Hello, this is Dr. Karin! Read my introduction, learn more about me and meet my five cheerful cats: Clutch, Cyril, Alex, Zelda, and Zazrus.
The other day I was helping my colleagues decipher the colours of various Siamese cats, which is difficult enough and not something I want to ruin in front of the wrong person. However, we were then faced with the confused realization that Siamese cats have two forms.
I had claimed to have worked with Oriental and Siamese cat breeders and were extremely knowledgeable about their long, whimsical bodies and wedge-shaped heads. They grew up with Siamese cats and knew they were more compact and rounded heads. We both found out that they were right, it’s just infuriating!
This confused scenario brought me to another conclusion. This means that the fancy of the world’s cats really needs to come together and organize. Unlike the dog side of things, American Kennel ClubAmerican cat lovers, the single governing body that governs rules, regulations, registrations and standards for US dog breeds, have the choice to choose.
To further exacerbate my cat’s breed-induced headaches, each of these tissues has different ideas about the cat breed and what isn’t.
CFA recognizes 45 different cat breeds, while Tica lists 73, but the list includes the long hair breeds separately. ACFA roughly agrees to TICA, listing 69 cat breeds, with CFF recognizing “at least 32 breeds.” So it’s great and easy. You may wonder why there is a connection between so many different cat breeds and why there is a lack of consensus between them. Now, let’s say that cats aren’t the only ones who expose their claws.
Return to my Siamese difficulties
Returning to the confused Siamese cat problem.
I consulted and checked out all four major American Cat Associations Federation International Fai Inn (Fife) and the UK Cat Fantasy Governance Council (GCCF), and one thing they can all agree on (surprising!) was that the Siamese species were our friends with wedge-shaped heads. But what about these rounds or “apple” head shams? This is where the plot gets thicker.
Applehead Syamese is considered a throwback to the more traditional Siamese people, which has evolved into today’s more angular cats through selective breeding over the last century or so. So, what about Applehead? Well, when you ask Tika and Fife, these cats are now classified as another breed, Thai cats. Meanwhile, CFA, CFF, and ACFA seem to pretend they don’t exist. To further confuse the issue, GCCF recognizes Thai cats, but it’s a different version from the Tica and Fife version. GCCF Thai cats have coding ties, essentially a pigmented version of the blue Korat, but other versions of the Thai cats assigned the code come from Siamese species.
Why do you need to be so confused?
Why does this bother me?
At the end of the day, look at moggy enthusiasts like me In a world where the internet eradicates obstacles in distance and DNA testing helps identify shared genetic traits, when I or someone else connect a “Siamese cat” to the search box, you get conflicting results about what a very simple question should be.
I’m not seeking world peace, I’m just asking the world’s cat fanciers to come together and agree to the situation of this Thai and Siamese cat breed without flying too many furs.
Then again, I probably have more fortune in world peace.
This article is part of Dr. Karin’s series with five cheerful cats.
