Balinese

A Balinese is a Siamese wearing better clothes. The breed began as an occasional longhaired kitten appearing in pedigree Siamese litters, for years a fault to be quietly rehomed, until American breeders in the mid-twentieth century decided the look deserved recognition. The name has nothing to do with Bali; it was chosen because the cats moved like Balinese temple dancers, which is exactly the kind of thing people named cats after in 1955.

Structurally, the Balinese is the Siamese: a long, fine-boned, tubular body, a wedge-shaped head, enormous ears, and deep blue almond eyes set on the slant. The colourpoint pattern comes from a temperature-sensitive enzyme, which is why the cooler extremities, face, ears, legs, tail, carry the colour while the body stays pale. Kittens are born almost white and develop their points over the first weeks, and the points continue to darken slowly for life. A Balinese living in a cold house will darken faster than one living in a warm one, which is a genuinely observable effect and not a myth.

The coat is the part people get wrong. It is not a Persian coat. There is no woolly undercoat, only a single layer of fine, silky hair, longest at the ruff and the plumed tail and lying close to the body elsewhere. It does not mat readily, it does not hold a great deal of loose hair, and it needs combing perhaps twice a week rather than daily. Anyone who has fought a double coat will find the Balinese a relief. Twice a year it sheds a little more and you comb a little more often. That is the whole grooming story, aside from claws and teeth.

The personality, on the other hand, is the entire proposition. Balinese are among the most intelligent domestic cats and among the most emotionally demanding. They do not simply enjoy your company; they require it. A Balinese will follow you from room to room, sit on the paper you are reading, supervise the shower, sleep against your neck, and object loudly when a door closes between you. Owners who work from home adore them. Owners out ten hours a day find they come back to a distressed, destructive, extremely vocal animal.

And they are vocal. The voice is the Siamese voice, carrying, insistent, capable of remarkable volume, though many owners find the Balinese slightly softer and less strident. Slightly. They comment on arrivals, departures, food, closed doors and anything you do that they consider interesting. If noise is a problem in your building or your household, this breed is a mistake.

The intelligence needs a job. Balinese learn to open cupboards, work out where the treats live, fetch reliably, walk on a harness and respond to their names. Puzzle feeders, a tall cat tree, clicker sessions and rotating toys are not enrichment extras here; they are the difference between a delightful cat and an inventive vandal. Many will happily learn a small repertoire of tricks purely because being taught something is itself the reward.

They are social with other animals too. A Balinese usually welcomes a second cat and often gets on well with a calm dog, and a pair keeps each other occupied in a way that solves half the separation problem. Where a household is out during the day, two Balinese are considerably kinder than one.

Health follows the Siamese lines closely, and that means asking real questions. Progressive retinal atrophy has a DNA test and no responsible breeder should be selling untested lines. Amyloidosis affecting the liver appears in some Oriental and Siamese families, and lymphoma is reported at a somewhat higher rate than average. Crossed eyes and a kinked tail were once common and have largely been bred out. Dental disease is the most likely thing you will actually face; the fine jaw crowds teeth and brushing genuinely helps.

The compensation is longevity. Balinese frequently reach eighteen, and cats of twenty are not remarkable. That is a long commitment to a cat that will talk to you every day of it.

Buy one if you want a real relationship with an animal, if someone is usually home, and if you are not attached to silence. Buy something else if any of those three is untrue, a Balinese punished by loneliness is a sad, noisy, entirely avoidable outcome.