The Cat in Ancient Egypt

Tour Egypt ^ | FR Posts 1-30-2003 (April 1st, 2001) | By Ilene Springer

[Lady Jag]

Considering the circumstances, I don't know much about Siamese cats. Sam showed up almost five years ago and is tiny but deceptively heavy and very active. Everybody loves her and she loves them. I've had a lot of cats and have four now and they're all amazing, but Sam is out of sight.

[Lady Jag]

You nailed it, that's Sam. Momentarily I wondered how she could eat so much, then I saw her skid marks on the walls! She's a lot like a dog, too. She'll eat almost anything if she can get at it, and she loves to retrieve.

[Lady Jag]

I searched the web and saw very few Siamese cats like her. I learned about apple heads and wedge heads, but found enough variations to get me good and confused.

[Rome2000]

Thanks for the info.

We have had plenty of tabbies, calicos, tuxedos, etc, but have never had Siamese, they are definitely a breed apart!

[AnAmericanMother]

That cat is not an extreme type Siamese - looks more British type than American. (Are you SURE he's not a boy?)

One thing a lot of American breeders have done is exaggerate the top line of the skull and the length of the muzzle (and the relative size of the ears) as well as the body thinness and length, until you have almost a caricature of a Siamese. (I think that's one of the reasons a lot of folks have gone heavily into the old "apple head" type Siamese, in reaction.) I don't like the old type, but I always bred what I called a moderate and not "extreme" type cat. I did have a nice British strain in my line, through Marge Naples's DiNapoli cattery up in the Northeast, so the cats all have a nice top line and good heads without being extreme. I probably could never have showed a cat to Grand, given the type I was breeding, but I did have a lovely Champion BP male (God rest his soul, he's sleeping under a rhododendron bush in our front yard.)

Another deceptive thing about the "extreme" type Siamese is that they tend to put on a little more weight at 4-5 years of age and settle down just a trifle. The ones you see are always the young show cats - most folks will start campaigning a fine quality cat in the Kitten classes at 7-9 months, then move up to the Championship rings as soon as allowed. If you keep a busy show schedule, the cat will make Champion within the first year and point out to Grand within the next year or so (assuming the cat has the quality to go Grand). By the time the cat is 2 or 3, he or she is retired to breeding, so you never see the older cats in the ring. My older cats look more like cats and less like monkeys!

[geege]

Oh my putty does the same thing.....and he's 18lbs.....

[BluH2o]

... their status rose to that of the sacred animals and then on to the most esteemed (Egyptian) deities like no other creature before them.

Of course their decendents (we have two) have never forgotten this ... and remind us daily.

[Lady Jag]

Thank you for the information! Where is diNapoli cattery? Sam is about 5 now and I still wonder where she came from. The animal control officer got her brother, someone turned him in, and he, not finding the owners, kept him.

I attended a cat show only once. That is a whole other world, isn't it?

[AnAmericanMother]

I'm showing my age. Marge Naples the last I knew lives outside of Boston IIRC. She may still be actively breeding and showing, but she wrote most of her books in the 60s and 70s (which coincidentally was when I was active on the show circuit). I met her in '78 or '9 at a show, and I corresponded with her for awhile, but I'm ashamed to say I have no idea where she is now. I note from the internet that she received a Cat Fanciers' Association Lifetime award in 1999 (which she richly deserved!)

My Champion BP Male was a great-grandchild of her lovely Gr. Ch. DiNapoli Serenade In Blue. She has forgotten more about Siamese than I ever knew, and she's written several delightful books. The books are a trifle dated now, especially the photos, but she knows her cats inside and out. I can highly recommend her "This Is the Siamese Cat" for lots of helpful info about 'measle idiosyncrasies.

[Lady Jag]

I have to go out for a few hours. Bumping so I can get back to you.

[HetLoo]

AnAmericanMother, what's your cattery? Do you show CFA or TICA?

I agree "she" - Sam - certainly appears to have male enhancements, I thought she was a boy too, but, she looks for all the world like a Blue point, with albeit a lovely clear coat. You rarely see points that well matched and dark in a choccy. Could be the photo coloring deceiving me though.

I think her ears look nice and big, it is difficult to judge size in a profile pic but her profile looks straight as a die.

sciencediet, much as I'd like to know who bred her, I wouldn't suggest you go looking to hard, if I was the breeder I'd still be searching for that pretty cat. btw, is she a chocolate? or a blue?

[AnAmericanMother]

My cattery is Hy-Brasil, from before the "4 grands rule" so it may well still be on file with C.F.A. . . . but I haven't showed a cat since my kids were born back in the 80s. I showed almost all C.F.A. -- TICA was just getting started, and a good cat show friend of mine, Hatcher Granville of Rich-Hat Cattery (now sadly deceased - her very nice BP male, Tr. Ch. Sonnenhof's Apache of Barba, sired my Champion), was very big into TICA but I don't think we went to more than 2 or 3 TICA shows. Showed mostly in the SE - Atlanta area, as far west as B'ham and Montgomery, east to Greenville/S'burg, and as far north as Johnson City TN once for a big 8 ring All Breed show. (That was where my boy Hy-Brasil Cormac made his Championship, Walter Friend gave him his final winners ribbon. He was a BIG boy - twice the size of anything else in the ring but very correct in conformation. He did go BOX in one ring behind a very pretty Seal Point lady . . . bless their hearts, the judges didn't know what to do with a Siamese Moose!)

I thought about Blue Point for that little boy (I SWEAR it's a boy!) but the points on the legs are low for a BP, and with every BP I've ever had the mask joined the ear points by the time they were 8 months old, and he looks older than that from his shoulder and hip development. The body color also looks too light for a BP. So I would say this is a Choc with Grand potential . . .

sciencediet, I would not let anybody know you have that cat. The more I look at him (or her) the better he (or she) looks!

[Lady Jag]

I just ordered a copy of This is the Siamese Cat because you said it explains some of their idiosyncracies and, compared to my other cats, Sam has a few.

She is definitely a girl and always has been. I never noticed that about the photo! All I can say is it must be a play of light. My husband took the photo a couple years ago and didn't notice, either. You are making me want to retouch it.

[Lady Jag]

See my post above about Sam "don't call me Samantha", the tomboy girl. LOL!

Here's a photo from my lousy digital about a month after she showed up. She took to 22 year-old Minka (a combo Tonk & black cat).

Sam is a chocolate point according to the vet.

You don't think I should look for the breeder? Sam has been here five years and was fixed a very long time ago.

When she was found, we contacted every authority, animal control, the local pet shops and put posters up on telephone poles all over the place. And no one ever claimed her. Where she was found is about a half mile from an old Interstate, so maybe there was an accident. But I don't think any cattery would be unhappy to discover that the lost kitten is alive and happy. Do you?

[Lady Jag]

I would like to know where she came from just in case I ever have an opening for another as wonderful as her. I know nearly nothing about Siamese except for my experience with Sam the past five years, but she amazes me and her looks are stunning. She is starting to get dark on the sides but she stayed nicely pointed for a long time.

Most of all, her personality is amazing. She charms everyone she meets and many people have jokingly (I hope) threatened to kidnap her.

Do you (or anybody) have any idea how much a kitten like that would cost with papers?

[Darksheare]

Kinda hard NOT to stare at my 24 pound cat as she's trying to jump at me.
She's quite a trip...
As long as she's not landing on me.

[HetLoo]

Yup, that picture makes it clear :) definitely a chocolate!

*I* would be thrilled to know a cat I had lost for 5 years was safe and happy, but you can never tell, some breeders might still want her back. What state are you in? My guess is she was sold to someone who dumped her. I just can't imagine any breeder letting that nice of a cat - gorgeous points for a choccy, I thought she was a blue primarily because you don't see chocs with points like that often - get lost.

If you want another like her, I would suggest finding out what breeders are in your area and start looking for who has cats that look like her. From the look of her it would be someone who specializes in chocolates.

[HetLoo]

Oh, a kitten like that with papers would be cheap at $350, if sold as a pet typical range is 350 - 500. If sold for showing then your looking 700 - 1000. Also, it depends on what part of the country your in. Midwest/South are cheaper, the coasts are ridiculously high.

[Lady Jag]

The vet said the same as you, that she was gorgeous. He also said chocolate points are rare - is that true?

Why do you think they might want her back if I ever found the cattery? She's spayed and has been with me so long that we are so bonded I feel like a Siamese twin.

She showed up when I was home from a major operation and bedridden for a month. She was about 12-16 weeks old and her hair was so thin you could see her skin. She spent the month in bed with me and policed the visiting nurses, examining everything they brought and making sure they did no harm.

We had her at least a month before I was able to get her to the vet when he guessed her age.

I have seen sealpoints who get very dark, nearly losing their points, but she has stayed pretty white and if you look closely, her ear points at 5 yo are not quite touching (something you or another mentioned here).

Thank you for all your information. This is fascinating and proves I no little about the breed.

[Lady Jag]

I'm in Mass.