| Twelve years ago, after he started living on his own, | | | | paws, and face. |
| my son adopted a Siamese mix and called him, | | | | At his advanced age, Yoda's coat still changes color |
| "Yoda." Although a mix, Yoda has the temperament, | | | | according to heat. When he stays with us, Yoda |
| large ears, huge blue eyes, and the cute, dark face | | | | demands to be let out to the porch. From behind the |
| of a true Siamese. He has also acquired the | | | | screen and the glass doors, this cat loves to watch |
| thermosensitivity of the Siamese's coat coloring. The | | | | the golf course, the squirrels, the birds, and the |
| only part of Yoda that would alert a knowing eye to | | | | golfers goofing up their swings. When Yoda stays in |
| his iffy bloodline is the slightly rounded shape of his | | | | our house, because he goes on the porch so often, |
| face, as the pure-bred Siamese are known to have | | | | his coat lightens up, giving him a younger look. |
| elongated faces. | | | | For an aged cat, Yoda is also very agile. A few days |
| Yoda only takes to my son, nobody else. He has | | | | ago, when a squirrel dared climb on the screen mesh |
| gotten used to my daughter-in-law, and just that, | | | | to the roof, Yoda suddenly jumped at it, higher than |
| because no one can replace his true owner. Although | | | | my height. |
| I have taken care of Yoda numerous times and he | | | | Yoda's love of high places must have come down |
| stays with me every now and then, he barely | | | | from being of royalty. When alone in the house with |
| tolerates me, and that is when he needs fed or asks | | | | me, I usually find him perched on a table or on any |
| for a treat. | | | | other high place as if to rule the world, his kinked tail |
| Knowing the Siamese psychology, I don't blame | | | | moving ever so slightly and his large ears alert, |
| myself or my cat-sitting skills, but I sort of wish he'd | | | | watching his environs. Although I don't tell on this |
| jump on my lap and purr like the tabbies I once | | | | transgression of his, the cat still avoids me. I guess, |
| owned. Maybe it is the Himalayan gene that the | | | | Yoda can't help the way he is, since Siamese are |
| Siamese share with rabbits and mice that makes | | | | famous for emotionally attaching to only one owner. |
| Yoda hop away from me after his needs are met. | | | | From the time they are kittens, the Siamese develop |
| This could be also because Yoda's gene memory | | | | their own loud voice and conversational tone. On the |
| prevents him from getting on with too many people | | | | occasions when my son is walking out the front door |
| at a time. | | | | and leaving his cat with me, Yoda stops evading me |
| In their country of origin, Siam (now called Thailand), | | | | to complain of his misfortune with his loud voice, as if |
| the Siamese cats guarded the Buddhist temples and | | | | he is suffering at the hands of a torturer. In those |
| were considered sacred. Their blood lines were | | | | times, he sounds like a baby in pain. |
| vigilantly protected; and the cats were bred as if | | | | If you want to adopt a Siamese mix, several states |
| they were angels sent from heaven. Later on, the | | | | have organizations called Siamese Rescue, but if you |
| Siamese became the cats of royalty, babysitting for | | | | want to buy a Siamese kitten, you have to go to a |
| the King's children. | | | | breeder. On the average a Siamese kitten will cost |
| Inside the "Cat-Book Poems," a manuscript written in | | | | for about $500 if pedigreed, or about $250, if he will |
| Siam during 1350's, seal-point Siamese looking like | | | | only be your pet. |
| Yoda are pictured. Those cats in those old pictures | | | | Frankly, I don't care if Yoda is not a purebred. To us, |
| must be the representations of adult Siamese cats, | | | | he is royalty and he thinks he is royalty. Still, I wish |
| because a Siamese kitten is pure white at birth. Since | | | | his highness would give me the some of that a |
| the Siamese kitten's coat is heat-sensitive, in time, it | | | | purring affection he exhibits when my son is around. |
| develops the point color: that is, the points on his tail, | | | | |