The First Siamese Cats of the Cat Fancy

Cat history is often annoyingly vague unless the cat breed was created through selective breeding on the back of hybridization. The Siamese cat, though is a naturally occurring type of cat with dark fur at the extremities of its body and which was found in Siam (Thailand) for centuries. Of course it may have occurred elsewhere in the Orient. But we know that someone from the West saw the cat and wanted to import it to Europe, specifically England. We are talking about the 1880s.

1889 Siamese cat - Illustration by Harrison Weir.

The first person or one of the first people to import the Siamese cat to the West was Mrs Vyvyan. She lived in Dover, Kent, on the south coast of England. We can say this with some certainty because she is quoted directly by the founder of the world cat fancy, Harrison Weir, in his book Our Cats and all about them (that is how the title looks by the way. I have shortened it a bit). You won't get a better authority than that because the book's author was the number one authority about cat breeds at the time and the date the book was published was 1889. He wrote about something that had just happened. It was fresh news and the section on the Siamese cat in his book features the Siamese and its history to a greater extent than the other breeds he refers to. The Siamese was a novelty at the time and was considered rather exotic.

Mrs Vyvyan says that she believes that the Siamese cats that she acquired came from the King's Palace (the King of Siam - hence the "Royal Siamese cat"). The fact that the King kept Siamese cats indicates that these cats were looked upon as special in Siam. They may have been quite a rare mutation to the ordinary domestic cat in that country.

There are a number of Siamese cat history stories one of which I mention on my Siamese cat history page about the British Consular General who was departing to England and who was given Siamese cats by the King. I don't know how this squares up with Mrs Vyvyan's account of the matter as referred to in Harrison Weir's book. Perhaps someone can leave a comment and clarify the matter.

Let's say that Mrs Vyvyan was one of the first importers if not the first. Her words therefore about the breed carry weight and provide an insight into the health, character and appearance of the original Siamese cats in Siam.

In summary - you can read more on this page - she says that they were loyal and dog-like of character. This reflects the modern assessment of this breeds character. As to health she confirms what Lady Neville says (is Mrs Vyvyan, lady Neville?) that the early Siamese cats had a bad attack of intestinal parasites  - worms. This was a particular and concerning problem. A number of cats died of worms and at the time there was no cure but John Jennings in his book, Domestic Cats and Fancy Cats mentions that there were several treatments one of which was something called "santonine". "One to three grains should be given in milk after fasting for six hours". Mrs Vyvyan feed her cas chicken heads with feathers as a panacea.

So health was a concern for the Siamese cat owner (caretaker) of that era. In fact Mrs Vyvyan says they were delicate in respect of health. As to the all important appearance, Mr Weir, who was a very accomplished artist, illustrates his book with a drawing of the head of a Siamese cat, probably one of Mrs Vyvyan's Siamese cats. It heads this page -  a classic applehead Siamese cat. The pointing is rather odd however as it appears to have a clear demarcation over the eyes in an arch. This may just be a quirky way of drawing the face.

Whatever; as I have mentioned before, the original Siamese was the what is today called the traditional or applehead Siamese. The pointing was almost black in colour (seal point in modern parlance). Ironically, the modern, over-bred Siamese cat with the oriental body shape is one of the least healthy cats, if not the most unhealthy cat of the cat fancy. I wonder if this is an inheritance from the founding cats or due to inbreeding to create to the modern idea of what the Siamese cat should look like, which is incorrect!

@ChoupettesDiary Tweets

I had to look up Choupette Lagerfeld's tweets on Twitter. In case you have not noticed the story of Choupette in the press, Choupette is a Siamese kitten. I think it is interesting from the standpoint that the person doing the tweets might be Karl Lagerfeld. It is probably a mixture of people who make the tweets including the two maids who look after Choupette. Of course it could be Choupette because she can use an iPad which brings me nicely to the first tweet from Choupette (they are in blue):

Gucci may have gotten a horse but can the horse use an iPad? I THINK NOT!

I am kitty no.1 who wears #Chanel no.5 (cc. @UYS_Blog) . (does she really wear perfume!?)

Daddy may not dress me up but little does he know how good I look when he leaves & I try on in his black blazer. ME-OWWW! (comment: Mr Lagerfeld thankfully does not agree with dressing up cats. There might be a temptation in Karl's case because he is one of the world's most famous designers. He likes black for himself and probably has tons of black blazers).

Victoria Beckham’s dog knows nothing about how to model clothing. Leave it to the real catwalkers: the felines. (a nice pun on 'catwalkers').

Maid, I request a swarovski crystal encrusted laser pointer to chase. Fetch me one MEOW! Karl is going to buy his Siamese a laser pointer toy. Seems that way.

Please consider allowing cats front row during the next fashion week. I promise to wear my best collar. Seems that Choupette might be attending the next fashion show.

Don't be confused, Daddy gushes more over me than he does Kate Middleton. There's only room for ONE princess in the Lagerfeld chateau. Sensible. Mr Lagerfeld prefers his cat to Kate Middleton (Duchess of Cambridge - William's wife).

I have chosen 2 test wat humans call "ombré". Not sure what this means but the text is below a picture of Choupette wearing claw caps (soft paws):

Choupette's claws capped.

Well, for someone like Mr Lagerfeld who is very particular it seems that capping the claws is a nice solution. I guess he does not want any of his clothes snicked or some of his creations snagged if they are lying around the home. Good one to end on. Choupette has 4,800 followers on Twitter. She has been a member for about 3 days!

Choupette has the appearance of a traditional Siamese cat incidentally.

Desdemona Cartoon Cat

Desdemona was a cartoon cat in a comic strip called Mutt & Jeff. Desdemona belonged to Cicero, who was the son of Mutt. Incidentally, this is not the cartoon "Mutt & Jeff", the videos of which you see on YouTube. However the Mutt & Jeff detectives starring in this movie cartoon were created by Bud Fisher and the creator of Desdemona was created by Al Smith who took over (after ghosting?) from Bud Fisher. Therefore, there is clearly a link and continuity. Nor, by the way, is she the cat that was seen with Cicero on November 18th 1907. It is a bit complicated as you can see.

Cicero's Cat

Desdemona made her debut on December 3rd 1933 in Cicero's Cat. It was "tacked onto" the Mutt & Jeff Sunday comic strip. The strip varied from one row to a half page of panels. It was mainly a two panel comic strip. In was (is?) a long lasting comic strip because it was still around in 1991, when it was a single panel.

Desdemona is a white cat with fine black stripes (the stripes are so close together she looks almost black!). A weird kind of tabby cat, then.  More so because she likes to wear and a hat and coat. She likes milk and likes to hang out in Kat Alley to avoid dogs.

She believes in animal rights (perhaps so does Al Smith, therefore!) and can read but not speak to people. She wants to help chickens being sent to slaughter. She can speak to animals though.  Typical of the domestic cat she likes to sleep. She studies military strategy to catch mice but fails to execute the plan properly because she falls asleep.

Al Smith

Desdemona likes to play but it can lead to the destruction of the toys such as Christmas tree ornaments which she swats.

In one cartoon strip each panel carries a one word description:

1. Picture: Cheese is set out and a fan used to send the smell down a mouse hole. Caption: Breeze.
2. One mouse comes out of the hole and Desdemona sniffs it. Caption: Tease.
3. Mouse runs and Desdemona chases. Caption: Flees.
4. She peers into the mouse hole. Caption: Sees.
5. She falls asleep. Caption: Z's.
6. Her tail is pulled through the mouse hole and knotted. Caption: Seize.
7. She begs in a wheeze for the mice to let her go. Caption: Please!

Desdemona also featured in the Mutt & Jeff comic book from 1939-45. These were one page adventures.

Al Smith and Cicero's cat cartoon strip courtesy of http://schulzlibrary.wordpress.com/tag/bud-fisher/

Associated: Cartoon Cats.

Jordan the Foundling

by Jeri (NY, USA)

I was given Jordan, the sweetest and most mischievous cat I have ever known. When he was a kitten too small to be away from his mother--he'd been treed, and was rescued by friends who could not find his mother.

Jordan stares me down!

 
His fluffy tail was about twice as large as his little body, and he spent most of his time grooming it--that is, when he wasn't galloping around, ambushing my unprotected feet, knocking things off shelves to get attention, and literally climbing the walls, jumping onto the tops of 7 foot bookshelves, ricocheting off the kitchen and hallway walls... !

He had a stare of concentration that made him look a little angry sometimes, even as a kitten: but he has always had a serious side, and he doesn't take any guff!

He still hangs out on top of bookshelves, occasionally making heroic leaps from one to another across the room.

He was named after the courageous and mischievous June Jordan.

Jeri

Killing Boxes For Cats

I am writing about gas chambers for cats and dogs. They are still used in the United States you know. It must be convenient. It is a form industrialized killing. Injections aren't fast enough. Of course there is little (or no) concern for the suffering of the cats and dogs of which many will be former family members. It takes the breath away, when you think about it. But don't think about it because it just makes you unhappy.

IMPORTANT PETITION: http://www.thepetitionsite.com/12/stop-gassing-shelter-animals/

As the person who uploaded the video said, gas chambers were deemed inhumane for the killing of criminals on death row some of whom are the worst kind of serial killer. Yet it is perfectly acceptable and normal to kill our companion animals this way. They shouldn't even be killed never mind this way. They say sometimes the cat or dog drowns in his own vomit. They are all terrified.

I have not watched the video and I won't watch the video. This is because when you become older you have less tolerance for this sort of thing.

Don't watch it if it will upset you.

The following text is from Olga's email to me. A lot of people will have read it already but some have not. That is why I have published it here. To spread the word. To knock on the door of sanity.

To hope and pray that one day someone in authority will give the order to stop doing this.

Gas chambers are still being used to kill animals that are noted as "sick" or its usually because they do not have enough room. 31 States are still using gas chambers but because of voices like yours 19 states have decided to ban gas chambers lets shoot for all states!

The gas chamber usually can take up to 45 minutes for the animals to pass sometimes it takes even longer. A few have miraculously survived the recent reporting of survivors are Andrea (cat) and Daniel (beagle) both from different states. Its obvious these gas chambers aren't being used properly.

Graphic text just to forewarn

During this process the animals are put into a small box with many other animals (sometimes up to 30. The gas is turned on they are scared and cramped as this gas fills their lungs it starts burning their insides and eyes. They then begin to panic and cry for help as they bleed from their cavities, vomit and defecate all over (literally) and finally after enduring this for several minutes they take their last breath... As all of this is going on they are usually fully conscious.

I am not religious. But let us pray for them and our souls because in doing this we damage ourselves.

Associated Posts:

• The Gassing of Feral Cats
• Ban on Killing Animals Using Carbon Monoxide