Birman Cat
By all accounts this breed has a fine and balanced temperament. In both the picture above of Happy and of Hidden below, the playful and inquisitive nature of this cat is well captured by Helmi. The Birman is one of the more popular cats. In a cat breed popularity survey (currently running) on this site this breed ranks just outside the top 10 (at early 2008). There are about 70 breeds listed on this site. Click on the link to see the top 10 cat breeds (opens new window to Google spreadsheet) in popularity. This cat breed may be more popular in the UK as at one time it was about 4th most popular. Of course popularity is a fickle thing. The origin of this breed, in the Western World, is from the importation of a female Birman Cat from Burma into France (see below). This cat had kittens, the only survivor of which was a female, who was outcrossed with Siamese, Colourpoints (Himalayans) and White Longhairs. The development of the breed in the West had then begun. Some, though, argue that the breed has been created after the war through selective breeding of Siamese and black and white longhaired cats (denying the importation story). You make your choice. The origin and history of the cat breeds is not infrequently hazy and sometimes (rarely) lacks a bit of credibility.
The Birman Cat is shrouded in legend going back to pre 653 BC (the birth of Buddha). In outline, the legend is that the coat of a white cat, the companion of a temple priest,
However, temple cats are very much a part of life in Asia. They are either feral or adopted by priests or I presume people associated with the temple. The picture opposite evokes, to a certain extent, the image created by the legend of the beginnings of this breed. It is a picture of a white temple cat in Burma and perhaps a young priest studying. Some of the money made from this website goes to sponsoring an entire temple colony of cats in Phuket in Thailand. This cat has the standard colorpoint pattern and in addition white feet. This is very similar to the Snowshoe Cat in terms of coat color and pattern. It would be useful to have a look at the Snowshoe cat on this website, as the same genetics are at work. The Piebald gene (white spotting gene) produces the white (gloved) feet, which should ideally have a nice clean edge and be symmetrical. The coat is not as long as the Persian's (it has been bred long in the Persian - too long in some cases, I believe) and is therefore easier to maintain. Apparently, the texture is such that it doesn't mat so easily. Helmi's great photographs show you the texture and color of the coat. The color points are pure seal, chocolate, blue, red, lilac or cream. You might like to look at the Traditional Siamese page for some pictures of these point colors. The Birman Cat has round, blue eyes and a cobby (stocky) large body. It is the character that some might find the most appealing feature of this cat; intelligent, companionable, playful and pleasant.  Abigail
Birman cat - photo ©Helmi Flick
When writing about health issues of any cat breed, I simply present
what I see and read. I leave it to others to decide to act or not on
the information presented by filtering out the useful. But I present
all that I discover or know using sound sources.My research indicates no outstanding health related issues with this breed. Except there may be an issue with Kidney and liver function. Also in a book by Ross D. Clark DVM called Medical, Genetic & Behavioral Aspects of Purebred Cats (published 1992) the author states that some genetic lines have a tendency to have weak legs or nasal obstructions, leading to breathing by the mouth. He says that a disease called epibulbar dermoids was reported in "a" line (i.e. one line) of UK Birmans (remember this is pre-1992). A condition fairly well known in the cat world hip dysplasia (new window) is occasionally seen in the Birman cat. A survey was very wisely and sensibly carried out in the UK by Dr. Danièlle Gunn-Moore, BSc, BVM&S, PhD, MACVSc, MRCVS and Dr Rebecca Richards, MA, VetMB, PhD, CertSAM, MRCVS. It is not clear when the research was carried out. I don't know what steps people have taken to manage this or if people simply disagree. It was a large and highly scientific analysis. In summary the findings where are follows:
A COI of more than 25% is considered high and is equivalent to a parent to child or brother to sister mating. This would indicate to me that the Birman COI mentioned above is too high. It is recommended to keep the COI below 20% (src: http://www.bijoupoodles.com/COI.html - a dog breeding site but I am sure the same principles apply) There is often a difference in regards to cat breed health between the USA and UK. This research should not in my opinion be taken as representative of the USA Birman cat. This research is bravely (and in an enlightened way) presented on a British breeders website. I would like to commend them because it can only serve in the long term to help the breed. You can see the full text here: http://www.chosenhill-birmans.co.uk/veterinary.htm  .
This link will also take you to the cattery website. The cattery owners
are Alwyn
& Ted Hill. I am reporting what I see and no criticism is intended.
The above picture links to a large format high quality version together with some notes about how the photograph was captured.
There is a convention that can be adopted for naming the Birman Cat. There is also a naming convention for another cat that originates in France, the Chartreux. The Chartreux truly does originate in France, while the Birman's presence in the Western World started in France. If the convention is followed, the first letter of the name, in the USA, should begin with "A" for cats born in 2003 (it was "Z" for 2002). For each subsequent year the first letter advances through the alphabet. The full name of "Happy" at the top of this page is "Happy New Year", "Y" being the alphabetical character for that year (born 2001). The full name of "Hidden" above is "Hidden Agenda". "A" being the relevant character (born 2003). For Boss below, this tells us that he was born in 2004.
The Birman Cat Club (UK) [link ].
Founded in 1969 so very well
established.The South and Southwest Birman Cat Club [link ]
where Birmans come first (and they mean this). Located in the UK.
Formed 1999 and affiliated to the GCCF.There are of course many more breeders of this cat than listed here, but these are the only cat breeder sites, as non-directory sites, in the first 30 Google listings. Taron Birmans Located Pittsboro, North Carolina, USA. Nice website with a good Google PageRank. Felonie Birmans Located near Salisbury, England, Breeding for about 20 years (at 2008). Russpurrz Located in Central/Southern Illinois, USA. Breeding since 1991. More pictures -- click on the pictures to see large format versions  photo ©copyright Helmi Flick  photo ©copyright Helmi Flick No reason to show this video except for sentimental reasons. A young cat becomes attached to a young person and the cat is a gorgeous Birman. I could do with a bit of that. Soft fluffy and beautiful and in harmony. It doesn't get any better. From Birman Cat to Home Page 
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