The Siamese is one of the first distinctly recognised breeds of Oriental cat. The exact origins of the breed are unknown, but it is believed to be from Southeast Asia, and is said to be descended from the sacred temple cats of Siam (now Thailand). In Thailand, where they are one of several native breeds, they are called Wichien-maat (วิเชียรมาศ, a name meaning "Moon diamond"). In the twentieth century the Siamese cat became one of the most popula...
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The Siamese is one of the first distinctly recognised breeds of Oriental cat. The exact origins of the breed are unknown, but it is believed to be from Southeast Asia, and is said to be descended from the sacred temple cats of Siam (now Thailand). In Thailand, where they are one of several native breeds, they are called Wichien-maat (วิเชียรมาศ, a name meaning "Moon diamond"). In the twentieth century the Siamese cat became one of the most popular breeds in Europe and North America.
The pointed cat known in the West as "Siamese" is one of several breeds of cats from Siam described and illustrated in manuscripts called "Tamra Maew" (Cat Poems), estimated to have been written in the 1700s.
It is often said that the breed was first seen outside their Asian home in 1884, when the British Consul-General in Bangkok, Edward Blencowe Gould (1847-1916), brought a breeding pair of the cats, Pho and Mia, back to Britain as a gift for his sister, Lilian Jane Veley (Veley went on to co-found the...
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