Cats
A cat with Siamese markings appeared on an old
engraving discovered by the naturalist Pallas on his journey into Southern Russia between
1793 and 1794. It was the opinion of Sir Russell Gordon (who closely studied these cats) and
Auguste Pavie (French explorer and one time resident at Bangkok), that the Siamese cat
derived from a cross between the Burmese Temple Cat (i.e. Burmese, not the Birman which
was known as the "Sacred Burmese Temple Cat") and the Annamite Cat. The Annamite cat
was described as a slender, small and gracefully built variety of cat with a short tail. Like so
many varieties it was said to have disappeared due to interbreeding with introduced domestic
cats.
Although apparently favoured as palace cats, there is no clear record of an distinct Siamese
breed until the 1800s. The British became interested in Siamese cats and imported them from
Siam. The earliest documented imports were during the 1870s, but these were apparently not
bred
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