It's time I told you about Monkey. My Siam cat.
I had a Siamese before Monkey. Her name was Casper. I got her for my 10th birthday present. She died 14 years later. She was all kinds of amazing, she was affectionate, she sang, spoke, shouted, she slept under my covers, on my head, she slept on my lap, she followed me around the house, she came when I called her, she called me until I came - BUT - She was not a pure bred Siamese. Her mother was black. No-one knew who the father was, he obviously freaked out and left the country.
Now, because I had had such an amazing time with Casper, I decided - Siamese cats are for me. I need to get another Siamese. So after 2 years of mourning, I decided it was time to move on and find myself another love.
I found him. He was a 3 month old baby boy, all alone in a pet shop. I wanted a girl, but I thought, 'what the hell, here we are, i'll take him, it's fate'. So, I bought him for R500, not thinking about pure-breed or any of that. I just liked the fact that he LOOKED like a Siamese. A few months later I walked into the same shop to buy stuff for my snakes, and the owner asked me if I'd had him neutered because they needed him to breed. Of course I did. Tough shit. But that's how I knew he was the real deal.
We couldn't decide what to name him. It started with all kinds of super-hero names to chinese names to 'Lucifer Sam the Siam Cat' from a Pink Floyd song... We called him Monkey in the mean time. Eventually, as always, it stuck. So it went from 'Monkey' to 'Mung-Kee' and then back to 'Monkey' for lazy reasons.
I did quite a lot of research on Siamese cats. They're affectionate, they're loud, they're loyal, they're all these wonderful things. Well. Monkey is a pure-bred Siamese cat (I'm 100% sure of that, down down to the tip of his kinked tail!), and he is none of the above (except he can get pretty loud sometimes - when there is catnip in the vicinity.)
Monkey is an exceptional cat.
He doesn't like being held, touched, bothered, spoken to, or spoken about. He keeps to himself. He has quite an attitude, but has never been aggressive. He's always been like this. No matter how much attention and loving I've given him, he hasn't budged. But at the same time he has one of the most amazing personalities I have ever come across. He is his own person entirely and he is amazingly smart!
He really does has his 'nice' moments where he comes up to me and lets me rub his scent glands on myself, it's a sign of him accepting me as part of his service. Him rubbing his scent glands on me is also a way of him showing that he owns me. I am his territory. Which, to be honest, makes me so excitable I could wee my fucking pants.
We got him a little sister (Little Padmé), and he loves her. He protects her and he plays with her when he's in the mood. He doesn't mind a quick snuggle with her here and there either. Which makes me believe he truly does have a soft side - and that he's willing to show it when he deems us worthy to see it.
The main point of this whole entry is that people have always said Siamese are the most wonderful cats to have. I beg to differ. (Don't get me wrong, I love Monkey more than my own boyfriend). But seriously, just read this insert in an article I found on the internet titled "Siamese Cats - Do you really want one?"
"Where they do require more attention is in the mental and psychological area. Without that attention, they will become unhappy, and an unhappy Siamese cat spells trouble. Picture this: shredded furniture and curtains, territory marking and self harming by pulling out their own fur, just for starters. "Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/2516496
Doesn't that sound a bit... Psychotic? A question in Yahoo answers: "Are Siamese cats more aggressive than other cats" - Here is one of many answers:
"Well, I do have a siamese and yes, she definitely is more aggressive than my other cats. She is the boss. She does not like to be groomed by the others, she mostly keeps to herself. Definitely does not like to share me. When she sees me play with the other cats, she gets jealous. She will just walk up to one of the others and just swat them in the face. I would never dare put my face next to hers. She is very fast."
Another one: "Siamese are usually nice but have a lot of attitude."
...Hmmm. Well, I think I'm babbling on a bit here. But I'm sure you get the point! People should not put 'breeds' into personality categories. It's not a fact that if it's a certain 'breed' that it will be a certain 'way'. Just pick a random cat from an SPCA or any home and give it love and attention and hope to god it's mentally stable. :)
Here is a video of Padmé attempting to groom Monkey, some pics, and a video on Ricky Gervais' Siamese which you should definitely watch - (think I need to organize a play date).
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