By Debbi Stevenson
During the last few years the term “traditional Siamese” has been increasing used to identify what had previously been called “applehead Siamese”. These cats exhibit a rounded head shape, a rounded eye aperture, a thicker, perhaps even double coat, and are generally heavier appearing than the pedigreed Siamese shown in CFA. Many claims have been made for these cats, from better health to longer lives, and most particularly that the apple headed Siamese have the original conformation, and that today’s show Siamese is a distortion of the original look. However, history does not bear this out. Examinations of the original writings of people who observed the earliest importations of Siamese into England show that the cat first brought to Europe from Asia was described much the same as the CFA Siamese standard describes it today. The first words used to describe these early imports are ‘svelte’, ‘lithe’, ‘smaller than other cats of the day’, ‘with tiny oval feet, and small pointed heads’. In 1889, an early standard describes the Siamese head as “small, broad across and between the eyes, forehead flat and receding, nose long, and somewhat broad cheeks narrowing towards the mouth…”1. In another early standard from 1902, the head is described as “rather long and pointed” and the shape as “body rather long, legs proportionately slight”2. These early descriptions of the head were formalized in the CFA standard of 1956, where the description of the head has become more explicit, yet still incorporated the language of the earliest descriptions of Siamese: “The head should be long and taper in straight lines from the ears to a narrow muzzle, with no break in the whiskers.”3. Today’s current standard has not changed much from this time, describing the head as a “long tapering wedge” and the body as “graceful, long and svelte.” The tail of the early imports is described as whip like, slender and tapering, especially when compared to the typical cat of the times. The tail of today’s Siamese is “long, thin, tapering to a fine point”. So how did these cats termed “appleheads” come to descend from the same bloodlines as the CFA true traditional Siamese? Most likely they are the result of crosses with native cats, both in England and in the United States. The early imported Siamese cats were considered delicate in constitution by many of the original English breeders, no doubt due to the stressful nature of the trip the cats endured to reach England, as well as their intelligent and sensitive natures. Some people felt that they needed to increase the strength of the Siamese so they crossed their imports with white domestic cats. This resulted in a look that differed remarkably from the imports, being larger, heavier boned, with a rounded look and difference in colors. There quite a controversy at the time, with some people advocating the outcrosses, others believing that Siamese should only be bred to imported specimens like themselves. Two different recognizable types of Siamese, defined by color, are described in the writings of early enthusiasts. They are the seal point, described in ways that resemble the Siamese of today, and the chocolate Siamese, a dark, heavy, thick coated cat, possibly the origination of what became the “applehead”. Additionally, in the 1940s and 1950s the Siamese became very popular in America. Many people were allowing two cats with Siamese point color to breed and calling the offspring “Siamese”, in order to sell pet kittens. Little was understood of the color genetics by the general public at the time, and many cats were called “Siamese” simply because they exhibited the pointed color pattern. Some feline registries would allow a registration based on a color pattern or phenotype, and thus some cats that carried only partial Siamese genetics, received registration papers declaring them to be full-blooded Siamese. In this way a cat carrying pointed color, and appearing in type to be similar to today’s Tonkinese, descended from the original Siamese cat, have pedigrees that contain many of the same ancestors that are behind today’s show Siamese and are registered as Siamese by the same organizations as register the original Siamese. The claims made by the people who breed these cats cannot be supported as to health or longer life or greater intelligence cannot be supported, as these cats descend directly from the original imports and are subject to the same genetics strengths and weaknesses as their direct relatives, the CFA purebred Siamese. Just as the appleheads have the same dog-like dependence enjoyment of humans, and the same intelligence as the original Siamese, they need the same support and loving care and are subject to the same genetic weaknesses. A great Siamese pet is very dependent on the care the kitten receives and the quality of the environment it is raised in as it is to its genetics. CFA Siamese are as healthy, person oriented and long-lived as any Siamese bred and raised in the proper way, and they also provide a grace and beauty that is as charming to look at as their personalities make them a joy to live with. Footnotes:
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