Noell
Seal Point
Photo by Chanan
วิเชียรมาศ
Wichienmaat · “Moon Diamond”
Old-Style Siamese Kittens
Bred and Raised in Pennsylvania, USA
On May 1, 2010, the Old-Style Siamese was accepted by The International Cat Association (TICA) for championship status. Once again, the Old-Style Siamese has returned to the show ring under the name “Thai.”
Sandypoints Cattery is a small cattery in Pennsylvania that has been raising CFA and (more recently) TICA-registered Old-Style Siamese kittens for over 35 years.
Our kitten clients tell us that they have had difficulty locating Old-Style kittens with good pedigrees that are not inbred.
That’s because the Old-Style has been on the verge of extinction since it lost favor in the show rings of the major cat fancies in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Most Siamese breeders began breeding for a more extreme look (the Modern or Show-Style Siamese), and the breed standard was revised to reflect this. Since breeders couldn’t show the Old-Style, they stopped breeding them.
Our immediate breeding goal is saving the old lineages and keeping them healthy.
Sadly, many of the old Siamese genes and lineages have been lost and can never be recovered. Our kittens are dual-registered with either CFA or CFF and TICA. They have pedigrees dating back to the introduction of Siamese to the United States (and beyond that, to the United Kingdom).
Sandypoints Cattery
About Us and Our Cats
Sandypoints Cattery has been breeding Old-Style Siamese kittens for over 35 years. We are a small home cattery; our females and kittens are never caged and are well socialized.
Our cats are directly descended from the old Green Lane Cattery, famous in its day. The Green Lane Cattery never modernized its lines to the Show-Style type of Siamese, but simply ceased to exist in the early-to-mid 1960s, as far as we can determine (we are always looking for more information).
We do not offer stud service, inbreed, or line-breed, as we feel that these practices are detrimental to the health of our very healthy cats. We intend to keep it that way.
Our cattery is located in the Philadelphia area. Visits to our cattery are by appointment, and even then, to serious buyers only. It has to be this way, as we are unwilling to allow anything that could adversely affect the health of the cats in our cattery.
About Old-Style Siamese
There seems to be a lot of confusion about the various terms describing the Old-Style Siamese. That’s because each definition can mean something different, depending on who (usually a breed club) is doing the defining. Although some pointed cats with blue eyes might fall within the definition of Old-Style Siamese, many others might not.
Sandypoints Cattery follows the Thai breed standard established by The International Cat Association (TICA), found here:
TICA Thai Breed Standard (PDF)For this reason, we define the Old-Style Siamese (OSS) as the same type of Siamese cat that was bred for centuries in Thailand; the same cat that became popular when it was imported to the West between the late nineteenth and mid-twentieth centuries. When we use this definition, there is a fairly large range of cats that will meet the criteria, but there are also many pointed cats that will not. Pointed cats are cats with blue eyes, a lighter body, and dark face mask, ears, legs and tail, much the same as a Siamese.
Just because a cat has points does not make it a Siamese; only a pedigree can do that. An Old-Style Siamese will not have a thick, fluffy coat; the coat should be smooth and silky. An Old-Style Siamese will not have a round skull, a chunky body or tufted ears. An Old-Style Siamese will have a substantial body and a moderately wedge-shaped head, although the exact proportions of the wedge shape may vary. An Old-Style Siamese will fall within the breed standard developed in 1914 by America’s Siamese Cat Society.
Most importantly, an Old-Style Siamese will have a long pedigree, going back many, many generations, that is recognized by the major cat registries.
In short, an OSS should have the same look that has existed for so long in Thailand; the look that the first imported British cats had about 100 years ago. An Old-Style Siamese should look the same as the cats that dominated the Siamese breed until the late 1960s.
According to existing records, the first Siamese cats were imported to England in the 1880s; these cats were the forebears of the cats in America today. An interesting note is that all Siamese in America are descended from about eleven British imports. They were first seen in America, at shows, in about 1903. The first Siamese to win Best Cat in Show did so at the Michigan Cat Club Show in 1907.
Point colors at Sandypoints
Seal Point
Deep brown points
Chocolate Point
Warm milk-chocolate
Blue Point
Slate gray-blue
Lilac Point
Soft pinkish gray
Lynx Point
Tabby-striped points
Sandypoints Cattery
Our Girl Cats
Our Boy Cats
Sandypoints Cattery
Past Litters
2026 Litters
Note: Often people ask us for a discount on the purchase of two kittens. Although we are delighted to see two kittens going to the same home, we currently have more people who want kittens than we have kittens. Consequently, there is no discount for two kittens.
Often people think that the kitten will cost less if it goes without its registration papers. Registration papers are a very tiny expense in raising kittens; it costs about $10.00 to register an entire litter. Registration papers ensure that the kitten is what it is supposed to be and that its parentage is known, so you get exactly what you expect. Please don’t ask us to sell you a kitten without registration papers, because we won’t.
For more details, please contact us at [email protected]
Important: If you do write to us, please be sure to add the Sandypoints Cattery email address to your contacts or approved senders, so our reply doesn’t end up in your spam folder.
What Our Kittens Cost and What You Get
Our kittens are $1,100 each. They are all vet-checked and have all vaccinations appropriate for the kitten’s age, which means at a minimum the first 3-way vaccination. You will receive a form for registration, and a pedigree for each of the kitten’s parents. We use a written sales agreement, in which we guarantee our kittens will be negative for feline leukemia and FIV. We will refund the money for your kitten if your veterinarian finds a health problem or other abnormality at the initial veterinary examination.
You will receive a certified 5-generation TICA pedigree for each of your kitten’s parents.
A History of Our Old-Style Siamese Lineage
We always want to learn more.
If anyone out there knows anything about or anyone connected to the old Green Lane Cattery, please contact us!
Timeline
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1880s
The first Siamese cats are imported to England; these cats were the forebears of the cats in America today.
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1903
Siamese are first seen in America, at shows.
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1907
A Siamese wins Best Cat in Show for the first time, at the Michigan Cat Club Show.
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1948
The earliest Green Lane queens we are able to document with certainty.
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1953
Mrs. Naugle imports (at least) two extremely fine cats from England. Green Lane’s most important studs came from these British imports.
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1964
Green Lane Sam is born, the last important cat from Green Lane Cattery. Many of our breeding cats are directly descended from him.
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Late 1960s
The Old-Style loses favor in the show rings of the major cat fancies, as breeders favor a more extreme look.
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May 1, 2010
TICA accepts the Old-Style Siamese for championship status under the name “Thai.”
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Today
The Old-Style Siamese (Thai) continues at Sandypoints with the same grace, beauty and intelligence.
Now…
As far as we can determine, the Green Lane Cattery was solely owned by Mrs. Rex Naugle, originally from Primos, Pennsylvania; her last address with CFA is listed as Lansdowne, Pennsylvania.
Sadly, nearly all of the very old catteries either closed or dropped the Green Lane lineage (along with most of the other excellent old lines) when the Siamese breed went to the extreme look we see at cat shows today. Breeders started breeding their cats mainly to the most extreme cats of their era. You will be able to notice this if you look at the Show-Style pedigrees from that period.
What makes our cats so special is that the Green Lane ancestors of most other catteries’ Old-Style Siamese can only be found many, many generations back in the pedigrees, whereas our cats have them quite close to the fore. All of those extra generations have caused the other cats to evolve much farther away from the Green Lane “look,” while our cats still look the same as they did in the 1950s.
From all available information, Mrs. Naugle bred and owned Green Lane Sam, the last important cat from Green Lane Cattery (an important cat is one that generates lots of descendants that survive to the present day). Many of our breeding cats are directly descended from Green Lane Sam, although we have incorporated other old lines for genetic diversity and health.
Happily, by good fortune, the Old-Style Siamese (Thai) continues at Sandypoints with the same grace, beauty and intelligence it has had for the past thirty-some years.
Then…
Mrs. Naugle dealt primarily with old catteries such as Wu Cattery, Newton Cattery, Doneraile Cattery, and Hollycat Cattery when buying breeding cats. She sold her Green Lane cats to a number of later catteries, such as Velvet Paws. Because those later catteries were very active in the breed, you can find some Green Lane cats in almost every Siamese pedigree.
Mrs. Naugle collaborated with Newton Cattery, which was owned by Virginia Cobb. Ms. Cobb started the Newton Cattery in the 1930s and was still breeding until at least 1950. Although Green Lane started with several different queens, the queens were bred primarily to studs from the Newton Cattery, which links the lineage directly to the Newton cats.
The earliest Green Lane queens we are able to document with certainty are from 1948. This does not rule out earlier ones, as at first, Mrs. Naugle registered her cats with CFF (Cat Fanciers’ Federation). Later she switched to CFA (Cat Fanciers’ Association). In 1953, Mrs. Naugle imported (at least) two extremely fine cats from England. It is from her cattery’s British imports that Green Lane’s most important studs came. One of these cats was Ch. Green Lane Vance.
Green Lane Sam’s parents did not carry her cattery name: although she did not breed Sam’s parents, she did breed some of their ancestors.
In other words, she had to have owned and bred Fugi Lil’ Kit (Sam’s dam) in order for her son, Green Lane Sam, to be entitled to bear Mrs. Naugle’s cattery prefix, Green Lane. A breeder can only put her own cattery prefix on the offspring if she is the owner of the dam at the time of the dam’s pregnancy.
Mrs. Naugle was the owner of Ch. Doneraile Brun Malvana (see photo above), a chocolate point female Siamese whom she imported from England. She bought Malvana from Mrs. Kathleen Williams, the owner of Doneraile Cattery in England. Malvana is Green Lane Sam’s great-great-great-grandmother. With Ch. Beauchat Brunnescens Lynn of Wu, and Malvana, Mrs. Naugle bred R.M. Dbl. Gr. Ch. Green Lane Van of Velvet Shadow (see photo at the beginning of this section), a chocolate point male, and a very important stud found in many Old-Style as well as Show-Style pedigrees. He was bred by Mrs. Naugle and owned by Cerise Thrift. His parents were Ch. Green Lane Vance and Doneraile Brun Malvana (both owned by Mrs. Naugle).
Dbl. Gr. and Quint. Ch. Green Lane Beryl (see photo) was bred by Mrs. Naugle and owned by Mr. and Mrs. Leigh Manley. Beryl’s sire was Gr. Ch. Green Lane Van of Velvet Shadow, bred by Mrs. Naugle and owned by Cerise Thrift. Ms. Thrift, the owner of Velvet Shadow Cattery, appears to have been one of the later breeders with whom Mrs. Naugle worked closely. Beryl’s dam was Green Lane Miranda.
R.M. Gr. Ch. Gidgetta of Cyreccia (see photo below) was another very influential chocolate point queen you will find in a great many Old-Style and Show-Style pedigrees. She was bred by Sue McNally, but Gidgetta’s sire was also Gr. Ch. Green Lane Van of Velvet Shadow.
Sources
Dr. Cristy Bird, Sarsenstone Cattery
Su-Bali database, CFA certified pedigrees
Photos/text from This is the Siamese Cat by Marge Naples (published in 1964 by T.F.H. Publications, Inc.)
* Photo/text from Siamese Cat Book by Vera M. Nelson (published in 1967/76 by T.F.H. Publications, Inc. Ltd.)
If we can answer any further questions you may have, please write to us at
[email protected]Note: Please keep in mind that although we would love to reply to your questions instantaneously, that isn't always possible due to the high volume of inquiries.