THE BOOK OF THE CAT. 



they have established a breed of their own, and 

 reproduced the cat that fanciers know to-day 

 as the royal cat of Siam. This should explain 

 a point which has given rise to much contro- 

 versy, as travellers agree that other cats than 

 royal Siamese are to be found inside the palace, 

 yet the King and Prince Damurong have given 

 from time to time royal Siamese to friends, 

 naturally choosing for a present the cat that 

 has the most value in their eyes. That is to 

 say, that the term ' royal Siamese ' or ' royal 

 cat of Siam ' is a descriptive term applied to a 

 particular variety of cat, and should imply no 

 more than this. We have a parallel case in 

 ' King Charles spaniels.' The temple cat is 

 under the care of the Jan priests, who have 

 the greatest reverence for animal life, and 

 whose temple is a sanctuary for all animals. 



'' Those who have kept Siamese will readily 

 understand that, given a climate to suit them, 

 only one breed of cat would be left in the 

 temple i.e. the Siamese, for this breed is dis- 

 tinguished as much by its pluck and activity 

 as by hatred for any other breed of cat. The 

 common cat of Siam is very much the same as 

 anywhere else, except that the Malay kink in 

 the tail is to be found in many of them. Until 

 recently the Siamese was but little known in 

 Europe, but occasionally was to be found in 

 the various zoological gardens. At present 

 there is a fine female specimen to be seen 

 at the Zoo at Frankfort-on-the-Main, having 

 been purchased from the King of Roumania. 

 One or two are to be seen at Berlin, and we 

 understand some are to be seen at the Hague. 

 London has the first one it has had for six 

 years, but it is not shown owing to its want of 

 condition. 



" A point on which the Siamese fancy is 

 divided is whether the ideal cat should have 

 a kink in the tail or not. The Club remains 

 neutral. ' Champion Wankee ' has a decided 

 kink, looking, in fact, as though the tail had 

 been caught in a door in his early youth. 

 ' Tiam-o-Shian IV.,' on the contrary, has none. 

 This kink is a peculiarity of the animals of the 

 Malay Peninsula, and sometimes is so marked, 

 as to make the tail appear like a corkscrew, 



though others of the same litter may have quite 

 straight tails. There is a peculiarity in breed- 

 ing Siamese i.e. the rarity of female kittens 

 in a litter, the average seeming to be five males 

 to two females. This may be due to the 

 artificial lives so often led by these cats ; and, 

 if so, corroborates the theory of Herr Schenk, 

 the Austrian doctor, of the probabilities of 

 sex at birth. Three of the most noted male 

 cats exhibited in England have been Mrs. 

 Robinson's 'Champion Wankee,' Mrs. Vyvyan's 

 ' Tiam-o-Shian IV.,' and Mrs. Parker Brough's 

 ' Koschka.' Probably Mrs. Backhouse's 

 ' Champion Eve ' and Mrs. Vyvyan's ' Poly- 

 phema ' were the best females exhibited. 

 ' Koschka ' was, perhaps, the finest cat we 

 ever saw, having eyes of the most glorious blue 

 imaginable. ' Koschka ' died after the West- 

 minster show of 1900. Owners run a great 

 risk in sending their Siamese (especially kittens) 

 to shows, as in addition to being more liable to 

 take cold, are apt to fret themselves ill at being 

 separated from their mistresses. Many fanciers 

 are leaving off showing Siamese for that reason 

 for instance, the Siamese classes were can- 

 celled at the Westminster show of 1903 owing 

 to lack of entries. 



" It is hard to say how they should be kept 

 and how they should be fed. Some Siamese 

 thrive by being treated just the same as 

 ordinary cats, but they are few and far between. 

 We have known cats which have been allowed 

 to run about in the snow, and in and out of 

 draughts, and remain perfectly healthy ; and 

 others, who seem quite strong as long as they 

 are taken care of, catch cold and die if they 

 get their feet wet. However, if their cattery 

 is kept constantly at a temperature of 50 

 degrees, and they are fed on scraped beef, milk 

 (without boracic acid or preservative), water, 

 and vegetables they seem to do better than 

 under any other conditions. Personally, we 

 have two catteries indoor and outdoor. The 

 indoor one is fitted up with ' foster-mothers,' 

 as used for chickens, on legs about three feet 

 from the ground. We find this very necessary 

 owing to the draughts on the floor. The rooms 

 can be quickly warmed to any temperature 



