Feral Lynx Point Siamese Cat

Feral Lynx Point Siamese Cat - Photo: by anyjazz65

Here is a picture from a Flickr photographer of an applehead (traditional) feral lynx point Siamese cat. This is interesting I think. Is this a genuine feral cat or a stray purebred traditional Siamese cat?

You do get feral Siamese cats though. It is hard to visualise the such an exotic cat (as it was once described in the early 1900s) being feral and unwanted.

Anyone who likes the appearance of the lynx point Siamese should try and track this cat down and adopt him or her! Of course she is not purebred without documents to prove that but the appearance is very attractive.

Siamese Cat Kinked Tail

The Siamese cat was known for three things in the 1800s in England, (1) the pointing - the dark extremities (b) its rarity (it was considered exotic) and (c) its kinked tail.

"..........showing in greater or less degree a decided kink or bend near the tip" (The 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica).

The Siamese cat is also known to have had (and probably still does in Asia), a shortened tail due to a recessive gene (br) mutation. The Mekong Bobtail is a bobtailed Siamese cat!

In other Siamese you might see a kinked tail or swollen tail (due to fused vertebrae).  The shortened tail and the kinked Siamese tail may be different expressions of the same gene.

Selective cat breeding has religiously bred out what is considered a deformity in the kinked tail. It is now outlawed by the cat fancy whereas once it was considered interesting.

Apparently the kinked tail in Siamese cats still pops up in breeder litters. It would seem that getting rid of the Siamese kinked tail from breeding lines is proving difficult.

Not a Siamese cat but Siamese cats are black with the Siamese gene which creates
the pointing. This picture shows the kinked tail very clearly.

See much more on this subject from a book published in 1889 and written by the founder of the cat fancy, Harrison Weir.

Cat Breed Behavior

The major concern of cat breeders of purebred cats is to create good looking cats that comply with the breed standard. Breeding purebred cats is primarily about appearance.

An interesting aspect of the various cat breeds is the behavior of cats within each breed. Is there a variation in behavior amongst the cat breeds and in general terms what are the differences?

Cat behavior is dictated by genetic inheritance and environmental experiences - nature and nurture. in my opinion, there will be differences in behavior between individual cats that is greater than the differences between the cat breeds. There are, however, noticeable differences in behavior between some cat breeds. This difference is said to originate in genetic factors. In relation to discovered breeds these genetic factors are probably related to the original genotype of the cat breed rather than the genes introduced through selective breeding.

Who is best placed to observe the behavior of the various breeds of cat? Veterinarians and cat show judges. The latter will see a wide range of cat breeds under at least slightly stressful conditions for the cat.

Cat show judges will probably confirm that the Siamese cat (see photo) and its associated cat breeds (the Balinese and Oriental Shorthair) is the most demanding of attention, expressed through vocalizations and the most outgoing with strangers. The Siamese cat is probably the best communicator with humans because of the breed's willingness to communicate and the variations in his or her meow. The meow is the standard vocalization in normal communication between human and cat. The meow is rarely used in cat to cat conversations.

At the opposite end of the spectrum the Russian Blue (one of the grey cat breeds) was said by show judges to be "shy and withdrawn". Clearly some individual Russian Blues will not be shy and withdrawn.

The Persian is also considered to be at the opposite end of the spectrum to the Siamese. This breed is more passive.

In a survey of veterinarians by Dr. Fogle (the author of The Encyclopedia Of The Cat), they were asked to rank six breeds (a small sample as there are over 100) in terms of levels of activity, destructiveness and tolerance to handling. The findings supported the show judges. They agreed that the Siamese was a particularly vocal and active breed of cat.

The Persian was assessed as being the least active and destructive. The Oriental Shorthairs and Siamese were considered to be the most excitable and destructive.

I am not sure what the word "destructive" means in this context. Perhaps it means that the Siamese became more agitated and moved around more causing disruption.

The Siamese and Oriental Shorthair are considered smarter than average cat breeds. There is no doubt that intelligence and a desire to make demands on a human companion go together.

Siamese Cat Gene Chart

Here is a Siamese cat gene chart courtesy Wikimedia Commons:

Siamese cat gene chart

Make of this what you will! It is complicated. It is published under the Wikimedia license.

See this image in very large format on this page. This page makes the image readable.

Siamese Cat Drawing

Well, I have found a nice Siamese cat drawing. It is published here under a Wikimedia Commons license. This is a very good drawing of a cat. In fact it is excellent.

Siamese Cat Drawing

This is a line drawing of a Siamese cat. The question is what type of Siamese cat? As you might know there are is a range of Siamese cat types.

This Siamese cat drawing shows a traditional type Siamese cat. In fact this cat is completely traditional in type. Siamese cats like this are called Applehead Siamese. I would bet that this Siamese is a seal point as that is the original form of pointing.

The image is in the public domain.

Pearson Scott Foresman, donated the image to the Wikimedia Foundation. Thanks Pearson.