Gail Jacobson, age 14, of Seattle Wash., for the question:
What kind of cat is the Siamese?
Take four dark brown fur stockings and a thin brown fur tail. Set them on a body of honey colored fur. Add a head with two perky brown ears and a large pair of round eyes of heavenly blue. Finish with a Mardi Gras mask of chocolate brown and a set of stiff white whiskers. If you assembled these items correctly the result should be a Siamese Cat. He will add the proper expression of innocent curiosity for you. The curiosity is quite in character. The innocence is another matter. His admirers say he is a frisky ball of energy and very, very playful.
The Siamese entered the domain of the American house cat in 1885. These first immigrants came from Siam by way of England. Their startling appearance attracted a great deal of interest. People who had never kept cats before decided that these aristocrats might be worthwhile pets.
This was fine, for cats have rarely received the proper respect they deserve. People who understand these things say that civilization might have perished without these furry pets. For cats destroy mice and rats which carry disease and ruin our grain supplies. No one knows the countless number of human lives that cats have saved in the course of history.
Nowadays, people seem to be waking up to the charm and usefulness of the household cat. Cats are becoming fashionable as pets. Andy believes that the handsome aristocrat from Siam helped bring this about. For people soon learned that most of his wonderful qualities are shared by the common household cat we took for granted.
It is said that some of the Siamese cats came from the Kings palace. But not all of them. For this strangely marked feline is quite common in the Orient. Some of our native cats are shy and timid. This is because they do not trust us, often with good reason. A timid Siamese cat is very rare.
This is because he has been respected and well treated for generations. The mothers teach their kittens that people are to be trusted and they are free to pour out their natural affection. Every cat wants to love you if you will only prove that you are kind.
Baby Siamese are born white. Soon a dark tip appears on the nose and paws and a tip on the tail. These so‑called points spread until the logs, tail and face are dark. The body remains blond. Siamese fight, mix and produce kittens with our native cats. But the kittens of mixed parentage are usually black. To look like a Siamese, a cat must have two Siamese parents.
The Siamese has a class to himself in the cat show. He may have light or dark points, blue or mauve eyes. He may even by cross-eyed and have a kink in his tail.