The Siamese cat (, Maeo Thai; , Maeo Sayam; , Maeo Wichien Maat) is one of the first distinctly recognised breeds of domestic cat. It is selectively bred since the end of the 19th-century from the Wichianmat landrace, one of several varieties of cats native to Thailand (known as Siam before 1939), and is pedigreed in all major cat fancier and breeder organisations. Siamese cats have a distinctive colourpoint coat, resulting from a temperature-sensitive type of albinism. Distinct features like blue almond-shaped eyes, a triangular wedged head shape, large wide-set ears, an elongated, slender, and muscular body, and various colours of point colouration characterise the breed.
The breed was one of the most popular cat breeds in Europe and North America in the 19th century. Around the 1950s, the modern-style body with slender and angular features became the preferred type by Siamese enthusiasts.
The Siamese is used as foundation stock in several new cat breeds; by crossbreeding them with other cats. The Oriental and Colourpoint Shorthair were developed to expand the range of Siamese coat patterns. Crossbreeding with Persians resulted in a long-haired colourpoint variant called the Himalayan. The long-haired Siamese is recognised internationally as the Balinese. Crossbreeding also introduced Siamese features in several hair-mutation breeds, including the Cornish Rex, Sphynx, and Peterbald.
History
right|thumb|[[Suphalak cat, Siamese cat, Korat cat and Ninlachak cat in Tamra Maew (The Cat-Book Poems) are thought to originate from the Ayutthaya Kingdom (1351 to 1767 AD). Over a dozen are now kept in the National Library of Thailand.]]
right|thumb|[[Prajadhipok|King Prajadhipok following his coronation day, surrounded by the court ladies carrying his regalia and Wichianmat cat, which symbolises "domesticity".]]
Thailand origins
A description and depiction of the Wichianmat (colourpointed landrace cat in Siam) first appears in a collection of ancient manuscripts called the Tamra Maew (The Cat-Book Poems), thought to originate from the Ayutthaya Kingdom (1351 to 1767 AD). Over a dozen are now kept in the National Library of Thailand. The manuscripts have resurfaced outside of Thailand and are now in the British Library and National Library of Australia.
At the end of the Burmese–Siamese war, the capitol was sacked on 7 April 1767. The Burmese army burned everything in sight and returned to Burma, taking Siamese noblemen and royal family members with them as captives. A Thai legend states that the King of Burma Hsinbyushin found and read the poem of the Wichianmat cats in the Tamra Maew. The poem describes Wichianmat cats as being as rare as gold, and anyone who owns this cat will become wealthy. He told his army to round up all the cats and bring them back to Myanmar (Burma) along with the other treasures.
Western breed development
The pointed cat known as the "Siamese", recognised for its distinctive markings, is selectively bred in the West from the Wichianmat, one of several landraces of cats from Siam described and illustrated in the Tamra Maew manuscripts, estimated to have been written from the 14th to the 18th century. In 1878, US President Rutherford B. Hayes received the first documented Siamese to reach the United States. The cat, named "Siam," was sent from Bangkok to the US Consul. In 1884, the British Consul-General in Bangkok, Edward Blencowe Gould (1847–1916), brought a breeding pair of the cats, Pho and Mia (พ่อและแม่), back to Britain as a gift for his sister, Lilian Jane Gould (who, married in 1895 as Lilian Jane Veley, went on to co-found the Siamese Cat Club in 1901). <!-- Several sources give Gould's brother Owen Nutcombe Gould (1857–1929) as the British Consul-General in Bangkok, but Owen was only 27 in 1884 and not known to be in Bangkok. (This is misplaced and uncited.)--> In 1885, Gould's UK cats Pho and Mia produced three Siamese kittens—Duen Ngai (เดือนหงาย), Kalohom (กลาโหม), and Khromata (กรมท่า)—who were shown with their parents that same year at London's Crystal Palace Show. Their appearance and behaviour attracted attention, but all three of the kittens died soon after the show, their cause of death not documented.
thumb|Wankee, born in 1895 to foundation stock parents in Hong Kong, became the first UK champion in 1898.|left
By 1886, four Siamese cats were imported to the UK by Eva Forestier Walker (surnamed Vyvyan after 1887 marriage) and her sister, Ada. These Siamese imports were long, had rounded heads with wedge-shaped muzzles, and large ears. The cats ranged from substantial to slender but were not either extreme. The difference in the pointed coat pattern had not been seen before in cats by Westerners.
Over the next several years, fanciers imported a small number of cats, forming the foundation stock for the entire breed in Britain. Due to digitalisation of the extensively kept ancestry paperwork by the cat registries, it is possible to trace the pedigree of most Siamese cats of today back to (one or more of) these original imports. In Britain, these original imports were called the "Royal Cat of Siam." Some reports say that they had previously been kept only by Siamese royalty. However, research does not show evidence of any organised royal breeding programme in Siam.