I am writing this special letter to all of the Siamese breeders on the breed council because we have some serious issues that will appear on our ballot this year, and I felt that they needed separate attention.

The Oriental Breed Council is once again asking for a pointed division of cats, so that they may show everything that they breed. They are trying to shut out the Siamese Breed Council from having a vote on this by saying that they will not ask for our four colors to be shown. At the same time, they continue to demand that they use our Siamese to produce those same pointed cats, and are asking for pointed colors that look exactly like Siamese colors unless you physically part the hair. Sometimes you cannot tell for sure what the color is until the cat is bred and you see what the offspring are.

The ballot contains three questions this year. The first is an expansion of our general section to include some history of the Siamese cat. This will make it easier for new breeders and the general public to understand our breed’s place in the cat fancy. This is common among the dog fancy, which is where the idea came from. Many dog standards provide a historical reference for their breed, and considering the importance of the Siamese breed to CFA, I think it is appropriate that our standard also include some history.

The second asks if a pointed division will affect the Siamese breed. We are forced to put this on our ballot, even though it should be self evident that we are affected, because the Oriental BCS refuses to admit that we are and will be affected by any pointed division. She has written at least one of her proposals in a way that mimics the Exotic/Persian compromise, so that pointed cats cannot be bred to pointed cats. That doesn’t change anything however, as the Oriental breeders will still use Siamese to produce pointed cats that look exactly like ours. The more they breed to Siamese, the more pointed cats they will produce, and since these cats will be showable, they will be breeding more and more to Siamese or other pointed cats to produce showable pointed Orientals. Pointed Orientals will become the goal of breeding programs, not the by-product as they are now. This seriously affects us, and should never be allowed.

Additionally, they are asking for colors to be recognized that look exactly like Siamese colors. These are the shaded and silver variations of Siamese colors. Even the color standard that was written for these colors encourages the judge to physically part the hair to determine what the color is. You cannot visually tell a smoke sealpoint from a sealpoint. These cats directly mimic the four Siamese colors, and should never be recognized for show. They most certainly affect our breed, under any definition of the word affected.

The third question on the ballot is regarding ending the outcross for the Oriental breed. Oriental cats have been outcrossed to Siamese to maintain both type and eye color since the breed was created. When CFA was formulating its rules for outcrossing practices and began to require cutoff dates, existing breeds that used an outcross were “grandfathered” in and were only required to stop using the parent breed if they so desired. These breeds included Somalis, Bombays, and a few others, as well as Oriental Shorthairs. This has not been an issue with the exception of the Oriental breed, however, as none of the other Breed Councils wishes to show its AOVs. When have shorthaired Somalis been an issue? Sable Bombays? Only the Oriental breeders wish to mimic their parent breed in the show ring. 

Their current standard states that the Oriental breed’s “reason for being is the coat color, whether it is solid, shaded, smoke, particolor, bi-color or tabby patterned.” The reason for being is to duplicate Siamese type in other colors than pointed. This is the reason the breed was created, not to produce a long lean elegant wedge headed cat with a pointed pattern. The people who proposed this pointed Oriental division wish to change the entire nature of their breed. In doing so, they wish to produce a direct copy of the Siamese to put in the show ring while using the Siamese breed to do so. 

This is not acceptable. The outcross needs to stop. Now. This is the only way to end this issue of pointed Orientals. Without the outcross, the Oriental breed will evolve into something other than a patterned cat that looks like a Siamese. It can go its own way. In the rest of the world, Orientals look much different, now that they have absorbed the Siamese breed, and made it their own, The Oriental breed in this country will also evolve in the same direction if we stop allowing them to outcross to Siamese. 

Siamese, for all practical purposes, exist only in CFA. In almost every other association they have been dummied down into only a color pattern, and the qualities of the CFA Siamese have been lost. Breeders in other areas of the world are beginning to realize this, and are scared that Siamese could be lost in CFA also. Judges are hearing this from exhibitors in other countries, US breeders are hearing this from buyers eager to obtain a real Siamese. What are called Siamese in other associations are coarse, big boned cats without our distinctive tubular body, with poor body color and often poor eye color. 

The issue of color is also not the same issue as was debated last year between the Persian and Exotic breed councils. The Siamese cat’s color is its most defining characteristic, its trademark, if you will. The public so identifies this color pattern with Siamese that it calls mix breed cats with the Siamese point pattern “Siamese.” Other animal species have used the word Siamese to define this color pattern when it occurs in their species (i.e.:  Siamese rabbit refers to the color pattern in a rabbit). A cat cannot be a Siamese without exhibiting the pointed pattern in one of four colors. For another breed to want to show and breed cats that look exactly like the Siamese breed, using the Siamese breed to create them, is really a type of trademark infringement. 

Siamese have contributed far more to CFA than almost any other breed. They have been paying their way in registration fees for over one hundred years. For most of those years they have been one of the top dollar producers for CFA in registration. Siamese are also responsible for many other breeds, including the Oriental Shorthair, which have contributed to CFA’s bottom line. Siamese are also one of the most recognizable of all breeds and one of the most popular with the public. Just this year a Siamese was chosen by the public as the Cat Idol (which translates to favorite cat!) at the first Meet The Breeds event held in New York City. The Oriental Shorthair has been around for a bit over thirty years, and has never approached the Siamese in raising revenue for CFA. The Siamese Breed Council also contains some of the most creative, intelligent and committed members in the Cat Fancy. We are constantly lauded and emulated for what our members achieve. Our Breed Council website is outstanding. The Siamese Breed Council’s judges’ workshop presentation is used as the model of quality and creativeness for other breed presentations. Our Annual Awards Breakfast is admired by everyone who attends, and envied by many other breeders whose Breed Councils don’t come close. In recent years we have not only had an outstanding Awards presentation, but guest speakers and for the last two years our own version of “On The Road Again” with only Siamese people and cats. No other Breed Council or breed has done more for CFA. 

The ballots will be out shortly. It is imperative that you vote and return your ballot immediately. We need to vote to add our history to our standard, to end the use of Siamese as an outcross for Orientals, and to tell the Board what should be self-evident:  that our breed is affected by any pointed Oriental division. 

And most importantly, after you vote, you will need to write. We need both letters and emails to go to the Board, and in large numbers. Why? For two reasons: one, we need to explain to the Board exactly how important Siamese are to us. And two, because there is a concerted effort by those who are supporting a pointed Oriental division to downplay the importance of our vote. 

 Those in support of long hair Exotics used a split vote of the Persian Breed Council to imply that Persian breeders really didn’t care if longhaired Exotics were shown. We need to show the Board by both returning the ballots in high numbers and in writing to individual Board members that the Siamese BC is not apathetic. We need to remind them of why we are spending money in CFA and on this hobby, because we are passionate about the Siamese breed.

There are also a few who have been pushing the idea that the reason the Siamese BC is opposed to a pointed division of Orientals is because I am the BCS. When I can, I let them know that I am BCS because my Breed Council is opposed to pointed Orientals, not the other way around. But it is you who need to send this message home. 

I will go the Board meeting in February and I will fight for this breed as always. But please don’t take it for granted that my word will carry any weight. Unless I have the full force of this Breed Council behind me, I can’t guarantee that the Board won’t side with the Oriental breeders and give them what they want. For us to be successful, I need you all to write, write, write. For now, send all the Board members emails, with pictures attached showing a Siamese and a pointed shaded cat if at all possible. Later, in January, let’s remind the Board of how we feel in letters. I want a hundred letters to go to each Board member. Let them know that Siamese breeders are behind this breed, that we are in CFA for this breed, and that we can also leave CFA for this breed. 

I have included many points in this newsletter that you can use in formulating your own letters. Chose those that are closest to your own passions, or come up with others that also will support this breed. The most important is to write to the Board. And for those of you who also breed or have bred Orientals, let the Board know that not all Oriental breeders want this pointed division. 

It’s up to you. We all have to be engaged if we are to save this breed once again. Please be sure to send in your ballot as soon as possible after receiving it. Don’t put it off and forget to vote. This is too important. We need all the votes counted. And I can’t say it enough. Write to the Board, email the Board, send pictures! This is what will win in February. 

Debbi Stevenson

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