Birman Cats

A gorgeous cat with sapphire eyes, the Birman is known as the Sacred Cat of Burma. Its long, sumptuous coat and beautiful coloring would be enough to win admires, but it also has intelligence, good health and a gentle temperament.

Did you know? By the end of World War ii, there were only two Birmans left in Europe. Cross breeding was necessary to establish the breed once more.

History

The origin of the Birman is lost in legend, but it was once considered sacred, a companion cat of the Kittah priest in Burma. Earlier this century, two Birman cats were clandestinely shipped from Burma to France. The male did not survive the long voyage, but the female, Sita, did and, happily, was pregnant. From this small foundation, the Birman was established in the Western world. The French cat registry recognized the Birman as a separate breed in 1925, but Britain did not follow duit until 1966. It gained recognition in the U.S.A. in 1967.

Description

Ideally, the Birman is long, large and stocky. It has a strong, broad, rounded head with a Roman nose of medium length. The face has a sweet expression, with full cheeks, a somewhat rounded muzzle and a strong chin. The medium sized ears are set far apart on the head and have rounded tips. The blue eyes are quite round and deeper shades are preferred.

The Birman has heavy boned legs of medium length. Its paws are large and round, and all four are white, these are the Birman’s distinguishing feature. The white gloves on the front feet, preferably symmetrical, usually end in an even line across the paw at, or between, the second or third joints. Those on the back paws should cover all the toes and extend up the back of the hock (the first joint). These leg markings are called laces. Ideally, the front gloves match, the back gloves match, and the two laces match. Faultlessly gloved cats are rate and the Birman is judged in all of its parts as well as the gloves. The paw pads are pink or pink spotted with the point color. The tail is bushy and of medium length.

The longhaired, silky hair is not as thick as that of the Persian and does not mar if it is brushed regularly to remove dead hair. The pale coat sometimes looks as if it has been dusted with gold. The points mask, ears, legs and tail, are darker, like those of the Siamese and Himalayan.

Varieties

The Birman comes in seal point, chocolate point, blue point and lilac point. Recently, some Birmans have appeared in the colors of red point, tortie point and lynx point, but these are not as yet recognized anywhere in the world for championship showing.

Temperament

The gentle Birman has a delightful personality and is active, playful and independent. It makes a good pet for children.

The Birman falls somewhere between the Siamese and the Persian in its character, build and length of fur, yet it is very much a breed of its own.

It also has the distinction of being the sacred cat of Burma.

All Birmans have colorpointed features – darker coloration on the ears, face, tail and legs. The original Birman was seal pointed, but there are now blue, lilac, chocolate and a wide range of tortoiseshell and tabby points. All are now regarded as different breeds, but share the same blue eyes, dark points, white feet, body shape and general temperament.

The pale coat and colored points on face, legs and tail are similar to those of a Siamese cat. However, this Blue shows the distinctive white paws that are unique to Birmans. The mask, tail and legs of Seal Point Birmans take their color from the rich brown Burmese soil, according to one legend.

The Birman body has some of the mass of the Persian’s, with thick set legs and a broad, rounded head. However, the body and legs are longer than those of a Persian, and the face is pointed rather than flat, with a longish, straight nose and relatively large ears.

The Red Point Birman has a cream body color with warm orange points, the trademark white paws, but pink nose and paw pads.

The unique and most distinctive feature of the Birman is its paw design. Each forepaw ends in a symmetrically shaped, white glove. The show standard is for the white to end in an even line across the paw and not pass beyond the angle of paw and leg. The white areas on the back paws taper up the back of the leg to finish just below the hock, and are known as gauntlets.

The Chocolate Tabby Birman, one of the newer colors, shows pale chocolate tabby markings on ears, mask and tail, while the body is light golden beige.

These white finishing touches are the result of a rare recessive genetic trait, although, rather more romantically, there are various legends that explain their origins. One version tells of a raid on a Burmese temple in which the high priest was killed.

A Blue Tortie Tabby Point displays a magnificent coat and tail. A Birman’s coat needs some extra grooming, but is less demanding than that of a longhair breed, and rarely becomes matted.

A white temple cat leapt on to the priest’s body, and immediately its fur turned gold in the light radiating from the resident goddess. The cat’s eyes reflected the sapphire of the goddess’s own eyes, while legs and tail took on the rich brown of the Burmese soil. The paws that rested on the dead priest, though, remained white, a symbol of purity.

Birman Kitten

A more recent story reports that in 1919, a pair of seal pointed Birmans was given to French explorer August Pavie and Englishman Major Gordon Russell. The male dies on the journey back to France, but the female survived and bore a litter. This queen may have represented the beginning of controlled breeding of Birmans in France during the 1920s, when Siamese and bi-color Persians were introduced into the program. The breed was officially recognized in 1925. Its character reflects the Persian and Siamese input. It is quieter and less active than the Siamese, but not as docile as the Persian. The queens mature earlier than a Persian, at around seven months, and are generally very attentive mothers.

Birman Point Colors

• Seal, Blue, Chocolate, Lilac, Red, Cream
• Tortoiseshell points in all colors apart from Red and Cream

Birman Cat Breed Information

coat – long, silky, full ruff around the neck and slightly curled on the stomach

eyes – almost round but not bold, deep, clear blue

other features – white mittens on forepaws, longer white hauntlets on rear paws

grooming – relatively easy with regular brushing and combing

temperament – gentle, individualistic, extremely loyal

The Seal Point original has now been joined by many differently colored varieties of the Birman, but all have clear sapphire eyes and a sweet facial expression.

Birman Cat – The Most Famous Domestic Breed!

If you are looking forward to adopt a new cat that has all the domestic features in it then I will strongly recommend you guys to go for Birman Cat. This cat breed is categorized in domestic ones and it is also famous as the Sacred Cat of Burma. So, if you are really interested to buy a cat with all the domestic features then I will strongly recommend you guys to read the whole post an learn more about the origin, behavior and appearance of this cat.

Origin Of Birman Cat:

Going back in decades, there are still no records found for the actual origin of this cat but there are many myths that kept going time to time. So, the origin of this cat I have learnt so far seems to be quite realistic according to the previous information and records about this breed. Few people always claim that this cat was first found in France and some believes that this cat has some spiritual connection with the Burman priest ‘Mun-ha’. So, according to my views and studies, this cat was first originated in Burma and after that, it was taken to France from where it spread world widely.

How Birman Cats Arrived In France?

People are not sure about the first origin of France but they are agreed on the second origin (France) from where this cat breed got fame all around the world. This cat was first brought to France in 1916 during the time of World War II and after that this breed spread very quickly.

This cat was first officially recognized in 1925 by the Cat Club in France. After 1925, there were various occasions when different changing were brought to this breed and introduced.

Appearance of Birman Cat:

When it comes to talk about the appearance of this Birman breed, a lot of people are already great fan of this cat in all aspects. This cat has small hairs with brown face that also gives a small touch of Siamese cat too.

This cat has semi-long silky hairs and their color on its back is almost very light brown with a dark brown face along with vivid blue or green eye color. Mostly, the color of its body has a huge diversity and this breed is available with different colors like eggshell, crème, golden or depending on the intensity of the cat’s breeding.

Eyes And Paws Of Birman Cat:

Studies and stats reveal that the color of Birman breed is the most common and popular thing because its eyes has very vivid blue color that no other cat breed ever had. The second most spectacular feature of this breed are its paws because they have white gloves on each paw that are really very cute and mesmerizing.

How To Buy A Birman Cat?

When it comes to buy a birmun breed, a lot of people are confused because they don’t know the real differences between a Siamese or birman cat and they totally mix up these breeds. To get rid of this issue, I will strongly recommend you guys to go for a successful expert breeder.