Let’s Get to the POINT … Pointed Cats, That Is!
No, Virginia … Not All Pointed Cats Are Siamese
Liz Watson
Today we’re going to talk about the Siamese and other breeds of cats that express their color due to the pointed gene. In CFA, there are five of them for championship showing. But first let’s talk about the pointed gene: In cats, it is a genetic mutation that causes an expression of darker colors on the cat’s extremities such as ears, tail, legs, and face while the body remains pale. The cause is a mutated enzyme that doesn’t develop at normal body temperatures. Color is dependent on genetics, but environmental temperature can also have an effect as there can be a darkening of the body with temperature and age. This is most notable in the seal and blue colors, but is not as much in the respective dilute colors of chocolate and lilac. Pointed kittens are born a very light cream/off white, and the point colors come in as they age. The color of the cat is determined by its point color, and all of these breeds have blue and only blue eye color; however, the eye color in these breeds is not related to deafness as it is in some other colors that express blue eyes.
The Siamese breed is generally the one we think about when we consider pointed cats. It is an old breed originating in the 14th century in what is now Thailand. It made its first appearance in the United States in the 19th century, and was accepted for championship showing when the Cat Fanciers’ Association was formed in 1906. In CFA, Siamese are accepted in only four colors: seal, chocolate, blue, and lilac. But you say you’ve seen them in other colors … Yes – however, those other colors fall into the Colorpoint Shorthair breed, which was accepted for championship showing in 1964.
The Colorpoint Shorthair comes in three different classes: solid point, lynx point, and parti-color point. The solid class only includes red and cream point. The lynx point class will produce stripes in the extremities, and comes in the colors of the Siamese plus lynx colors of red and cream. Finally, the parti-colors are those derivatives of tortoiseshell and blue cream. The type is the same for both Siamese and Colorpoint Shorthair. In essence, they are of the same body structure, and only the colors differentiate the breeds.
We have one more pointed cat whose type is the same, except for coat length – the Balinese, which comes in two divisions: Balinese and Javanese. Both are a longer-coated cat. They certainly do not carry the coat of a Persian, but have more of a “feathering” of longer fur. The Balinese is only shown in the four colors of the Siamese, while the Javanese is the longhair version of the Colorpoint Shorthair. These longhairs have the same type but often appear less angular because of the longer fur which gives them a softer look. In each of the “slinky” breeds, the point color is 10 and body color 10 for a total of 20 points in the breed standard.
For breeding purposes, the Colorpoint Shorthair may be crossed with the Siamese and Colorpoint Shorthair, but the Siamese may only be bred with the Siamese. The goals are to produce type that fits the standard, and pale clear coat color with darker color restricted to the face, ears, legs, and tail. Thus, in these two breeds only pointed cats to pointed cats are allowed. Balinese has a much smaller gene pool and they are able to use the Oriental breed. This breed has again the same structure as the Siamese but comes in a non-pointed variety. Any pointed kitten from the breeding can be registered as Balinese or Javanese.
We also have two breeds that compete in the longhair classification, the oldest being the Birman. It was first recognized in France in 1925 and later by CFA in 1967. The standard itself states that the cat is one of “mystery and legend,” the legend being it is a temple cat with the blue eyes and white paws symbolizing purity. They are believed to have originated in Burma, now called Myanmar. Today the Birman is recognized in the four colors of the Siamese as well as the colors of the Colorpoint Shorthair. Besides the colorpoint factor, the breed also carries the white spotting gene which exhibits itself as white on the paws or “gloves,” and is referred to as “gloving.” This white spotting factor can occur anywhere on a cat, but with the Birman it is concentrated on the gloves. The color of the cat (including body, point, and eye color) is given 15 points and the required gloves 20 points. Altogether, color makes up 35 points of the breed standard with considerable emphasis on the gloves.
The last of the pointed breeds and the newest is the Ragdoll. Developed in California in the 1960s, the breed was accepted in CFA in 1998. It has risen to become one of CFA’s most popular breeds of cats. It comes in four different patterns: bi-color, van, colorpoint, and mitted. Their colors are those found in the Siamese and Colorpoint Shorthair, with those cats expressing stripes in the extremities called lynx point. The bi-color is the most common. Both the bi-color and van patterns carry an inverted white mask on the face. The colorpoint and mitted patterns have no white mask; however, the mitted does have white mittens or paws. Ah… So how do you tell the difference between a mitted Ragdoll and a Birman? By type and expression of color. One expression is chin color: the Ragdoll has a white chin while the Birman’s chin is the same color of the mask. In fact, a white chin spot on a Birman is a disqualification. Also, the white on a Ragdoll’s front and back legs goes up higher than the Birman, which only allow laces on the back of the hocks. Coat and body color are 10 points in the breed total of 100, and there are no other points allotted for the mittens as there are for the Birman.
Hopefully this article has given some sense of the similarities and differences among these pointed cats. All make fabulous pets and are easy to care for. The Siamese group are the “talkers” while the Birman and Ragdoll breeds are quieter. And even though the longhairs carry longer, thicker coats than the Balinese/Javanese, they do not require a lot of maintenance. A weekly combing should keep their coats looking fine. For more information on temperament and grooming of these breeds, please refer to Breeds on the CFA website.