Flame Point Siamese Cat

Flame point Siamese
Flame Point Siamese Cat – photo ©bonsaibutterfly
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The photographs illustrating this post are by a Flickr photographer who lives with a fantastic looking cat who just happens to be a Flame Point Siamese. I won’t get as lucky again. The photographs are reproduced under a creative commons license.

The license permits no derivatives, no commercial work and it requires an attribution. I have complied with this. Many thanks to the photographer for granting the license.

She is talented, generous, and taken….I don’t know her name but this great cat is called Whitaker. OK down to business. There are a range of Siamese cat types as we know. Siamese cat history, charting the journey from Traditional through Classic (to me, this is the Thai cat) to Modern is interesting. Whitaker has a totally natural and gorgeous traditional appearance. You won’t get a more handsome cat. What makes him the way he is?

There is a lot of genetic work going on in a Flame point Siamese Cat. First there is the pointing. All Siamese cats have pointing. The classic is seal point, a dark brown to black pointing. The first Siamese cats to be imported into the West (the UK) were seal points. Two copies of the pointing gene (see below) makes a black cat a seal pointed cat.

The cat breeders of the cat fancy created the flame point (starting about 1948). Himalayan cats are pointed Persians, for example. You can see a flame pointed (red point) Doll Face Himalayan called Ayla by clicking on the link. Albinism is a caused by a lack of melanin pigmentation.

Pointing is partial albinism caused by the pointing gene, which affects the production of a chemical in the body called tyrosinase that in turn controls the production of melanin pigmentation. When both alleles (a pair of genes) of the pointing gene (cs) are present, pointing shows. It affects eye pigmentation too, hence Siamese cats are blue eyed.

We know how we get pointing but how does it turn orange/red in color? As I understand it (and this is a complex area) a Flame Point Siamese Cat is a red cat (or orange) carrying 2 copies (a pair) of the recessive pointing gene mentioned above. This turns the cat pure white at birth and the gene creating the red color comes through at the cooler extremities after birth as the pointing gene is heat sensitive (the extremities of a cat are cooler than the rest of the exterior of the body).

Whitaker has a ringed tail. This I believe is due to the presence of the agouti gene (tabby gene – see cat coats tabby). You can see the same pattern on the legs in the Lynx Point Siamese. His legs have faint tabby markings too. Finally, an archaic name for this cat is Flame Concha.

Here is another by Sunny Day Photography:

Flame point Siamese
Flame point Siamese. Photo: Sunny Day Photography.

Sources:

  • Wikipedia
  • Showcatsonline
  • ABOUT CAT

Flame Point Siamese Cat to Traditional Siamese Cats

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140 thoughts on “Flame Point Siamese Cat”

  1. I have a red flame Siamese named Mikey-Boy. I’ve had him since he was three months old. He is now 12 1/2 years old. I never knew a cat could be so intelligent, humorous, loyal, and lovable until this four-legged wonder walked into my life. He is my constant companion whether we are inside or outdoors. My son calls Mikey my husband. LOL The awesomeness in these cats is their coloring. In the winter, Mikey looks a deep rust, apricot. And in the summer he looks sheer cream colored. I could go on and on about these Meezers but there isn’t enough room.

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  2. Found this web page by going to orange flame point siamese cats. Interesting stories -have enjoyed all the information I found here. I just adopted an 2 Yr old Orange Flame Point, have only had him three days but he is the most loving cat- loves to be petted, and very bound to me already, and loves to talk. Got him from the local shelter. He has bright orange tip pointed ears,orange on his face,white neck and shoulders and then orange stripes all the way to end of tail, very beautiful cat – about 9-10 lbs- beautiful blue eyes and they are crossed also- but really looks like a Siamese . any more information would sure be helpful! THANKS

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    • He sounds like a beautiful cat. You are lucky to have him as a companion 🙂 As I said I think they are relatively rare cats. The CFA does not accept flame pointing as I recall. TICA accepts all pointed colors so accept the flame point. CFA = Cat Fanciers’ Association and TICA = The International Cat Association. I prefer the traditional flame point. They look beautiful to me. It seems to me that the flam point is really a red tabby point as the pointing is that if a ginger tabby cat to some extent. Although there is no M mark on the head of a flame point Siamese cat. Does you cat have an M mark on his forehead?

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  3. I have a a flame point. My grand mother got her when she was weaned off her mother’s milk. At first she was solid color, then over time she got orange stripes on her tail and orange on nose and ears.

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  4. Hi, My sis have a 17 year old flame point cat named Teo, it is beautiful and talkative cat, love its to purr for everything or everyone, they live in Guadalajara, Mexico.

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  5. I have a 12 year old cat named Mo, looks very similar to the cat pictured above. He is obnoxious and I adore him. We live in CA, but when we moved to CO, his coloring changed a bit – he got darker all over, he lightened up a bit after returning back to CA. I’ve never seen another cat with look as similar as the one above. Mo is a BIG cat at 16 lbs, but is actually kinda thin. oh – he also has 6 toes on each front paw. The 6th toe has a knuckle and claw and he uses it. He is a trip! Came across your page by accident as his behavior is odd lately. Looking for a page to explain his symptom.
    Very interesting read.

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    • Hi, the lightening and darkening of the fur is due to the heat sensitive nature of the cells in the skin that produces the pigment that goes into the hair strand. Environmental temperature, the cooler extremities of the cat, and age of the cat affects the skin temperature. This information may help explain what is going on. Thanks for the comment.

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    • I have a cat I was told is part Siamese, but then was told by someone else that he most likely is NOT part Siamese, but pure Siamese Flame Point. My MO is VERY much like the above picture, just slightly darker (more cream colored). He adopted me from a shelter. Unfortunately, some previous owner had him declawed on the front feet. He weighs a little over 19 pounds, and is about 10 1/2 years old.

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      • Hi Donna, thanks for commenting. The photo accompanying your comment is not of a Siamese cat as there is white fur over the muzzle and nose. Does your cat have white fur over the muzzle? If so he is probably a random bred bicolor (white and red fur). However, if he has red pointing like a Siamese then he could be a flame point Siamese.

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        • This photo with the captioning is my cat, MO….he does have the red pointing and also has the blue eyes. They look orange here because of the flash of the camera. He has the white on his muzzle, and also the rings on tail and parts of his body like I have seen in pictures of Flame Point Siamese. Thank you very much for responding to my comment. I thought it was neat that the comment I responded to was from a person with a cat looking like the Flame Point Siamese pictures and also names Mo.

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            • Now I’m even more confused….those pictures of Snowshoes seem to be much darker in color than MO. I DO know that I am blessed by MO having chosen me to be his person. Thanks for all your help and suggestions. I have been trying to send you another picture of MO, showing how large he is, but it isn’t being accepted.

              Reply
  6. I have a beautiful flame point cat I adopted from the humane society at five weeks old after it was found on the road alone with a sibling.He was pure white with blue eyes and to my surpise changed to the flame point. I would love to share a picture.

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