Korat facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Korat cat |
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| Other names | Si sawat, Malet |
| Origin | Thailand |
| Domestic cat (Felis catus) | |
The Korat is a special kind of cat. It's one of the oldest cat breeds in the world! These beautiful cats first came from Thailand. They are named after a place there called "Korat Province." Many people think Korat cats bring good luck!
What Korat Cats Look Like
The Korat cat has a pretty blue-gray color. They have a small to medium-sized body that is quite strong and solid. Even though they might look small, they can be surprisingly heavy! Korats are smart, active, and love to play. They also really enjoy being with people.
One of the most special things about a Korat is its heart-shaped head. They also have big, bright green eyes.
The Korat's fur is a shiny silver-blue color. It looks like it's sparkling! People in Thailand call this color "rain-cloud gray." They say the shimmer looks like "sea foam." This cat has a short, single layer of fur. The roots of the fur are a lighter silver-blue. The color gets deeper blue along the fur, and the tips are silver. You can see this silver especially on their nose and toes. This is the only color allowed for a Korat cat.
Their eyes are large and a beautiful peridot green when they are adults. When Korat kittens are born, their eyes are amber or golden-green. Their eye color slowly changes as they grow up, usually becoming green by the time they are two to four years old.
Sometimes, Korats might have small white spots or pale gray stripes. These are not common. These spots can sometimes get bigger as the cat gets older. Cats with these markings are still healthy and happy pets. However, they are not allowed to be shown in cat competitions because their color is not perfect for the breed standard.
History of Korat Cats
The first time anyone wrote about the Korat breed was in a poem from Thailand. This poem was written a very long time ago, between the years 1350 and 1767 AD! The book with this poem is now kept in the national library in Bangkok. While the book has a drawing of a cat, it's hard to be sure if it's exactly a Korat. More recently, the Korat cat was even featured on a postage stamp in Thailand.
Korat cats first came to Great Britain in the late 1800s. They were sometimes called "Blue Siamese" cats. But these solid blue cats didn't look like the Siamese cats that were popular in shows. So, they weren't seen much after 1901.
In the United States, the first Korat cats arrived in the 1950s. In 1959, a special cat breeding place called Cedar Glen brought the first pair of Korats to the U.S. for breeding. Their names were Nara (a male) and Darra (a female). By 1966, the Korat breed was officially allowed to compete for championship titles in cat shows. This was thanks to a dedicated breeder from Maryland.
Images for kids
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A Korat cat and a Siamese cat from an old book called Tamra Maew (The Cat-Book Poems). This book might be from the Ayutthaya Kingdom (1351 to 1767 AD). More than a dozen copies are now kept in the National Library of Thailand.
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A cute Thai Lilac kitten.
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The first two Thai Lilac Points registered in the U.K.: Clairabelle Pixie Dust (2014) and Clairabelle Ninja Rococoa (2015).
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Wang Kaang Raang, a female Korat at a cat show in Vantaa, Finland.
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A Korat cat and a Siamese cat with blue points.
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The Korat is a natural cat breed, and one of the oldest and most stable cat breeds. It comes from the Phimai temple in Nakhon Ratchasima province.
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A Korat cat named Yog-Hurt's Atlach-Nacha at the Turok Cat Show.
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A show by The Korat Cat Association of Finland in Loimaa, 2010-09-26.
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A sitting female Korat cat with typical round green eyes and a blue shine to her fur.
See also
In Spanish: Korat para niños
