Trying to come up with a cute name for the kitten I don't intend to keep, I googled a couple of phrases describing her: dark-eared kitten and dark tailed kitten. Both times a bunch of Siamese websites popped up. Hummm, she doesn't look Siamese, but I wouldn't discount the possibility yet. She might have A tiny part Siamese--she does have dark spots on her ears and tail, she IS LOUD--a trait of Siamese.
So I chose the Website site that also had a FB page by the same name and started reading: Life With Siamese.
This website has TONS of information (like over 200 pages) about the many varieties of Siamese--who knew?! Certainly not me.
With all the varieties and types, it should be easy to determine if this kitten has any Siamese or not. That's what I thought anyway. But with the myriad of varieties and their gazillion offshoots, I got confused. She had a little bit of the description, but not nearly enough to "fit" in anywhere. Here's just a little bit of what I learned...
Where you live determines if your variety is "true" or not! Meezers (slang nickname) come in 4 "universally" (UK and USA) accepted varieties:
Seal Points: ears, face, paws and pads, and tail (the points) are a deep, dark seal-brown and the coat is cream to tan.
Chocolate Points: points are more of a milk chocolate.
Blue Points: points are slate-grey blue.
Lilac Points (sometimes called Frost Points): palest points. Pink undertones to their coat and points give them a frosty look.
I won't even go into all the OTHER variations: flame, Carmel, cinnamon, fawn, red (which encompasses red, cream, or apricot points) tortoise-shell or "tortie" points (variants on ALL the different color options), and tabby/lynx points (which also are variants on ALL the different color options) and on, and on, and on...my head is still spinning. And that's just the color varieties.
Color-wise, her coat is white. Not cream. Not ecru. Not eggshell. White. A pretty stark white coat. And the only "points" she could have would possibly be Blue or Lilac ears and tail. But even that was a stretch. The rest of her face, paws, and pads are the color of her coat: White.
Speaking of coats, her undercoat is straight like meezers--but it's way too thick and fluffy.
Not to be confused with variety (coloring), there are also three "types" (body types). Old-fashioned, apple-head, and modern.
Her body type is definitely not the showy modern type--they are thin, long, small boned, angular, with large ears. Kind of like anorexic runway models--but catty.
The Old-fashioned (aka original, Thai, moderate, or classic) type has a less angular head with a large boned,but elongated body.
The apple-head is much like the old-fashioned in that it is large boned; however, the head and body are more rounded and fuller.
The old-fashioned and apple-heads are often blurred. I think this kitten, if it were a Siamese, would be more apple-head.
Finally, Siamese are noted for brilliant to pale icy blue eyes--but always blue. Hers are more greenish with maybe a pale blue tint. Maybe, depending on the light. And even then, I think they are more green.
She for sure is not a modern Siamese with classic point or coat coloring. And most likely she's also not an old-fashioned or apple head Siamese. However, maybe her parents had some Siamese? Could other breeds have the darker ears and tail? I'm sure anything is possible, but by this time my head was spinning with all the possibilities, so I posted a photo on the website and asked. I must have been delirious with sleep deprivation from worrying about her the night before, because in the clear light of day, she looks nothing like a Siamese! On any count. Color variety, body type, coat characteristics, eye color--absolutely nothing that would even remotely suggest that she was anything other than a DSH--Domestic Short Hair. Then I read what she is.
It appears she's a Moggie.
I had never heard of a Moggie before, so I looked it up. Moggie (also spelled moggy) is an informal British term for cat or kitten. It may have been a derivative of Margaret or Maggie. One site said it was a "mongrel" cat--one of undetermined parentage. That for sure is this kitten.
But more importantly, I like the way it sounds.
So now I'm calling her Moggie. Along with Pip.
A pip is the dot (or Spot) on either dominos or dice (I looked it up because it was driving me batty not being able to remember which it was. I found out a pip can be on either--but I think I learned about pips when I read a "Cat Who..." book where the numbers of the resort cottages were based on domino pips. I also like the slag meaning of Pip--a character, one who is difficult but still likeable. Again it suits her.
No matter, the kitten hasn't responded to Moggie, Pip, Moggie-Pip, or Pip-Moggie. Yet.
I don't know which version I like best, but I have found a perverse pleasure in calling the cat a derivative of "Spot." Facebook.com/marylou.robinson33
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