The Siamese is a slender, blue-eyed breed from Thailand with a pale body and dark points, first brought to Britain in 1884. The colour develops only on the cooler parts of the body.
Loud, clever and devoted to people, it is the fourth most registered pedigree cat in Britain. The American Colorpoint Shorthair is a Siamese in the newer point colours.
The Siamese is the best-known of the oriental breeds: a slender, short-haired cat with a pale body, dark "points" on the face, ears, legs and tail, and deep blue eyes. It is among the most vocal and sociable of all cats.
Pointed cats are among those described in the Thai "cat-book poems", manuscripts thought to date from the Ayutthaya period. The first Siamese known to have reached Britain were a pair brought from Bangkok in 1884 by the British consul-general for his sister, and their offspring were shown at the Crystal Palace the following year. The breed quickly became fashionable in Europe and North America.
The colouring is caused by an enzyme that produces pigment only at lower temperatures. Kittens are born white, having developed in the warmth of the womb, and colour appears over the following weeks on the coolest parts of the body. The coat darkens gradually with age, and cats living in cold climates are darker than those kept warm.
The original colour was seal point, a dark brown. Blue, chocolate and lilac points were recognised later, and British breeders added red, cream, tortoiseshell and tabby points from the 1940s onwards.
British and European registries treat every point colour as a Siamese. The oldest American registry accepts only the first four colours as Siamese and classes the red, cream, tortoiseshell and tabby-pointed cats as a separate breed, the Colorpoint Shorthair. They are the same cats under another name.
The modern Siamese is long, fine-boned and tubular in body, with long slim legs and a whip-like tail. The head is a long wedge, with a straight profile and very large ears that follow the lines of the wedge. The eyes are almond-shaped, slanted and vivid blue. The coat is very short, fine and close-lying. The squint and the kinked tail once typical of the breed have largely been bred out.
Siamese of the early twentieth century were rounder in the head and sturdier in the body. Cats of that older style are still bred, and the Governing Council of the Cat Fancy registers them as a separate breed, the Thai.
Siamese are intelligent, inquisitive and demanding of attention. They have a loud, insistent voice and use it freely, form intense attachments to their people and are often compared to dogs for the way they follow, fetch and greet. They do badly when left alone for long and are usually kept in pairs.
The coat needs almost no grooming. Siamese are often long-lived, commonly reaching their late teens. Inherited and breed-associated conditions include a form of progressive retinal atrophy, for which a DNA test exists; amyloid deposits affecting the liver; asthma; a tumour of the chest seen in young cats; dental disease; and a habit of sucking and eating wool and other fabrics. Veterinary bodies discourage breeding for very extreme head shapes.
The Siamese is recognised by every registry. With 1,063 kittens registered in 2023 it was the fourth most numerous pedigree breed in Britain. Its relatives include the Balinese, the Oriental and the Tonkinese.