Birmans

Country of Origin: France
Other Name: Sacred cat of Burma

The Birmans are believed to have originated in Burma. The legend of the Birman cat is that they were sacred companions to the Kittah priests and were originally yellow eyed cats with long white hair. They were said to be guardians of the Temple of Lao Tsun. The goddess of this temple, Tsun-Kyan-Kse, had deep blue eyes. The head priest had a beautiful cat named Sinh. One day the temple was attacked and the head priest was killed. At the moment of his death, Sinh placed his feet on his master's chest and faced the goddess. The cat's white fur turned gold, his eyes turned as blue as the eyes of the goddess and his face, legs and tail became brown. But his paws, which were touching the priest, remained white as a symbol of purity. All the other temple cats became the same color. About a week later Sinh is said to have died taking his master's soul to paradise.

Sometime around 1919, a pair of Birmans were shipped from Burma to France. The male cat did not survive the trip, but the female did and she was pregnant. From this litter, Birmans were established in the Western World. Birmans were introduced to the United Stated in 1959 and were recognized by The Cat Fanciers' Association in 1967.

Birmans are a medium sized pointed cat with large blue eyes and four white paws. The front paws are called their gloves and the back paws are called their laces. They come in a variety of colors, including seal, chocolate, blue, lilac, red and cream. The color on their face can be solid, lynx (stripped) or tortie (spotted). They are the only long haired cat with a single coat which means they do not mat easily or shed a lot. They require minimal grooming. Birmans are usually very healthy and live relatively long lives. A Birman living to be 15 to 20 is not unusual.

Many people who are allergic to cats can tolerate the Birman. My husband has horrible cat allergies, but does fine with our Birmans, so there is hope for you allergy sufferers. If you suffer from cat allergies, the best way to find out if you can tolerate the Birman is to do an allergy test with a Birman breeder before purchasing a kitten.

It is a common Birman tradition when naming our cats to follow the French by naming all of our kittens born in a given year with names that begin with the same letter of the alphabet. For example, for the year 2003, the letter was "A." So all our Birman babies born that year were named something that started with the letter "A." 2004 was "B," 2005 was "C," etc. We don't skip any letters of the alphabet, and we recycle back to "A" every 26 years. With this naming policy we never need to ask a cat's age, we know by their name.

Birmans have a wonderful personality. They are not as docile as the Persian nor as active as the Siamese, but fall somewhere in the middle. They love to play but also love to cuddle up if you sit down to watch TV. Birmans become very attached to their owners and are said to have dog like personalities. They will follow you from room to room and want to be where you are. Birmans are very social animals and do not do well if they are left alone for long periods of time. They don't care if their companion is another Birman, a rescue kitty or even a dog, they will get along fine with just about anything. They love children and adapt well to busy households with lots of noise and activity. If your home is empty a good portion of a routine day and you want a Birman, I would suggest you get a second pet for a companion.