Lots of adjectives apply to the Balinese: busy, outgoing, inquisitive, affectionate, demanding, loyal and intelligent. He’s the Siamese dressed up to the nines, sporting a long, silky coat with the same sophisticated color points that distinguish the Siamese.

    Is the Balinese a Siamese in drag or is he a man made creation? No one is really sure. A number of cat breeds have been created by crossing the Siamese with something else, but the Balinese is not thought to be one of them, although there are theories that he might have been the result of crosses between Siamese and Angora or Persian cats in the 1920s. He is generally considered a natural breed, the result of a spontaneous genetic mutation for a long haired coat within the Siamese breed.

The primary difference between the Balinese and the Siamese is coat length. The five to nine pound Balinese shares the svelte but muscular body of the Siamese, as well as his wedge-shaped head, blue eyes, large triangular ears and striking color points.

    Other Quick Facts

• The Balinese looks like a long haired Siamese and comes in the same Siamese main point colors: seal, chocolate, blue and lilac.

• The Balinese is highly active and vocal. He wants to be involved in everything that’s going on in the home.

• Keep a Balinese indoors to protect him from cars, diseases spread by other cats and attacks from other animals.

• The Balinese is a chatty cat; he will talk your ear off if you let him.

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History

    The Balinese descends directly from the Siamese. Authorities believe that during hundreds of years of breeding, a recessive long-haired gene cropped up as a spontaneous mutation in certain Siamese lines. The long-haired gene may have been introduced to the Siamese by crossings with Angora cats. Long-haired kittens began appearing in purebred Siamese litters in the United States as early as the 1920s. These cats were originally called "longhaired Siamese". Considered an oddity, most of them were sold as household pets and were rarely if ever seen in the American show ring.

    That changed in the late 1940s and 1950s, when two dedicated cat fanciers started a cross-continental selective breeding program to transform the longhaired Siamese into a distinct breed that consistently bred true to form, temperament and type. Mrs. Marion Dorsey of Rai-Mar Cattery in California, and Mrs. Helen Smith of MerryMews Cattery in New York, collaborated closely with one another to create this new breed. The products of their breeding program were renamed “Balinese,” because their grace and beauty were reminiscent of Indonesian dancers. The American Cat Fanciers’ Association formally recognized the purebred Balinese and granted it championship status in 1970.

    Balinese were exported to Europe and Great Britain starting in the 1970s, and they are now recognized world-wide. However, in Europe and the United Kingdom, both the Siamese and the Javanese color varieties are included under the breed description for the Balinese. There, the Javanese designation is reserved for a line of cats coming from a breeding program aimed at recreating or at least perpetuating the Angora cat. Crosses of Angoras with Balinese have lengthened the coat of the Balinese in Europe, while crosses with Siamese have reduced the coat length in some America Balinese/Javanese.

 

 

 

 

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Health Predispositions

    Balinese are reported to have an increased risk of developing a dermatological condition called feline acromelanism. This is an abnormal, genetically determined, temperature-dependent pattern of pigmentation on the legs, ears, tail and face. It does not appear to have any serious health consequences. Balinese also have a tendency to be born with kinked tails and obviously squinted or “crossed” eyes, which are not desirable traits. They also may be prone to breathing difficulties due to nasal obstruction.

 

Personality

    Despite their aristocratic appearance, they are clowns at heart. Demanding clowns. They love you and they want to help you with whatever you’re doing, all the time. This makes them easy to train, or is it that the Balinese has trained you? He can walk you on a leash and teach you to watch him do tricks. There’s little he can’t do as long as it doesn’t require opposable thumbs, and sometimes even that lack isn’t an obstacle for him. Living with such a smart cat can be tiring unless you have an excellent sense of humor, so be sure you are willing to make the effort.

    Like the Siamese, the Balinese likes to talk. He has a somewhat softer voice than the Siamese, but his conversation is just as scintillating.

    This is an extroverted cat who gets along well with kids, dogs and other cats.

 

Activity Level

    Balinese are lively, playful and full of energy, especially around other cats and with “their people.” These are muscular, athletic animals and should not be thought of as delicate or frail, simply because of their elegant, elongated appearance. They do enjoy relaxing on cushions or couches, especially after a good frenzied frolic around the house.

 

Behavioral Traits

    Balinese (including the Javanese color variants) can be more vocal than many other cat breeds. However, they typically are not as assertively noisy as their short-haired Siamese counterparts. They can be pushy when demanding attention, and adorably curious when faced with new games or toys.