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Breed Profile

Size: Medium
Origin: Thailand
Colour: All Colourpoint Shorthairs have the typical Siamese points pattern, but not in the four traditional Siamese colours (Seal, Chocolate, Blue and Lilac). All other colours are permitted.

Terms used to describe this breed include: Unpredictable, audacious, demanding, inquisitive, active, vocal, jealous, extroverted and arrogant, but also very loving and exceptionally intelligent. Their character was summed up by one owner with the phrase 'they are always on stage'.

Owner's Guide

Domestic Breed: This is essentially a Siamese Cat with newly developed colouring to the points. In some cat societies it is referred to simply as 'New Colour Siamese'. In others, it is grouped separately under its own name.

Appearance: The body has the slender, angular shape of the typical Siamese, with the same close coat, and the same wedge-shaped head with huge ears and blue eyes.

History: For many years, breeders have been experimenting with new colours for the extremities of their Siamese Cats. Extreme traditionalists insist on the original seal-point (a pale fawn coat with seal-brown extremities) and nothing else. Less extreme traditionalists accept both the seal-point and the chocolate-point. Others also allow the two dilutants, blue and lilac. Any further colours are frowned upon and placed outside the strict 'Siamese' category, hence the introduction of the name 'Colourpoint Shorthair' for these other variants.

For non-traditionalists, they are all Siamese, regardless of the colour of their points, because they have the same body shape and personality and are truly Siamese in all but colour. The argument against this is that, in order to introduce these new colours, it was necessary to cross the Siamese foundation stock with other breeds, and this, therefore, makes them 'non-Siamese' to the purist.

The first seriously planned attempts to create new Siamese colours began in England in the 1940s, just after World War II. In 1947 and 1948, red tabby cats and Abyssinians were mated with traditional Siamese. When the offspring of these matings were back-crossed to Siamese, the results were, as predicted, red, cream and tortie points. Some individuals were solid or full-coloured and these, too, were developed as a new breed: the Oriental Shorthair.

In the 1960s there was another special breeding programme to add further colours to the points, this time concentrating on 'tabby points'.(Tabby = Lynx in America)

Perhaps surprisingly, it is certain American cat societies that have adopted the more traditional stance and refused to allowed these new colour types to be called 'Siamese', while the British officials lump them all together in one class. Although breeding logic seems to be on the side of the Americans, an awkward fact has come to light that tends to support the British approach. Studying the feline population of Thailand recently, feline scholar Roger Tabor unexpectedly 'found tabby and tortie point Siamese among Thai temple cats.' Clearly, with true, home-bred Siamese, 'purity' is a matter of degree.

Personality: Terms used to describe this breed include: Unpredictable, audacious, demanding, inquisitive, active, vocal, jealous, extroverted and arrogant, but also very loving and exceptionally intelligent. Their character was summed up by one owner with the phrase 'they are always on stage'.

Colour forms: All Colourpoint Shorthairs have the typical Siamese points pattern, but not in the four traditional Siamese colours (Seal, Chocolate, Blue and Lilac). All other colours are permitted, and those already listed by the Cat Fanciers Association in America are:

CFA: Red Point; Cream Point; Seal-Lynx(Tabby) Point; Chocolate Lynx (Tabby) Point; Blue-Lynx(Tabby) Point; Lilac-Lynx(Tabby) Point; Red-Lynx(Tabby) Point; Cream-Lynx(Tabby) Point; Seal-Tortie Point; Chocolate-Tortie Point; Blue-Cream Point; Lilac-Cream Point; Seal-Tortie-Lynx(Tabby) Point; Chocolate-Tortie-Lynx(Tabby) Point; Blue-Cream-Lynx(Tabby) Point; Lilac-Cream-Lynx(Tabby) Point.

Breed Club:

Colourpoint, Rex-coated and AOV Club. Address: 17 Rackenford, Shoeburyness, Essex, SS3 8BE, England.