Described as a nightmare by some, as the most beautiful of the beautiful by others: The Siamese is not that kind of cat that passes unnoticed. Whether it is about looks, behaviour or the way they ”talk”.

By Connie Garfalk

In most cat books you can read about the Siamese that it is a demanding cat. This is one of these understatements that only those of us who has ever known a Siamese can truly appreciate! Everyone that has lived a couple of years together with a Siamese, or two, knows that the Siamese are not ”demanding” cats – they are a bunch of the most arrogant, totally dominating creatures and foul play experts you have ever come across.

In addition to the above mentioned, they never give you the chance not to love them, whatever they do to you.

Imagine a cat with intensely blue eyes that stares you down whenever you don’t do exactly what this cat has ordered you to do. Imagine a cat that wakes up every morning with the attitude: ”A lovely new day! I intend to enjoy every second of it! I will squeeze out whatever excitement there is to squeeze out – so I better get started. One doesn’t have more fun than one is able to create for oneself! So hang on everybody, here I come!”

With this kind of focus, you are bound to experience some rather astounding changes in your house and life after a while.

Imagine a cat that has an appetite like a horse, a digestion like a goat and the energy like a medium atom bomb. Imagine all this, and you have started to get an idea of what a Siamese is.

Yes, they are somewhat demanding. They demand that you listen to them, and they usually talks all the time (almost), and they demand that you respect their point of views. You better learn this immediately: A Siamese is always right. By their own definition, at least, and that is the only definition that counts. For a Siamese.

They demand that you play with them. You may not be aware of this, but you are the funniest toy a Siamese can think of. You are also the funniest play mate, regardless of how many other cats there are in your home. A Siamese cat will usually also demand that you take a nap when it suits your Siamese to take a nap. A Siamese always sleeps best when he/she can lie upon you, close to you, on your arm or on your face.

When you feel you are in danger of becoming totally raving mad, and just have to have a moment for yourself, the real terror begins. The first sign can be so slight you don’t notice it; only a small, sad and ”feel so utterly alone and sad”-sound comes from the direction of your Siamese. If you don’t listen, and take appropriate action, the volume is turned up a bit, and the tone becomes more imperative: ”Don’t you see that I am sitting here without anything particular to do, and that I am bored to death? Come and play with me. Now!”

If you still don’t listen, and obey, the militant bellow that will follow is not to misunderstand. This is an order.

This is why it is a very good advice to everybody who are about to buy their first Siamese, to buy ear plugs at the same time.

Someone has called the Siamese ”the extra cat” because this is a cat that is extra everything. The Siamese is extra affectionate, no living creature can love the way a Siamese can. One who has once experienced what it is to be loved by a Siamese, will never forget it.

If a Siamese gets crossed or angry, it gets extra cross and angry. A Siamese is extra demonstrative, extra manipulative, extra scheming, extra active etc. For a Siamese there is no such thing as the golden mean. It is either full throttle, or deep sleep.

This in turn means that a Siamese gives you more than you could ever have hoped for, or dreamed of. You will be adored – a Siamese will make you feel that you are the answer to everything this Siamese has ever wanted. Not a bad feeling at all, especially not a glum Monday morning when you have overslept and feel like a total waste. As you stand there brushing your teeth trying to chase that Monday morning breath away, you suddenly feel a gentle Siamese paw tapping your arm, telling you to cheer up, everything is cool. Or maybe the gentle tapping means ”come on, don’t you see I’m here? I want to play!” Yes. Well.

When you come home from work, your Siamese is sitting there in the hallway, greeting you as if you should have been gone for a year. At least! That is not a bad feeling, either. Apart from the little tiny prick of bad conscience you sense in the back of your mind, of course: How could I stay away from him/her for so long?

If you manage to cast a critical eye at your Siamese in that precise moment, you will probably notice a big, fat smile on its face. He or she has put you exactly in the mental and emotional position a Siamese wants you to be.

Nobody knows for sure where these special cats come from originally. The most plausible theory is said to be that they come from somewhere in Southeast Asia, that is Malay, Indo-China, Burma or the Himalayas.

Another theory claims that the Siamese descend from the original Egyptian cat. The foundation for this theory lies in the mummified cats one found in Egypt, since they were considered to have the same kind of body and scull structure you find in the Siamese. Yet there are written evidence about the Siamese already from the fourteenth century, where this remarkable masked cat is described. The documents do not stem from Egypt, but from Ayudha, which was the capital of Siam (today’s Thailand) up until 1767.

According to a Professor F. E. Zeuner, there is no doubt about the origins of the Siamese cat – it comes from the Malayan archipelago. In his article about the matter, written in 1951, he especially underlines two arguments that he means support his point of view: 1) The colouring of the Siamese resembles the colouring of the Himalayan hare. 2) The Siamese tail was unique in its shape and length (and continued to be so, until new breeds like the rex cats, for instance, were created).

Regardless of the discrepancies in the theories about its origin, there seems to be a unanimous agreement that the special characteristics of the Siamese come from a gene mutation, which resulted in the creamy white body and the contrasting colours on its face, ears, legs and tail, as the sensational blue eyes.

Such as we know the Siamese of today, however, it certainly comes from Siam (Thailand). Around 130 years ago the first Siamese cats got out of Siam and made their way to Europe, more accurately England. With them they brought myths and legends that totally enthralled the English aristocracy.

According to the legends, the Siamese cat was the most precious jewel in the King’s palace. This cat was not a cat for everyone to own, it lived solely in the palaces of the King and his family. Sometimes the King could give one of his trusted and most esteemed friends in the aristocracy a cat, just to prove how high the King evaluated this person. However, the Siamese cats also had another task to fullfill. When a member of the royal family or the aristocracy died, a suitable Siamese cat was chosen to take over the soul of the dead. Then the cat was moved to a temple, where it was served by priests and monks for the rest of its life. The food was served on golden plates, and their sleeping places were the most exquisite cushions made of silk and other fine cloths. This is probably a legend that has been passed over from Siamese cat mother to Siamese cat child to this very day, since Siamese cats still prefer to eat from the best plates of the house and drink from the finest crystal water bowls the house can offer.

The rather common tail kink and the charming crossed eye condition that many Siamese cats still have, are also explained by these old tales they brought with them from Siam. One story says that a Princess asked her cat to watch over her rings while she bathed. The cat then curled the tip of its tail to prevent the rings to fall off the tail – thus the tail became permanently curled at the tip. The fact that many Siamese cats are slightly cross eyed, also has its story. This time it is about a cat mother who is guarding Buddha’s golden goblet. She had her tail curled around the stem of the goblet and she never let her eyes stray from the goblet – and when she gave birth to her first kittens, they were all cross eyed and tail kinks.

No wonder these blue eyed cats with their brownish black masks over their faces, charmed the English. Queen Victoria was completely charmed when she saw her first Siamese at a cat show towards the end of the nineteenth century. Queen Alexandra is photographed while holding her Siamese cat aboard the royal yacht, and Queen Elizabeth got a Siamese kitten as a gift when she married Prince Philip. The Princess Michael of Kent has also been photographed together with her seal point Siamese.

Several famous film stars have also been captured by the special charms of the Siamese, among them Vivien Leigh.

The Siamese cat as we know it today, descends from 11 Siamese cats in England. It all started in 1884 when Owen Gould, British Consul General in Bangkok, brought with him a couple of Siamese cats back home to his sister, Ms Veley. She became one of the pioneers in Siamese breeding.

The following year she showed her Siamese cats at a cat show, and people were amazed. Nobody had seen anything like this before. In 1886 Ms Vyvian and her sister imported two Siamese kittens to England. It didn’t take long before there were 11 Siamese cats in England. These 11 cats are the ancestors of our modern Siamese cats.

One of the earliest prefixes is that of Prestwick Cattery Siamese, established in 1919 by the breeder Greta Hindley. She and her husband owned Puteh, who became the ancestress of a line of Siamese that all had exceptionally deep blue eyes. Puteh’s daughter, Champion Prestwick Perak, had a head almost shaped the way we are used to today. Greta Hindley described it as ”marten like”. However, most Siamese in those days had not yet developed the super elegant long, slender body and the well defined triangular head. Even so, already that long ago, they had these special features that separate them from all other cats.

Tastes differ from culture to culture, and what we like here in Europe, is not necessarily liked elsewhere in the world. This is also true when it comes to cats.

In USA one has bred a super slender, very elegant Siamese, with a much ”tighter” head than we prefer in Europe. The American Siamese also differ in some other aspects, usually they have bigger and more dominant eyes, for instance.

In Europe we prefer the eyes to be a bit smaller, more almond shaped and slanting in a way that follows the wedge shaped head. The head should be distinctively formed like a wedge, the ears should be broad and open at their bases and they are preferred to be placed on the head in such a way that they prolong the line that runs from the chin up towards the lower edge of the ear. The profile is supposed to straight, or slightly arched in a way that reminds one of the old Roman profiles. The European Siamese should have a good, broad top of head, which concludes the image of a perfect triangle where all sides are equally long. As in the States, we Europeans also want our Siamese to be slim, with a body formed like a long tube. And we love a long, whip shaped Siamese tail!

There are many superbly typed Siamese cats in Australia, however, the Australians share much of the American tastes when it comes to the looks of a Siamese. The Australians too like the eyes a bit bigger than we do, and they also allow the ears to be placed higher up on the head than we are used to.

All these so called standards that say what a Siamese shall look like to be able to win on a cat show, have varied through the years. It is a matter of taste and fashion, like everything else.

To most of us who live together with a Siamese or two, these standards do not count at all. It is what’s inside their heads that fascinates us! Everyone that has experienced what it is like to be trained and loved by a Siamese, will always feel this void in their lives if there is no Siamese there.