Birman Cat
A Birman is the lazy man’s longhair as they require very little maintenance. A typical Birman should be aggressively friendly, seeking out human attention. They are great companions, and their silky hair does not require regular brushing as their coat does not mat!
Otis & Fantaristocat’s Sheila
Body and structure:
It is generally a medium-sized cat with robust bone structure.
The body is slightly elongated compared to the legs, i.e. the legs are short and robust compared to the body. Males are usually bigger and have a more massive head and a more majestic ruff than females’.
Fur:
The Birman’s fur is silky, soft, semi-long and with little underfur. The fur is short on the muzzle, gradually becoming longer on cheek, and long and thick around the neck, just as if it were a lion’s mane (called “ruff”). It is long on the back and on the hips, lightly shortening on the legs and resulting in funny tufts of longer fur among the toe pads.
Colour:
The Sacred cat of Burma is a colourpoint cat. The points are: muzzle, ears, legs, tail, genitals.
The rest of the body is of the same tone as points, but in a washed-out, almost white version.
Morphology:
Muzzle: The Birman cat’s morphology is unique. Its characteristics are not similar to any other breed’s.
The head has a rather robust bone structure and full cheeks. The muzzle is heart-shaped, with prominent cheekbones and soft features. The eyes are far from each other and well proportioned on the muzzle.
All the parts must be in harmony to convey the sweet, open expression.
Profile:
The forehead is slightly rounded, the nose is medium-length, i.e. not too long (as in the Siamese cat) and not too short either (as in the Persian cat). It has a slight stop – a depression of the nose channel in the eye area The nose’s profile is rounded, i.e. with a small bump, called “Roman profile”. The tip of the nose is downward and must be aligned to the chin by an ideal vertical line.
Mask:
The mask is part of the Birman’s coloured points. It is the area placed on the muzzle that frames eyes, cheeks and mouth, with the nose tip in the middle. It has a diamond shape and it is clearly separated from the ears.
Eyes:
They are among the elements that mostly give the fascinating and magnetic appearance to the Birman. The Birman’s eyes have a slightly oval shape and are of an intense blue colour. The cat usually looks in the eyes of those who intensely stare at it.
Ears:
The Birman cat’s ears are not too small (as in the Persian cat) and not too big either (as in the Maine Coon). They are medium-sized, placed slightly oblique and forward, not too much on the top of the skull but well-distanced instead. The tips are rounded. The shape of the ears is that of an isosceles triangle, the base of which is the same as the height.
Tail:
It is medium-length and plume-shaped. It is usually kept upwards and shakes every step the cat takes.
The fur is thick, long and does not mat. The last part of the tail is rounded, unlike the Ragdoll’s, which ends with a point. The tail must be long enough to touch the shoulder.
Legs:
The legs are robust with big and round feet, reminding those of their sibling felines in the savannah.
Toe pads are usually pink.
Anterior gloves of a colour blue-point
Gloves:
The main feature distinguishing this breed from the others is the presence of gloves – the fingers of all paws have white fur. It’s the only white part of the body.
“Perfect” gloves are difficult to obtain in kittens even if their parents’ are within the upper and lower limits.
This makes the breeding of show quality cats even more difficult.
Besides, the gene responsible for white fur may bring tufts of white fur also on other parts of body.
Posterior gloves of a colour blue-point
Upper and lower limits of white gloves:
- In accordance with the Birman cat’s standard, the white colour must be between the joint and the area between the fingers and metacarp.
- White fur may be a bit higher on rear legs.
- In the sole sheath in rear legs, gloves end with a point.
- Gloves should be symmetrical and have the same length.
- If gloves exceed those limits, the Birman cat is often not regarded as show-quality.
- Several breeders make the mistake of attaching too much importance to the gloves, even considering them the only parameter for distinguishing a show-quality specimen from a pet.
Body and structure:It is generally a medium-sized cat with robust bone structure.The body is slightly elongated compared to the legs, i.e. the legs are short and robust compared to the body. Males are usually bigger and have a more massive head and a more majestic ruff than females’.
