What is a “Thai” cat?
The type of cats that are referred to as the “old-style Siamese” in the UK are called and have been registered as “Thai” in Europe by the WCF (World Cat Federation) since 1990. This gives us Europeans the great privilege to show our cats at cat shows, earn different championship titles and show interested visitors that their beloved “old-style Siamese” have not vanished and will never be fully replaced by the “modern show style Siamese”. It is not uncommon that visitors and cat show judges that get to see our cats have tears in their eyes telling us they used to have a cat exactly looking like ours years ago and that they are thankful that there are still breeders that try to preserve the old look of the breed.
References:
- World Cat Federation: http://www.wcf-online.de/
- WCF standard of points “Thai”: WCF_THAI_ENG_100101.pdf
In 2007 TICA (The International Cat Association) also recognized the “Thai” with a very detailed standard of points (I love this standard of points!) describing the “TICA Thai” as the “old-style Siamese”, the native cat of Thailand. A lot of breeders who aimed to get this standard of points of the “Thai” recognized in TICA had consulted and visited the old catteries in Thailand finding Wichienmaat cats that exactly looked like the “old-style Siamese” who had been bred for over a century in the West. Amazing isn’t it? This standard of points is the result of hard work and a global cooperation of breeders who love to preserve the look of the “old-style” Siamese with all their heart.
References:
- The International Cat Association: http://www.tica.org/
- TICA standard of points “Thai”: TICA_THAI_ENG_100501.pdf
- TICA “Thai” breed overview: http://www.tica.org/public/breeds/th/intro.php
- Prestwick-Beresford Old-Style Siamese Breed Preservation Society: PREOSSIA
- Sarsenstone Cattery: http://www.siamesekittens.info/
- old-style Siamese History with a lot of pictures and book references for further breed and type studies by Dr. Cristy Bird: http://www.siamesekittens.info/siamhx.html
- Thai (old-style Siamese) breed seminar (excerpt) presented by TICA Thai breed chair Dr. Cristy Bird, September 5, 2010 at the TICA Annual in Santa Clara, California:
“The blue point Thai cat in the video is 16 month old Quadruple Grand Champion Alter DiaBrillante Uncle Sam. Sorry it is not easier to hear due to the announcer on the PA calling cats to the judging rings.”
- TICA Thai cat Sebastian at TICA show in Cherry Hill NJ 1/28/2012:
- Alicats Thai (old-style Siamese) Kittens playing at a TICA cat show:
What about the “Thai” cat in GCCF?
Unfortunately in 2002 the GCCF (Governing Council of the Cat Fancy) allowed Korat breeders to use the name “Thai” for their pointed cats even though it had already been used by the WCF for the “old-style Siamese” in Europe since 1990. In my opinion allowing the Korat breeders to use a name that had already been taken for 12 years by another cat breed was really contrary to the spirit of the World Cat Congress and leads to a lot of confusion and misunderstanding between breeders and cat fanciers.
The cats that are referred to as “Thai cats” by the GCCF are blue pointed and lilac coloured cats that are produced out of a Korat x Korat mating and have _NOTHING_ to do with the cats that are called “Thai” by WCF and TICA.
References:
- Governing Council of the Cat Fancy: http://www.gccfcats.org/
- Governing Council of the Cat Fancy registration policy for “Korat” and “Thai cats”: http://www.gccfcats.org/regpols/koratregpol.pdf
- The Korat & Thai Cat Association affiliated to the GCCF: http://www.korats.org.uk/
What about crosses with other breeds?
It is often said that there are so called Thai cat breeders outcrossing with British Shorthairs, American Shorthairs, European Shorthairs or cats with unknown heritage to get the moderate look – I wish I could say that there are no breeders like that but unfortunately I can’t. People that are interested in buying a “Thai cat” need to be careful where to get a kitten and should check the pedigrees and the looks of the cats in the cattery. For example fluffy fur (the “undercoat”), a nose with a clear visible stop and a non Siamese temperament are often an indication of a forbidden outcross.
The WCF and TICA _only_ allow so called outcrosses with “Siamese” because at the end of the day the “Thai” is a Siamese cat.
All the cat and kitten pedigrees at Daisuki Thai can be traced back to the first “Siamese” which were imported into the UK in 1884. We are able to look back on a variety of successful and precious original UK “Siamese” bloodlines and are very proud of this fact. For example, you’ll find such famous UK ancestors like “Prestwick”, “Lintama”, “Sibir” and “Hancas” in a row with a lot of old famous German bloodlines such as “of old Royal Siam”, “von der Falkenhöhe”, “Sky Eyes” and “von der Birke” just to name a FEW.
The future of the “Thai” cat?
We and many other breeders have been attending a lot of cat shows in the past couple of years to show our cats to a wide range of visitors and judges, handing out the standard of points and a variety of old pictures to sensitize them for the TICA “Thai” standard of points and what a true old-style “Siamese” should look like. It is our heart’s desire to promote this old breed with the new name amongst cat fanciers and to end the confusion and misunderstandings between “TICA Thai” and “old-style Siamese” breeders.
It is with great joy and pride that I see that nowadays more and more GCCF (old-style) “Siamese” breeders in the UK and CFA (old-style) “Siamese” breeders in the US are starting to dual register and show cats in TICA as “Thai”. It looks like finally the mountain of year long confusion and misunderstandings is starting to crumble.