[Varda]

You're really mixing apples and oranges comparing show cats to coonhounds. Comparing show cats to Pekingese makes sense though. After all is there any other competition that might alter breeding goals for a show cat? Mouse catching competition??? Does anyone in show cats care about mouse catching?

AKC Coonhounds I think may be more similar to AKC Foxhounds. The AKC has registered them for more than a hundred years (English since 1890) and they are still pack animals used in hunts. Its that way because breeders choose it that way.

[AnAmericanMother]

Not so fast. Did you know there are actually Cat Agility Trials?

I watched one once and laughed myself silly (trying to persuade a cat to do something is entertaining for the observers but not for the persuader.)

But with Siamese generally there actually are performance issues (though not performance competition issues). The Siamese traditionally is an extremely athletic cat, and with their hyperactive personalities they HAVE to have something to do. Whether it's mouse-catching or drapery-climbing or retrieving (or unrolling an entire roll of toilet paper), they are very busy kitties.

Where we saw the conformation-oriented breeding hurting the Siamese was in structural changes that led to orthopedic problems (not to mention the narrowing skull that made for some VERY dumb cats . . . I hate to see a stupid Siamese, it's the antithesis of the breed.) When a Siamese breaks a leg just jumping off a table, it's a terrible shame. I had one who used to leap off the tops of doors in the house (onto people's heads. We locked him up when people came to visit. He fancied himself a Stalking Panther in the Jungle.)

[Vinnie]

I had a July hound. We called him a coonhound but he was really an American foxhound.
Got him to hunt but he turned into a pet.
Great with the kids.