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Breed Characteristics
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Burmese
| Origin And History | In 1871, Harrison Weir organised a cat show at the Crystal Palace. A pair of Siamese cats were on display that closely resembled modern American Burmese cats in build, thus probably similar to the modern Tonkinese breed. The first attempt to deliberately develop the Burmese in the late 19th century in Britain resulted in what were known as Chocolate Siamese rather than a breed in their own right; this view persisted for many years, encouraging crossbreeding between Burmese and Siamese in an attempt to more closely conform to the Siamese build. The breed thus slowly died out in Britain. Dr. Joseph Cheesman Thompson imported Wong Mau, a brown female cat, into San Francisco in 1930. Dr Thompson considered the cat's build to be sufficiently different from the Siamese to still have potential as a fully separate breed. Wong Mau was bred with Tai Mau, a sealpoint Siamese, and then bred with her son to produce dark brown kittens that became the foundation of a new, distinctive strain of Burmese. In 1936, the Cat Fanciers' Association (CFA) granted the breed formal recognition. However, due to continued extensive outcrossing with Siamese cats to increase the population, the original type was overwhelmed, and the CFA suspended breed recognition a decade later. Attempts by various American breeders to refine the unique Burmese standard persisted, however, and in 1954, the CFA lifted the suspension permanently. In 1958, the United Burmese Cat Fanciers (UBCF) compiled an American judging standard which has remained essentially unchanged since its adoption. Meanwhile, in the UK, interest in the breed was reviving. The cats which composed the new British breeding program were of a variety of builds, including some imported from America. By 1952, three true generations had been produced in Britain and the breed was recognized by the United Kingdom's Governing Council of the Cat Fancy (GCCF). From the 1950s onwards, countries in the Commonwealth and Europe started importing British Burmese; as a result, most countries have based their standard on the British model. Currently, the two versions of the breed are kept strictly distinct genetically. British Burmese (also known as "traditional") were declassed as a breed by the CFA in the 1980s. The GCCF, meanwhile, has banned the registration of all Burmese imported from America in order to preserve the "traditional" bloodlines. Most modern cat registries do not formally recognize these dual standards as representing separate breeds, but those that do refer to the British type as the European Burmese. Recently, the International Cat Association (TICA) and CFA clubs have started using the American breed standard at select shows in Europe. During the early period of breed development, it became clear that Wong Mau herself was genetically a crossbreed between a Siamese and Burmese type. This early crossbreed type was later developed as a separate breed, known today as the Tonkinese. Burmese cats have also been instrumental in the development of the Bombay and the Burmilla, among others. |
| Personality | Breeders and fanciers report that Burmese are amusing, playful, and super-smart, the perfect interactive cats for home, office, shop, any place where people are in need of love and entertainment. They are as active as the Siamese and love to play. Devoted cats, Burmese are loyal and people-oriented. Breeders report temperament differences between males and females. The females are highly curious, active, and very emotionally involved with their family. The altered males love their humans too, but are more placid. They like to lounge about, usually on top of whatever you're doing. They take life as it comes. The only issue about which they are passionately concerned is the selected cuisine and when it will be served. Burmese have a unique rasp to their voices and sound a bit like cats going hoarse from too much talking. Burmese are not as talkative as their Siamese neighbors. When they have something to say, however, they'll reiterate the message until you get out your universal feline/human translator and take care of whatever it is troubling them. |
Physical Attributes
| Appearance | The two standards differ mainly in head and body shape. The British or traditional ideal tends toward a more slender, long-bodied cat with a wedge-shaped head, large pointed ears, long tapering muzzle and moderately almond-shaped eyes. The legs should likewise be long, with neat oval paws. The tail tapers to medium length. The American (also called "contemporary") Burmese is a noticeably stockier cat, with a much broader head, round eyes and distinctively shorter, flattened muzzle; the ears are wider at the base. Legs and tail should be proportionate to the body, medium-length, and the paws also rounded. In either case, Burmese are a small to medium size breed, tending to about 4–6 kg, but are nevertheless substantially-built, muscular cats and should feel heavy for their size when held -- "brick wrapped in silk". In either standard, the coat should be very short, fine and glossy, with a satin-like finish. Color is solid and must be uniform over the body, only gradually shading to lighter underparts. Faint colorpoint markings may be visible, but any barring or spotting is considered a serious fault. The eyes are green or gold depending on coat color. The breed's original standard color is a distinctively rich dark brown, variously known as sable (USA), brown (UK, Australia) or seal (New Zealand). It is the result of the Burmese gene (cb), part of the albino series. This gene causes a reduction in the amount of pigment produced, converting black into brown and rendering all other colours likewise paler than their usual expression. The action of the gene also produces the modified colorpoint effect, which is more noticeable in young kittens. The first blue Burmese was born in 1955 in Britain, followed by red, cream, and tortoiseshell over the next decades. Champagne ("chocolate" in the UK) first appeared in America. Platinum (UK "lilac"), the last major variant to appear, was likewise developed in America beginning in 1971. Currently, the British GCCF standard recognises solid brown, chocolate, blue, lilac, red and cream, as well as the tortoiseshell pattern on a base of brown, chocolate, blue or lilac. In America, champagne, blue, and platinum cats were first formally considered a separate breed, the Malayan, in 1979. This distinction was abolished in 1984, but until 2010, the CFA continued to place the sable Burmese into a separate division, bundling all other recognised colors into a "dilute division" and judging them separately. Currently, the CFA standard still recognises the Burmese only in solid sable, blue, champagne, and platinum. Other colors have been developed from this initial base set, with varying degrees of popularity and recognition. In 1989 a cinnamon breeding programme was started in the Netherlands; the first fawn kitten was born in 1998. Cinnamon, fawn, caramel, and apricot Burmese have also been developed in New Zealand, as have tortoiseshell variants of all these colors. A new colour mutation has arisen in Burmese lines being bred in New Zealand and an experimental breeding programme began in 2007. The colour is called russet and appears to be the result of the dark pigment in the cats' coats fading as they grow, while paler orange pigment remains. |
| Health | The British Burmese is predisposed to Diabetes mellitus. The incidence of flat-chested kitten syndrome was at one time believed to be particularly prevalent in the Burmese breed, but recent studies have cast some doubt on this hypothesis.[21] A study funded by the UK Burmese Cat Club in 1980 was inconclusive. The breed has an average lifespan of 10 to 17 years. Certain UK bloodlines suffer from an acute teething disorder in young kittens, where the eruption of the second teeth causes extreme discomfort and the young cat tears at its face to try to alleviate the pain. Veterinary intervention is not useful, since it is the eruption of the new teeth in the jaw that causes the problem; these cannot be removed until they have erupted, by which time the problem ceases. Apart from scarring caused by the self-mutilation, the cat seems to recover completely. Hypokalaemia, a genetic disease which is characterised by low serum potassium levels, has also been seen in the British Burmese and can similarly be traced to certain bloodlines. The gene is recessive, and both parents must carry it for the kittens to develop the problem. A carrier mated to a non-carrier may pass the problem on unnoticed for several generations. Clinical signs include skeletal muscle weakness, which is often episodic in nature and either affects the whole cat or is localised to the neck muscles. As a consequence the cat can have difficulty in walking and holding their head correctly. Hypokalaemic cats can usually lead a normal life if they get the correct potassium supplement. Onset of symptoms often occurs around puberty and many may never experience another attack. A DNA test is now available to identify cats affected by or carrying this recessive gene. DNA tests are available for three genetic abnormalities which have been found in Burmese: the Burmese head defect, GM2 Gangliosidosis and Hypokalaemia. Breeders are currently taking steps to the ensure that these genes are carefully eliminated from the Burmese gene pool. It is thought that some genes are only found in certain populations of Burmese; the head defect in particular is not known to be present in British Burmese, presumably as a result of a ban on imports in the GCCF Burmese registration policy. |
