Traditional Siamese Cat
By Jeff LaDouceur
The Siamese Cat And Its Traditional Elegance The traditional Siamese cat has been a breed set apart from the rest of the breeds as a source of amazement for a long time. This breed of cat has long been admired for its sleek lines and graceful beauty, its typically a very loyal cat to it's owners and has a very loving personality. Siamese cats are also known for it's intelligence, usually one of the more easily trained cat breeds. Of course over the years, with inter-breeding there have developed variations on the traditional Siamese cat breed, Siamese cat lovers tend to appreciate both the diversity within the breed as well as the traditional characteristics of Siamese cats. Historical Siamese cats were orighinally brought over from Siam a country now called Thialand. This was believed to happen around the the mid eighteen hundreds. First They landed in England, when they were given as a gift from an ambassador from Siam brought them as a gift, and were soon entered in cat shows. By the beginning of the twentieth century, traditional Siamese cats were appearing in the United States. Character Traits There

are some very unique qualities and specific attributes that can be accredited to the siamese cats, both in their outer appearance and in personality. These traits are looked at with favor by judges in cat show competitions and over the years have come to define the traditional Siamese cat. The picture perfect traditional Siamese Cat has long, tapering lines and is medium build. The body is long and tubular, and sleek; the head is long, tapered, and wedge-shaped. Traditionally, the Siamese cat has no break at the whiskers or the nose and has distinctively large ears. Another stunning characteristic of the Siamese cat is its almond-shaped, piercing blue eyes. Ideally, the cat’s tail should be long and thin; its coat should be short, fine, and glossy. Though the Siamese cat can come in a variety of colors, there are several that are specific to the traditional breed. Typically, judges in cat shows are looking for a Himalayan pattern in blue, seal, chocolate, and lilac point. Not traditional Just as there are some qualities that would identify a Siamese cat as being ideal and traditional, there are other characteristics that would clearly mark the cat as being not of traditional lines. These can include: white feet or toes, long hair, eyes other than blue, mouth breathing, weak hind legs, and a visible kink in the tail. The Siamese cat breed is perhaps the oldest of all breeds. It has continued to delight and amaze those who admire it, both with its beauty and its intelligence. Despite the differences within the breed, it is important to appreciate and recognize the traditional beauty that has defined this breed for hundreds of years.