Range of Siamese Cat Points

Here is a picture by Flickr photographer Chris Isherwood of his Siamese cats and an Oriental Shorthair (an associated cat breed). I have guessed (incorrectly on two occasions!) what type of pointing the cats have:

Siamese cat types and one Oriental Shorthair

One aspect of the cats that you can see clearly is the smooth single coat that lies close to the skin. This is typical of Siamese cats. It is in complete contrast to the shaggy long coat of the Maine Coon and the dense tight coat of the British Shorthair.

Someone can leave me a comment to correct me! Go on, I dare you.

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.

Oriental Shorthair: Cousin of Modern Siamese

The Oriental Shorthair in the USA is a close relative of the modern, oriental body shaped Siamese cat. It is has the same slender body shape but under cat association breed standards breeders are not confined to color pointing and certain colors. It seems that anything goes in respect of the coat color and pattern. You just keep the "canvas" (the body) the same! I am talking like a cat breeder/fancier now.

Click on this link to see and read about the Oriental Shorthair cat. And see two more articles that refer to the Oriental Shorthair.

Chocolate self Oriental Shorthair kitten - Photo by demented-pixie

Flame Point Siamese Cat Sabrina

Sabrina 1, a photo by ltshears on Flickr.

A really nice looking, pretty, female, flame pointed Siamese cat.

The flame point (red or orange pointing) is an interesting looking cat and people are attracted to this appearance.

I have another page on the Flame Point Siamese cat. They are called "red point" as well. The eyes should be a brilliant sapphire blue. The Siamese cat is recognised in the pointed category of cat associations, in all divisions, in all pointed colors but at the CFA only the classic colors are recognised.

Wikipedia is wrong in the first sentence on the Siamese cat

Wikipedia's first sentence on the Siamese cat is: "The Siamese is one of the first distinctly recognized breeds of Oriental cat."

The word "oriental' in this instance means the slender body shape that cat fanciers describe as oriental.

However, the Siamese cat is not meant to be oriental in shape. The cat breeders took it upon themselves to decide that the Siamese cat is meant to be slender but it is not. They selectively bred the Siamese over 50 years since the the mid-1900s to change the cat's appearance from a normal looking cat to one that is unnaturally slender. The oriental shape does not occur naturally anywhere.

The original Siamese cats were not slender but of normal appearance or to use cat fancy language "semi-cobby" in body shape.

So the Wikipedia authors have it wrong in the first sentence. They are following the pack. It was probably written by an American Siamese cat breeder, probably a CFA affiliated Siamese cat breeder.

You cannot always trust Wikipedia to provide objective information.

Types of Siamese Cats

Although cat breeders probably won't like to admit it or discuss it, there are many types of Siamese cats in terms of body shape and many types of Siamese cat in terms of pointing color and pattern. Yes, the points (the dark extremities) can be patterned - tabby and tortoiseshell for instance. Once upon a time there was probably one color for the pointing - dark brown/black called "seal" pointing. Perhaps chocolate was also an early color for pointing. Would this be diluted seal?



The original Siamese cat from Siam was a normal shaped cat. Over 100 years and more of selective cat breeding in the West (UK and USA) there are three main types of Siamese cat and they are: the original or traditional Siamese cat (think normal looking cat body shape), the classic Siamese cat which is also said by some breeders to be a new breed called the Thai cat and the modern Siamese cat (think skinny cat that is called "oriental" in cat fancy language). The Thai cat or classic Siamese is in between the traditional and modern in body shape. There are gradations of cat body shape in between these three standards.

Back to pointing. The more traditional cat associations including the Cat Fanciers' Association only recognize: blue, lilac, seal and chocolate coloured pointing while the more adventurous cat associations such as TICA accept a wider range - All pointed colors. This included lynx pointing (pointing broken up by the tabby gene) and tortie points etc.

When the Siamese has lynx pointing the cat hardly looks like a Siamese as the tabby coat encroaches onto the body breaking up what should be a smooth coat.

The long haired Siamese is called a Balinese. The Oriental Shorthair is a sort of multi-coated modern Siamese - same body type but a very wide range of coat colours and patterns.These are not strictly speaking types of Siamese cats because they are not Siamese cats but some associations treat them as Siamese cats.