Balinese Cat

Balinese Cat Photo of Athena: © Helmi Flick

Introduction

You could almost summarize this cat in several words, a Siamese cat with long fur but it is not quite as straight forward as that, not for me in any event.

It is said or is accepted that the breed originates in the introduction of a gene into the Siamese cat's genetic make up that causes semi-long hair. This gene is recessive so its effects can be hidden for a long time.

The question is, how was this gene introduced? The gene may have been in one of the early imports from Siam. Longhaired Siamese cats appear to have been in existence in the Far East well before importation to the West.

Or, it may have been a genetic mutation. A number of breeds are due to the mutation of a gene (e.g. Dwarf Cats). Finally, it is more probable that the Siamese or their offspring imported into Britain were outcrossed with longhaired cats such as the Turkish Angora.

Once the possibility of a longhaired Siamese was presented to the Cat Fancy then in time it came about that a new breed was created and developed (well delineated from other breeds) through selective breeding.

Photo of Athena reclining: © Helmi Flick

History

Date	Event
1920s or before	The appearance of semi-longhaired cats in Siamese litters.
1928	Longhair Siamese registered with the Cat Fanciers Federation.
1955	Breeding of the Balinese (perhaps initially referred to still as the Longhaired Siamese) began in earnest. This must have meant a breeding programme that ran in parallel with the Modern Siamese as until about 1950 there was only one type of Siamese namely the Traditional Siamese or Thai as the breed is now called.
1961	Accepted in the USA for registration in same point colors as the Siamese.
1961	The breed was accepted for championship status by CFF.
1979	Additional colors where introduced and registered in USA - red, cream,tabby etc.
Read about the history in detail on this dedicated page (new window)

The Associations and the Balinese Cat

Athena, the cat in the two photographs above, would be a Lynx Point Balinese if she was registered with TICA (The International Cat Association). If she was registered with the CFA (Cat Fanciers Association) she would be a Javanese, a separate breed.

This is because the CFA only register the conventional Siamese point colors for this breed, namely seal, lilac, chocolate and blue (the solid colors). Whereas the other associations, including TICA allow registration of all the additional point colors namely, lynx (tabby), tortoiseshell, flame (red) and cream.

The lynx point incidentally is the tabby gene having an effect on the points of the cat (i.e. causing stripping).

To complicate matters more in Europe a Javanese cat means an Oriental Longhair with a solid-color.

This is confusing and it is probably time to rationalize the various criteria for registration and the breed names.


Photo of Kareem (left) and Samson (right) © Helmi Flick

Appearance and Character

The Balinese Cat's elegant and stylish appearance is in contrast to her demonstrative character and desire to clown around. Apparently she is a little less vocal than the Siamese (who is known to be vocal). She is intelligent.

Traditional Balinese - Photo: © audioeric

The photographs that you see on this page are of the equivalent of the Modern Siamese in body conformation. As is the case for the Siamese cat, there are two type of Balinese Cat, the Traditional and the Contemporary. This page features the Contemporary. A Traditional Balinese is illustrated opposite, right.

During development of the Balinese Cat, and as a result of breeding with the Modern Siamese to improve the "contemporary" long and slightly fragile look, the coat became more like a shorthaired cat in texture, while the tail retained its magnificent plume.

The coat is not thick, therefore, as in other long or medium long haired cats such as the Maine Coon or Persian but silky and it lies close to the body.

Photo of Samantha: © Helmi Flick

Breeders

This is a list of breeders with their own websites that are listed by Google on the first three pages - that's my criteria for listing here, currently. I have listed Balinese and Javanese cat breeders. They are listed in the order in which they appear on the search result.

Montessori Balinese and Javanese Cats
Located in Florida, USA.

Sehnsational Balinese Kittens
Small cattery in Tucson, AZ, USA, specializing in dilute-pointed, lynx-pointed, and bi-colored kittens

From Balinese Cat to Home Page