BANGKOK, Oct 28: In the hierarchy of felines, there will always be disagreement on which pedigree is king, but Thailand's royal cat keeper Namdee Witta presents a strong case in favour of the Siamese variety.He says his Siamese cats - all 50 of them - are direct descendants of an original pair of `Khao Manee', or diamond eye, cats which once had their run of the royal palace under Thai King Rama V, who ruled from 1868 to 1901.After 40 years of caring for his animals, Namdee has decided to share his treasure with the public at the Original Siamese Cat Centre, on the outskirts of Bangkok. ``Most Khao Manee nowadays have mixed blood. I want people to be able to see the pure cat,'' said Namdee, who can trace their origins back to the day's of Rama V's court.For generations the royal cats of Siam, now known as Thailand, were jealously guarded at the palace. It is not clear what genetic mutations occurred to produce the diamond eye.Namdee says Rama V entrusted the care of his cats to his sonPrince Chumporn, who in turn passed the duty on to his daughter. She then bequeathed the pets to Namdee, whose family worked in the royal household.In 1958, Prince Chumporn's daughter gave the remaining 18 cats to Namdee, who now has more than 150 cats under his care, 50 at the cat centre, and 100 more on his farm in the western province of Kanchanaburi.``It will be a good idea if I open the original Khao Manee cats for people and teenagers to see,'' he told AFP.``I am the only one who has a real, original Khao Manee cat,'' he added.The Khao Manee can be identified by their pure white fur and eyes of differing colours. Some have pairings of one blue and one emerald green eye, while others have blue and yellow pairings.The cat centre was unofficially opened on August 12, the birthday of Queen Sirikit, and recent coverage by local media has produced a steady stream of more than 50 daily visitors who pay a 50 baht (1.25 dollars) entrance fee to see its inhabitants.``I wanted to see formyself how the real original looks. I feel really good (holding them) and they are very cute,'' said one Thai woman as her daughter took her photograph cradling one of the prized pets.The cats live in three large, screened verandahs on raised stilt houses in the traditional Thai style.Namdee is fanatical about security to ensure the purity of the breed. But he takes no extra precautions against theft despite the fact that one cat could fetch as much as one million baht (25,000 dollars) on the black market.``This is part of our national heritage that I want to preserve for future generations of Thais and foreign people,'' he said.Responsibility for feeding the cats is shared between Namdee and his daughter Rassami Nakasem.Despite their royal pedigree, mealtime for the animals is decidedly no frills. The animals eat regular cat food from plastic bowls, three times a day for fully-grown animals and up to seven times a day for kittens.Expenses amount to about 50,000 baht (1,300 dollars) a monthfor food, and Namdee must budget for monthly medicine bills as well.``I am not a real cat lover but I think it is really good if Khao Manee cats are preserved for future generations,'' he said.Namdee said his idea had been supported by the Tourism Authority of Thailand.A former film director, Namdee said he is also planning to film a story to promote Thailand's royal cats.The centre will hold its grand opening on December 5 to mark the 71st birthday of King Bhumibol Adulyadej.On that day, Namdee hopes to make a formal gift of the cats to the king so they can reclaim their royal origins - and give him some respite.``I am tired of feeding them for 40 years. I want to give them to the king,'' he said.
