Posts tagged "siamese cat"

Cute Pet Name: Bella Mae

Location: Toledo, Ohio

Age: 4

Cat Breed: Blue Point Siamese

Favorite Toy: Her twin sister, Lacey Lou.

Favorite Treat: Tuna right out of the can.

Likes: Laying in the sun, taking cat naps, grooming herself and being brushed.

Dislikes: The sweeper.

Fun Fact: Bella Mae and Lacey Lou are named after their owner's grandmothers, Chloie Mae and Alta Loiuse.

Congratulations to our submitter, tammydeephoto If you'd like to submit your pet, upload your favorite pet photos to our Flickr pool!

More Cute Pets

Name: Pootie McGovern

Location: Yardley, Pa.

Age: 8 years

Cat Breed: Siamese

Favorite Toy: She loves strings or ribbon of any kind.

Favorite Treat: She loves whipped cream and when she hears the sound from the can, she'll come running even if she's sleeping.

Likes: Her owner and her happy home! She follows her owner everywhere like a dog. She's also a lap cat. "As soon as I sit down, she's on my lap," writes her owner. "She's my 'cling-on.'

Dislikes: Loud people and big dogs.

Weird Quirk: She loves to eat and always cries when her owner opens the refrigerator door -- and she actually tries to climb in.

Fun Facts: She is so sweet and gentle and loves being with her owner and her owner's fiance and Chihuahua, but if other people and other dogs visit, she hides under the bed.

Congratulations to our submitter, lean3903. If you'd like to submit your pet, upload your favorite pet photos to our Flickr pool!

The snowshoe cat is known for its strange pattern of coloring. In general, its body and musculature are average, its skull is a simple, equilateral triangle, and its limbs are all proportionate to its body. Its coat, however, is something unique, with white paws that travel up their wrists and shins, almost like long, elegant gloves. They have white faces except for dark, colored areas around their eyes, giving them a slightly raccoon-ish look. They have fluffy, white underbellies, while the rest of them is much darker, especially at the points.

According to the American Cat Fanciers' Association, snowshoes are a relatively new breed of cat, first discovered in 1960 when a Philadelphia cat breeder found her Siamese cat had given birth to three snowshoes. Although this strange mutation may not have been new in nature (there have been paintings of Snowshoe-like cats from ancient Japan and at least one photograph from 1890), this was the first time where a breeder decided to actually select for the cats with positive results. There had been a previous attempt in the 1950s, when cats exhibiting this pattern were called "silver laces."

Snowshoes have a very affectionate temperament and are best suited to households where they can get much attention much of the time. In fact, like their bodies, Snowshoes are very middle-of-the-road in their personalities; they're not too excitable, not too energetic, but just a healthy medium between the best qualities of cats.

One of the most well-known cat breeds, the Siamese is a naturally occurring breed that originated in Thailand, which was Siam when the cats were first discovered. Siamese cats have triangular skulls with almond shaped eyes, and very large, thin ears and they come in two varieties: modern and traditional. The modern Siamese is lanky and long in every part of its body, with well-developed musculature beneath its very short fur. The Thai, or traditional, Siamese are much less lanky, with an apple shaped head, and rounded limbs and torso.

Both types of Siamese are distinguished by their distinctive color-point pattern -- the coloration on their face and ears, hands and feet, and tail. Otherwise, they are a very light cream color. This is actually a form of albinism that is only activated by the warmest areas of the body. Thus, the coldest areas get the most color. Kittens are born virtually all white, then slowly develop the coloration as they get older. In the United States, a cat like this is only Siamese if it is one of four colors: seal (brown), blue (greyish), chocolate (light brown), or lilac (light grey). If they are any other color, they are known as colorpoint shorthairs. In Britain, there is no distinction; all cats of this type, no matter the color of the points, are Siamese.

Birmans are beautiful cats, so round and evenly colored that they often resemble stuffed animals. They have long silky, thin hair which rarely mats; a golden, pale body with dark points; and blue eyes. Despite its coat's similarities to the Siamese, the Birman's body is much stockier and larger. One of the most distinctive traits of Birmans is that they have completely white paws, no matter what the color of their forelimbs.

Birmans most likely originated in Burma (they appear in Burmese myths), but no one can be sure as to their true origin. The first modern appearance of a Birman was during World War I, when a pair of the cats were shipped from Burma to France, thus gaining a breed foothold in Europe. By 1925, France had recognized them as a breed. However, the breeding was ineffective and twenty years later, France again had only two Birmans. A frantic program of outcrossing eventually saved the breed, and they were recognized by the Cat Fanciers' Association in 1967.

To put it simply, a Balinese cat is similar to a Siamese cat, but the Balinese are less talkative and have long, silky coats. Balinese are traditionally round and full, with long hair all over. Since the breed's origination, some Balinese have bred strains that are more Siamese looking, with triangular skulls, lanky limbs, and blue eyes. What makes these cats strictly Balinese and not Javanese is that they come in seal point, blue point, chocolate point and lilac point. Any other color is a Javanese cat.

The Balinese breed first originated, like most other cats, as a spontaneous mutation in a Siamese litter, creating a cat that was generally Siamese in appearance, but had longer hair on its body and much longer hair on its tail. Still, the breed retains many Siamese qualities, such as intelligence and loquacity. When they first appeared in the 1920s, people called them long-haired Siamese cats. However, in the 1950s, two breeders took it upon themselves to make them an official breed, and coined the name Balinese to reflect the graceful movements of Balinese dancers.

Cats come in many different flavors. Taking some of the best videos on the Internet, Paw Nation is happy to showcase the many interesting cat breeds with a new feature that we call Feline Fete.

They're exotic, pointy, and technically should be called Thai cats. Yes, they're Siamese! Siamese cats are known for their apple-shaped skulls, colored points, thin and elongated frames, blue eyes, and intelligence. Check out these feisty felines in the videos after the jump.