SIAMESE CATS

Greymouth Evening Star, 9 November 1935, Page 3

SIAMESE CATS

WHY THEY ARE POPULAR. Ten minutes at the Siamese Cat Club’s twelfth annual show in London suggested that these cats are popular because they are so like dogs. A talk with a breeder confirmed the idea (says a “Daily Telegraph” reporter). This might, he said, explain, why most of the 130 exhibitors are men. Possibly, too, it was the reason why the club’s membership had risen from about 100, when the first championship was held, until, at 400, it was the largest of 'any cat club in the world. Siamese are certainly unfeline cats. Entering the Drill Hall where the show Was held, I heard a noise like the baa-ing of lambs. This was the cats’ complaint against the novelty of their quarters. Like dogs, they are uneasy in a strange place. If very put out they have a howl *said to be a splendid imitation of a baby’s. The common cat is, notoriously, “concentred all in self.” The Siamese on the other hand, takes a vast interest in the general goings-on. The exhibits flattered everybody, by the intelligent concern in . the bright blue eyes which go so well with their cof-fee-coloured fur and their smoky ears.

Whenever I addressed a cat, it courteously answered. People who ignored the ‘‘Please do not touch” notice put 'up O'h account of the influenza epidemic found the beasts as ready as a dog to play. “The Siamese is a great student,” a breeder told m’e. “Sly cats take stock of every visitor, -they remember faces, and they are very sensitive to environment. Like dogs, they tend to attach themselves to one person, who will probably have to get used to a sudden run up his back so that his cat may perch across his shoulders. “They like mantelpieces ahd are very deft at dodging ornaments. They get on remarkably well with dogs, and will often prefer a dog's company to that of another cat.” They are useful as well as decorative, being good mousers, and they have a great deal of dignity, natural enough in animals costing four guineas each. Even the kittens on show were playing gravely.