Burmese cat
Burmese cat | |
---|---|
Origin | Burma |
Breed standards | |
CFA | standard |
FIFe | standard |
TICA | standard |
WCF | standard |
ACF | standard |
CCA-AFC | standard |
GCCF | standard |
NZCF | standard |
Domestic cat (Felis catus) |
The Burmese cat (
, believed to have its roots near the Thai-Burma border and developed 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
Originally, all Burmese cats were dark brown (genetically black), but are now available in a wide variety of 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.
History
In 1871,
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.
Historically, the two versions of the breed were kept strictly distinct genetically[citation needed]. European Burmese (also known as "traditional") were declassed as a breed by the CFA in the 1980s. The GCCF banned the registration of all Burmese imported from the United States in order to preserve the "traditional" bloodlines.[3] Most modern cat registries do not formally recognise these dual standards as representing separate breeds, but those that do refer to the British type as the European Burmese.[4] Recently, The International Cat Association (TICA) and CFA clubs have started using the American breed standard at select shows in Europe.
During the early period of breed development, it became clear that Wong Mau herself was genetically a
Description
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.[5] 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 4–6 kg (9–13 lb), but are nevertheless substantially-built, muscular cats and should feel heavy for their size when held – "a brick wrapped in silk".[6]
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
The breed's original standard colour is a distinctively rich dark brown (genetically black), variously known as sable (USA), brown (UK, Australia) or seal (New Zealand). It is the result of the Burmese gene (cb), part of the albino series. This gene causes a reduction in the amount of pigment produced, converting black into brown and rendering all other colours likewise paler than their usual expression.[7] The action of the gene also produces the modified colourpoint effect, which is more noticeable in young kittens.
The first blue Burmese was born in 1955 in Britain, followed by red, cream, and tortoiseshell over the next decades. Chocolate ("champagne" in the USA) first appeared in the United States. Lilac ("platinum" in the USA), the last major variant to appear, was likewise developed in the USA beginning in 1971. Currently, the British GCCF standard recognises solid brown, chocolate, blue, lilac, red and cream, as well as the tortoiseshell pattern on a base of brown, chocolate, blue or lilac.
In the USA, chocolate ("champagne"), blue, and lilac ("platinum") cats were first formally considered a separate breed, the Malayan, in 1979. This distinction was abolished in 1984, but until 2010, the CFA continued to place the brown ("sable") Burmese into a separate division, bundling all other recognised colours into a "dilute division" and judging them separately.[8] Currently, the CFA standard still recognises the Burmese only in sable, blue, chocolate ("champagne"), and lilac ("platinum").[9]
Other colours have been developed from this initial base set, with varying degrees of popularity and recognition. In 1989 a cinnamon breeding programme was started in the Netherlands; the first fawn kitten was born in 1998. Cinnamon, fawn, caramel, and apricot Burmese have also been developed in New Zealand, as have tortoiseshell variants of all these colours.[10][11] A new colour mutation ("russet") appeared in New Zealand in 2007. This line has an initially dark pigment in the cats' coats, which fades as they grow, eventually becoming a paler orange colour.[12]
Temperament
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
Genetics
The Burmese gene is also present in some other cat breeds, particularly the established rex breeds, where it can be fully expressed in its homozygous form (cbcb) (referred to as Burmese Colour Restriction or Sepia). The same gene can also be combined with the Siamese gene (cbcs) to produce either darker points or a light-on-dark-brown coat, similar to the Burmese chocolate (champagne in the USA), known as "mink".[15][16]
The
The lineage of Burmese cats known as "Contemporary Burmese" often hosts a 4-aminoacid deletion on the
Genetic diversity
A 2008 study conducted at
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%.[23] An Australian study in 2009 found a prevalence of 22.1% compared to an overall rate of 7.4%.[24]
A study of veterinary records in England found an average life expectancy of 14.3.[25]
Certain UK bloodlines suffer from an acute teething disorder in young kittens (FOPS: Feline Orofacial Pain Syndrome), 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.[26]
The Burmese is predisposed to
See also
- List of cat breeds
- crossbreeding between Siameseand Burmese cats.
- Puppy cat
References
- ^ a b Rosemary Hale. "History of Burmese". burmesecatclub.com. Retrieved 26 June 2019.
- ^ a b c The Burmese Cat by: Rosemond S. Peltz, MD
- ^ "GCCF Burmese Registration Policy" (PDF). The Governing Council of the Cat Fancy. Retrieved 10 April 2019.
- ^ "Breed Profile: The European Burmese". Archived from the original on 11 April 2019. Retrieved 10 April 2019.
- ^ "Standard of Points - October 2009". burmesecatassociation.org. 1 October 2009. Retrieved 20 June 2019.
- ISBN 978-0-7894-1970-5
- ^ "Genes and Alleles Summary". Messybeast.com. Retrieved 6 August 2014.
- ^ CFA Breed Article: Burmese by Erika Graf-Webster
- ^ a b "Breed Profile: The Burmese". Retrieved 10 April 2019.
- ^ "The Cinnamon Burmese Programme" (Microsoft Word). Arsenios. Retrieved 12 February 2008.
- ^ "NZCF Standard of Points – Burmese" (PDF). New Zealand Cat Fancy. 2017. Retrieved 10 April 2019.
- ^ "AMBER AND RUSSET - LATE COLOUR CHANGE GENES". messybeast.com. Retrieved 11 October 2019.
- ISBN 9781483226002.
- ISBN 978-1-909820-61-6.
- ^ "CFA Breed Standard: Devon Rex" (PDF). 2018. Archived from the original (PDF) on 10 April 2019. Retrieved 11 April 2019.
- ^ "CFA Breed Standard: LaPerm" (PDF). 2014. Retrieved 11 April 2019.
- ^ "Asian". The Governing Council of the Cat Fancy. Retrieved 11 April 2019.
- ISBN 9781987061802. Retrieved 14 October 2019.
- ^ "Burmese - Burmese Head Defect". Universities Federation for Animal Welfare. Retrieved 7 June 2023.
- PMID 18060738.
- ^ "2012 Breed Council Poll: Burmese" (PDF). The Cat Fanciers' Association. Retrieved 21 January 2014.
- ^ "FIFe Rules" (ZIP). Fifeweb.org. Retrieved 21 December 2017.[permanent dead link]
- PMID 27353396.
- ISSN 1090-0233.
- S2CID 7098747.
- PMID 20451434.
- ISBN 978-0-323-37651-8.
External links
- Taylor, David (1989). The Ultimate Cat Book. Dorling Kindersley Publishers Ltd. ISBN 0-86318-371-9. 4th printing
- National Alliance of Burmese Breeders, a CFA-affiliated Burmese Club
- Burmese pedigree database
- Burmese-Burmilla pedigree database
- New Zealand Burmese Cat Club Archived 15 January 2019 at the Wayback Machine
- UK Burmese Cat Association
- The Burmese Cat Club
- Burmese Brown Cat Breeds Characteristics and more also read about another brown cat breed York Chocolate
- UK Burmese Cat Society
- United Burmese Cat Fanciers (UBCF) a non-affiliated global Burmese Cat Club