Korat Cats
The Korat is an ancient cat from Siam (now Thailand) that is written of in the "The Cat-Book Poems." This book was written between 1350 and 1767 AD. The Korat is known as the Si-Sawat cat in its native country and the Korat name was originated when King Rama V of Siam was presented with the cat. He asked what kind of cat it was and was told it came from Korat, a high plateau in northeast Thailand. It is known as the good-luck cat of Thailand and a pair of Korats are often given to brides on their wedding day to ensure a happy marriage. Korats are rarely sold in Thailand, but given to people held in high esteem.
The first Korat to be exhibited was probably in England in the late19th century. It was entered as a Siamese because that is where the owner obtained it. It was listed as a solid blue and descriptions of that judging still exist today. The first modern Korats were introduced to the U.S. by Mrs Jean Johnson in 1959. Her husband retired from the foreign service in Thailand and they were presented with a pair of Korats as gifts when they returned to the United States. Since that introduction, many additional Korats have been imported and every Korat can trace its ancestry back to Korats living or have lived in Thailand. This is why the Korat is sometimes referred to as the Silver-blue cat with the Thai passport.
Shortly after the Korat arrived in the United States the Korat Cat Fanciers Association was formed. It is a non-affiliated international club dedicated to the protection and development of the Korat. This club was instrumental in getting the Korat recognized in all associations and helps ensure that the standards for the Korat remain virtually the same in all associations.
History of Korat Cats
Physical Characteristics
The Korat (Koh-Raht) is a medium to small, shorthair cat with the females weighing between 6 and 8 pounds and the males from 8 to 10 pounds. The Korat is a very compact cat with a low percentage of the weightas body fat. This means the Korat may appear to be a small cat, but in reality they are much heavier and more solid than they look. They have broad chests with well developed muscles, even the females. They have a single close lying coat that is always silver-blue. Single coat means they do not have a downy undercoat and the coat lies flat. The head is heart shaped. The heart is outlined by drawing imaginary lines from the rounded tip of the chin up to the top of the ears and then back to the top of the head. The eyes are oversized for the face but arenot protruding or "bug eyed." The eyes are round when fully open butappear slanted when closed or partially closed. They are peridot green(in the mature cat) and translucent in all stages of development. Korats are slow maturing cats. They can often take up to 5 years to reach theirfull potential. The coat will always be silver-blue, but the silver tipping will become more pronounced as they mature. The eye color, a vivid peridot green, also appears as cat matures. The Korat is a cat that gets better and better as it ages.
Temperament
The Korat is an active cat with strong likes and dislikes. Theyare quite territorial and consider their "human" part of their territory. For this reason they make outstanding companions, always nearby and faithful. Korats are very intelligent and take well to most training. Korats have been trained to play games such as fetch and can be trained to walk on a leash. Korats "bond" with their owner either as kittens or as adults. The bonding usually takes place in the first few weeks a Korat is in its new home. After the bonding, the Korat will want to be with their "person," whatever that person is doing and will follow their chosen person from room to room to be nearby. This behavior has been known to annoy some people. Bonding with a Korat is not limited to humans. Korats will bond to what ever entity they like best. This can be an adult, a child, another cat, or a dog. Bonding with a Korat doesn't mean it will reject offers of affection from others. It simply means they have a chosen preference in companionship. Korats have thrived in every environment this author has known. They do tend to elevate themselves to the Number 1 position in a group of cats and other cat breeds have been known to resent this.