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Pet Food Recalls |
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ORIGIN The Siamese breed is a VERY "mystical" and friendly cat. According to what I have read, they were first brought to England from Siam, the former name for present day Thailand, in the mid 1800s. They say the first Siamese felines were exhibited at one of the very first cat shows in London in the late 1800s. Soon afterward they appeared in the United States. A friend who collects Thai art once told me that they were used as "guardians" or "watch cats" of the religious Temples in Siam. |
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CHARACTERISTICS They may be found in several point colors : Seal, Lilac, Blue and Chocolate being the ones I can think of. The "points" refer to the extremities: the ears, paws, tail and nose-facial area. These are the body parts which are most affected by temperature changes. I have found that Siamese cats which frequently are allowed outside have notably lighter coats than those which are always kept indoors. Light and temperature may play a role in this regard. They have slanted almond-shaped, oriental style beautiful blue eyes. Infrequently a cross-eyed kitten may appear, and are frowned upon by breeders. In over 30 years of breeding them, I have never had a cross-eyed kitten! They may have bent or crooked tails, which was prized in Siam and is still accepted in Europe. Legend has it that a beautiful princess took a walk in the woods one warm day, accompanied by her favorite Siamese cat. She came upon a refreshing lake and decided to go for a swim. She removed her rings and other jewelry and put it on her cat's tail for safe keeping. While she was bathing the cat wandered away and saw some birds in the trees of the forest and climbed many of them to catch the feathered morsels. In the chase, all of the jewelry was lost in the deep leaf cover on the ground. When the princess returned to retrieve her rings and necklaces she discovered that they were all missing. She was so angry that she twisted the cats tail-- and from that day to this, the Siamese cat's tail has been kinked. The original Siamese cats were much stockier than the show cats of today-- some of which appear almost anorexic-- sort of cute, but something you might want to conserve in a curio cabinet along with your other fine porcelain treasures!! The older variety, and that which I prefer, is termed "Apple-Headed" simply because they do not have the slim wedge-shaped head of the usual show cats and they are somewhat more full-bodied. The male is usually always much larger than the female. They are VERY affectionate and playful, even into old age. My oldest one was over 16 when she climbed a seven foot chain-link fence and ran into the street in front of a car many years ago. You may find that small objects such as pens, pencils, rubber bands and pieces of paper with important notes may disappear from where you left them. They will get into mischief frequently!! A window sill wide enough for them to bask in the Sun will be one of their favorite perches. And they always seem to know what time of day to find a sill on the sunny side of the house! And during the winter be prepared to have them cozy up near your legs under the covers!! Mine have ALWAYS had extremely snugly and friendly dispositions. I have met several that were really unfriendly and vicious though. Apparently an animal psychologist can study a pet and tell something about what the owner is like, thus your pet will only be as good and friendly as you are to him/her and even seemingly corresponds with your own general behavioural characteristics! They make good "mousers". One morning I was jolted from a sound sleep by two cats playing happily on the bed. When my eyes finally opened I saw them batting a poor little mouse back and forth across the bed ping-pong style. They were having a really great time!! They enjoy talking to you when you call them. They have many "voices", each denoting a different activity or need. Hunger, searching for a kitten, wanting to be petted and when they are in heat or having kittens. And they can be extremely boisterous when in heat, and go on and on for days on end!! Some say it sounds like a baby screaming. |
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FEEDING Some cat owners I have known over the years complained that their cat was VERY finicky about what it eats. That was caused by the owner being finicky when it came time to feed the poor cat!! Mine love both dry and canned cat food, some "more" than others, BUT they do eat everything I give them-- or they get nothing else!! Therein lies the key. Mine love corn kernels, olives, pizza and always want to nibble on whatever I am munching on, including cookies, luncheon meats, cheese, potato chips (they just have to hear the sound of the crinkling bag in another room and they come running!!), and yes, my dinner. Sphagetti and macaroni are some of their favorites, and any meat, fish or poultry scraps-- including the bones!! I am always told that they should not be given chicken bones because they can get them caught in their throats and it would kill them. WOW, that really makes a lot of sense!! I am sure that in the wild they only search out boneless fowl to eat!! They even enjoy turkey bones and never leave even a piece on the dish. The only infrequent result might be vomiting some of the over abundance of bones they voraciously devoured. I know a southern Baptist minister who even eats the bones of his favorite dish, "buffalo wings", and he has surpassed some 55 years already!! A cheapy "natural" meal is whitefish, which may be found in five pound frozen packages at most supermarkets. It is really inexpensive compared to canned foods. I separate the cleaned headless fish into groups of 2-3, wrap them in plastic wrap and refreeze the groups. About once a week I defrost a clump, cut them in half and boil them for about 8 minutes, allowing them to reach room temperature before I remove the bones and fin spines and give it to them in the stainless steel food dishes I use. I have utilized these shallow bowls for over fifteen years and they are literally unbreakable and easy to clean. I keep the dry food bowl always full. The water bowl should always be full and fresh-- do not just take the empty bowl and add more water-- clean it daily. They do appreciate some milk also. |
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BREEDING The female may go into heat at the tender age of 6 months, or even slightly younger!! Males seem to take a bit longer to reach sexual maturity. The female will let you know when she is looking for some sex, and your neighbors may even hear her wild screams for miles around!! She drags her rear on the floor with her paws stretched out-- sort of like that Lewdinski must do it, screaching as she goes. The male will sniff the female's genital area and will open his mouth and curl his lips up, as do all cats-- even lions and tigers-- when he gets the right scent. And they then go at it-- often many times a day and for days at a time!! After each penetration the female will roll around on the floor for some minutes-- reason unknown. Curiously enough the same phenerome (sex scent) thing occurs when male OR female cats sniff a human armpit!! I theorize that the basic underlying chemical structure of these sexually stimulating, response activating aromas must be similar in both cats and humans. It may be possible that they work by triggering a cell releasing nitrous oxide mechanism, similar to how PROZAC works?? OK, so now we have to wait 9 weeks for the new kittys to arrive. I was familiar with their normal sounds and theorized that a pregnant dam would have a totally different voice when she was in labor. One night, while I was asleep with all of them under the covers with me, the pregnant one woke me with loud deep moans. I immediately put her in a box with layers of towels on the bottom, and that is where she had her first litter. They have to be trained to give birth in a prepared box or they will have the kittens under the covers!! I can usually tell when they are nearing that point by feeling their underside. It gets unusually "hard" or "stiff"-- at which time I get the box ready. Mommy usually instinctively knows what to do once they appear. She removes the remains of the membrane, licks them clean, chews the umbilical cord free, and when the afterbirth (the placenta) is expelled, she munches it up while still warm-- if it gets colder, she may discard it! It all depends on the frequency of delivery. If they all appear within minutes of each other, she may even forget to detach the umbilical cord, at which point I use sterilized scissors to cut it about an inch from the body. The births may be minutes or even hours apart, and in one instance a dam had four one afternoon and a fifth the following day!! When born they are pure white, showing none of the characteristic "point" colors. Daddy often looks over the top of the box to see what is happening. At times he may jump into the box to see them, and when they get older he will play and sleep with them and the dam. If he gets too rambunctious, the female will always make him leave.
Mommy and kittens at 1 day old Their eyes begin to open after about five days, and they may begin to eat canned food within 3 weeks, at which time they should be placed in the litter box (N.B.: DO NOT USE CLUMPABLE litter; apparently many cases of kitten death and sickness have been associated with this form of very expandable clay product!! [click here for info-->FAQ]) every time they wake up. They are usually litter trained in less then a week.
Kittens at 10 days old, now showing "points" The kittens will suckle as long as the dam allows it. When she decides that she has had enough, she will brush them away with her paw. Once she stops feeding them it will not be too very long until she again gets in noisy estrus. The kittens are a real riot! They jump and tumble and jostle each other in a real circus-like mood. If they see a flying insect, they will do somersaults high in the air trying to catch it. They also keep crawling insects at bay. In training, a simple strongly accentuated NO and a tap with a couple pages of newspaper will indicate to them that curtains and upholstered chairs are not meant for climbing and scratching. Do NOT read them the riot act-- it MUST be immediate and to the point. After a VERY brief time, just the sound of crumpling paper will be enough of a deterrant. I keep a fat log near their litter box, and they scratch it to their hearts content! |
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PARASITES Fleas may be a problem, especially if they are raised in a home with one or more dogs. They do not mind the dog at all, at least mine never did. Tracey, my Doberman, plays with them, the cats sniff her ears and they let Tracey know when she is playing too rough!! Fleas are usually more frequent during the warmer summer months. For a bunch of fleas one would use a good flea dip, followed by the usual flea collar to control and eliminate the infestation. Somehow, fleas seem to also bring with them tapeworms, which appear as small whitish rice-grain-looking objects which may be observed in the area of the anus. They do move and elongate themselves somewhat. Your vet would prescribe either some pills, which may not be as easy for your to administer as it appears when the vet does it, or a shot. A follow-up in about a week does the job. |
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SELECTING A KITTEN Once you decide that a Siamese kitten is just what you needed to fill that spiritual void in your environment, check your local newspaper or a specialized cat magazine for ads of catteries in your area. If you are interested in breeding them, you might check for cat houses in another State or country having champion stock-- they will ship by air. Kittens purchased "For Breeding" do cost significantly more than those acquired just as a pet. When possible choose a breeder which you can actually visit personally. Observe the following : are the mother (dam) and father (sire) free to wander around in the house, or does the breeder have to go to the basement to find them and will not allow you to go there (many even keep the poor things in wire cages, as comfortable as they may be!!)? Are the sire and dam (she usually somehow senses that you came to possibly adopt one of her offspring and may not be overly pleased) friendly, or do they seem too aloof and hard to "catch"? Do the kittens seem overly skittish (this is sort of natural, as they probably do not have too many visitors), even with the breeder? Are the adults or kittens cross-eyed? Do they have straight tails and the correct color points? Are their eyes blue and not watering, and do the kittens all look healthy and not flea infested? If you see a litter box, is it clean looking? Do they have pedigree papers? Does the breeder inspire confidence? Use your common sense and intuition when making a final decision and the potential new member of your household will more than likely be a very positive adoption. |
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