Editing Siamese cat (section)

====Siamese====
The pointed cat known in the West as "Siamese", recognised for its distinctive markings, is one of several breeds of cats from Siam described and illustrated in manuscripts called "Tamra Maew" (Cat Poems). The "Tamra Maew" is estimated to have been written from the 14th to the 18th century.<ref name="clutterbuck">{{cite book | title = Siamese Cats: Legends and Reality | last=Clutterbuck | first=Martin R. | year=2004 | publisher=White Lotus | location=Bangkok | isbn=978-974-480-053-4}}</ref> In 1878, U.S. President [[Rutherford B. Hayes]] received the first documented Siamese to reach the [[United States]]. The cat, named "Siam," was sent from Bangkok to the American Consul. 
<ref>{{cite web | url = http://www.rbhayes.org/hayes/manunews/paper_trail_display.asp?nid=65&subj=manunews | title = Siam: America's First Siamese Cat | access-date = 13 February 2009 | url-status = dead | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20090505141638/http://www.rbhayes.org/hayes/manunews/paper_trail_display.asp?nid=65&subj=manunews | archive-date = 5 May 2009 }}</ref> In 1884, the British Consul-General in [[Bangkok]], [[Edward Blencowe Gould]] (1847–1916),<ref>{{cite web | url = http://www.siamese.mundikat.nl/subweb/siamese/siamees/roots-e.htm | title = Edward Blencowe Gould or Owen Gould | access-date = 14 August 2006 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20050311113730/http://www.siamese.mundikat.nl/subweb/siamese/siamees/roots-e.htm |archive-date = 11 March 2005}}</ref> brought a breeding pair of the cats, Pho and Mia, back to Britain as a gift for his sister, [[Lilian Jane Gould]] (who, married in 1895 as Lilian Jane Veley,<ref>General Register Office Register of Marriages SEP 1895 5b 217 NEWTON A. Victor Herbert Veley = Lilian Jane Gould</ref> went on to co-found the Siamese Cat Club in 1901). <!-- Several sources give Gould's brother Owen Nutcombe Gould (1857–1929) as the British Consul-General in Bangkok, but Owen was only 27 in 1884 and not known to be in Bangkok. (This is misplaced and uncited.)--> In 1885, Gould's UK cats Pho and Mia produced three Siamese kittens—Duen Ngai, Kalohom, and Khromata—who were shown with their parents that same year at London's [[The Crystal Palace|Crystal Palace]] Show. Their appearance and behaviour attracted attention, but all three of the kittens died soon after the show, their cause of death not documented.<ref name="connor_2005">{{cite book | author = Connor, Janine | year = 2007 | isbn = 978-0-9804291-0-7 | title = I am Siamese - How to raise Siamese cats and kittens | publisher = Focal }}</ref>

By 1886, four Siamese cats were imported to the UK by Eva Forestier Walker (surnamed Vyvyan after 1887 marriage)<ref>General Register Office Register of Marriages MAR 1887 1a 19 PADDINGTON Courtney Bouchier Vyvyan = Eva Catherine F. Walker</ref> and her sister, Ada. These Siamese imports were long, had rounded heads with wedge-shaped muzzles, and large ears.{{citation needed|date=October 2024}} The cats ranged from substantial to slender but were not either extreme.{{citation needed|date=January 2024}} The difference in the pointed coat pattern had not been seen before in cats by Westerners.{{citation needed|date=October 2024}} Over the next several years, fanciers imported a small number of cats, forming the base breeding pool for the entire breed in Britain. It is believed that most Siamese in Britain today are descended from about eleven of these original imports. In Britain, they were called the "Royal Cat of Siam." Some reports say that they had previously been kept only by Siamese royalty.<ref>{{cite book | last= Weir | first=Harrison | title=Our Cats |location=London | year=1889 | isbn= 978-1-84664-097-1}}</ref> Research does not show evidence of any organised royal breeding programme in Siam.<ref name="clutterbuck" /> 

<gallery widths="200" heights="200" mode="packed-hover">
File:1410624986-cats1-o.png|[[Prajadhipok|King Prajadhipok]] following his [[Coronation of the Thai monarch|coronation day]], surrounded by the court ladies carrying his regalia and what is today regarded as a [[Thai cat]], the cat symbolises "domesticity".
File:Wankee side view.jpg|Wankee, born in 1895 in Hong Kong, became the first UK Siamese champion in 1898.
File:Siamese cat 1960.jpg|While this show quality specimen from 1960 still exhibits relatively moderate characteristics, the breed standard was setting the stage for the modern Siamese, with its call for a "dainty, long and svelte" body, a long head that "taper[s] in straight lines from the ears to a narrow muzzle", "ears large and pricked, wide at the base" and tail "long and tapering".
File:PSM V37 D108 Royal cat of siam prize winner.jpg|A classic seal point Siamese prize winner. Note the darker colours at the extremes, e.g. face/ears, tail and legs.
</gallery>

{{Anchor|Traditional Siamese|Modern development}}<!--There are numerous incoming links to this heading name.-->