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Siamese Cats Secrets
Siamese Cats History

The late 1700's
The first record of the Siamese breed was found by a man called Mr. Pallas during his journey to south Russia in the years 1793-1794. The record was found on an old engraving.


The late 1800's
The first pair of Siamese cats was brought to England from Siam in 1884 by a man called Owen Gould as a gift for his sister, Mrs. Veley, who founded “the Siamese cat club” in the year 1901. The two cats were named: Pho and Mia, and became the first pair of Siamese cats registered in England.

The Siamese breed was probably brought to America in the year 1879 as a gift from the American consul in Bangkok to the president’s wife. "The Siamese Cat Society of America" was founded in the year 1909 and was the first to approve standards for the Siamese breed, while in Siam (Thailand), the breeding of Siamese was limited to only a few breeders at approximately the same time. Wankee, a traditional Siamese cat, was born in Hong Kong in the year 1895, and became the first U.K. Siamese champion in the year 1898.


The late 1900's
In the 1950's and 1960's the Siamese breed became extremely popular all over the world. The breed was suddenly appearing in movies and animations, the most famous movie was "Lady and the Tramp", placing the Siamese on the map.


In the 60's, judges began to favor the modern Siamese with the longer and thinner body, and the traditional Siamese began to lose his popularity. Some people thought that breeding a new type of Siamese was the breeders will to restore the Siamese breed's value, because it became so popular that the kitten's prices dropped. Others said that breeders wanted to develop a breed who will have immunity against some common diseases that  caused cats to die. The breed standards were rewritten,of course, to match the modern Siamese as well.


By the year 1986 the traditional Siamese no longer appeared in show rings, only the modern Siamese, and this caused a confusion among breeders, who thought that the appearance of the Siamese cat had always been like the modern Siamese. As a result, a new association called "Traditional Cat Association" was established in order to prevent the traditional Siamese extinction. Nowadays, the number of organizations that recognize the traditional Siamese cat continues to grow, and the awareness to this type is increasing all over the world.

 

 

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Siames World > History