Introduction
The Siamese is shorthair breed of far east origins with a very elegant and slinky look. It is a svelte cat, with an elongated body and the characteristic colourpoint appearance. It is the foundation breed for all the Siamese group sister breeds: Siamese, Oriental Shorthair, Oriental Longhair and Balinese.
History
The first images of the Siamese are the drawings of colourpoint cats contained in the thai book “Tamra Maew”, a manuscript dated back to 14th century. The first actual Siamese cats were first imported from Siam (the actual Thailand) by the English Consul Mister Gould in 1884, as a gift to his sister Mrs. Gould, a cat passionate, who also founded the first Siamese cat. Since then the Siamese cat has become a cat lovers favourite breed and has undergone an intense breeding program, which deeply changed his original look into the modern days Siamese.
Appearance
The Siamese is a svelte cat, with a long tubular body and long legs. The tail has to be long and tapering at the end. The head is wedge shaped with a long nose and almond eyes set slightly slanted toward the nose of a powerful deep blue colour. The ears are large at the base and set wide apart: the head has to be inserted in an imaginary triangle whose outer lines connects the outer point of the ears to the point of the nose, continuing the line of the wedge. The colour is typical, known as “siamese pattern”: light body and dark extremities (ears, nose, paws, tail and genitals in male cats). Every colour is permitted but silver/smoke varieties.
Temperament
The Siamese is an active and talkative cat, with a lively temper. It’s well known that the Siamese is strongly human driven, curious and extremely vocal, with a typical hoarse meowing.
Breed Standard
Last modification of the Standard: 2018