katlaughing, I was very interested in the rather longer life of your Siamese over there in USA. Here we tend to have the type of breed which has been selected for over the past thirty years, very skinny, dainty and with a very long, pointed, wedge-shaped face, and huge wide ears. I've heard that the USA Siamese can be the more traditional type, with more rounded faces and bodies a bit stockier. What type were yours please? Ours are called 'foreign type' and include self-colours and also tabby-point, blue-point, seal-point, red-point etc etc. I'm fascinated because I used to show my cats with the British Cat Fancy, and I saw one or two traditional Siamese at the shows. I wonder if the shorter life of the 'whippier' ones is because their body mass is less? Maine coons are very popular here, huge and beautiful, and I've heard very gentle and affectionate.