Siamese cats were bred to guard the ancient palaces in SE Asia.
Exactly. And how did that work out? Our cat woke us up at 2:00 am to tell us there were coyotes outside. Duh. There are always coyotes outside.
A description and depiction of the maeo si sawat แมวสีสวาด (Siamese cat) first appears in a collection of ancient manuscripts called the Tamra Maeo (The Cat-Book Poems) thought to originate from the Ayutthaya Kingdom (1351 to 1767 AD).
Early fanciful tales, stories, and myths are plentiful.
Thai legend has it that the King of Burma Hsinbyushin found and read the poem for the Thai cats in the Tamra Maew. The poem describes Thai cats as being as rare as gold, and anyone that owns this cat will become wealthy. He told his army to round up all the Suphalak (golden redish) cats and bring them back to Burma along with the other treasures. Today in Thailand this legend is told as a humorous explanation as to the rarity of that variety of Thai cat.
The Royal Point Siamese would have been missed by such an order. There are many legends surrounding Siamese cats and the Royal Family, explaining how the cat became cross eyed with a kinked tail. One such legend tells a story of a Siamese temple cat who went in search for a missing royal goblet with his wife. Once the goblet was found, the male went to alarm the King whilst the female stayed to protect it. She was so scared of losing it that she wrapped her tail around the base tightly and stared at until her eyes crossed and her tail kinked.
Another story states that there was once a Siamese Princess who was afraid of loosing her jewelry whilst bathing in a river one day. Her dear cat kinked his tail for her so that she could place them on the tail safely. Since then, all Siamese cats were born with this kink in order to guard princesses’ rings.
Siamese cats were bred to guard the ancient palaces in SE Asia.>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
And they were formidable, in the tropics the breed can reach 10 pounds plus, AND one aspect few know about Siamese cats: Unlike other breeds they “pack up” and run in large packs.
No one wanted to be attacked by a pack of 50 or 60 Siamese cats. One would emerge looking like shredded wheat if not dead from loss of blood.
Mine try to kill me several times a day by tripping me... seriously, it is impossible to walk across the yard without being unexpectedly tripped up by a catrops...
“Siamese cats were bred to guard the ancient palaces in SE Asia.”
Our Siamese cat, Tiger, was the only creature that the neighbor’s Rottweiler feared.