What is a Siamese cat? Points, blue eyes and a big voice

What is a Siamese cat? It is a slender, short-coated breed with a pale body, darker "points" on the face, ears, legs and tail, and blue eyes. The Cat Fanciers' Association (CFA), a large pedigreed cat registry, calls it the personification of feline elegance, and sums up its personality in four words: vocal, affectionate, active, and sometimes insistent.

Everything in this guide comes from the CFA's own Siamese page and breed standard: where the breed came from, how to recognise one, its four colours, what it is like to live with, and why a pointed cat on your street may not be a Siamese.

What is a Siamese cat? The short answer

The CFA's breed card describes a long, slender body with colour at the points, long slender legs and a long wedge-shaped head. The points come in four colours: seal, chocolate, blue and lilac.

The CFA puts the breed at the centre of the cat world. It says the Siamese has been the inspiration, if not the direct source, for many other breeds, and that the cat fancy as we know it would likely not exist without early English fanciers discovering and promoting these cats in the late 1880s.

Where the Siamese came from

The CFA says these cats were first documented in a historic Thai collection of cat poems from the Ayutthaya period, which ran from 1350 to 1767.

The first Siamese in the United States was a cat called "Siam", given to President Rutherford B. Hayes by the American Consul in Bangkok in 1878. At the same time, Siamese were appearing at the Crystal Palace cat shows in London. More crossed the Atlantic, and the Siamese was one of the first breeds the CFA recognized when it was founded in 1906. The first Siamese Best-in-Show winner came a year later.

How to recognise a Siamese

The CFA's standard asks for a medium-sized, svelte cat with long, tapering lines. In its words, everything about these cats is long except the fine, short coat. Look for these marks:

• The head: a long, tapering wedge. Straight lines run from the nose to the tips of the ears, forming a triangle.
• The ears: strikingly large, pointed and wide at the base, carrying on the lines of the wedge.
• The eyes: almond-shaped and slanted toward the nose. The standard asks for deep vivid blue; eyes of any other colour disqualify a show cat.
• The body: long and graceful, with fine bones, firm muscles, a long slender neck and long slim legs.
• The tail: long and thin, tapering to a fine point.
• The coat: short, fine and glossy, lying close to the body.

The CFA adds a note on change. In the 1950s, when the breed's popularity soared, cats with rounder heads, heavier bones and washed-out eye colour were bred to meet demand. The look of the top show Siamese, it says, never changed.

The four Siamese colours

The four Siamese colours, from the CFA's breed page and standard.

At first, the CFA says, seal point was the only colour, and it is still the most popular. The others followed: blue point was recognized in 1934, chocolate point in 1952 and lilac point in 1955.

• Seal point: a pale fawn to cream body, with deep seal brown points.
• Chocolate point: an ivory body, with milk-chocolate points.
• Blue point: a bluish white body, with deep blue points.
• Lilac point: a glacial white body, with frosty grey points that have a pinkish tone.

The points cover the mask, ears, legs, feet and tail, and the standard says they should all be the same shade. It also says Siamese generally darken with age, but there must always be a clear contrast between body and points. Our guide to colorpoint cats explains the pattern itself, and the other breeds that carry it.

What a Siamese is like to live with

The CFA describes a cat that wants to be part of everything.

• Talk: it says no other breed beats the Siamese at communicating with people, through body language or a large repertoire of sounds. Our guide to why cats meow covers what those sounds can mean.
• Closeness: a Siamese heads for the warmest spot in the house, most likely your lap. It wants to be with you, on you, or involved in what you are doing, and the CFA warns of loud protests when you need time to yourself.
• Company: the CFA says the best companion for a Siamese is likely a person or another Siamese, though many get on well with other pets.

Grooming is simple. The CFA says Siamese do shed, but you can groom one with just your hands: wet them and stroke the coat until your hands are dry, lifting dead hair as you go. A rubber brush also works, and a Siamese that is not being shown should not need bathing.

On health, the CFA says most Siamese are healthy. Breeders are working on two issues: progressive retinal atrophy, which can cause blindness and can be found with a genetic test, and amyloidosis, a liver condition whose genes are still being researched. It suggests asking whether either has appeared in a kitten's family line.

Is that pointed cat a Siamese?

Not necessarily. The CFA's coat and color descriptions make the point that a coat's colour and pattern do not tell you the breed. A cat with dark points and blue eyes could be a Siamese, another pointed breed, or a mixed-breed cat. Our guide on whether a cat is a mixed breed helps you weigh it.

Cat Go is a game that plays in your web browser, where that question comes up on every catch: "Walk anywhere, photograph a real cat, lure it with food and catch it." Its breed search even uses this breed as its example: "Search breeds, like Siamese or curly".

The bar at the top counts your cats and breeds out of the game's 34.

1. Stay where you are and tap the camera. The screen says "Fit the whole cat in the frame", so the face, ears and tail are all in the picture.
2. The game asks "Which breed is it?" and gives you a list with a search box. You pick; the game does not decide for you.
3. Check the marks above: the wedge-shaped head, the big ears, the long body and tail. If you cannot be sure, the game says "Mixed breed is always a safe pick."
4. Toss in-game treats to win it over. Rarer breeds are warier, and tuna works much better on wary cats.

Frequently asked questions

Do all Siamese cats have blue eyes?

The CFA standard asks for deep vivid blue eyes in every colour, and eyes of any other colour disqualify a Siamese at a show.

Are Siamese cats noisy?

The CFA calls the breed vocal and sometimes insistent, with a large repertoire of sounds, and warns of loud protests when you need time alone.

Do Siamese cats get darker?

Yes. The CFA standard says Siamese generally darken with age, though the points must still contrast clearly with the body.

What colours do Siamese cats come in?

Four, in the CFA standard: seal point, chocolate point, blue point and lilac point.

Get started

Next time you see a slim cat with a dark face and blue eyes, check the ears, the tail and the shape of the head. Then take a walk and see who you meet.

Play Cat Go in your browser: walk anywhere, photograph a real cat, lure it with food and catch it.