Birman Cats

History

Birman cats are often thought of as the sacred temple cats of Burma, they originate here. They have a lovely distinctive coat pattern, with white paws. It is said that a cat, sensing that the high priest was dying, walked over to him and gently put its paws on the priest's body to offer him companionship in his last hours; as the priest died, the cat's paws turned white, and that is how they have stayed till this day. Because of the cat's devotion to the priest, it is said that each time a Birman cat dies, the soul of a priest accompanies it to heaven.

Although the tales are lovely, the truth is more likely to be that the breed was developed much more recently by crossing a Siamese with a Bi-colour Longhair; this definitely happened in France in the 1920s. The first Birmans had a similar colour to the Seal-point Siamese, milky cream with deep seal points and white paws.

Character and Temperament

The Birman cat is very clever, but tends not to be as noisy and demanding as the Siamese or Burmese. They do require extra grooming due to their longhair, and are excellent with children and other animals.

Type and Standard of Points

The Birman cat should be of medium sized, with a long coat (although not as long as the Persian).

Birman cats have been bred in lots of different colours, and there are now 20 recognized variations. The original Seal colour is still the most popular, but the Birman cat is also available in blue, chocolate, lilac, red, cream as well as tortie and tabby patterns. The coat should be evenly marked with points only on the face, ears, tail and legs, but the paws should be white. The markings should be symmetrical, with the 'gloves' on the front legs ending in a straight line and going no further than the tops of the paws; the back leg markings, 'gauntlets', should stretch up to the back of the hock. The eyes should be sapphire blue.