Animals

The Sacred Cat of Burma, or Birman, is an exotic cat, majestic in its demeanor but, at the same time, very friendly and intelligent by nature. Although the breed originated in Burma as the Sacred Temple Cat of the Khmer people, it should not be confused with the Burmese, to which it is quite unrelated. The first appearance of the Birman cat in the western world is their introduction to France in 1919. The transfer from east to west remains shrouded in mystery with little documentation of the cat’s actual history until more recent times. The French registries recognized the “Sacre de Birmanie” as a natural breed in 1925. Many of the world’s other registering bodies have considered the Birman a French breed ever since. The English version, “Birman” is derived from the French spelling of their name. The breed was recognized for championship competition in England in 1966 and in the United States in 1967.

The Birman is a strikingly beautiful breed of cat with semi-longhaired coat of colour-point pattern. It comes in a variety of colours and possesses white feet. Males can be quite large – adults reaching 5 to 6 kilos while females are somewhat smaller tending to mature somewhere between 3.5 and 4 kilos. They are affectionate and sweet natured. Their origin is cloaked in mystery and they do come with a very sweet Legend which explains how they came into being. On the whole they are robust healthy cats, many living to very old age yet they possess an ethereal quality which is very endearing.

Birmans are people oriented cats. They are always pleased to see you and where you are your Birman cat will not be far behind. If you are working or relaxing in one room and the Birman has been in another soon it will stroll in and indicate by its expression and a softly waving tail that it is happy to see you. Although kittens are excited by your presence adults are more subject to their inherited dignity. They have soft voices sometimes described as “bell like” and some will hold conversations with you and nearly all of them have wonderful purr machinery.

In the ideal Birman, the matching white gloves on the front paws should end at or between the second and third joints of the paw. On the back paws, the gloves should cover all the toes and may extend up higher than the gloves on the front paws. The gloves must extend up the back of the hock and in this area are called laces. Ideally, the laces end in a point or inverted ‘V’ and extend one-half to three-quarters of the way up the hock. Symmetry of the laces is desirable. Ideally, the front gloves should match, the back gloves should match, and the laces should match. However, getting well-gloved Birmans is the thorn in the paw of every Birman breeder.

Birmans are born pure white, and then develop color on the points. The shading of the legs comes later, so the period of waiting for the glove markings to appear is an anxious one for Birman breeders, since the glove markings are the most difficult to perfect. The gene governing the trait is the dominant white spotting factor gene, which is very difficult to control.