Where Are The Siamese Cats?

[bunta71]

This question is burning a hole in my little pea brain...I have never seen what is a very well known breed of cats in the states. After living here for about 150 years I have never seen what we would call a Siamese cat here in the LOS. Actually doesn't really bother me as I dislike domestic cats AND redheads. I believe both were put here by aliens from outer space...

[cdnvic]

I always wondered the same thing. I think years of interbreeding with other cats has left it so that most Siamese cats are found in pet shops, or obtained through breeders.Part of a legacy of little or no animal control in the country.

[craigt3365]

I'm going to move this over to the Plants, Pets & Vets forum.

//Moved//

[bonobo]

Most of the alley cats here are of teh same basic body-type as Siamese, Burmese, Balinese, etc. It is just the coloring which varies. I have seen quite a number of cats with the points and coloring of a Siamese, but none which might be show cats.

I have a rescued cat now, and while he has none of the points of a Siamese, he is of similar body style and personality (felinsonality?)

[mark45y]

All of my life in the States I had Siamese cats. Seal, chocolate and lilac frost points. When I lived in Bangkok and Chiang Mai I also wondered why there were no Siamese alley cats. But I have seen a number on the East coast. I think I have only seen one I would call pure Siamese the rest were a mix. Although the blue eyes seem pretty common here.

Siamese cats have always liked me and living here has been no exception they seem to come out and say hi to me. I have never seen Siamese as house pets here only as feral cats living on the street.

One of my first experiences in Thailand was the “all you can drink specials” at the “Cat House”, a bar so named because of the cats on the roof next door. I used to sit there and get loaded and watch the cats. It was there that I first wondered why there were no Siamese cats here.

My Condo has a covered French drain running the length of the drive way to the street about 100 meters. The drain is loosely covered by concrete plates but you can see into it where the plates join. The condo has two guard dogs who bark loudly when seeing anyone not living in the condo. The dogs will climb the stairs if a new person takes the elevator to see where they are going. The human guard sleeps till the dog barks and then he wakes up and questions delivery people and so on. A nice symbiotic relationship.

There is one Siamese cat who sleeps on the wall next to the French Drain. I watch their ritual from my balcony nightly. The dog goes out to mark his territory with pee and the Siamese cat howls at him.

The cat runs back and forth on the wall for a while the dog chasing and then down to ground level. The dog gets excited thinking he is going to catch the cat and then the cat goes in the French drain and lets the dog get directly above. The cat then does that Siamese chirping sound alternated with yells at the dog, mocking the fact that the dog can't get into the drain because he is too big to squeeze between the concrete slabs. This game is played out almost nightly.

[Nawtier]

We had one.....bought from a pet shop at JJ

[bina]

We had one.....bought from a pet shop at JJ

google korat cat and u will find the explanation of the various thai/siam cats and wiki had a good description also.... and as most people should know, purebred anything (horse, cockerel, cat) were once only usually owned and bred by wealthy/aristocratic folks. sometimes a particular species/breed takes the fancy of someone in a foriegn country and then they develop the breed.: lhasa apso are an example of this, as are many other esoteric breeds.... shit tzu dogs have become a status symbol in thailand because much money and time is needed to keep an expensive pet for any reason other then function .... siamese are a developed breed like any other (the colour points etc)so not one u would see running around as feral. that would be like seeing a shitzu as a feral dog. like village dogs which all have same body type and traits (adaptable to outdoor scavenger living), feral cats would have to also be similar, and a seal point or lilac siamese just woudnt survive too long...

bina

[catmac]

Summed it up nicely, Bina.

The only time I've seen a real Siamese running about here, the little chap was on the Burmese side of the border! So, I supose if I want to see a Burmese cat, I'll have to go to the Chinese side of the Burma border!

[sbk]

We had a cat, many years ago who had the coloring and blue eyes of a siamese cat. She wasn't purchased, wasnt someones escaped pet but just a cat.

Things is, cats and dogs are bred for certain characteristics. those characteristics will occur in the wild as their are natural to the animal.

We had a dog named Donut, people thought she looked like a chow, she had the coloring and the big furry ruff. But Donut was, as I said, 100% dog, there was no way she was a mixed breed since there had never been a chow on the island. So, dogs and cats are bred by taking characteristics we want, and breeding them with animals with the same characteristics until it comes out true. So, really, its not that Donut was part Chow, but that a Chow was part Donut.

so, its not that the cats are part Siamese, but that a Siamese is part native cat.

[tutsiwarrior]

we've got a siamese cat...it's a calico with blue eyes, she wandered in off the street pregnant and decided to give birth in the roof space of my kitchen...couldn't get rid of her later and now she hangs around when I'm at home and constantly gets under my feet and annoys the shit outta me...but she is a companion and I would be looking for her if she decided to go away...

she's got the same head and body shape of a purebred siamese that my high school girlfriend owned in California in the 60s...don't know where she got the calico color from...

[bina]

we've got a siamese cat...it's a calico with blue eyes, she wandered in off the street pregnant and decided to give birth in the roof space of my kitchen...couldn't get rid of her later and now she hangs around when I'm at home and constantly gets under my feet and annoys the shit outta me...but she is a companion and I would be looking for her if she decided to go away...

she's got the same head and body shape of a purebred siamese that my high school girlfriend owned in California in the 60s...don't know where she got the calico color from...

CALICO only comes from females as the males (the very few that there are of calico) are supposed to be sterile... 99% of calicos are females. dad could have been a korat cat (much like their human male counterpart, catting around....)..

bina

[tutsiwarrior]

yeah...come to think of it, never did see many male calicos around...

'catting around' ?...yew mean like lookin' fer pussy?

(cat, pussycat, etc, sorry bina, I just couldn't help it...)

Edited December 29, 2010 by tutsiwarrior

[sbk]

Actually (useless esoteric fact) it is possible to have a tri-colored male cat, but it requires two X chromosomes so he would have to be an XXY to be a calico or tortoiseshell and therefor would be sterile.

[Patsycat]

So, Bunta71 - you don't like domestic cats or redheads.

We don't like you either!!!!

[JimmyTheMook]

We had a Siamese cat that got stolen or just disappeared, so yes they exist but are like having a pure bred dog and someone may take a liking to them.

Ended up with a temple cat that is a fantastic mouser , that I swear gave my wife a 1000 baht (twice) to bring to the Vet. and get fixed.

Here is a pic of said cat last month.

[ad61]

Here is one....

[phaethon]

Here's a nice, but very nervous, bicolour seal with white mits/spotting who lives at Phra Khanong Police Station. The little brown rectangle near his feet is a chicken dog-treat that I carry for the dogs at my building, but it got me close enough for this phone pic. which does not do justice to those vivid blue eyes.