The Traditional Thai Cat

If you are breeding or have purchased a so called “Thai” and told it was a “Siamese” then you may have, in my opinion, been defrauded, lied to and conned! The so called “Thai” is NOT A PUREBRED SIAMESE AT ALL! It is what our breed standards previously referenced as a Traditional or Classic COLORPOINT SHORTHAIR, which is a mixed breed between a “Siamese” and other more common breeds of cat. We now reference these cats as Traditional or Classic Colorpoint Siamese. The COLORPOINT SHORTHAIR has non-purebred Siamese colors such as red and non-purebred Siamese patterns such as Lynx (Tabby bars), Tortie (patches of different colors from the Calico and Tortoiseshell) and Torbie (both bars and patches). The other four colors, that are provided by the “Siamese” genes are also found in the COLORPOINT SHORTHAIR breed, so don’t think they are purebred SIAMESE either. The Breed Standard tica is using is for a COLORPOINT SHORTHAIR IS NOT A “SIAMESE”!

The PUREBRED Traditional Siamese and Classic Siamese come ONLY in four SOLID POINT colors which are: Seal Point, Chocolate Point, Blue Point and Lilac Point. The COLORPOINT SHORTHAIR is a wonderful breed but it is a separate breed from all other breeds. Positioning them as a Purebred Siamese, instead of a separate breed, taints the purebred bloodlines, misrepresents the breed to the public and causes confusion as well. This says nothing about the new owner who eventually discovers he didn’t get what he paid for either.

TCA, INC. is a safe haven for breeds. It is unfortunate that others have created an attempt to bridge the reality of the “Siamese” breed with the fantasy of something that attempts to present a culmination of several breeds as one. Their attempt to achieve the same level of acceptance of a MIXED BREED is a failure to those in the know, because what their Breed Standard reflects is NOT A PUREBRED SIAMESE!

If you find yourself a victim of this mis-representation of the breed involved, I encourage you to register a complaint about the breeder you made your purchase from and also the cat association involved with the fraud to:

• The State Attorney General, Consumer Protection Agency in the State where the fraud occurred.

• The Federal Trade Commission, Consumer Protection at
www.ftc.gov/bcp/;consumer.shtm (click on “file a complaint” at the top of the page.) The FTC works to eliminate unfair or deceptive marketplace practices.

• The Better Business Bureau nearest to the location of the fraud.

• WRITE to the Registry involved and demand that they re-register your cat with the correct Breed Name – COLORPOINT SHORTHAIR!

LEARN MORE ABOUT THE OTHER CAT ASSOCIATIONS AT:

www.book.tcainc.org

For over 24 years I have researched all of the other cat associations as well as most all of the cat breeds. In addition I have created Breed Names and Breed Standards for over 70 breeds with more in progress. The goal is to maintain and protect the pure breeds as PURE! In the Traditional Cat Association, Inc., which I founded, the Colorpoint is a separate breed from the Traditional Siamese and Classic Siamese. They are separate breeds in the TCA, INC. Registry and TCA, INC. Shows. In this way each breed receives its own prowess and each breed’s purity is maintained.

I founded TCA, INC. to oppose everything negative that all of the other cat associations are, what they do and what their purposes and practices are. The changes to every breed they touch, their damage done to ancient breeds, and onward to their lack of desire to preserve any breed, provided the impetus to me to make a safe haven for all cat breeds and their owners who love them.

Others have researched and learned: From a cfa breeder: “We have a new threat to the old look Siamese in the U.S. It comes from the unlikely source of a “Siamese preservation club”. They are actively campaigning breeders to surrender their hundred year old Siamese pedigrees and have their cats registered with a new breed name (Thai cat) solely for the purpose of showing at cat shows.” Tom “I must say I have found more mis-information and poor judgment with tica members. I really have a lot of respect for TCA, INC.”

“I don’t know why the tica person told me to breed a father to his daughter? I about choked!”

“A tica breeder never gave me back the high stud fee I paid when the breeding didn’t take.”

“I don’t recommend listening to any tica breeder. That group seems to have gone off the deep end with some very nasty people, who are dishonest to the core of their bones.

Right now they are presenting mixed breed cats to the public and pretending they are purebred Siamese. That is fraud and does no breed any good at all.”

“I did more research on tica’s Thai standard, as well as spoke with people from tica, and you are absolutely right! The COLORPOINT SHORTHAIR is considered a Thai cat by tica, as well as the old Siamese. I’m very disgusted, as you are, in what they are doing! I can’t believe that the old Siamese breeders are so desperate to get their cats into the show ring, that they are willing to make this concession. Thanks for the enlightenment.”

I must admit I laughed all over the place, when I read the tica explanation of their mixed breed, “Thai”! They state, “The Thai is the breed that preserves the native pointed cat of Thailand. In Thailand, there are many different kinds of pointed cats. The seal point, blue point, chocolate point and lilac point are found in Thailand, but so, also, are tabby point, red points, and tortie points. Authentic Thais inherit all their colors and patterns from native cats of Thailand.” What tica has admitted here is that they really are promoting a MIXED BREED cat as a PUREBRED SIAMESE just because they “say” their origin is from Thailand! OH! This is totally laughable! According to The Cat Book Poems, a 14th Century manuscript thought to be recorded between 1350 – 1750 , which records pictures and details about 17 breeds of cat in existence in the Thailand area at the time, there is the possibility of mixing 17 breeds together. More modern day times adds the Persian, Himalayan, Snowshoe and many more to the mix. I’ll venture to say that there are mixed breed cats in Thailand too, but that doesn’t make them purebred Siamese. That makes the tica claim to even more of a mix in breeds just because they come from Thailand. Tica says, “Any pointed cat from Thailand is a Thai!” What a crock in my opinion. That is the like saying that every cat from Maine is a Maine Coon.

Tica wrote, “Geneticists published a study that indicates the sex-linked red gene (the gene responsible for reds and torties) originated somewhere in Southeast Asia, which is where Thailand is located. Red and tortoiseshell cats, pointed and non-pointed, have been in Thailand for many, many centuries and are still more common there than in most other parts of the world.” Such grandiose rhetoric has no basis in fact what so ever. One of the oldest breeds is the Abyssinian, with a red based coat color, which originated in Egypt many years before cats were even discovered in Southeast Asia. This is a matter of recorded history and can not be refuted by modern day “geneticists” self serving tica purposes!

tica wrote, “Work by Dr. Leslie Lyone and others-to which tica Thais contributed DNA samples-shows that the cats from Thailand are genetically different from Western-derived cats.” That is the same as saying that my personal genetic make up is different than my ancestors back in England! Good grief! Whether any DNA testing was done or not, saying that a few mixed breed cats in the U.S. represent “the cats from Thailand” is absolutely absurd. Was DNA testing done on all cats from Thailand? Obviously not, so such a claim is as full of holes as Swiss cheese. In addition to say that one generation represents all historical record of cats is just hilarious!

tica wrote, “CFA’s notion that Siamese can only be Seal, Blue, Chocolate, or Lilac points was inherited from 19th century British breeders. It’s a Victorian notion and has no basis in scientific fact.” I would like to see what “scientific fact” can be used to disprove it?

Since tica is attacking cfa, perhaps it is time for all cfa breeders of cats from the orient to rise up and protect the purity of their breeds.

No matter how many reports tica says they have, cat history has been written and documented over millennia and can not be re-written or made into something it never was! In addition the “Siamese” breed has been registered, recorded and written about and kept pure for over 100 years.

When such grandiose rhetoric as “Geneticists”, “Scientific fact”, or “DNA” are used to razzle dazzle a reader into being brain washed with such a ridiculous and baseless presentation, it becomes even more insidious and dangerous in nature.

A reader asks, “tica appears to be saying that if a cat comes from Thailand, it’s a “Thai”. Does tica mean it’s a Siamese no matter what its bloodlines, since it comes from what used to be Siam?” The answer to this last question is, “YES!” tica has outright admitted it!

When the pursuit of grand championships and the worship of ribbons becomes more important than the preservation of the original, Traditional Siamese and Classic Siamese as they have always been, then those participating in tica are betraying the very breed they profess to love!

In summation: There is no excuse for misrepresenting any breed, as tica is doing nor is there any other purpose than destroying a breed treasured since far before the 14th Century.

In addition tica is damaging and deforming the Traditional Maine Coon breed into nothing more than a Turkish Angora. Instead of the Traditional large, roundish head, with a normal muzzle and ears that are set slightly to the side of the head, the Turkish Angora/Maine Coon is being deformed with a long, pointed nose, narrow wedge shaped head and large pointed ears setting on top of the head. This is NOT what the Traditional Maine Coon has ever been and defaces America’s oldest and highly treasured breed!

The need for the Traditional Cat Association, Inc. is never more necessary than now. As breeders of other cat associations betray every breed they touch, TCA, INC. stands firm against such practices. TCA, INC. has always been the only cat association representing each breed with protection from this type of damage and out right fraud.

The Traditional Cat Association, Inc. is the ONLY association maintaining PURE breeds PURE. There is no higher calling than to preserve each breed for all generations to come to enjoy.

TCA, INC. HAS BEEN HOLDING SHOWS FOR OVER TWO DECADES NOW.

Come and enter at www.tcainc.org and click on the Show Entry Form on the first page.

JOIN TCA, INC. and help maintain the PURE BREEDS AS PURE BREEDS. Join at

www.tcainc.org and click on the “Membership” icon on the first page.

Top of Page

Last Updated: 07/19/24

The Traditional Cat Association, Inc.©¹⁹⁸⁷®^TM
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED © by John & Diana Fineran - Aug 1999- 2024.
No portion of this website or any information contained within it may be copied, or in any way distributed,
without the expressed written permission of John or Diana Fineran - No exceptions.