How to Care for Siamese Cats

Reviewed and approved by the biologist Samuel Sanchez

Written by Laura Morales Negrin

Last update: 22 December, 2022

Those who choose to have a Siamese cat as a pet will have an intelligent, agile, social, and somewhat mischievous feline at home, but nothing that those blue eyes can’t make you forget about. However, before choosing to make one part of your family, it’s important to know just how to care for Siamese cats?

Domestic cats have a fairly high life expectancy in comparison to other pets. Specifically, this cat can live to be around 20 years old. Of course, for your Siamese cat to be a faithful companion for so long, you must provide it with the attention it requires according to its characteristics.

How to care for Siamese Cats: Feeding

Siamese puppies should feed on their mother’s milk during the first three months of its life at least. If this isn’t possible and the kitten reaches human hands, formula should be provided. Only then will it acquire the necessary nutrients to overcome this delicate time and grow strong.

Once this stage is over, you can start giving the feline specific food for junior cats. This is important, as it must gradually adapt to solid food, and that’s what kibble or moist food for kittens is meant to do.

Later, the cat will move on to adult cat food, which also contains all the nutrients and vitamins necessary to meet the needs of this time. You should note that these cats love turkey and ham slices, so they can be given once in a while as a reward.

Continuing with the theme of feeding, we come to senior cats, who also require their diet to be varied when they reach this stage. When they’re older, their physical activity decreases, so the calories in their food should be lower to avoid being overweight.

Bed and litter box

Among the most important aspects when it comes to caring for Siamese cats are the objects that are necessary for the feline to feel comfortable at home. For one thing, they’ll need a suitable bed to rest on. It’s true that many times they’ll choose to sleep in the most unlikely places, but you should have a bed within reach if they prefer.

As cats are animals that like to spend moments in solitude, a good option is to buy a house bed. That is, a bed that’s soft and has walls and a roof (all of the same material) that they can access through a hole. This will give the cat some privacy.

At the same time, don’t forget their litter box. If there’s something you like about cats, it is how hygienic they are and that they’ll always relieve themselves in the same location. Therefore, if the house is very large, it’s not a bad idea to place several litter boxes in different places so that your pet can use them as best suits him.

Grooming Siamese Kittens

In addition to the care we’ve mentioned about feeding kittens, it’s worth remembering an important aspect that must begin at this stage of their life: Socialization. Although cats are solitary animals, they must become familiar with their environment before reaching adulthood.

The socialization of this cat consists of helping it relate to the environment: With cats of its own family, with other animals, with different people, places, and different sounds. This is very necessary so that the animal develops a balanced character and doesn’t develop fear, phobias, or aggressiveness in the long term.

Socialization begins practically from the moment the kitten is born, as with its mother and siblings, it begins to relate to its peers. For this reason, and because of the importance of maternal food, keeping felines with their parents is one of the first aspects of caring for Siamese cats (or any cat) to take into account.

During the socialization period, you must provide the cat with new experiences and expose it to all kinds of beings and situations. This process will be decisive until the animal is 16 weeks old, but the reality is that it should continue to socialize throughout its life.

How to care for Siamese cats: Veterinary control

Another aspect when it comes to caring for Siamese cats that you can never overlook is visiting the vet. From the time they’re kittens, a professional must see them in order to be able to confirm that they’re healthy. In addition, from 8 weeks of age, they can already receive some of the most important vaccines, such as the trivalent vaccine.

Complying with the entire vaccination and deworming schedule, as well as having check-ups at least 2 times a year, is essential. This is the only way to detect health problems in the pet if there are any and the symptoms aren’t evident.

Hair care for Siamese cats

If there’s something that’s fascinating about Siamese cats, it’s the softness of their fur. Of course, to keep it that way, you need to brush it frequently. If the cat gets used to brushing from a young age, it’ll be very easy to do it every day. If not, you can perform this task 2-3 times a week.

Combing the Siamese cat will remove all the dead hair, preventing the feline from swallowing it when licking and thus forming hairballs in its stomach. At the same time, the amount of hair that it will shed around the home will be less.

In addition, if you want to maintain the density and shine of the Siamese cat’s coat, it needs to eat foods rich in Omega 3. Quality feed and wet foods for felines already include it. However, you can also provide it in a more natural way with some fish.

As for baths, you don’t have to provide them frequently. If the cat gets very dirty because it has access to the outdoors, you can bathe it every two months. However, it’s not usually a very pleasant experience for the animal. So, you should get it used to water from a young age.

Siamese cat training

For cats, scratching is part of their instinct. This is so because their nails have multiple functions: Scratching, catching, marking territory, digging, and releasing stress, among others. For this reason, it’s very normal for them to claw at whatever surface they see fit.

As this is one of the attitudes of felines that tends to produce despair in their guardians, when caring for Siamese cats, you can’t forget to teach them to use scratchers. These should be available in various corners of the house from the time they’re kittens.

When you see your cat with its nails in the sofa, the mattress, or anywhere other than the scratching post, say a firm “No!”, separate the cat from the object, and place it in front of the scratching post. Scolding the feline after time has passed since the misdeed will have no impact on them, as it won’t be able to associate that “No!” with having destroyed part of the house furniture with its claws.

Another lesson that you can teach to cats is the use of the litter tray. Many of them learn by themselves because, as they’re so hygienic, they look for the only corner of the house where they can hide their feces. That place is usually the litter tray.

However, if the Siamese cat is found to have relieved itself outside of this structure, it can be scooped up and placed in the box. This way, the scent will attract the feline for the next time. It’s a process that can take days, but the cat will end up realizing that this is the right place to defecate.

How to care for Siamese cats: Further considerations

In addition to the aspects we’ve already mentioned, here are a few more to consider:

• This breed of cat likes heat very much, so damp and cold places are not its favorites.
• Take time every day to play with the cat, as well as provide toys that it can use when it’s alone.
• Siamese cats are social cats who love to be with others of their kind. Having a feline companion will be very healthy mentally, although it’s best for all members to enter the home at the same time.
• As professionals usually indicate, keeping the Siamese cat at home and limiting its access to the outdoors, will protect it against accidents and attacks by felines and other animals.

Siamese cat care isn’t very different from that of any other domestic feline, but it does have certain unique traits that you must take into account. If you educate your feline well, you can enjoy one of the most beautiful companion animals that can be found for a couple of decades.