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Why
is this cat called a Birman and not a Burman?
The name Birman originates in France where the cat is known as "Le Chat
Sacred de Birmanie"
What
is the difference between a Birman and a Burmese?
The Birman is semi longhaired and displays the Himalayan coat pattern
(pointed), and blue eyes. The paws are large and round but with distinctive
pure white 'gloves' on the front paws and 'gauntlets' on the rear paws.
The body is long and muscular but quite stocky with thickset, strongly
boned legs which have a stiff rear-legged gait. The head is rectangular
with wide cheek bones and wide set ears. On the other hand Burmese are
a medium size breed with well muscled, medium length body.
Distinguishing features are wide cheek bones tapering to a short blunt
wedge at the nose which has a slight break, ears set well apart and eyes
of varying shades of yellow. The coat is short, close-lying and very glossy,
of satin-like texture. As the Burmese is in fact a pointed breed, in all
colours the underparts are slightly lighter than the back.
How
much grooming does a Birman require?
Although the Birman is a longhair cat, they require far less grooming
than a Persian cat. As the coat of the Birman is silky it is less inclined
to mat. The coat of a longhaired cat must be thoroughly combed at least
once a week, preferably every day. In the spring and autumn, when the
cat grows a new coat, daily combing is necessary because the fine hair
of the undercoat can mat at these times.
What
is the personality of the Birman?
Of course there will be differences between individual cats, but over
all the Birman can be described as loving, affectionate, outgoing, faithful
and loyal. Some people describe them as the dog of the cat family. A Birman
will often follow its chosen human about the house or garden and be quite
vocal if it feels it is missing something. However, they generally have
soft sweet voices and are rarely noisy.
What colours
can I get?
A wide variety of colours is available in New Zealand. Most common of
course are seal and blue point Birmans, but increasingly the chocolate
and lilac, tabby point, red, cream and torties points as well as silver
tabby and smoke point Birmans are being bred. A full list of the colours
possible to breed in the Birman is available on the Birman
Standard. However, some of the colours are still very rare and it
would be almost impossible to find a seal tortie silver tabby Birman.
New colours appearing in New Zealand include, cinamon, caramel and apricot
but once again these are not readily available. For a full description
of the Birman Standard and many of the colours, visit Birman
Standard on the New Zealand Cat Fancy Inc Web Site.
What do
I need to look at in a cat if I wish to show?
A cat purchased or bred for showing must conform as closely as possible
to the Birman Standard. A good breeder will
be to tell whether a cat has show potential or not. However, it certainly
cannot have any of the withholding or disqualifying faults.
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