are not deep blue although this is a young cat. The color may deepen. "Extraordinary blue eyes" are how Gloria Stephens in Legacy of the Cat describes the Siamese cat eyes.

Finally the torso color is quite dark too. The classic Siamese show cats have higher contrast between center of body and extremities.

I have another picture of a Siamese cat in Siam on the Siamese cat history page and he or she also had a dark torso.

This cat's body type is classic and not extreme of course.

Traditional Seal Point Siamese

Traditional Seal Point Siamese cat
Photo copyright Stockexpert

The traditional seal point Siamese is the true original Siamese cat that was first imported from Siam now Thailand in the late 1800s and which became the first Siamese cat in the cat fancy in England. Traditional Siamese cats are called "Applehead Siamese". I hate that term.

All the changes to the breed have stemmed from that point.

The picture heading this post is a modern version of the traditional Siamese cat, while an older version going back to the beginning of the 1900s is presented below:

1911 Seal Siamese cat

Originally the Siamese cat had a kinked tail on occasion. This was considered interesting etc. Now it is outlawed by the cat associations. Show Siamese cats must not have kinked tails or be cross eyed!

See Siamese cat history for lots more.