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Birman(cat)

July 28th, 2008 | by admin |

What is a Birman?

A Birman is the lazy man’s longhair as they require very little maintenance. A typical Birman should be aggressively friendly, seeking out human attention (and a real pest about it too sometimes). They are great companions, and their silky hair does not require regular brushing (which they love) as their coat does not mat! The ideal Birman is a large, long stocky cat. The color of the coat is light, preferably with a golden cast, as if misted with gold. The “points” - face, legs and tail - are darker, similar to the Siamese or Himalayan color patterns of Seal, Blue, Chocolate and Lilac point, along with Lynx points and the Red Factor (Tortie, Reds and Creams). The almost round eyes are blue, set in a strong face with heavy jaws, full chin and Roman nose (bends down in the middle often has a bump to it at that point) with nostrils set low. The very distinctive white feet are ideally symmetrical. The gloves on the front feet, if perfect, go across in an even line, and on the back feet end in a point up the back of the leg, called laces. It is difficult to breed a cat with perfect white gloves and Laces.

Description

Also known as the “Sacred Cat of Burma”, the Birman has a number of fanciful legends associated with its origin. The breed first appeared in France in 1919 with a pregnant female imported from Burma (the male died en route). The breed was first recognized for championship status by a French cat registry. The breed’s French name, Sacre de Birmanie, is the origin of the breed name Birman. Birmans first appeared in the United States in 1959 and in Great Britain five years later. It was accepted for championship status in GCCF in 1966 andin 1967 by CFA.

It is a semi-longhaired cat, accepted only in the pointed pattern. It is distinguished from other pointed cats not only by its moderately stocky body type, but also by its four white feet. The pattern of the “gloves and laces” on the Birman is very precise on show cats.

Birmans are docile, quiet cats with a strong “people” orientation. Although longhaired, they do not need daily grooming.

Origin

The Birman is said to have originated in western Burma, and cats with similar markings are recorded in documents from ancient Thailand. One story claims that a pair was given as a gift to an Englishman named Major Gordon Russell and his friend August Pavie by the priests of the Khmer people. The exact year that he and his friend, Auguste Pavie, were actually in the Far East is a matter of dispute. It appears to have been 1898, which agrees with the historical record of certain tribal revolutions related to Buddhism and other religious factions. Some sources quote 1916 or 1919 as the dates of the revolution, but confirming any of these dates has proved questionable. It is acknowledged that Birman cats were first sent to France in 1919, therefore 1916 and 1919 may be more accurate, as the priests gave the men two Birmans in thanks for saving their sect from decimation by the Brahmins. The story is relatively hazy, but claims that two cats were sent to France in 1919 to August Pavie and Major Russell Gordon, and breeding started immediately. The male died on the voyage, but the female survived and was in kitten. However, if the revolution of the Brahmins had been in 1898 there would have been a 21-year gap before the two men received the Birmans, which seems too long to be credible.

History

The unusual coloring of the Birman is the subject of a charming legend. Centuries ago, the Khmer people of Asia built the Temple of Lao-Tsun in which to worship a golden goddess with sapphire-blue eyes, Tsun-Kyan-Kse. Mun-Ha, a much-loved priest, often knelt in meditation before the goddess with Sinh, a beautiful white temple cat, beside him gazing at the golden figure. One night raiders attacked the temple and Mun-Ha was killed. As Mun-Ha died, Sinh placed his feet upon his fallen master and faced the golden goddess. As he did so, the hairs of his white body turned golden, and his yellow eyes to sapphire-blue, like hers; his four white legs turned earthy brown - but where his paws rested gently on his dead master, they remained white as a symbol of purity. Next morning, the hundred white cats of the temple were as golden as Sinh, who did not leave the sacred throne until, seven days later, he died, and carried his master’s soul into paradise. Since that time, whenever a sacred cat died in the Temple of Lao-Tsun, the soul of a priest was said to accompany it on its journey to the hereafter.

At this point legend ends and history begins. The temple was left in peace until it was raided at the beginning of this century. Two westerners, Auguste Pavie and Major Gordon Russell, came to the aid of the priests; as a gesture of gratitude the priests later sent to the two men, then living in France, a pair of Birman; this was in 1919. Unfortunately, the male did not survive the ocean trip; but the female by then was pregnant, and the survival of the breed in the West was ensured. The earliest pedigrees were lost; the breed as we know it, and which was recognized in France in 1925, stems from one pair, Orloff and Xenia de Kaabaa. But the Birmans were to suffer further setbacks in Europe - after a relatively prosperous period in France in the 1930’s, by the end of the Second World War, there was once again only a single surviving pair, and it took many years for the variety to recover. - excepted from a English cat book from the 1970’s

Recognized as a breed in Britain in 1966, the Birman was not recognized in the United States until 1967, when the CFA approved the Standard. They had, however, been shown in “experimental” classes for several years before this, and appeared in championship competition in 1965. Mrs G Griswold owned two, Phass and Klaa Khmer, sent to her from Cambodia, and others were imported from Britain, but the Birman is, nevertheless, a relatively rare cat in America. - from Heinemann’s ‘The Complete Cat Encyclopaedia’ (1972)