272 



THE BOOK OF THE CAT. 



I would, however, draw attention to a curious 

 and rather remarkable fact in connection with 

 Siamese cats. 



When they are ill, a sprinkling of white hairs 

 invariably appears all over the face and head. 

 The bright blue of the eye vanishes, leaving it 

 a sort of pale opal colour. It often takes 

 many weeks before the cat regains its ordinary 

 appearance. Harrison Weir, in his allusions 

 to Siamese, tells us that he had observed a 

 great liking of these cats for " the woods," 

 and goes on to describe them as not passing 

 along like an ordinary cat, but quickly and 

 quietly creeping from bush to bush ; nor do 

 they seem afraid of getting their feet wet 

 like the feline tribe in general. The male 

 Siamese will take a most friendly and parental 

 interest in the welfare of madame's family ; 

 indeed, he shows a great liking always to have 

 the company of a lady, and frets greatly when 

 left alone. 



The males are, however, antagonistic to 

 others 'of their sex, and fight with a terrible 

 persistency. I have heard of a stalwart fellow 

 who, being allowed his liberty, cleared the neigh- 

 bourhood of all other wandering toms. When 

 made neuter, Siamese become most charming 

 home pets, and can be taught to do tricks 

 more easily than other cats. The sole objec- 



tion to a Siamese house cat is the trying 

 nature of its unmelodious voice. Siamese are 

 rather prolific breeders, the litters being gener- 

 ally large ones, and the females, as a rule, in 

 the minority. 



I do not believe that Siamese will ever be- 

 come common in England, for many reasons. 

 These cats are expensive to purchase, difficult 

 to rear, and fanciers are afraid to risk them 

 in the show pen ; but in spite of these draw- 

 backs, I think, as time goes on, and the Siamese 

 Club extends its labours, we shall see and hear 

 more of these really curious creatures, for what 

 we call the royal Siamese bears no resemblance 

 to any other cat, and the distinguishing 

 differences, being so great, tend to make the 

 breed one of our best show cats and a clear 

 class to itself, for the Siamese of the purest 

 blood should not be crossed with other cats. 

 We have heard of " any other colour " Siamese, 

 but these cats of varied hue claiming to be 

 Siamese are but the offspring of a cross. We 

 have been told of black and blue and tabby 

 Siamese ; but the fanciers of Siamese look 

 askance at these freaks, and feel that it is 

 worse than useless to attempt to produce 

 any other variety than that which we have 

 learned by custom to designate the Royal 

 cat of Siam. 



