It’s an easy task to define the Korat. It is the blue cat of Thailand. Indeed, its very name in its native country means exactly that: ‘si-sawat’ greyish-blue cat. Many countries have their own blue cats, so keeping records of origin has always been important for the Korat breeders and clubs. All Korats in the west today can have their ancestry traced back to imports from Thailand. Not for nothing has it become known as the ‘blue cat with the Thai Passport’. No outcrossing to any other breed is permitted in any of the world’s registries

Origins and Traditions

The earliest existing records of the cats of Thailand can be seen in the Bangkok National Library, and are known as the Cat-Book Poems. Each of the breed colours is pictured and described poetically. The Korat entry relates that, ‘The base of each hair, Is the colour of a cloud’ and Korat eyes are ‘Like dew when dropped on the leaf of a lotus’. The villagers say the eye colour is green as the first shoots of young rice.

According to the unknown author some of these cats are bringers of good luck, some bad. The Korat with its rain-cloud coat and green eyes is one of the luckiest, a symbol of wealth, fertility and good harvests. It used to be tradition for a newly married couple to be presented with a Korat on their wedding day, and in remote villages in the north east of the country a Korat is still paraded around , and carried in procession to the well where it is sprinkled with water, to ensure the rice paddies are filled by rain.

Breeders take a pride in their Korats as an ‘ancient natural breed.’ Indeed the current show standards require the Korat to be as it was described in the Cat Book Poems written hundreds of years ago. Only the style of the language has changed!

Mystery Appearance

Officially Korats first came to the west in 1959 when Mrs Jean Johnson imported a pair to the USA. There is though an intriguing reference over fifty years earlier to a blue cat from Siam in Britain in 1896. It was exhibited as a Siamese cat, but had the ignominy of being disqualified by one of the most famous early cat fancier judges, artist Louis Wain. The reason given was that its colouring was not the accepted biscuity fawn. The only blue cat of Siam is, of course, our Korat.

Stunning Looks

An adult Korat can be breathtakingly beautiful. Large, luminous, green eyes, that seem oversized for the heart-shaped face, gaze appealingly. A blue coat with an abundance of tipping gives a halo effect as the light gleams on the silver sheen. The males show muscular power and, though the females are often smaller and dainty in appearance, both sexes surprise those who lift them as they are far more solid in substance than appearance suggests.

Choosing a kitten for looks though is just about impossible with this breed. Korats are slow maturing, and kittens and adolescents are often ugly ducklings, with dark, rather fluffy coats and amber coloured eyes; the mature ‘swan’ taking three/four years to blossom.

An Interactive Companion

Do not choose this breed for its looks alone. The Korat is not for you if you are desirous of the merely decorative. They wish to be involved in the lives of their people and are truly companions. There has to be a reciprocal commitment on the part of the new owner. All of us who have owned them know how our lives were changed when Korats arrived. Their natural intelligence, liveliness and playfulness is their charm and the new owner must know of this, and be ready to give time and love, which will then be repaid a hundredfold.

Korats love to play. They like to have a store of small toys to give a variety of activities. Some will retrieve small objects and carry them around - though they don’t necessarily remember where they dropped them last. Balls provide lots of fun, so do things on strings that can be jumped for. Korats are lithe and active athletes. Enthusiastic climbing comes instinctively too, a strong tiered climbing/scratching post is a recommended accessory.

Long Healthy Lives

The policy of only Korat x Korat breeding has not brought problems, probably because new bloodlines directly from Thailand have always been part of the breeding programmes in western countries. The Korat may be a minority breed but it’s strongly supported by its international community of breeders. This made it possible for our cats to be tested when genetic screening for a known inherited disease was offered. The first cat breed to be involved in this advancement of science, and wonderful to find no affected cats in the UK. The lifespan of the Korat is exactly that of the domestic pet, barring accidents many live until their late teen, some into their early twenties.

Beautiful, active,companionable and long lived. It’s not really surprising that in my 31 years of breeding I’ve often been asked for another Korat from a bereaved owner, ‘because nothing else could be the same’. I have to agree wholeheartedly

The Thai Blue Point & Thai Lilac.

Although the name Korat is only given to the blue cat of Thailand and no outcrossing has taken place, recessive colour genes have been carried from their country of origin. From time to time Korats had non-blue kittens and some GCCF breeders chose to work with them.

They were given their own identities, rather being seen as substandard Korats. The Thai Blue Points looks remarkably like old fashioned Siamese and the Thai Lilacs, is a solid lilac cat with some of the Korat silvery sheen to its coat. It is only in appearance that they are different from their parent breed. Temperament and requirements don’t vary. However they are perhaps harder to find so you may have to wait for your special kitten of these rare breeds. It will be worth it, I promise.

GCCF Standard of Points for the KORAT and THAI GROUP

Foreign type of medium build, firm, lithe and muscular, never large or coarse.  The body to be of a medium length, with a medium length tapering tail.  Females are more dainty in appearance, but should not be undersized.  The two most distinctive features of the Korat should be its large, green eyes and the coat's silvery sheen.  The Korat can be a very vocal cat, but this does not usually indicate aggression. 

Head - When viewed from the front, the head is heart-shaped, with breadth between and across the eyes, gently curving to a well developed but neither sharply pointed nor squared muzzle.  Forehead large, flat.

Nose - Short and with slight downward curve.  In profile there is a slight stop between forehead and nose.

Chin and Jaw - Strong.

Ears - Large and with a rounded tip and large flare at base, set high on head, giving an alert expression.  Inside ears sparsely furnished.

Eyes - Large and luminous, particularly prominent.  Wide open and oversized for the face; eye aperture, which appears as well rounded when fully open but has Asian slant when closed or partially closed. 

Body - Medium-sized body, strong, muscular and semi-cobby.  Medium bone structure; males powerful, females should be smaller and dainty.  Back carried in a gentle, natural curve.

Legs and Paws - Legs should be well-proportioned to body and paws oval.  Five toes in front, four at back.

Tail - Medium in length, heavier at the base, tapering to a rounded tip.

Coat - Single. Hair is short to medium in length, glossy and fine and lying close to body.  The coat over the spine is inclined to break as the cat moves.

Condition - Perfect physical condition, muscular, alert appearance.

KORAT (34)

Body Colour - Any shade of blue all over, tipped with silver, the more silver tipping the better.  Without shading or tabby markings.  Allowance should be made for ghost tabby markings in kittens.  When the coat is short the silver sheen is intensified.  Silver tipping develops throughout kittenhood and adolescence to full intensity at about two years old. 

Nose Leather and Lips - Dark blue or lavender.

Paw Pads - Dark blue ranging to lavender with pinkish tinge.

Eye Colour - Brilliant green, but amber cast acceptable.  Kittens and adolescents up to two years have yellow or amber to amber-green eyes.

 

Thank you

With thanks to Jen Lacey for her help and information