The Burmese

The Burmese is originally an East Asian temple cat!
The first description of the little brown cat with the golden eyes was published as early as 1889.

On the "Smud Koi-papyrus" from the Ayudhya times, that now can be seen at the Bangkok Museum, the Burmese is called "Thong-Daeng" or "Supalak". Thong-Daeng" means " Golden red", and describes the golden colour in both coat and eyes. "Supalak" describes the character of the Burmese, as it means "The Noble Cat".

Translated the Smud Koi-papyrus describes the Burmese like this: The character of "Thong-Daeng" easily outshines the character of all other cats. Its coat shines like copper. Its eyes reflect the clear beam of the sun, when the sun is in zenith. In its closeness all danger vanishes, and all evil is turned into goodness.

As a modern pedigreed cat the Burmese can lead its ancestors back to a very certain brown cat, Wong Mau, who in 1930 was brought to America from Burma by an American marine doctor.

Wong Mau, who was a cross between a Burmese and a Siamese, was mated with a Siamese. This resulted in kittens, of wich a part looked like Wong Mau, and a part like the Siamese. Wong Mau was mated with one of her brown sons, and this was the beginning of the breed as we know it today, that is the silky cat with the shiny brown coat and golden eyes. The breed was acknowledged after 6 years in the USA, but it took a lot more years until the breed was brought to Europe and acknowledged in all its present colours.

The Burmese is one of the smallest shorthair cats there is. It is very muscular and is supposed to be at least twice as heavy as it seems. At the first sight it looks like a quite normal cat, it should neither be big and compact, as for example a British Shorthair, nor spindly and long, as the elegant oriental cats.

The Burmese is - rightly - often called a mini-panther because of the muscular body under the silky shining coat, which allows every muscle to be seen. The Burmese has golden, very expressive, eyes.

Today the Burmese comes in 10 colours. First the dark brown, then the light brown (called chocolate). The tin coloured (blue) and the very light purple. The "new" colours: red and cream, and the combinations of red and the 4 "main colours", that creates brown-, chocolate-, blue- and purple tortie females. They are called tortie because the colours create a spotted pattern like the shield of a turtle.

The Burmese is vivid and belongs among the most intelligent breeds
The Burmese wants to take part in all the exciting things happening around it. Usually it is always in the way. It can learn all the small things that make life a little more fun, for example opening doors if it cannot get humans to do so. It is good at retrieving, as this means the playing lasts longer and it quite easily learns to walk in a leash, if that is the condition of getting outdoors. It likes its pet carrier when it is on its way to the summer cottage or home, but definitely not when the trip goes to the vet. The Burmese is excellent at living both in the city and in the summer cottage on weekends.

The Burmese is distinctly social
The Burmese is very social - not only with other cats - but to a great extent also with humans and even dogs. A sleeping lump of 5-6 Burmese cats is not abnormal and they all like lying on your lap at the same time! The Burmese is very happy being the center of attention and it is not afraid of stealing all the attention (and/or food) at great social gatherings, and it often "tries out" several guests before it finds its favourite victim.

The Burmese loves to be raised above the surroundings
A Burmese demands access to highly placed lookouts from where it can keep an eye on everything going on. It also likes sitting on the shoulder of its owner, sure of knowing the owner is keeping its balance, and then transforming into a loudly purring fur collar.

The Burmese is faithful!
If you give your Burmese all the attention it demands you are rewarded with an extremely faithful and devoted pet cat who you must live with for many years, and who you occasionally must lead long conversations with to settle disagreements. The Burmese has an extremely well developed language - not only verbally, but also with the face and body and it loves to talk! And tell off if necessary. Many often associate - because of its devotedness towards humans - the Burmese to a dog.

(Text written by BB-Klubben and translated)