Most people would recognize a seal point Siamese cat if they saw one, although they might not know that it was a seal point.
A seal point is the archetypal Siamese, a cat with dark, seal-brown points (points are the ears, facial mask, nose, paws and tail on a cat) that shot to fame in films such as The Incredible Journey, That Darn Cat!, and Bell, Book and Candle.
But do you know how many other colors the Siamese cat is found in? Or, that whether a particular color is classified as 'Siamese' or not may depend on which country the cat is from? The four original Siamese colors are seal point, blue point, chocolate point and lilac point which mean, as their names suggest, that these cats have points of seal-brown, slate-blue-gray, milk chocolate, or pale lilac.
These colors are the four 'official' Siamese colors recognized by the Cat Fanciers' Association (CFA) in the United States.
Any other, different colors found in cats with a Siamese coat pattern are called 'Colorpoint Shorthair' cats by the CFA - Colorpoint Shorthair being, in effect, classified as a separate and distinct breed to the Siamese breed.
However, over in the UK and other European countries, there are additional colors that are also recognized as being officially Siamese.
These are the red, apricot, cream, cinnamon, caramel and fawn point Siamese - newer additions to the four original colors.
Ten colors in all.
So far, so good! Where Siamese coloring becomes complicated is that there are also striped, or tabby (known as lynx in the USA) and mottled, or tortoiseshell (tortie) versions of the colors above, too.
And for good measure - and added complication - tortie-tabby (a mix of striped and mottled) as well.
So how many colors are there in total? Well, as noted above, it does rather depend on where in world you are, but...
the Governing Council of the Cat Fancy (GCCF), the most well-known breed registry in the United Kingdom, recognizes no less than 32 Siamese colors in all!
A seal point is the archetypal Siamese, a cat with dark, seal-brown points (points are the ears, facial mask, nose, paws and tail on a cat) that shot to fame in films such as The Incredible Journey, That Darn Cat!, and Bell, Book and Candle.
But do you know how many other colors the Siamese cat is found in? Or, that whether a particular color is classified as 'Siamese' or not may depend on which country the cat is from? The four original Siamese colors are seal point, blue point, chocolate point and lilac point which mean, as their names suggest, that these cats have points of seal-brown, slate-blue-gray, milk chocolate, or pale lilac.
These colors are the four 'official' Siamese colors recognized by the Cat Fanciers' Association (CFA) in the United States.
Any other, different colors found in cats with a Siamese coat pattern are called 'Colorpoint Shorthair' cats by the CFA - Colorpoint Shorthair being, in effect, classified as a separate and distinct breed to the Siamese breed.
However, over in the UK and other European countries, there are additional colors that are also recognized as being officially Siamese.
These are the red, apricot, cream, cinnamon, caramel and fawn point Siamese - newer additions to the four original colors.
Ten colors in all.
So far, so good! Where Siamese coloring becomes complicated is that there are also striped, or tabby (known as lynx in the USA) and mottled, or tortoiseshell (tortie) versions of the colors above, too.
And for good measure - and added complication - tortie-tabby (a mix of striped and mottled) as well.
So how many colors are there in total? Well, as noted above, it does rather depend on where in world you are, but...
the Governing Council of the Cat Fancy (GCCF), the most well-known breed registry in the United Kingdom, recognizes no less than 32 Siamese colors in all!
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