Cat with asthma using a bronchodilator - Photo: by jivedanson
Cat asthma is feline allergic bronchitis. Bronchitis is the inflammation of the smaller bronchi. Bronchi are the passages of airways in the respiratory tract that conduct air into the lungs"1.
The inflammation is caused by a hypersensitivity to allergens in the environment and sometimes it may be due to heartworm. Causes are not that well known, apparently. Allergens are substances the can cause allergic reactions. Examples are:
drugs,
pollens,
foods,
dust,
smoke,
litter dust,
deoderants etc.
Humans are sometimes allergic to a protein in the cat's saliva called Fel D1 which causes itching.
Cat asthma can be seasonal depending on the cause. I am thinking of pollen for example. Human asthma suffers know all about the potential seasonal nature of asthma.
The symptoms are:
chronic long term cough
chronic wheezing
respiratory distress
An asthma attack begins with difficulty in breathing and coughing and wheezing. The muscles of the airways contract and are narrowed.
The cat's mouth may be open as he or she strains to inhale enough air. A lack of air results in a lack of oxygen in the blood leaving a bluish color to the mucous membranes. An example of a mucous membrane is the lining of the mouth that extends to the lips (oral mucosa).
Other diseases that cause similar symptoms are pleural effusion and pulmonary edema.
Chronically asthmatic cats are treated with "maintenance doses" of an oral corticosteroid (a steroid that is a hormone1). These drugs cause side effects or can cause side effects. They don't cure asthma. They simply reduce the symptoms.
You can use cat inhalers these days. A commonly used cat bronchodilator in the USA is Albuterol (see header picture - not sure if the inhaler in the picture contains this drug however).
Everything to do with this condition should be vet supervised.
Something to consider for the full-time indoor cat is an air filtration device. House plants can also purify air.
Classic looking Siamese cat (left) and a grey cat (right) at Cat sanctuary
Foz do Iguaçu, Brasil - Cats: Bishop and Bella-Donna, Photo by fofurasfelinas
In the cat fancy - the world of purebred cat shows and breeding - the Siamese cat personality is very well known as it is very distinctive.
What comes to my mind immediately is the relative intelligence of the Siamese cat and its desire to speak to us, or to put it more technically its vocalisation skills.
Before I go on though, let's remind ourselves that there are a number of cats that are in effect Siamese cats or at least Modern Siamese cats in terms of personality. The only difference between the following cats and the Siamese cat is their coats:
Balinese - long haired Siamese (update: Marie Clements a Balinese and Siamese cat breeder says that the Balinese has a similar but different personality. She breeds traditional Balinese cats. Read her page here).
Oriental Longhair - long haired version of the shorthair
Let's also remember the Thai cats (classic Siamese cats in my opinion - between modern and traditional Siamese in terms of body shape). These too will have the same or similar personalities subject to selective breeding practices within those breeds. And lastly the Applehead Siamese (traditional). See all three shape varieties of the Siamese cat.
So, beyond ranking highly in cat intelligence testing (ranked second below the Sphynx), what else does the Siamese cat personality offer us?
They are vocal to the point of loudness on occasions. They produce a certain type of cat sound - very Siamese, demanding. They are quite active as well. Of course this is relative to the other breeds. They take pleasure in sitting on their human companion's lap and occasionally sharing their human's pillow!
In short, this group of Siamese cats like to get close to their humans. That I guess makes then demanding on occasions and it is a sign of confidence. But let's not forget that individual cats have their own characters and that their own personality may well supersede the breed personality.
Being intelligent they are bound to be more demanding and it also means that they will be inquisitive, investigating whatever takes their fancy. They may get under your feet and god forbid annoy you sometimes.
The bottom-line is that they demand our love. Is that so hard? In doing that we satisfy the demands it makes through increased contact and play.
The Siamese is a very popular breed presently third in this websites long standing popularity poll (see an overview of the Siamese cat). That tells us that its personality is liked, loved and preferred by many people. This is borne out by the fact that many well known personalities and actors favoured the Siamese cat including the Jean Cocteau and Anna Pavlova to name two here (see Siamese cats and films stars)
You know..the Siamese cat personality is really like the personality of all cats, except a little heightened.
Cross-eyed cat - not a Siamese cat - in fact a tabby cat - photo by fazen
A Siamese cat is often crossed-eyed (it is thought) to the point that many Siamese cat owners/keepers consider it normal and accept it. Slightly confusingly the cross-eyed condition is sometimes referred to as a squint. However, squinting can and probably more normally refers to the closing/tightening of the eyelid muscles which partially closes the eye. When severe is can be induced by irritants and is called Blepharospasm.
The classic cross-eyed cat look of the Siamese cat and of course other cats, purebred or not, is an entirely different condition. The medical term is Strabismus. It is a condition in which the eyes are not aligned in relation to each other.
The extraocular muscles lack coordination. This lack of coordination can be due either to the brain or the muscles themselves.
A cross-eyed cat may lack proper binocular vision and depth perception as these two skills/senses are a result of having two eyes that work together. Either a one or both eyes can be misaligned.
In the Siamese cat it has been thought that the breed suffers from an inherited convergent vision (cross-eyed cat - see header picture). This cat health problem may be due to a disrupted visual pathway. A visual pathway is the pathway or route followed by the signals generated by the retina of the eye, which travels from the eye to the primary visual cortex, or V1 of the brain. This route goes via a "relay station" the LGN (lateral geniculate nucleus).
Sometimes Siamese kittens have a mild "squint" or are cross-eyed, which is naturally corrected later on. The condition is inherited and it could be monogenic or polygenic. More research is required. See Siamese cat health problems for more on the most popular purebred pedigree cat.
Thai cats are Classic Siamese cats. Well, in my opinion they are. The Messybeast author says that the classic Siamese is the Modern Siamese; this is wrong I am sure. The word "classic" conjures up authentic or old, the opposite to modern. Before I proceed let me say that my views as stated here might seem provocative or downright incorrect by some people in the cat fancy, particularly the people who produced the Thai cat! But this site is not written in the style of an encyclopedia. I don't regurgitate the "facts", I give my views on what I have decided is the truth. It is extremely factual but facts are often modified by opinion even in encyclopedias. I'd like people who disagree to tell me by leaving a comment if they can spare a moment.
Update 19-5-09: I am pleased to have received some information on this breed from Dr. Cris Bird, President PREOSSIA; chair of Thai breed, TICA. I have added her comments below.
Update 29-12-09: I am also pleased to hear from Mary Alexander of Blue-Gem Siamese. Please see below.
The Thai cat is a new/old cat breed. This new breed is a reflection of the drift back to the way things were in the Siamese cat world until about the middle of the 1900s (about 1960 to be more precise).
The Thai cat can also be called the Classic Siamese cat or even the Traditional Siamese cat. A Traditional Siamese cat breeder, Victoria (of the Thai Legend Cattery) in Russia says this:
"My cattery is registered in WCF (World Cats Federation). In this association the Traditional Siamese (apple-head) are named Thai cats..."
This is an example of one of her cats:
Above:As can be seen this is a traditional Siamese cat but called a Thai Cat in Russia and other countries that register their cats through the Word Cat Federation. This highlights the complications with the Thai cats. It would have been better if all cat associations and cat fancy people had stuck with "Traditional Siamese" to refer to old style Siamese cats. What am I talking about? It's actually all spelled out in a long article on Siamese cat history.
In summary, when the Siamese cat was imported from Siam (Thailand) in the late 1800s (1884) this cat, rare as it then was at that time, was simply a normal looking cat with a pointed coat. In fact, the face and body were quite rounded, not at all long or "foreign" in type ("foreign" in the cat fancy means slender and "type" means appearance and shape). In the mid 1900s the cat fancy (cat breeders) decided to "refine" the appearance.
This meant making the cat more delicate and elongated, rather peculiar looking in fact and not at all natural in appearance. A bit like an over done face lift. By the end of the 1900s and in to the 21st century the appearance of a once normal domestic cat had changed out of all recognition to a cat breed referred to as the Modern Siamese cat. The cat breed was still called the Siamese cat, however.
Thai cats photo copyrightHelmi Flick
The traditional Siamese cat was side lined as the breed was the wrong shape to be shown at cat shows. The breed standard (the guidelines upon which the cat breeders breed cats of all breeds) had been adjusted to reflect the new appearance. A backlash occurred and eventually a major cat registry TICA (The International Cat Association) accepted back into the fold the old fashioned Siamese cat under a new name, the Thai. In the meantime, the appearance of this cat having been elongated, it became unclear how long the face should be.
What happened is that there is now a range of appearances from the contemporary (Modern ) through (via) the Classic to the Traditional (more rounded head and face). There is no definition of a Classic Siamese or a Traditional Siamese as far as I am aware (except for the new breed standard for Thai cats) but Thai cats are probably closest to the mid range Siamese cat or Classic Siamese cat. It is a great day for traditionalists. And it is apparent that things are changing as Helmi Flick, one of the worlds best cat photographers is now being asked to photograph Thai cats. Until recently she would rarely meet the traditional looking Siamese at cat shows for the above reasons.
Thai cats - Rock - photo copyright Helmi Flick
Update 19th May 2009: As mentioned above Cristy Bird has provided some helpful information. She disagrees with parts of my description and makes these points.
"Traditional Siamese" and "Classic Siamese" are not official breed names.
The breed should not be referred to as "Classic" or "Traditional" Siamese. The only correct names are "Thai" (recognized by TICA and WCF) and "Old-Style Siamese" (semi-officially recognized by GCCF and the OSSC in the U.K. at www.oldstylesiamese.co.uk, as well as by PREOSSIA in the U.S. www.oldstylesiamese.com). My response: I am pleased to make the correction but as I said I am simply presenting my argument as I see it. The terms Classic and Traditional are widely used in the cat fancy generally.
Cristy also says, "be sure to use only photos [of the breed] obtained by people who show the breed in TICA, WCF, and GCCF. Photos from breeders who don't show are often of non-authentic cats. There are a lot of cats being sold as "applehead Siamese" that are not authentic. The non-authentic cats typically have fluffier coats, stocker bodies, and heads like a British Shorthair or American Shorthair." Thanks for that enlightening information.
The TICA website makes this further points about Thai cats: The Thai cat is the breed that is intended to represent the original cat from Siam as it then was. In Thailand the breed is called the Wichienmaat and elsewhere as the "Old-Style Siamese". TICA says that this cat breed closely resembles the 19th and early 20th century Siamese. Update 29th December 2009 Mary Alexander has contacted me. Here are some photographs of some kittens from her cattery Blue-Gem Siamese. This cattery is registered with the CFA, TICA and CFF and is in Massachusetts, USA.I can't add or improve Mary's comments about her kittens and the Thai cat generally so here they are:
I think it's important for people to see what a beautiful modified wedge Siamese should look like. These kittens...are sired by my Bacchus, who's grandfather was a recent import from Thailand. Bacchus grandsire was brought into this country by Dr. Cris Bird. She and a few others, like me, are working to preserve these genetic linage's, and promote a healthy well balanced Siamese cat. The kittens photo's are taken at 5 weeks old. All seal points, Thai. Or what some people also call a Classic style Siamese.
Photo above: copyright by Blue-Gem Mary...Thank you very much for sharing your experience and expertise with us. Update 26th January 2011 All the above relates to the USA market. In the UK the Thai cat exists as a group that started as just the Korat. The Thai is two naturally appearing variations (despite what anyone may claim) in the Korat. They are the (a) Thai Lilac a lilac self cat with green eyes and (b) Thai Blue Point Blue pointed cat
Both are of Korat Type and are recognized by the GCCF (UK cat show judge who has judged Thais). "To all intents and purposes, the Thais are simply Korats wearing a different coat"(Korat Cat Association).Thai cats - TICA Breed Standard Summary of interesting points The head and body of the Thai are both less narrow and rangy than the Modern Siamese. The Modern Siamese is "The" Siamese (or was the only Siamese with a breed standard) so it is nice to see how the standards compare. TICA says that the shape of the head should be a modified wedge.
This is classic breed standard speak for pretty much a normal cat head shape only the standard goes on to say that the head should be longer than wide but not in an extreme way. The reference to "extreme" is a reference in my opinion to the extremely narrow Modern Siamese cat head. As expected the description of the head shape is in so many words saying that it should be somewhere in between the Traditional and the Modern (my interpretation).
The acceptance of Thai cats by TICA (but not notably the CFA) is for me (this is my view only) a quiet admission that cat breeders got the breeding of the Siamese cat wrong and bred too far from the conventional Siamese appearance with resultant health and frankly appearance problems. People just found the Modern Siamese less attractive than the good old fashioned Siamese cat. Although TICA wouldn't agree to this assessment.
They have maintained recognition of the Modern Siamese (or what is referred to as the Siamese cat). The TICA "general description" section of the breed standard states that Thai cats should resemble the original indigenous pointed cats of Siam (now Thailand). In my view the original pointed cats of Siam were in fact more cobby and rounded than even the Thai so I am not sure that TICA have got this right. The Siamese cat history page on this website bears out what I say. TICA stress again in this section that this cat must not be extreme.
TICA reinforce this by saying that Thai cats are really a recognition of the breeders who stayed loyal to the traditional Siamese cat. As to the body it should be "slightly to moderately long". In other words more normal but not stocky or in any way cobby. This is well demonstrated in the photographs of Helmi Flick. As expected cross-eyed Thai cats will be disqualified in competition. This is a recognized defect (Siamese cat health problem) of the Siamese and can be found in the Himalayan too.
Siamese cat song? You'll see the connection (tenuous) when you read the post. Photo copyright ChrissieWiz.
My competitor (on the Internet), Moggies.com, has a small article about the Siamese cat song, so I'll do the same! Anyway this song was co-authored by Peggie Lee and I have always liked her work and her voice. Her famous song, "Fever" comes to mind right away.
I didn't know, though, that she was a talented song writer as well as a talented singer. There are other well known women who are associated with cats. They are Bardot, Day and Hammond and all three are concerned with animal welfare.
I didn't have much of a clue as to what the Siamese cat song was. The Siamese cat song was written for the Walt Disney animated feature (cartoon film), "The Lady and the Tramp". It was released in the summer of 1955. The film is about 2 dogs, one a posh girl dog called "Lady" and the other a poor boy dog called "Tramp". It's a fine and successful film. Two Siamese cats are introduced into the story when the human "owners" of Lady go away for a few days and an aunt comes to baby sit. She brings with her two Siamese cats called Si and Am. {technical point - these would have been Traditional Siamese Cats!}.
As cats do, they explored their new environment, driven by their inquisitive natures and they predictably caused some problems. Si and Am took a fancy to the goldfish, the canary and the baby's milk! Lady intervened and barked and the aunt didn't like this. Peggy Lee sings the Siamese cat song during these scenes.
The song is called, "We Are Siamese (If You Please)". Here are the lyrics:
We are Siamese if you please We are Siamese if you don't please We are from a residence of Siam There is no finer cat than I am
Do you see that thing swimming round and round Maybe we can reach on in and make it drown If we sneaking up upon it carefully There will be head for you and a tail for me
We are Siamese if you please We are Siamese if you please Now we're looking over our new domicile If we like we stay for maybe quite a while
We are Siamese if you please We are Siamese if you don't please We are from a residence of Siam There is no finer cat than I am
Do you hear what I hear a baby cry Where we finding baby there's milk near by And if we look in baby buggy there could be Plenty of milk for you and also some for me
We are Siamese if you please We are Siamese if you please Now we're looking over our new domicile If we like we stay for maybe quite a while
We are Siamese if you please We are Siamese if you don't please We are from a residence of Siam There is no finer cat than I am
We are Siamese if you please We are Siamese if you don't please We are from a residence of Siam There is no finer cat than I am
We are Siamese if you please We are Siamese if you don't please We are from a residence of Siam There is no finer cat than I am
The lyrics are as far as I am aware, Copyright 1997 Disney Corporation. The Lyrics are the property of the respective authors, artists and labels.
The Siamese cats obviously thought themselves as rather superior. This is completely in keeping with the thoughts about Siamese cats in the 1950s and earlier. They were rare cats in the earlier part of the 1900s and Peggy Lee would know that. That rarity translates into being special which carries a certain self importance. Click on the link to read about Siamese cat history. Siamese cats are now quite commonplace and their appearance transformed by the breeders. Well, at the least the appearance of Siamese pedigree show cats has been transformed. There is still a large population of Traditional Siamese cats (many non-purebred or half Siamese) in the world.
The song was written by Peggy Lee and Sonny Burke. Peggy also contributed to the films score. Most of us know Peggy Lee as a famous vocalist of the 1950s. Sonny Burke is less well known. Sonny Burke was a big band leader (big bands were the "in thing" in those days) in the 1930s and 1940s and a band arranger at the time the Siamese cat song was composed. He did a bit of composing as well, hence his collaboration with Peggy Lee. His full name is Joseph Francis Burke. He died in 1980 aged 66.
Peggy Lee (left towards the end of her life -this is published under a creative commons license but the photographer is unkown).
Her real name was Norma Deloris Egstrom. She was born 26 May 1920, in Jamestown, North Dakota, USA. She died aged 81 in 2002.
She remained popular to the end and was singing in the UK as late as 1994 in a wheel chair to a sell out audience.
Siamese cat song - Lyrics source: MetroLyrics. Siamese cat song - Information sources: Wikipedia and various others
A Long Hair Siamese Cat is a Siamese cat but is classified as another breed by some cat associations. This cat is aBalinese cat if the cat is purebred and registered with the CFA.
If the UK's GCCF registers the cat she will be a Siamese cat or more accurately fall within the classification of Siamese cats and be given the name "Balinese cat (longhaired Siamese)".
TICA register her as a Balinese pure and simple. While continental Europe's major cat association FIFe calls this cat a Balinese and classifies her within the Siamese & Oriental category.
To all intents and purposes the cats are the same. A long hair Siamese cat with points outside the classic point colors of seal, blue, lilac and chocolate is a Javanese with the CFA. Yes, it is confusing.
It could be argued that a Siamese cat with any number of point types including lynx or flame (a soft red color) should all be Siamese cats. However the cat associations like to differentiate the breeds and/or create more breeds. There is probably a fair amount of influence exerted by some breeders who have a position within the CFA and TICA who vote for a cat breed that they are developing. It is very much self interest orientated.
Photo: copyright by audioeric. The cat is called Sally. Thanks.
To the question, "What types of Siamese cats are there," the answer is, an infinite number. Sounds strange but it is true.
You would need to classify Siamese cats by conformation (body shape) and by coat color and pattern. The bigger class is body shape.
Body Shape
As I have said in other posts (and I apologize if you have seen something similar in another post), the Siamese cat look/appearance used to be exclusively the traditional looking Siamese. Things were simpler in those long lost days more than one hundred years ago, in the years following the first importation of the first Siamese cats from Siam in the late 1800s. The history of this breed is interesting.
There is a large body of Siamese cat lovers and breeders who have stayed loyal to the original and genuine appearance. However from the mid 1900s onwards cat breeders developed a far more delicate (some say more elegant) looking cat with the same pointed coat colors and patterns. This became a more "contemporary" looking Siamese cat. I have called this cat the Modern Siamese.
Bearing in mind, as I have said, that many breeders stayed loyal to the old appearance, that left the cat world with 2 types of Siamese cats. However as breeding is an imprecise business and as not all breeders breed strictly to the breed standard or don't wish to show their cats, a large number of cats fell in the middle ground between the two ends of the spectrum. These cats that are less "extreme" than the Modern Siamese but less "cobby" (stocky) than the traditional Siamese, are called "Classic" Siamese. As there is no clear demarcation between the three (it is more a continuous stream) it is fair to say that there is an infinite types of Siamese cats.
If you wanted more certainty you'd say there are three types of Siamese cats in terms of body shape. Traditional -- Classic -- Modern.
Picture in the public domain. This is a traditional Siamese.
Coat colors and patterns
That leaves the coat colors and patterns to classify. This depends on whether your talking purebred Siamese or not. For the sake of simplicity I'll confine myself to purebred registered cats (pedigree cats).
The coat types depend on the cat association. The biggest and perhaps most influential, the CFA limit the pointing to 4 classic types, seal (the original, see heading photo), blue, chocolate and lilac. They also do not accept the Traditional Siamese. The CFA then accept 4 types of Siamese cats. Incidentally, they reclassify a Balinese with non-conventional pointing such as flame or lynx pointing as a Javanese cat, just to complicate matters.
TICA have not such restrictions. The accept both the Modern Siamese and the Traditional (called the Thai).
As to coats they divide this up into 2 categories one is for the traditional colors mentioned above and the other for other more contemporary colors which would include lynx pointing for example or the flame pointed Siamese cat (you'll love these pictures - and see this post too). That makes a far larger number of types of Siamese cats. I'm not quite sure of the exact number, the combinations are almost endless. Click here to see a post on pointed coats (this post has some interesting Helmi Flick photos of glamorous pointed cats) and on this link for more on Siamese cat coloring.
You can further extend the types of Siamese cats by bringing into the equation the Balinese which is a semi-long haired version of the Siamese (the GCCF do this - see below). The Balinese is also breed as traditional and modern. So, it kind of gets a little confusing. The plethora of types is due to cat breeders desire to breed new types of cat. This is human nature. There comes a time however when you have to stop and the CFA are it seems to me (I have no connection with them) good at this as they tend to limit the breed types to much lower level than the more adventurous TICA. Both CFA and TICA are USA based.
Incidentally, the major registry/cat association in the UK, the GCCF has a different classification process for Siamese cats. They classify as, "self pointed" (meaning solid point colors such as seal), tabby pointed (this would include lynx pointing and it also includes tortietabby), tortie pointed (pointed cat with tortoiseshell effect) and they include the Balinese as a Siamese type cat.
Types of Siamese Cats to Traditional Siamese cats
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.
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:
Siamese cat drawing (it's actually more than a pure drawing) - the cat is a Flame Pointed Modern Siamese cat - drawing copyright Arna published here under a creative commons license generously granted by Arna.
There are some talented artists out there in the wide world and some of them very generously let other people publish their work under a creative commons license. The Siamese cat is particularly suited as a subject for a drawing. The drawing above is of Jasper who is a "colour point shorthair". His color points are red or "flame". Jasper is actually a Modern Siamese cat but the CFA register cats outside the conventional range of colors of seal, blue, lilac and chocolate as color (colour) point shorthair cats. Of course the CFA is based in the USA. Jasper may be living in the UK (but see below). The GCCF run the show in the UK.
The GCCF categorize Siamese cats into different groups to the CFA. There is a group for "self-pointed". These are the classic pointed Siamese cats. The points being including, blue, red, caramel, lilac and cream. Another group is "tabby pointed" and "tortie (tortoiseshell) pointed". Finally there are the Balinese cats which are long haired Siamese cats.
It looks like the artist who made the Siamese cat drawing is using a US term so may be living in the US - she is actually living, it seems, in Canada as their business is located there. The artist is Arna one a team of two involved in making cartoons (the other is John). Their business is called dancingmonkeys (a fine website). Jasper is doing the classic grooming routine.
Siamese cat drawing copyright Arna - I am guessing and if Arna sees this she may correct me. It would seem that she has two cats, the one in the foreground in this drawing is of Jasper, he has the long body and svelte shape and head shape of a Modern Siamese. The cat in the background seems to be a grey cat, could be a purebred and if so might be a Russian Blue or Grey/blue British Shorthair.
As I have gradually built this page I have come to realize how talented John and Arna are. I planned to find a Siamese cat drawing by another artist or artists but why bother? John and Arna are too talented to move on from.
Here's another Siamese cat drawing (if I am correct on this). Actually it's more than a pure drawing as are the others on this page. Copyright Arna. These two are clearly very comfortable together. I am guessing again but the cat on the left is the Siamese cat, mentioned above.
Siamese Coloring depends on whether your talking about the Traditional Siamese cat, the Modern Siamese cat, a type in between and whether the cat is purebred or not and whether you're concerned about complying with cat association standards.
Non-purebred
There are many lovely Siamese cats that miserably fail cat association standards and have slightly dodgy pointing etc. These are Siamese mixes, non-purebred. These cats commonly have the classic seal pointing (dark brown, black looking). The original Siamese cat imports to the West were seal point. Most people seem also to keep the Traditional Siamese. Sometimes the pointing is not pure (broken).
Purebred
But you've really got to start at the top and that is the Cat Fanciers Association's breed standard. The CFA doesn't recognize the original type of Siamese cat, the one we know. For them the Siamese cat is the super slender and long cat with a thin head. This cat, if she is a show cat, is allowed to have 4 types of Siamese cat coloring (pointing). They are the classic pointing colors of seal, blue, lilac and chocolate.
See a chart on this page (opens to the main website and the traditional Siamese - scroll down).
Interestingly, The International Cat Association (TICA) who have recently decided (wisely) to recognize the Traditional Siamese, place (as far as I can see) less restrictions on pointing color. So their standard on the Thai (Trad. Siamese) is both traditional and modern in the opposite way to the CFA (Modern conformation, traditional pointing).
TICA recognize both the Traditional (called the Thai now) and the Modern (called the Siamese). For the Thai there appears to be no restriction ("appropriate for color class") and for the Siamese the rule is "all pointed colors".
I tend to limit the discussion on cat associations to the USA as there are conflicting views worldwide as to breed standards and cat breed classification. Plus the US is by far the largest domestic cat "market".
However, a quick check on the UK premier registry (GCCF) tells me that they allow a wide range of Siamese cat coloring. They list self-pointed - meaning solid color pointing as opposed to broken pointing (tabby), tabby-pointed (the agouti gene having an impact on the pointing), tortie-pointed (tortoiseshell affected pointing).
The self-pointed cats under the GCCF standard would appear to cover a very wide range including, but going beyond, the classic 4 allowed by the CFA (above).
You can see a posting about pointed cats generally (not restricted to the Siamese) by clicking here.
More Siamese cat coloring - click this link to see more of Whitaker (heading this post) a gorgeous Flame Point Siamese cat and this link to see a Lynx Point Siamese cat.
Both wouldn't be allowed by the CFA, both would be allowed by TICA as Thai cats. The Flame Point could be a show cat.
The best place to see the Modern and Traditional is on the main website. Click these links for the Modern and Traditional Siamese cats.
Siamese Cat Coloring to Abyssinian Cat
In the cat world you will find a wide range of appearances of any one type or breed of cat. In the example of the Lynx Point Siamese Cats the range will be particularly wide because there is more than one type of marking called "Lynx Point" and more than one type of cat called a "Siamese Cat".
There are officially 2 types of Siamese Cat (and a spectrum in between). One the one hand you have the Traditional Siamese, now called a Thai by The International Cat Association (TICA), the only American association as far as I am aware to register what is the original Siamese cat. Siamese cat history is interesting for its development to the Modern Siamese (or contemporary Siamese). The modern is skinny with a pointed head and the Traditional has a look that we expect to see in a cat (more rounded and normal). In between we have the classic look.
The cat above is traditional in conformation and very handsome. As for the pointing you can see more photos on pointing generally by clicking on this link. There are at least two different types of Lynx pointing (a) seal lynx pointing which is the classic seal point broken up by the tabby gene. You can immediately see the lynx point because of the classic "M" marking on the forehead and (b) blue lynx pointing, which is a dilute form of the lynx. When black is diluted by a modifier gene it becomes blue. The tabby markings become more dilute as a result and a little blue. The pointing is obviously softer.
The cat above has the lynx markings, totally undiluted. I suspect that he/she is not one of the classic purebred Lynx Point Siamese Cats (wrong? - please tell me) but a fine cat nonetheless. As I said at the beginning there is a wide a range of cats that do not fit the breed standards and wouldn't win prizes but are great cats.
Photo copyright Helmi Flick
Above: This cat is not a Siamese (guess that is obvious) but is shown here to illustrate the Seal Lynx point pattern. You can see the same marking on the legs and face as the cat heading this post. The body color though is more inline with the breed standard I suspect.
