Jewels of Thai - Welcome to our Home

 People who don't like cats have certainly been a mouse in a previous life!


Cats and kittens live with full access to all parts of life and sleep in my bed. Kittens are born there too, and remain for the first few weeks until they start to toddle and temporarily move into a kitten section for about 2 weeks or so (aka my heated floor and therefore favorite room in the house, the master bath accessable to all adults but blocked from juvenile escapees until they are no more 'accidents', at  which time the divider board is removed and all hell breaks loose ;)
Our cats and kittens are extremely snuggly and people oriented. We call them 'attackcuddlers' for a reason:  You don't always see it coming:  our firstTom would launch himself at unsuspecting humans from his high tree, confident that there would be ready arms to catch him.
For links to the cats and further information please refer to the original index page, click on a button and scroll down to the american flag. Easier to maintain that way. 
PERSONAL BEGINNINGS                        ABOUT JEWELS OF THAI CATTERY
 Like many others who had a siamese cat, I was flabberghasted when after 20 years, I tried to get another one. With awe I stared at the new photos, thinking, what happened? This isn't it!

Well, you can't argue about taste, but I wanted one 'like old times' (the standard cry of Thai fanatics), and NOT such a super slim, batty looking kit that appeared to be the norm everywhere. Everywhere? Not quite. After a long search I finally found 'my' cats:
 

Surfed the net nights on end, and learned (aha!) now there are TWO types of siamese, and the one my heart desired is now officially called Thai (or traditional siamese / old style siamese). It wasn't easy to get one, the few breeders who held on to the old type had their doors run in, but I would not be stopped. When I finally found the perfect cattery and moved up on the waiting list, MY cat was no longer an unaccessable dream. Then I fell in love with more than just the one I originally wanted, and life took an interesting turn. I've shared my life with cats as long as I can think back, with kittens (growing up in the country) being a normal part of it, and had been breeding Maine-Coons for nearly two decades, but I was not prepared to be run over like this. NOTHING prepares you for potent siamese, not even the one neutered I grew up with and had for most of my live.

During the next few months (and many visits to the fabulous 'Star of Thai' cattery) I caught the Thai fever beyond any reason. Within a year, one kitten turned into four. And I decided, I want that too. Not just to fill a house (a new one I had to move in to so all of them had plenty of room to roam and romp) and heart with Thais, but to spend my live helping to make sure this wonderful race remains. I cannot express my joy and gratitude to the few breeders who continued to fight over the last two decades to retain the standard and succeed to get the Thais accepted as a registered breed. Our heroes and role models, THANK YOU from the bottom of our hearts!

I had a long way ahead of me, but I was lucky to find a few respected breeders I could add to our 'family', and who continued to guide me through the first rough years. They can't possibly imagine what that means to me (ok, yes they can). It is not easy to be allowed to enter these hallowed halls, and I felt honored to be included and have always made a point to hold up agreements at all cost to prove worthy.

When I chose Dara (out of Sky Eyes Petite Fleur and Wusel von der Falkenhöhe)and began visiting her, a little lilac girl kept toddling up, and it was no contest to decide which one would come home with me. BOTH!  Only when her pickup date neared, there was this chocolate kit.... the rest is history.

The goal is to help that the traditional siamese (Tica-Thai) be preserved in pure lines that can be traced to the original siamese, no foreign genes as far as could be detected, and therefore hopefully, no surprises.  One can probably not know EVERY cat and line in the pedigrees far back, but we try our best to exclude possible semi long hair and crossbreeds.  Not only to maintain the beauty, but most of all, the impeccable character of very people oriented furfolk.
I am looking at moderate siamese lines to bring in new blood from time to time (THANK you England!). Health and Character will be the deciding factor just as much as quality. For the future I aim to improve eye color and coat quality without resorting to inbreeding.

I felt very blessed to be allowed to add my first lovely english lad 'J.J' to the menagery, originating from lines I have admired for years.  He has brougth just those qualities of eye color and fur quality. 
Thanks again for the tremendous trust to place that treasure into foreign hands!  Very selectively, he did a splendid job of improving the gene pool and is now happily placed as a pet.  His daughters 'Fine Silver' and Izumi (at Daisuki Thai cattery) show fabulous promise and are quite successful a show.  Our 'English Jewel' was the first, but he won't be the last paw print from across the pond.  The second 'british escapee' is the fabulous gentlecat Rameses Seefahdao who changed domicile to keep our ladies (and himself) happy and occupied.  We now proudly present english studly number 3, Mizar ("Meezer") Jewel from Sialaxy.

With over 200 square meters of living space and a huge bed, there is plenty of room and lots of love. With friends and contacts around the globe there is a good foundation for the future.  Hopefully, also the chance for trust and opportunity to preserve and pass on what we already have achieved.

A word about the character.... I have seen, visited, and 'owned' many cats of various breeds, but such a personality of sweet, cuddly, and 'permanently attached' to their people as our Thai/Trad.Siam I have not experienced before. Total body contact, head butts, and purrs for hours on end (no wonder Star of Thai warn about the addictive factor of their kittens). These furbabies are simply ALWAYS there, perfectly sweet, and blow away every visitor with their inquisitve nature. It may be that we were lucky to 'pick the best', but I'm sure a lot has to do with the fact that these kittens are raised with permanent human contact. As I work from my home, and mostly on the computer, I can afford them the same luxury and as a result, we end up with a dream of a well socialized kitten, who is ready to conquer the world when they leave.

No wonder with that combination of time and effection as well as superb pedigrees. You will find such famous german ancestors as
von der Falkenhöhe:  Wusel, Angelo and Briska
Sky Eyes:   Petite Fleur and Pablo, Else von der Birke,  lines from alte Ziegelei and of Old Royal Siam, as well as the world renowned british contingent of  Lintama, Sibir and Hancas lines to only name a FEW.

The ONLY problem with the furballs I see is to be able to part with the offspring, it always hurts way too much to give them up. I take a gloomy view of that, or as Germans would say: I see black. Or rather chocolate, blue or lilac - lol.

 Kits remain my children after they've moved on, and have a life long 'homecoming' warrantee if life should get in the way.

If you enjoyed our site, and our Jewels, we'll be delighted to see your comments/suggestions in our guestbook:



Guestbook

Located in Bavaria, Germany, I aim to breed absolutely healthy cats with lovely Siamese purrsonalities and preserve the look of the Siamese cats which were seen, admired, and given championship status at cat shows up to the late fifties of the last century.

Our kittens leave us at the age of 14-16 weeks, fully vaccinated (FVP and FVR – kittens that will move outside of Germany will also be vaccinated against rabies), dewormed, microchipped and they will also get a care package containing food, toys, cat litter and an info folder with a health certificate, the vaccination certificate, a registered four generation pedigree, pictures and everything you’ll need to know.

We are placing our kittens primarily as pets only, which means they will be neutered before they leave us. Only on exception will a kittens be placed on the active register and given to reliable hand picked breeding programs that we think are worth supporting. If you are interested in a kitten for breeding purposes please don’t hesitate to inquire telling a bit more about yourself, your cats and your breeding program.  We 'barf', meaning kits are reared on raw meat  as well as selected wet food and we expect them to get that in their new homes as well

WHAT IS A “THAI” CAT?

MANY Thanks to my 'daughter' at cattery Daisuki Thai for the legwork :)

The type of cats that are referred to as the “old-style Siamese” in the U.K. are called and have been registered as “Thai” in Europe by the WCF (World Cat Federation) since 1990. This gives us Europeans the great privilege to show our cats at cat shows, earn different championship titles and show interested visitors that their beloved “old-style Siamese” have not vanished and will never be fully replaced by  the “modern show style Siamese”. It is not uncommon that visitors and cat show judges that get to see our cats have tears in their eyes telling us they used to have a cat exactly looking like ours years ago and that they are thankful that there are still breeders that try to preserve the old look of the breed.

References:

In 2007 TICA (The International Cat Association) also recognized the “Thai” with a very detailed standard of points (I love this standard of points!) describing the “TICA Thai” as the “old-style Siamese”, the native cat of Thailand. A lot of breeders who aimed to get this standard of points of the “Thai” recognized in TICA had consulted and visited the old catteries in Thailand finding Wichienmaat cats that exactly looked like the “old-style Siamese” who had been bred for over a century in the West. Amazing isn’t it? This standard of points is the result of hard work and a global cooperation of breeders who love to preserve the look of the “old-style” Siamese with all their heart.

References:

  • Prestwick-Beresford Old-Style Siamese Breed Preservation Society: PREOSSIA
  • Thai (old-style Siamese) breed seminar (excerpt) presented by TICA Thai breed chair Dr. Cristy Bird, September 5, 2010 at the TICA Annual in Santa Clara, California: Video 1

“The blue point Thai cat in the video is 16 month old Quadruple Grand Champion Alter DiaBrillante Uncle Sam. Sorry it is not easier to hear due to the announcer on the PA calling cats to the judging rings.”

  • TICA Thai cat Sebastian at TICA show in Cherry Hill NJ 1/28/2012:  Video 2

 

WHAT ABOUT THE „THAI“ CAT IN GCCF?

Unfortunately in 2002 the GCCF (Governing Council of the Cat Fancy) allowed Korat breeders to use the name “Thai” for their pointed cats even though it had already been used by the WCF for the “old-style Siamese” in Europe since 1990. In my opinion allowing the Korat breeders to use a name that had already been taken for 12 years by another cat breed was really contrary to the spirit of the World Cat Congress and leads to a lot of confusion and misunderstanding between breeders and cat fanciers.

The cats that are referred to as “Thai cats” by the GCCF are blue pointed and lilac coloured cats that are produced out of a Korat x Korat mating and have NOTHING  to do with the cats that are called “Thai” by WCF and TICA.

References:

 WHAT ABOUT OUTCROSSES WITH OTHER BREEDS?

It is often said that there are so called Thai cat breeders outcrossing with British Shorthairs, American Shorthairs, European Shorthairs or cats with unknown heritage to get the moderate look – I wish I could say that there are no breeders like that but unfortunately I can’t. People that are interested in buying a “Thai cat” need to be careful where to get a kitten and should check the pedigrees and the looks of the cats in the cattery. For example fluffy fur (the ‘undercoat’),, a nose with a clear visible stop and a non Siamese temperament are often an indication of a forbidden outcross.

The WCF and TICA only allow so called outcrosses with “Siamese” because at the end of the day the pure-bred “Thai” IS a Siamese cat.

Cat and kitten pedigrees can be traced back to the first “Siamese” which were imported into the UK in 1884. We are able to look back on a variety of successful and precious original UK “Siamese” bloodlines and are very proud of this fact.

THE FUTURE OF THE “THAI” CAT?

We and many other breeders have been attending a lot of cat shows in the past couple of years to show our cats to a wide range of visitors and judges, handing out the standard of points and a variety of old pictures to sensitize them for the TICA “Thai” standard of points and what a true old-style “Siamese” should look like. It is our heart’s desire to promote this old breed with the new name amongst cat fanciers and to end the confusion and misunderstandings between “TICA Thai” and “old-style Siamese” breeders.

It is with great joy and pride that I see that nowadays more and more GCCF (old-style) “Siamese” breeders in the UK and CFA (old-style) “Siamese” breeders in the US are starting to dual register and show cats in TICA as “Thai”. It looks like finally the mountain of years of confusion and misunderstandings is starting to crumble.

Not only are other countries realizing what we are about, more and more judges got the message and are now preferring the traditional siamese 'Thai' over the round fluffy version of the not always clear origin 'Thai'


Studs residing at or bred by Jewels of Thai Cattery Traditional Cats of Old Times
If you’d like to see more images of the type of cats we are talking about, please visit my ‘daughters’ “Famous Ancestors” section.

import,  English Jewel (JayJay), male, seal point, DOB  8.10.2009

Status:  NEUTERED, placed as Pet

Parents:  Adsetam Himley-Sapphire x IamSiam Sir Purrsea


Daughters on activeThai/Trad.Siam register:
Jewels of Thai Fine Silver (cattery Jewels of Thai)
Jewels of Thai Izumi (cattery Daisuki Thai)
Studs:  None
Clonlost Yo-Yo. male, seal point. DOB  26.02.1949
 

 import,  Ch. Rameses Seefahdao, male, blue point, DOB   29.5.2002

Status:  GONE over the Rainbow bridge

Parents:  Cradlebridge Eliza x Sibir Rameses

Daughters on activeThai/Trad.Siam register:

Tiffy (Cattery of old Royal Siam)

Moongem's Banu
Studs:   Daisuki Thai Akira (out of Jewels of Thai Izumi)

 Ch. Tamruat Sohpar. male, blue point. DOB  12.07.1966

World Ch. Jewels of Thai Eragon, male, lilac point, DOB 10.03.2010

Status:  ACTIVE (chipped for 2014)

Parents:  Jeannie Star of Thai x Valentin vom Katzenpuck

Daughters on activeThai/Trad.Siam register:
Lapis Lazuli (cattery Jewels of Thai)
Studs:  None

Scintilla Apollo, male, lilac point, DOB  09.12.1963

import, Sialaxy Mizar Jewel

Daughters on activeThai/Trad.Siam register: None
Studs:  None


Spotlight Petit Burlinks und Ch. Spotlight Pennylynx
 seal tabby point
geb. 06.06. 1963

Queens residing at or bred by Jewels of Thai Cattery                        Traditional Cats of Old Times
If you’d like to see more images of the type of cats we are talking about, please visit my ‘daughters’ “Famous Ancestors” section.
World Ch. Dara Star of Thai, female, seal point, DOB   22 Feb 2007
Status:  1st Genration, Active
Parents: 
Sky Eyes Petite Fleur  x  Wusel v.d. Falkenhöhe
 
Doneraile Debutante, female, seal point, DOB 23.07.1943

World Ch. Jewels of Thai Crystal, female, seal point, DOB   5 Jun 2008

Status:  2nd Generation, NEUTERED, placed as Pet

Parents:  Dara Star of Thai  x  Wild Bill of Old Royal Siam

Prestwick Perak, female, seal point, DOB 30.04.1924

Eur. Ch. Jewels of Thai Fine Silver, female, blue point, DOB   10 Aug 2010

Status:  3rd Generation, Active

Parents:  Jewels of Thai Crystal Star x English Jewel

Ch. Laurentide Corona, female, blue point
t
Jewels of Thai Lapis Lazuli, female, blue point, DOB 9.Jul 2012
Status:  4th Generation, Active

Parents:  Jewels of Thai Fine Silver x Jewels of Thai Eragon

Praha Poco Allergando
 lilac point,  09.05.1961

     import, Sialaxy Blue Diadem. female, blue point
Status:  Youngster, Active

 
World Ch. Jeannie Star of Thai, female, chocolate point, DOB  1 Okt 2007
Parents:  Moonlight Star of Thai  x Take it Easy Star of Thai

Ch. Seashell de Listinoise, female, chocolate point, DOB  30.6.1947

World Ch.  Jewels of Thai Izumi, female, lila point, DOB 12.6.2011

Status:  Cattery Daisuki Thai, Neutered

Parents:  Jeannie Star of Thai x English Jewel


Scintilla Apollo. male, lilac point. DOB  09.12.1963

Gr. Ch. & CFA Ch. Niki Happy Talk, female, blue point, DOB . 07.04. 1961