Is my cat a Siamese?

[hala beirouty]

Hey there everybody!

2 months ago I adopted the loveliest cat from an animal shelter. Her name is Olive and she is absolutely wonderful. Of course it's not so important for me to know what breed she is exactly but I'm just curious. Her base color is an off-white, with a very slight beige/flame shade over her back, tail, face area and ears. She doesn't have any point-coloring on any of her paws though. She also has the most beautiful cat eyes I've ever seen; neither blue nor green, but more like a very light turquoise color. 

Here are some photos of her

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• hala beirouty
• Apr 3, 2013

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• hala beirouty
• Apr 3, 2013

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• hala beirouty
• Apr 3, 2013

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• hala beirouty
• Apr 3, 2013

2013-03-21 14.16.24.jpg

• hala beirouty
• Apr 3, 2013

I'm a huge cat lover so I pride myself as knowing a lot about cats, but I had to do some looking to find a similar looking breed. My conclusion is that the closest breed she looks like is a flame point Siamese.

I'd love to see what any of you think of my Olive!

 

[di and bob]

I'm sure you'll hear from all the breeders that she is a "domestic short hair' with coloring similar to a flamepoint. I have a cat "Casper" who looks a LOT like a flamepoint, same color eyes as yours, but his eyes are slightly crossed and he has the extremely long face and big ears like the siamese! EVERYONE thinks he is a Siamese, but I had his mama and she was just a normal cat, but did have the unusual eye color. He has the points and thin lanky build too. But you know what, we would love them no matter what they are, it's just a name!

 

[hala beirouty]

Oh wow, a Siamese cat that isn't actually Siamese?! just goes to show that genetics and nature are unpredictable in many ways. Thanks for the reply! And you're right, no matter what breed they are or aren't, we love them anyway!

 

[callista]

LOL, yeah, it can get pretty confusing! Cats like yours, with darker head, paws, and tail, are often called "Siamese" casually even though the pattern and the breed are different things.

To keep things straight, the official term for the "Siamese" cat pattern is pointed, which makes things a good deal less confusing because of course other cats, such as the Himalayan, Ragdoll, and other breeds, as well as a good many domestic cats like yours, also have the pointed pattern without being Siamese. Pointed cats can have any cat color in their points, including black, red, cream, blue (gray), tabby, and even tortoiseshell. On top of that they can have the "white spotting" pattern which gives them white paws and maybe a white tail, just like any other bicolor cat except that the sections that would be solid-colored are pointed instead.

Your particular kitty... hmm. Cream point, I think. That is what happens when the pointed pattern gets added to the cream colored cat which is the lighter (dilute) form of an orange cat. An interesting combination, because not only do you need the points, but also the dilute gene and the red female (about three-fourths of red cats are boys)... Unique coloring, anyhow; rather rare.

Some time long ago--maybe two or three generations, maybe fifty--a Siamese cat did probably pass its genes to your kitty. The pointed pattern did come from the Siamese cats, but it has been spread around so much since then that many other breeds and many non-purebred cats also have it. Maybe someone in the '50s let their Siamese cat out to roam, and your cat's great-great-whatever-grandparents got the pointed pattern from that. Or maybe the Siamese cat in your cat's bloodline passed its pointed pattern to another breed that allows pointed patterns, and then one of those cats had an oops litter with a neighborhood cat, and then generations later one of their descendants met another cat with the same gene, and the pointed pattern popped back up to give points to your pretty girl. Who knows? Cats are mysterious, neh?

 

[orientalslave]

Agree cream-point.

 

[sivyaleah]

I just wanted to say she's a beauty.  And I love the photo of her in the box because cats in boxes go together like milk and cookies 

 

[StefanZ]

Some time long ago--maybe two or three generations, maybe fifty--a Siamese cat did probably pass its genes to your kitty.

Yes, or rather, TWO siamese cats...  The point gene is recessive, and can thus wander down the river of life unnoticed in many generations, the carriers looks whatever. They may be moggies, they may be pure bred Russian blues, you understand the picture. 

And then one beautiful day, two whatever carriers meets and mate, and  one or two kittens in their litter are pointed...  The point gene, doubled up in one individ, becomes very strong and gives the almost entirely the outer appareance of the cat.

The cat gets quite often the look alike of siamese old type.

So do happens now and then with Russians Blue.  The whole family, granddads, grandmas, uncles, aunts, nieces, ma, dad, siblings - are all  silvery blue.  (Just big bro is a tabby, because he was a "moggie" adopted from a shelter).  But one or two kittens in the litter are - pointed and old type siamese look alikes...  

So, your boy is pointed, you can prob compare him somewhat with an old type siamese, although he is a little heavy for it. (may it be "excellent appetite"?   as one judge wrote about one russian blue female I know!     ).

But you must count him as a domestic, or moggie or roof cat as they say in Poland...  

Be happy you not only got a good friend, but also a beautiful friend as extras.  

Good luck!

 

[bluebird gal]

I'm new here & don't have anything relevant to say about her genetics .. (I'm learning & thrilled to be getting far further an education that I could have hoped for here)  ..

but I did want to say that Olive is a beauty & thank you for rescuing. 

 

[maewkaew]

Callista explained it well and Stefan added the part that this pattern has to be inherited from both parents in order to show it. If a cat gets just one copy they are not pointed but could pass it to a kitten,
and I agree Olive is a cream point, which is the palest, most subtle color of pointed cat coat patterns. and she's a lovely cat. Sometimes in pale blue eyes, they can get this interesting slight almost aqua tone to the blue. It's not caused by the mink pattern that is associated with aqua eyes( which is what happens when you combine one pointed gene + one sepia gene -- you get something in between). But she's not a cream mink or her body would not be THIS light.

If she is still young, especially if she might be under a year, it's possible she might still get a very subtle point color on the paws. The front paws are often the slowest to darken. Oh I also agree she does look a bit heavier boned and a bit cobbier-bodied than the typical authentic old type of Siamese. and her coat's more plush. Very pretty girl. I'm glad she has a loving home now.

 

[hala beirouty]

I just wanted to say she's a beauty.  And I love the photo of her in the box because cats in boxes go together like milk and cookies 

She LOVES that box, it's like her mini fortress 

And thanks all for your responses and the nice words, I definitely enjoyed reading them - I knew she was special the second I saw her at the shelter, so reading that she also has a unique and rare coloring goes well with her She's got the softest coat ever, and loves waking me up in the morning purring as loud as she can with her face right next to mine, sometimes even sitting on my back and giving me a paw massage 

 

[orientalslave]

Yes, or rather, TWO siamese cats...  <snip>

One will do just fine.  Once it's descendants start mating with each other colourpoints will be born from time to time.

 

[manizheh]

I think your cat is very beutifull. In my opinion she looks like a burmese

 

[manizheh]

great photos

 

[orientalslave]

I think your cat is very beutifull. In my opinion she looks like a burmese

Unfortunately there are no Burmese of that colour.  Not sure if the type (shape) is like a US Burmese, the Burmese we have here are slightly different and the cat doesn't look like our Burmese.

 

[hala beirouty]

Thanks Manizheh! And yeah she does kind of have a similar body and face shape of a Burmese, so she may have a small percentage of Burmese genes, but of course I can't know for sure

 

[jazzthyme]

We purchased a burmilla at 12 weeks of age. He looked exactly like this, eyes and all. As time progressed the markings became darker and more definitive. A burmilla has a gorgeous soft nature and is double furred...both long and short fur but not the length of the fur as in a long-haired cat. He has been a wonderful 'dad' to all other cats we have owned in the last 13 years. He does shed a lot of fur though. Meantime the bird population has been quite safe as he has neither interest nor speed!

 

[abisiobhan]

We have 4 meezers and she is a lovely beautiful cat but not Siamese. No blue eyes for one thing and all meezers have colour points. She could have Siamese or Birman or Tonkinese in her ancestry. Enjoy her. She does look delightful!