Cats and Dogs: Burmese
The first record of a Burmese cat was found in 1930 when a sailor brought a cat from the Orient and gave her to Dr Joseph G. Thompson in San Francisco. This cat’s name was Wong Mau and the Burmese cat breed was developed from her.
Wong Mau was walnut brown with darker brown points. Some breeders thought she was a dark Siamese but Dr Thompson established a breeding program to reproduce her distinguishing features. In 1932, she was bred to Tai Mau, a Seal Point Siamese. This mating resulted in kittens with two colours – some like Wong Mau and the other like Siamese.
Wong Mau was bred to one of her sons and the breeding resulted in kittens with 3 distinct colours – some like Siamese, some like Wong Mau and some dark brown. It was the dark brown offspring that founded the Burmese breed as we know it today.
The Burmese cat breed is a medium sized cat with a strong, well-muscled and compact body. The coat is short, silky and shiny and does not require much grooming other than a weekly brushing to remove loose hair.
The head is round with large golden eyes. In young Burmese cats, the points will be darker and as the cat matures, the colour will become deeper and richer.
In older cats there is little difference in colour between the body and the legs, head and tail.
A range of tortoiseshell and solid colours are available – dark sable brown, a medium warm blue, a lilac that can be bright pink-grey to silver-platinum, a warm honey beige chocolate with fawn tints, reds with a tint of golden apricot and deep creams with a tint of golden apricot.
The Burmese cat breed is a people-orientated cat that loves to curl up on a lap. They are very social and playful cats and are very tolerant of children and other pets.
If you are going to be leaving your Burmese alone for long periods, you have to get a companion as the Burmese does not do well on its own. This cat has a soft, sweet voice and likes to engage people in a conversation.
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