The Siamese Patterns
There is an unusual aspect of the Siamese pattern called thermo-sensitive, which means the density of the color is affected by the ambient temperature that cats lives in. The effect of this genetic mutation that creates the Siamese pattern is that it does not allow pigment to form on the body as it does at the extremeties (the face, ears, legs, and tail). Each of these is just slightly cooler than is the rest of the body.
When a Siamese kitten is born, it is retained in a very warm environment close to its mother. As a result, the Siamese pattern is not evident but begins to show itself after a few days. A second factor called gene modifiers, which can be selected by the breeder, is also involved because some cats have a more dense pigment to start with. Yet another factor that may alter the perceived shade of the pigment is that of direct sunlight, which will of course bleach any color.
The Siamese Colors
EYES In all instances, the breed must have blue eyes. The terms used to describe these include: clear, brilliant, deep blue, clear-vivid blue, bright-intense blue, and deep-vivid blue. The actual creation of the blue in a cat's eyes is the result of what is known as Tyndall's phenomenon. The eye acts as a prism in splitting up the light waves and reflecting white light.. No yellow-brown pigment is formed in the pupil of the Siamese. A thin layer of black melanin absorbs all long light waves, but the shorter ones, which are blue, are relected back.
BODY The body should be the specified color that shades, if at all, imperceptibly into a lighter color on the belly. There is a considerable range of body colors seen in the breed. In some instances, the desired color is as it should be—even and with no shading. In other examples, there is obvious shading seen, sometimes on the back, and in others more on the rear end of the cat than on the front part.
POINTS Masks, ears, legs, feet, and tail should all exhibit the required color. This should match on all points and should show clear contrast between the points and the body color. There should also be areas of lighter color on the forehead, rather than a complete hood of the points colors. The facial points should connect to the ears by what are termed tracings, which are variable amounts of the points color, and the mask should not extend onto the neck.
The following colors are breif descriptions based on the standards of the governing council of the Cat Fancy (GCCF) in Great Britain and of the Cat Fanciers Association (CFA) of the USA.
- Seal Point
Body: pale fawn to cream. Points: dense seal brown. Nose leathers & paw pads: seal brwon.
- Chocolate Point
Body: ivory all over. Points: milk chocolate. Nose leathers & paw pads: chocolate or pinkish, chocolate (GCCF), cinnamon pink (CFA)
- Blue Point
Body: glacial white (GCCF), bluish white (CFA). Points: light blue (GCCF), deep blue (CFA). Nose leathers & paw pads: blue (GCCF), slate blue (CFA).
- Lilac (Frost) Point
Body: off white (magnolia) (GCCF), glacial white (CFA). Points: pinkish grey (GCCF), frosty gay with a pinkish toe (CFA). Nose leathers & paw pads: pinkish/faded gray (GCCF), lavender pink (CFA).
The following colors are accepted as Siamese in the UK and most bodies in the USA, but are called Colorpoint Shorthairs in the CFA.
- Red Point
Body: white shading to apricot. Points: bright reddish gold (GCCF), bright apricot to deep red (CFA). Nose leathers & paw pads: pink.
- Cream Point
Body: white shading to pale cream. Points: cream barring & striping on mask, legs and tail permissible (GCCF) but undesirable (CFA). Nose leathers & paw pads: pink.
- Tabby (Lynx) Point
Body: should be as free as possible from shading and markings, especially on the back of the head and the neck. However, some shading is to be expected, especially in the seal color. Such shading will usually be in the form of ghost striping. The applicable color should conform to that already described for the Siamese. Points: will be clearly defined stripes on the mask, especially around the eyes and nose. The whisker pads are spotted, and there are distinct marks on the cheeks. There should be no stripes on the ears—only a "thumbmark." The legs should feature clearly defined broked stripes that show good contrast with the paler background color. The tail should feature many variably sized rings, terminating in a solid color tip. A tail with insufficient rings is regarded as a fault in this variety. Nose leathers & paw pads: should match the color of the points, be a mixture of the color and pink. The ligher the color of the points the more pinkish will be the nose leather and pads. The eyelids should tone nicely with the color of the points. Colors: may be seen in any of the recognised Siamese colors (for example, Seal Tabby Point, Blue Tabby Point, red Tabby Point, and so on).
- Tortie Point
Body: is as for the Tabby (lynx) Point, but it may become mottled in older cats. Points: the ears are mottled or patched, as are the nose leather and paw pads. The tail is as for the Tabby Point, but if it is mottled this is permissible. Colors: a patchwork of red and cream as follows: Tortie Tabby Point - points patched with red and/or cream over the tabby pattern. The patching of the colors is immaterial because the breeder cannot control the placing of this by selective breeding. This means the red and cream are random in nature. Seal Torie Point - points are variably patched with red on the seal background. Large ares of red may exhibit some striping. Presence or absence of a blaze is unimportant in the UK, but is desirable in the USA (CFA). Chocolate Tortie Point - points patched with red and/or cream on milk chocolate ground. Blue Tortie Point - (called Blue Cream Point by CFA) - points patched with cream on blue background. Lilac Tortie Point )Lilac-Cream Point CFA) - points patched with cream. Nose leathers & paw pads:
As the tortoiseshell color is derived via sex linked genes, all torties are females.
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