#  >  > Living And Legal Affairs In Thailand >  >  > Farming & Gardening In Thailand >  >  > Thailands Zoos and Animals >  >  Korat Cats in Khorat being blue.

## dirtydog

I got to admit this was a bit of a shock, I assumed Thailand was only famed for its Siamese cats, Thai ridge back dogs, and Thai fake elephants from India, yes they are from India Mr Somchai, anyway it seems that Korat is famous for it's Korat cats, suppose thats why all the old expat retirees go there to retire, easy to get a cat, wonder why they don't call them Nakhon Ratchasima cats, suppose the name would be a bit difficult for farangs.

Supposedly these Blue Korat cats came originally from the Malaysian jungle, probably a bit like Thai elephants I suppose, and they ended up in Korat and got called Korat cats, now I am not an expert on cats, but doesn't it look like a Burmese blue? Is this like the Thai elephant scam?

My parents had a couple of Siamese cats, they were pretty smart albeit a bit boring, the big old ginger tom they had was more fun, I think the Siamese lived till they were about 17 years old which is a pretty good innings, think I would have preferred a Korat cat as a kitten when I was a child though, they look pretty smart.

Here's a nice picture of a blue Korat cat.



From Mr Wiki.

_Korats are a slate blue-grey shorthair domestic cat with a small to medium build and a low percentage of body fat. Their bodies are semi-cobby, and are surprisingly heavy for their size. They are intelligent, shy, soft-voiced, playful,[1] active cats and form strong bonds with people.

Korats have several characteristics distinguishing them as a breed. One is its head, frequently described as "heart-shaped". Korats are known for their relatively large green eyes and are one of a few breeds that have only one color.

The Korat is one of the oldest stable cat breeds. Originating in Thailand, it is named after the Nakhon Ratchasima province. In Thailand it is known as Si-Sawat, meaning "Color of the Sawat Seed". They are known colloquially as the "Good Luck Cat" and are given in pairs to newlyweds or to people who are highly esteemed, for good luck. Until recently, Korats were not sold, but only given as gifts.

The first mention of the Korat is in "The Cat-Book Poems" authored between 1350 and 1767 AD in Thailand, now in the National library in Bangkok. They first appeared in America in the 1950s and arrived in Britain from there in 1972.

Jean Johnson introduced Korats to the US in 1959. She had lived in Thailand, where she encountered the breed. Her first pair were named Nara (male) and Dara (female)._ 

But how accurate is Mr Wiki? Here they say Korat cats first arrived in England in 1896, someone is nearly 100 years out, quite a glaring mistake over something as important as a cat  :Smile: 

_In 1896 a blue-colored cat was entered in the Siamese class at the National Cat Club show in England by a gentleman named Spearman, who was recently home  from Siam. When the judge rejected the cat because its body was blue instead of biscuit-colored like the other Siamese, Spearman protested that his cat was, indeed, from Siam, and that he had seen others like it when he was there.

Sixteen years later one writer declared that Spearman's cat had been the first bluepoint Siamese ever exhibited; but there is also reason to believe that Spearman's cat was, instead, the first Korat to be exhibited. For Korats and Siamese - and Burmese, too - are all common to Siam.

We have this on the authority of the anonymous author of the aforementioned Cat-Book Poems, which is preserved in the Thai National Library in Bangkok. 

This illustrated work, rescued from the Siamese city of Ayudha when it was destroyed by Burmese invaders in 1767, describes several kinds of "Siamese" cats.

One - a white-haired variety with black tail, feet and ears - resembles the modern Siamese. Another is a chocolate cat that could be the ancestor of the Burmese (and/or the Havana brown). A third is a blue cat, quite possibly the forebear of the Korat. Since Ayudha was 417 years old when the Cat-Book Poems was rescued, it is reasonable to assume that the Korat is more than two centuries old, and perhaps much older. (It is not reasonable to assume, however, that the Korat was found only in the province after which it was named.)

Whether that "Blue Siamese" exhibited in England in 1896 was a Korat or a bluepoint Siamese is not certain, wrote former Cat Fanciers' Association (CFA) president Richard H. Gebhardt, "but it has been established that the sealpoint Siamese ... carries the gene for blue color; and there surely had to have been some cross-breedings between Siamese and the self-colored blue cats in Siam, for it has also been reported that bluepoint kittens appeared in the litters born to the earliest Korats imported to this country. Thus it is safe to assume that the Korat began life in the United States as an established hybrid, which is how [CFA] classified the breed when it was first recognized."
Pet Publishing Korat Cats_ 

If you are in the UK looking for a Korat kitten there are a few breeders listed here.
If you want to know about breeding your blue Korat then this woman seems to be the one, she won best breeder of the year for 7 years, here is her site.
Here is a link to The Cat Fanciers' Association, although there is a Korat cat fanciers association but I don't think they have a web site.

 *Here is a video of a real live Korat cat.*
 



Wild Cats of Thailand

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## phuketbound

So much confusion over the origins of the Korat cat. The cat-book poems would be an interesting read. They sure are beautiful cats, with big green eyes. I noticed the grey, but didn't see any blue.

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## patsycat

I think it depends on the sunlight.

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## cali kid

I have seen one in the neighborhood a couple of times. 

Have you had a cat like this DD? The real Thai name for the cat is See Sawat, but even Thai people refer to them as Maow Korat most of the time. The Thai name for the Siamese is something like, "wit chien mahd", I can say it properly but dont know how you would spell it.

So there are now 3 cat breeds famous in Thailand with the addition on the Khao Manee which is just gaining popularity in the western world. The other are the siamese and korat cat.

Another cat which is normally mentioned in the same breath is the burmese cat, Thai name "Supalark" which comes in a few colors but is mostly recognized as being very similar to the siamese but with light brown/gold, tan or grey colored hair..

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## cali kid

: @ : Siamese cat : @ :

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## baldrick

::doglol::

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