Cat breed · Myanmar
The Burmese cat (Burmese: ဗမာကြောင်, Băma kyaung, Thai: แมวพม่า or Suphalak, RTGS: Thongdaeng or Supphalak, meaning copper colour) is a pedigreed breed of domestic cat, originating in Burma, believed to have its roots near the Thai–Burma border, and developed by selective breeding in the United States and Britain.
Most modern Burmese are descendants of one female cat called Wong Mau, which was brought from Burma to the United States in 1930 and bred with American Siamese. From there, American and British breeders developed distinctly different Burmese breed standards, which is unusual among pedigreed domestic cats. Most modern cat registries do not formally recognise the two as separate breeds, but those that do refer to the British type as the European Burmese.
Originally, all Burmese cats were dark brown, genetically called black sepia, but are now available in a wide variety of sepia colours; formal recognition of these also varies by standard. Both versions of the breed are known for their uniquely social and playful temperament and persistent vocalisation.
Behaviour: Burmese are a notably people-oriented breed, maintaining their kitten-like energy and playfulness into adulthood. They are also said to have a number of overtly puppy-like characteristics, forming strong bonds with their owners and gravitating toward human activity. The cats often learn to play games such as 'fetch' and 'tag'. Veterinarian Joan O. Joshua has written that the "dog-like attachment to the owners" of the Burmese, as with the similarly behaving Abyssinians, causes "greater dependence on human contacts". This stands in contrast to the mere "tolerant acceptance of human company" based around "comforts" that other breeds display. They are persistently vocal, in a manner reminiscent of their Siamese ancestry, yet they have softer, sweeter voices. Burmese are not as independent as other breeds and are not suited to being left alone for extended periods of time.
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 be about 4–[dose — ask your vet] (9–13 lb), but are nevertheless substantially-built, muscular cats and should feel heavy for their size when held – "a brick wrapped in silk".
Coat And Colour: In either standard, the coat should be very short, fine and glossy, with a satin-like finish. Colour is solid and must be uniform over the body, only gradually shading to lighter underparts. Faint colourpoint markings may be visible, but any barring or spotting is considered a serious fault. The eyes are green or gold depending on coat colour.
The breed's original standard colour is a distinctively rich dark brown colour (genetically black), variously known as sable (USA), brown (UK, Australia) or seal (New Zealand). It is the result of the Burmese gene (cbcb). This gene causes a reduction in the amount of pigment produced, converting black into warm brown on the non-pointed parts (torso), and similarly rendering all other coat colours paler than their usual expression.
Health: A 2016 study in England of veterinary records found the Burmese to have a higher prevalence of diabetes mellitus compared to other breeds with 2.27% of Burmese having the condition compared to the overall rate of 0.58%. An Australian study in 2009 found a prevalence of 22.1% compared to an overall rate of 7.4%.
A study of veterinary records in the UK found an average life expectancy of 14.42 years for the Burmese with a sample size of 45, the highest in the study and higher than the overall of 11.74 years.
The lineage of American Burmese cats, also known as "contemporary" Burmese, often hosts a 4-aminoacid deletion on the ALX1 gene. Heterozygosity of the mutation results in brachycephaly, while homozygosity results in a profound head malformation known as the Burmese head defect, which is always fatal.
The Burmese is the most commonly affected breed for feline orofacial pain syndrome (FOPS). Certain UK bloodlines suffer from this 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. 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. Pain relief intervention should be considered, to prevent overt self-trauma. Apart from scarring caused by the self-mutilation, the cat seems to recover completely.
The Burmese is predisposed to congenital hypotrichosis.
History: In 1871, Harrison Weir organised a cat show at the Crystal Palace, London. 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.
Joseph Cheesman Thompson imported Wong Mau, a dark female cat, into San Francisco, USA, in 1930. 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 black ("seal") point 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 US 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 US judging standard that has remained essentially unchanged since its adoption.
Meanwhile, in the UK, interest in the breed was reviving. The cats that composed the new British breeding program were of a variety of builds, including some imported from the United States. By 1952, three true generations had been produced in Britain and the breed was recognised by the United Kingdom's Governing Council of the Cat Fancy (GCCF). Since the 1950s, countries in the Commonwealth and Europe started importing British Burmese; as a result, most countries have based their standard on the British model.
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