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It's very much like raising a child. We want to get up at 3:30 a.m. and wake mommy up, when mommy is tired and wants to sleep. The dynamic with two cats is very different than just one, and takes some adjustment. Edward still comes for his hugs and kisses, but I think he's kind of confused about the new baby, sort of like: "is she ever going to leave?" But I think, long term, they will be good companions. I'm going back to school full time (computer programming) and I don't want him to be bored or lonely (if cats get lonely?).
Sissy just lays down in front of Edward, totally submissive. I hope there's never any biting or hurting. I guess that's the only thing that worries me. Edward is HUGE, and she's a tiny little baby girl.
That's what I was thinking, that she was part Siamese. I've always stayed away from Siamese, having heard they were mean (??). Certainly three of her four brothers were sort of mean acting, but she's a snuggle bunny. The orange boy wasn't mean either, but not as gentle as she is. This is why I had to find homes for the others; I was afraid they'd grow up and hurt Edward, who is the Buddha of cats, so intelligent and kind.
I'm a purebred colorpoint cat connoisseur lol. So, I hope my input can add a little. I've had purebred Balinese, Siamese, and Ragdolls growing up. A hallmark of these cats are deep blue eyes. The lighter the colorpoint (i.e. lilac point), the lighter the eyes tend to become. Really blue eyes in a light colorpoint are harder to achieve and desired.
My very first cat, however, was a Siamese mix. She had blue eyes, but they were a duller blue. In photos, they came across as quite blue, but in real life without the camera, they were a duller bluish-green. It's more difficult for mixbreeds to have piercing blue eyes, but it's definitely possible. However, for kittens that usually develop to have bright blue eyes, they have very, very deep blue/purple eyes. As they age, their eyes lighten.
As for the reputation that Siamese get as "mean" cats. I think it largely depends from cat to cat. They are amongst the top 5 most intelligent cats, and in my experience, it's true. I've never yet an unintelligent Siamese/Balinese (Bali is just a longhaired Siamese), but I have had unintelligent Ragdoll (but they are super, super sweet). Siamese tend to be more independent, and I'm not sure if this comes with the natural gift of intelligence or just a separate characteristic. They usually become very, very attached to their humans, often developing 1 favorite human.
Cats in general, however, are different than any other domesticated creature is that they are not born "domesticated" or "feral." For example, if a litter of feral kittens is born into a household (sometimes this happens at shelters/agencies) but very well socialized by their caretakers (being held, being used to/around humans), they grow up to be domesticated cats. On the other hand, if a cat is born from domesticated parents, but never/not socialized well or acclimated to humans, it will grow up into a more feral cat. Cats are very unique in this way (i.e. dogs born to domesticated dogs are still fairly domesticated). The point is that cats need a lot more work in socialization from a young age and on. Breeders often sell cats at 10-14 weeks, with my personal opinion that 12-14 is more optimal. It's really important that the breeder socializes these cats very often and well since a young age, which requires being held, etc.
The belief that Siamese are mean lies in the problem of the term "Siamese" itself. Most people own mixed breeds or whatnot, not purebred Siamese that were likely raised in breeder homes and well-socialized. There are so many Siamese-looking cats (colorpoints), and they are very popular for their beauty. But a problem is that a large number of shelter cats or ones that end up at agencies weren't particularly raised to be well-socialized in youth. In this regard, I feel like the "not-well-socialized" aspect of the stereotype isn't exclusive to Siamese, but most likely all cats. If you have seen purebred Siamese that were raised to be very very socialized, they are extremely well-mannered. They are different from other cats in that they clearly prefer their family of humans over others, but their behavior ranges from outright rejection/complete avoidance of non-family members (my first cat was like this), to just tolerance. Either way, they are not the "I love strangers just as much as my family" type of cats.
Hope this post was a little helpful! I have 2 cats now, a blue point Balinese and a lilac lynx Ragdoll. Check out my profile pic, they're both in it
Last edited by soci3tycat; 05-06-2013 at 05:59 AM..
My Zebulon, a flame point mix, was almost white with orange points at 4 1/2 months old. By the time he was an adult, his coat showed faint bars and was cream colored. His eyes stayed sky blue. Zephyr turned from pale gray with stripes and spots to a dark gray. Her markings hardly show now.
My son was blond as a child. As the years passed his hair turned very dark brown like mine and his Dad's. You would never know he was blond as a baby and youngster. OTOH, both myself and his dad (now deceased) had very dark brown hair from birth. Genetics are quite interesting.
Hi, I just wanted to note (in case you were curious) that the bars are called lynxing for colorpoint cats It is very common for flame point and cream point cats to have lynxing. It's to the point that it's often expected that even a flame point and cream point will have some, whereas it is even more hyphenated in a flame or cream lynx. Maybe Zebulon is a flame lynx, though! Here's a few tips to check- check if he has a fairly distinct "M" on his forehead, check if on the rim of his ears, they're lined white, check if his eyes are outlined in white.
My profile picture is a photo of my 2 cats when they were 1. I have a lilac lynx Ragdoll and a blue point Balinese. The ragdoll is a few months older now, and the white around her eyes and ears are more prominent.
I've never heard of Siamese being "mean." Talkative, yes, and the ones I've known tend to live up to that!
Sissy is adorable. No clue about her eye color but it'll be interesting to see how she matures.
Well good; I should put that rumor to rest, then. Sounds like a herd of buffalo in here. I think the playing is good for Edward who is starting to get overweight, out of boredom, probably. I'll let everyone know how the eye color changes, if it does.
So, does it appear that Sissy is part Siamese? Her brother are pictured in my album; a black, a couple of grays, and an orange. I've heard that mama cats can give birth to litters which have more than one dad (?), especially, of course, if they're outside, as mama was, unfortunately.
Here's a few tips to check- check if he has a fairly distinct "M" on his forehead, check if on the rim of his ears, they're lined white, check if his eyes are outlined in white.
Was this directed at me? If you look at the photograph, she does have an M on her forehead, though not very pronounced, and her eyes are lined in white -- though her whole face is white.
Was this directed at me? If you look at the photograph, she does have an M on her forehead, though not very pronounced, and her eyes are lined in white -- though her whole face is white.
What does this indicate exactly?
I directed it at a different member because she mentioned the flame point has "barring" on it's legs. In case she didn't realize, that often means it's a lynx point (often because in flame and cream points, it's often just ghost markings but it's a colorpoint).
If your cat has those characteristics I mentioned, it's a lynx point! It's nothing critical, I mean, it's the same cat. Just means it has lynxing. I like it in cats with lighter colorpoints. I saw the photo and your cat looks like it's a blue-cream colorpoint. If it's lynxed, then in my personal preference, I like this better. Lynxing for colorpoint cats often makes their color "lighter." To see what I mean, check out this page:
This is for ragdolls, and they have "better quality" colors developed than applehead Siamese. Applehead Siamese are not shown seriously in the U.S., whereas their wedgehead counterparts are. Therefore, cat breeds in the show ring are developed more seriously and have "higher quality photos." So, if you examine the same color in wedgehead Siamese, it will conform more similarly to the photos above. But often a "lilac point" in applehead Siamese just look like a "light blue" with better contrast. It does not have that characteristic rosey-tint/hue of pink.
Because your cat is a mixed breed, it's going to depend on what it has mixed in it. If it's more Siamese, the lynxing won't make your cat color lighter (since their bodies darken as they age). But if it's more Ragdoll type-y, then yes it will look much lighter. I personally prefer having that lighter body, since it keeps their contrast stronger
Hope it was helpful. Did you read my first post in response to your thread explaining about Siamese cats?
Well good; I should put that rumor to rest, then. Sounds like a herd of buffalo in here. I think the playing is good for Edward who is starting to get overweight, out of boredom, probably. I'll let everyone know how the eye color changes, if it does.
So, does it appear that Sissy is part Siamese? Her brother are pictured in my album; a black, a couple of grays, and an orange. I've heard that mama cats can give birth to litters which have more than one dad (?), especially, of course, if they're outside, as mama was, unfortunately.
I just saw this. Yes, it is common enough to see colorpoint kittens in an otherwise mixed assortment of cats--even from the same dad. It is also possible for cats and dogs to have offspring from different dads. It's very common to see a colorpoint kitten with: tabby brother/sisters, tortoiseshell cats. The colorpoint gene is a recessive gene, so there are usually less colorpoint kittens in the litter, unless both parents were colorpoints or the mom is a tortoiseshell (a sex-related color combination, usually not occurring in male cats). I'm a little rusty on the specifics of tortie color genetics, but I beleive the reason it's more common tortie moms produce colorpoint kittens is because both are recessive. So a recessive-gened cat bred to a heterozygous or recessive male will result in more colorpoints.
Sometimes both parents are not colorpoints, but it means they are both heterozygous and carrying the recessive gene. Colorpointing is a recessive "masking gene." Metaphorically, there is a brown or blue--or whatever color the point is--cat underneath there. The white is "on top" of the cat. It's not white with color on top, it's genetically speaking, color with white on top.
It should be noted that coloring and markings are different traits and controlled by different genes. The color (i.e. seal, blue, chocolate, lilac, etc) is determined separate from markings (i.e. colorpoint, mitted, bicolor, etc).
So, the reason it's common for these kittens to be with tabbies and tortoiseshells (especially) just means those other ones didn't get the recessive marking gene (i.e. colorpoint, mitted, bicolor). Had the tabby gotten the recessive marking genes, it would become a lynx colorpoint or mitted or bicolor. And if the tortoiseshell had lynxing, it would be a TORBIE colorpoint, mitted, or bicolor (note: a torbie point is a tortoiseshell with lynxing).
I just (like this second) looked at your profile album/etc. The cat is not a Siamese mix. Rather, if you'd try to describe it as any mix, I'd recommend perhaps a Ragdoll mix, based on it's marking type. This should make it easier for others to visualize/understand your kitten. The reason it's more of a Ragdoll-type is due to it's face shape and markings. It is similar to a mismarked low-white bicolor. If you look up "ragdoll patterns," you'll see 3: colorpoint, mitted, and bicolor. I couldn't really tell from the photos (none were of her body recently) if she is a torbie (cream and seal point with lynxing) or a blue-cream torbie (blue and cream with lynxing). If you post more photos, I'll gladly look at them. From your photo in the thread, it does like it has lynxing, due to the white around eyes. I didn't look close enough at the ears.
The good thing should be that if it develops like Ragdoll and Birman colors do, it will be overall lighter!
Last edited by soci3tycat; 05-06-2013 at 06:09 AM..
@soci3tycat: I appreciate your expertise. Yes, I won't repeat that false rumor about Siamese being mean! She's a lovely little thing, and full of energy. Lots of fun having her around.
All kittens start out with blue eyes. some change, some don't I just love the cat anyway the are.
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). Siamese tend to be more independent, and I'm not sure if this comes with the natural gift of intelligence or just a separate characteristic. They usually become very, very attached to their humans, often developing 1 favorite human.
