domestic shorthaired cat and which requires no grooming. The Balinese coat never develops mats or tangles. An occasional bath helps the coat to look and feel at its best but is not really necessary.When people ask me about the personality characteristics of the Balinese, I will give my opinion that having a Bali (or a Siamese) is the closest thing to having a little dog, without all the extra care that a dog requires. They remain playful and active, even when mature, sometimes even playing "fetch" with their human. They do like to explore high places and think nothing of jumping up onto counters and higher shelves. They demand companionship by following their owners from room to room, seeking a lap, sitting on the newspaper on the table while they try to read it, sleeping on the bed, etc.. They seem to know when
it is their owner's car coming down the street and will appear at the door to greet their people. Mine usually appear at the front door to welcome visitors. They give endless love to their owners and adapt well to children and the average dog. They should be kept indoors but enjoy finding sunny spots in various parts of the house and looking out the windows at bird life. If left alone for long periods they appreciate having another cat or a dog for company.If you want an interactive, super friendly cat that is a Siamese "with a difference", then the Balinese is for you. Unlike many Siamese "lookalikes" of unknown ancestry offered for sale in some pet stores and cheaply through newspaper ads, the registered purebred Siamese and Balinese have always had a predictably friendly, loving temperament and do not typically bite or scratch, even while playing, unless extremely scared or mistreated.
The long-haired kittens were eventually registered and accepted as a separate breed from the Siamese. The early breeders named them Balinese because they were graceful like a Balinese dancer. It has long been the practice, and is still permissible and recommended, to breed back to Siamese lines in order to improve type and to increase the available gene pool. The resulting shorthaired kittens are registered as Balinese-Siamese variants and in appearance look just like a Siamese. When the variant is bred to a Balinese, it will produce roughly 50% longhaired kittens and the same proportion of shorthaired kittens which, again, will look like Siamese.
Balinese were bred deliberately to red and lynx point Siamese to produce the wide range of colors we have today. Balinese in all the possible colors are registered and shown as Balinese in every cat association throughout the world with the exception of one of the American registering bodies, The Cat Fancier's Association (CFA). In this association the colorpointed (red, tortie and lynx point) Balinese and their descendants of all colors are registered as a separate breed called Javanese and shown only in the range of colorpointed colors such as red, tortie and lynx points. This follows CFA's historical practice of distinguishing between the traditional four color Siamese and the colorpointed Siamese which are shown and registered as Colorpoint Shorthair. Other North American registering bodies such as The International Cat Association (TICA), The American Cat Fanciers Association (ACFA), The Canadian Cat Association (CCA) and the Cat Fancier's Federation (CFF) make no such distinction between the various colors. All are registered as Balinese regardless of color.
