History
For at least the last 700 years, the people of Thailand have cherished and carefully cultivated a breed of cats with a natural coloration with markings (points) called the Wichienmaat.
From Thailands famous cat poem Tamra Maew, we learn that Thai cats were bred as Wichienmaat in the Thai kingdom of Ayudhia, continued to be bred in the kingdom of Siam, and are still bred in modern Thailand.
19th century the British discovered the Wichienmaat - a cat with unusual blue eyes, a light body with darker markings on the head, legs and tail. They found that they could not be found anywhere else in the world and decided to import the cats, calling them Siamese. The aim of the western breeders was to improve the Siamese of natural coloring, making their appearance more expressive, more harmonious and more striking. They soon bred a cat with much more expressive blue eyes than those in the native country. They also bred cats with more stylish heads and bodies. In the show ring in 1950, some modern Siamese had much longer heads, finer bones, and slimmer bodies than the traditional Siamese of the turn of the century. Many people liked the improvements to the Siamese, while others preferred the older, smoother-looking breed.
The Thai cat breed began to diverge from the Siamese breed in the 1950s, when breeders around the world preferred the modern Siamese look of the early 20th century.
The first traditional Siamese, the apple-headed Siamese, has even body proportions, a more angular build and a rounder head. These Siamese types were stopped being exhibited in the show ring for a while, because in the early 60s the heavy traditional Siamese began to lose their popularity, the breeders began to prefer a longer, thinner body constitution and encourage the breed to move away from the original robust Siamese. In the 80s, the first clubs of the old type Siamese breed appeared in Europe and North America. It was not until 1986 that the traditional Siamese returned to cat shows. The traditional Siamese was "saved" by its true admirers, who, despite fashion trends, continued to breed this type of Siamese.
Many breeders of the modern Siamese, not knowing the history of the breed, even considered the traditional Siamese to be a lower quality specimen of the breed. In order to protect and save the disappearing historic Siamese, in the late 20th century, traditional Siamese breeders banded together and began sponsoring shows where traditional Siamese could be exhibited. In 1990, in Europe, the World Cat Federation (World Cat Federation) granted the breed champion status and changed the breed name of the traditional Siamese to Thai to distinguish the traditional type Siamese from the modern type Siamese.
In 2001, breeders began importing domestic cats from Thailand in order to maintain a healthy gene pool of the Thai breed and preserve the genes of the Southeast Asian native breed in these cats while they are still different from Western cats.
Today, an increasing number of organizations recognize the traditional Siamese - Thai breed, appreciating the healthiness and longevity of the original bloodlines. Society as a whole is also beginning to realize the need to avoid breeding in pursuit of extreme appearance, which, although attractive to some, has a negative impact on animal health. Most European countries have again recognized the traditional Siamese-Thai cat and openly promote its development, criticizing the American tendency to breed the extreme type.
Personality
The Thai cat is a personality that was made famous all over the world before the Siamese.
They are very intelligent cats, loving, active, curious, and endowed with a great sense of humor. Living with these cats is like living with small children. They access everything you own, they can jump up on the wall clock and keep their balance at risk just to see that they can. They will follow you around and try to "help" you with everything you do. Thai cats are big talkers. They are not necessarily loud, but they are chatty. They will greet you at the door when you come home and start talking to you. They may also communicate with paw touches or jump on your shoulder and put their face next to yours. They will need a response from you and daily attention. Without it, they will suffer, and in suffering they will burn out. Physically, these cats are easy to maintain, they are healthy, special care is not required. But emotionally, they have high demands. For those who want a close companion, this is your breed. They will get to know you and you will get to know them. It is a friendship that deepens with age, like fine wine.
Features
The main difference between the Thai cat and other short-haired cats is the coloring with markings on the head, legs and tail, head shape and body type.
The Thai cat is short-haired with body coloring with darker markings. He is of medium height and substantially flexible and flexible, but in no way excessive. Average bone structure, tail, legs, head are of medium size. Since the breed comes from tropical Thailand, it has a short, close-fitting coat. The feather is sufficiently soft, gentle
and silky but still quite short. It is not hard and smooth like glass, but it does not feel like plush either.
The trademark of these cats is the unique head shape. The forehead is long and flat. The head is wide and its edges are rounded. A prominent wedge-shaped snout projects from this round head. There is a slight inward curve at the cheekbones where the muzzle begins. Then the muzzle gradually narrows towards the nose. At the muzzle, the tip is somewhat spade-like, not pointed, but blunt. The ears are widely placed and relatively high on the head, they are arranged somewhat like fingers as a "peace sign".
Thai cats can have full color markings, solid markings, tortoiseshell markings, or striped markings. White color is not allowed.
The Thai cat is quite a heavy cat - a cat can weigh 5-7 kg, a kitten - 4-6 kg.
