The Siamese is considered by many to be a "natural" breed - one that developed without the intervention of man. Pictures of seal-point Siamese cats appear in the manuscript "Cat-Book Poems", written in Siam (now Thailand) sometime between 1350 and 1700. There are a great many legends regarding the origin of the breed - especially the crossed eyes and kinked tails. According to some of the legends, the Siamese cat guarded Buddhist temples and was considered sacred - and was only kept by priests and royalty.
The first Siamese cats appeared in the West in the mid-to-late 1800s. Though initially described as "an unnatural, nightmare kind of cat", they quickly became popular with fanciers, even though these early cats were delicate and subject to health problems. These first cats had crossed eyes and kinked tails, characteristics which are now considered faults, and have almost completely disappeared as a result of careful breeding. Photographs from the late 1880s of some of the first cats to be imported from Siam show the thick, round heads and solid, muscular bodies that distinguish the Traditional Siamese from today's show Siamese.
The Traditional Siamese is an intelligent, people-oriented cat which enjoys human companionship - whether it be as a lap warmer or chasing a toy. They are inquisitive and friendly, and like nothing better than to sit in the middle of something you are trying to read. They talk to their people in an affectionate, conversational way.
With their calm temperaments, they are well-adapted to life in either a house or an apartment. They are not in perpetual motion - they have a fairly balanced activity level and are just as happy to chase a toy as to curl up in your lap for a snooze.
The Traditional Siamese (aka Applehead Siamese) is one of the oldest breeds of domestic cats. It preserves the look of the breed much as it existed when originally imported from Siam - a muscular, athletic cat, with round head and brilliant blue eyes and the striking contrast between point and body color which characterizes the breed. They are very calm, affectionate cats, typically healthy and long-lived - 15-20 years is average, and over 20 is not uncommon.
Siamese are affectionate and intelligent cats, renowned for their social nature. They enjoy being with people and are sometimes described as "extroverts". As there are extrovert siamese, there also are very sensitive and nervous temperaments, which are not easily adapted to the changes of environment or to strangers. They are extremely vocal, with a loud, low-pitched voice – known as "Meezer", from which they get one of their nicknames – that has been compared to the cries of a human baby, and persistent in demanding attention. They also have a great need for human companionship. Often they bond strongly to a single person. These cats are typically active and playful, even as adults.
The social orientation of Siamese cats may be related to their lessened ability to live independent of humans. Siamese coat colouration is appealing to humans, but is ineffective for camouflage purposes. They are less active at night than most cats, possibly because their blue eyes lack a tapetum lucidum, a structure which amplifies dim light in the eyes of other cats. Like blue-eyed white cats, they may also have reduced hearing ability, though most are not deaf. Indeed Siamese are known for being an exception to the rule of thumb that white cats with blue eyes are deaf. Regardless, being dependent on humans may have been a survival trait for ancestors of the Siamese
Siamese
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