The Siamese Breed And Its Variants

The Siamese cat  is one of the oldest and most represented cat breeds in the world. Precisely due to the fact that it has been a pet for a long time and despite its Thai origins, this cat has undergone many transformations, which have given rise to different variants that still fall within the standards of the Siamese breed. The crosses and breeding have greatly influenced the physical appearance – and not only – of the cats belonging to this breed and it is  for this reason therefore that we want to review the different variants that the Siamese breed currently presents.

Common features

Although it is a breed with many variations, each of them has common characteristics that make it easily recognizable as belonging to the Siamese breed :  easily distinguishable characteristics, such as the slender body, the well developed musculature and the triangular head with eyes. slightly almond-shaped. The color is also another distinctive element of this breed: the eyes are always blue and the hair, although with variations in shades depending on the type of cat, is always darker on the muzzle, on the legs and on the tail.

Regarding this last aspect, it must be said that the color of the hair must be uniform, with shaded areas that adopt different shades. The most common color is cream but you can easily see chocolate, ice white, gray and even white specimens with pearl gray areas. Generally they are short-haired cats, therefore they must be protected from the cold.

So let’s see some variations.

Seal Point

It is the variant that has the most representative traits of the breed since its coat retains the characteristics of its Thai predecessors. The darker areas are deep brown while the rest of the body is cream colored. He is probably the most independent type of Siamese ; it also maintains the graceful and elegant features that so distinguish the Siamese. It is usually the variant that is most possessive of its master.

Lilac Point

The Siamese belonging to this variant have a cream-colored, very light, almost white coat. The legs, snout and tail are generally so light gray that some confuse it with pale pink.  Their muzzle has a more rounded conformation than normal compared to the general standard of this breed, from which they also differ as regards the constitution, which in the case of the Lilac Point is less slender.

Blue Point

This variety of Siamese has long been considered a further variation of Seal Point; however, after several analyzes, it was decided that this was a separate variant. This type of Siamese is characterized by a very light, almost white, cream-colored hair, while the darker ends are of an ashy blue.

Chocolate Point

Also considered at the beginning a simple variation, this variant of the Siamese has a much darker color than the previous variants: its hair is in fact ivory, while the darker areas are of a very dark chocolate brown.

At this point it should be noted that there are other types of Siamese which, despite being considered as the result of crosses with cats of other breeds, still retain the characteristics sufficient to be considered belonging to the Siamese breed. The variations we are talking about are the following: Tabby Point and Tortie Point.

Tabby Point

The Siamese Tabby Point maintain the cream and brown shades typical of the breed, but show traces of brindle in some areas, characteristic of all Tabby.

Tortie Point

This type of Siamese, while also maintaining the typical coloration of the breed, has a more lively variation  of the dark areas: in fact, in these areas you can see reddish spots, reminiscent of the scales of a turtle, from which it takes its name. this variation.

It is good to know that …

Not all cream-colored cats with darker ends are Siamese: what determines whether or not a cat belongs to a breed is not only the set of characteristics of its coat, but there are models of genetic inheritance based on which is classified as belonging to one race rather than another.

Races are subdivisions in which members belonging to the same species that share a common genetic inheritance are classified and are, in most cases, the result of the manipulation of species that have been domesticated by man, by means of crossbreeding and selection techniques. .