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Siamese Cat


Among the beautiful varieties of the domestic cat brought into notice by

the cat shows, none deserve more attention than "The Royal Cat of Siam."

In form, colour, texture, and length, or rather shortness of its coat,

it is widely different from other short-haired varieties; yet there is

but little difference in its mode of life or habit. I have not had the

pleasure of owning one of this breed, though when on a visit to Lady
<
r /> Dorothy Nevill, at Dangstein, near Petersfield, I had several

opportunities for observation. I noticed in particular the intense

liking of these cats for "the woods," not passing along the hedgerows

like the ordinary cat, but quickly and quietly creeping from bush to

bush, then away in the shaws; not that they displayed a wildness of

nature, in being shy or distrustful, nor did they seem to care about

getting wet like many cats do, though apparently they suffer much when

it is cold and damp weather, as would be likely on account of the

extreme shortness of their fur, which is of both a hairy and a woolly

texture, and not so glossy as our ordinary common domestic cat, nor is

the tail, which is thin. Lady Dorothy Nevill informed me that those

which belonged to her were imported from Siam and presented by Sir R.

Herbert of the Colonial Office; the late Duke of Wellington imported the

breed, also Mr. Scott of Rotherfield. Lady Dorothy Nevill thought them

exceedingly docile and domestic, but delicate in their constitution;

although her ladyship kept one for two years, another over a year, but

eventually all died of the same complaint, that of worms, which

permeated every part of their body.



Mr. Young, of Harrogate, possesses a chocolate variety of this Royal

Siamese cat; it was sent from Singapore to Mr. Brennand, from whom he

purchased it, and is described as "most loving and affectionate," which

I believe is usually the case. Although this peculiar colour is very

beautiful and scarce, I am of opinion that the light gray or fawn colour

with black and well-marked muzzle, ears, and legs is the typical

variety, the markings being the same as the Himalayan rabbits. There are

cavies so marked; and many years ago I saw a mouse similarly coloured.

Mr. Young informs me that the kittens he has bred from his dark variety

have invariably come the usual gray or light dun colour with dark

points. I therefore take that to be the correct form and colour, and the

darker colour to be an accidental deviation. In pug-dogs such a depth of

colour would be considered a blemish, however beautiful it might be;

even black pugs do not obtain prizes in competition with a true-marked

light dun; but whatever colour the body is it should be clear and firm,

rich and not clouded in any way. But I give Mr. Young's own views:



"The dun Siamese we have has won whenever shown; the body is of a dun

colour, nose, part of the face, ears, feet, and tail of a very dark

chocolate brown, nearly black, eyes of a beautiful blue by day, and of a

red colour at night! My other prize cat is of a very rich chocolate or

seal, with darker face, ears, and tail; the legs are a shade darker,

which intensifies towards the feet. The eyes small, of a rich amber

colour, the ears are bare of hair, and not so much hair between the eyes

and the ears as the English cats have. The dun, unless under special

judges, invariably beats the chocolate at the shows. The tail is shorter

and finer than our English cats.



"I may add that we lately have had four kittens from the chocolate cat

by a pure dun Siamese he-cat. All the young are dun coloured, and when

born were very light, nearly white, but are gradually getting the dark

points of the parents; in fact, I expect that one will turn chocolate.

The cats are very affectionate, and make charming ladies' pets, but are

rather more delicate than our cats, but after they have once wintered in

England they seem to get acclimatised.



"Mr. Brennand, who brought the chocolate one and another, a male, from

Singapore last year, informs me that there are two varieties, a large

and small. Ours are the small; he also tells me the chocolate is the

most rare.



"I have heard a little more regarding the Siamese cats from Miss Walker,

the daughter of General Walker, who brought over one male and three

females. It seems the only pure breed is kept at the King of Siam's

palace, and the cats are very difficult to procure, for in Siam it took

three different gentlemen of great influence three months before they

could get any.



"Their food is fish and rice boiled together until quite soft, and Miss

Walker finds the kittens bred have thriven on it.



"It is my intention to try and breed from a white English female with

blue eyes, and a Siamese male.



"The Siamese cats are very prolific breeders, having generally five at

each litter, and three litters a year.



"We have never succeeded in breeding any like our chocolate cat; they

all come fawn, with black or dark brown points; the last family are a

little darker on their backs, which gives them a richer appearance than

the pale fawn. Hitherto we have never had any half-bred Siamese; but

there used to be a male Siamese at Hurworth-on-Tees, and there were many

young bred from English cats. They invariably showed the Siamese cross

in the ground colour."



From the foregoing it will be seen how very difficult it is to obtain

the pure breed, even in Siam, and on reference to the Crystal Palace

catalogues from the year 1871 until 1887, I find that there were

fifteen females and only four males, and some of these were not

entire; and I have always understood that the latter were not allowed to

be exported, and were only got by those so fortunate as a most

extraordinary favour, as the King of Siam is most jealous of keeping the

breed entirely in Siam as royal cats.



The one exhibited by Lady Dorothy Nevill (Mrs. Poodle) had three kittens

by an English cat; but none showed any trace of the Siamese, being all

tabby.



Although Mr. Herbert Young was informed by Mr. Brennand that there is

another and a larger breed in Siam, it does not appear that any of these

have been imported; nor have we any description of them, either as to

colour, size, form, or quality of coat, or whether they resemble the

lesser variety in this or any respect, yet it is to be hoped that, ere

long, some specimens may be secured for this country.



Besides Mr. Herbert Young, I am also much indebted to the courtesy of

Mrs. Vyvyan, of Dover, who is a lover of this beautiful breed, and who

kindly sends the following information:



"The original pair were sent from Bangkok, and it is believed that they

came from the King's Palace, where alone the breed are said to be kept

pure. At any rate they were procured as a great favour, after much delay

and great difficulty, and since that time no others have been attainable

by the same person. We were in China when they reached us, and the

following year, 1886, we brought the father, mother, and a pair of

kittens to England.



"Their habits are in general the same as the common cat, though it has

been observed by strangers, 'there is a pleasant wild animal odour,'

which is not apparent to us.



"Most of the kittens have a kink in the tail; it varies in position,

sometimes in the middle, close to the body, or at the extreme end like a

hook."



This tallies with the description given by Mr. Darwin of the Malayan and

also the Siamese cats. See my notes on the Manx cat. Mr. Young had also

noted this peculiarity in "the Royal cat of Siam."



Mrs. Vyvyan further remarks:



"They are very affectionate and personally attached to their human

friends, not liking to be left alone, and following us from room to room

more after the manner of dogs than cats.



"They are devoted parents, the old father taking the greatest interest

in the young ones.



"They are friendly with the dogs of the house, occupying the same

baskets; but the males are very strong, and fight with great persistency

with strange dogs, and conquer all other tom-cats in their

neighbourhood. We lost one, however, a very fine cat, in China in this

way, as he returned to the house almost torn to pieces and in a dying

condition, from an encounter with some animal which we think was one of

the wild cats of the hills.



"We feed them on fresh fish boiled with rice, until the two are nearly

amalgamated; they also take bread and milk warm, the milk having been

boiled, and this diet seems to suit them better than any other. They

also like chicken and game. We have proved the fish diet is not

essential, as two of our cats (in Cornwall) never get it.



"Rather a free life seems necessary to their perfect acclimatisation,

where they can go out and provide themselves with raw animal food,

'feather and fur.'



"We find these cats require a great deal of care, unless they live in

the country, and become hardy through being constantly out of doors. The

kittens are difficult to rear unless they are born late in the spring,

thus having the warm weather before them. Most deaths occur before they

are six months old.



"We have lost several kittens from worms, which they endeavour to vomit;

as relief we give them raw chicken heads, with the feathers on, with

success. We also give cod-liver oil, if the appetite fails and weight

diminishes.



"When first born the colour is nearly pure white, the only trace of

'points' being a fine line of dark gray at the edge of the ears; a

gradual alteration takes place, the body becoming creamy, the ears,

face, tail, and feet darkening, until, about a year old, they attain

perfection, when the points should be the deepest brown, nearly black,

and the body ash or fawn colour, eyes opal or blue, looking red in the

dark. After maturity they are apt to darken considerably, though not in

all specimens.



"They are most interesting and delightful pets. But owing to their

delicacy and the great care they require, no one, unless a real cat

lover, should attempt to keep them; they cannot with safety to their

health be treated as common cats.



"During 'Susan's' (one of the cats) illness, the old he-cat came daily

to condole with her, bringing delicate 'attentions' in the form of

freshly-caught mice. 'Loquat' also provided this for a young family for

whom she had no milk.



"Another, 'Saiwan,' is very clever at undoing the latch of the window in

order to let himself out; tying it up with string is of no use, and he

has even managed to untwist wire that has been used to prevent his going

out in the snow. We have at present two males, four adult females, and

five kittens." One of our kittens sent to Scotland last August, has done

well.



Mrs. Lee, of Penshurst, also has some fine specimens of the breed, and

of the same colours as described. I take it, therefore, that the true

breed, by consensus of opinion, is that of the dun, fawn, or

ash-coloured ground, with black points. Other colours should be shown in

the variety classes.



The head should be long from the ears to the eyes, and not over broad,

and then rather sharply taper off towards the muzzle, the forehead flat,

and receding, the eyes somewhat aslant downwards towards the nose, and

the eyes of a pearly, yet bright blue colour, the ears usual size and

black, with little or no hair on the inside, with black muzzle, and

round the eyes black. The form should be slight, graceful, and

delicately made, body long, tail rather short and thin, and the legs

somewhat short, slender, and the feet oval, not so round as the ordinary

English cat. The body should be one bright, uniform, even colour, not

clouded, either rich fawn, dun, or ash. The legs, feet, and tail black.

The back slightly darker is allowable, if of a rich colour, and the

colour softened, not clouded.



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