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Modern Siamese Cats photograph ©Helmi Flick If you go to a big cat
show such as the GCCF Supreme Cat Show or for example the National
Cat Club annual show in London, you will see Modern Siamese
cats. Their appearance catches the eye. To a person who might
be a cat lover but not a cat fancier, they are not the kind of Siamese
cat that they are used to seeing or perhaps have hardly seen. They look
fragile and have small heads to the untrained eye.
If you search for photographs for Modern Siamese cats on the Flickr website (which has tens of millions of photographs on it and is the biggest photo site on the internet), the search results produce about 90% Traditional Siamese cats and 10% Modern Siamese cats with a small number in between.The people who upload photographs to Flickr are "ordinary" people. The people who exhibit and compete at cat shows are cat breeders and serious cat lovers (cat fanciers). I conclude that the Modern Siamese has been bred (some would say to a slightly extreme level) for the breeders and cat fanciers (and not for the general market) and the extreme look has been developed in partnership with show judges in interpreting the breed standard, which is open to a fairly wide interpretation. Until recently cat fanciers couldn't show Traditional Siamese cats. Now the breed is gaining recognition and has been renamed the Thai on the insistence it seems of the Modern Siamese cat breeders and recognized by TICA. I don't know if this will work for or against the Traditional Siamese cat breeders. Click on the following link, if you'd like to read about the History of the Siamese Cat (in some detail and with illustrations). Tell me your preference and vote here. When you vote you are taken to a results page: 
This is a slide show. The photographs are all copyright © Helmi Flick The Modern Siamese cat is
still currently very much in favor over the Traditional
in
respect of the cat fancy (but see above).
The Modern has a slender rather athletic elongated silhouette and a
wedged head shape (a weggie). As mentioned, the head is very small,
almost unnaturally so. The ears are exaggeratedly large. Breeders
preparing for a show may trim the ear hair to make the ear look bigger
and more prominent. The breed standard repeats the adjectives such as
"slim", "slender", "long and straight", "fine" and "dainty". These give
us the clue to a look that the breeders would call more refined and
elegant than the Traditional Siamese.
The CFA allows the same restricted 4 point colors, seal, blue, lilac and chocolate. The rangy appearance is not dissimilar to the Cornish Rex greyhound look. There are clearly cat lovers who love this fragile look. She is very vocal. Going back to the 1960s I hadn't heard of or seen the Modern Siamese. You might like to read about Siamese cat history. The I feel that it is a bit of a shame that there are 2 or perhaps 3 (there is also the classic look, in between the Traditional and the Modern) types of Siamese. Things are more complicated these days. The cats illustrated here by Helmi are very good looking cats but I have seen more extreme looks than these. Clearly a very wide spectrum from the robust Traditional to the most extreme appearance exists. As usual it depends on the breeders. Seal points are the best known color point. The wedge shaped head is accentuated by the large ears. The eyes are a deep blue almond.  Modern Siamese cats -
photo ©Helmi
Flick
notice the straight profile HealthThe Modern Siamese cat is
a great companion. Before
your adopt be careful about health issues. There is a website on the
internet written by an obviously very caring and educated (and
concerned) women who bought several Modern Siamese from a breeder who
was nice to her. She noticed Urinary Tract Infections when she
collected her cats but none lived to 10 years and the majority died
very young of a wide range of illnesses. Apparently Upper Respiratory
Infections (URIs) in kittens is also a problem.
She concluded that the underlying cause was a defective immune system. It seemed to her that breeders of the Modern Siamese cat do not expect their cats to live to what I would have thought is a normal age for a cat meaning between say 13-20 years. Ten years of age being considered old. I am not saying that this is necessarily typical, however. I have not seen the same said about the Traditional Siamese. I have discussed Siamese Cat Health in more detail, which discusses briefly the potential cause of an impaired immune system - inbreeding to achieve the extreme elongated appearance and unusually straight profile.  Modern
Siamese Cat photo
©copyright Creativity+ Timothy K Hamilton. This profile is
classic breed standard it seems. A nice flat line in profile.
CommunicationModern Siamese cats are very social and vocal cats. And remember cats also talk with body language. Siamese being great socializers and not knowing the English language :) need to communicate with us in different and subtle ways. They also communicate with other animals with body language.A useful tool for the Modern Siamese cat is its tail. You can tell a lot about what is going on in the head by watching the tail.
Modern
Siamese cats - great profile - Elegant - this would please breeders -
photo copright Deannster.
This photo has been reproduced under a creative commons license fully
complied with.
Then you've got the whiskers, eyes, ears and her general demeanor.
Modern Siamese Cat BreedersOf great interest to me
is the fact that there are
no Modern Siamese Cat Breeders listed independently on the first 3
pages of a Google search.
This is in stark contrast to a search for Traditional
Siamese Cat Breeders when many (mainly US) were listed.
Is this an indication of a shift back to the good old Siamese?
I'd recommend a Siamese Cat rescue Center and there is one very good one in the USA. From Modern Siamese cats to Traditional Siamese cats. 
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