The Birman breed was established in France in the 1920s and is thought to have originated from a pair of cats sent from Burma (“Birmanie” in French) as a gift to the explorer Auguste Pavie.

The Birman, sometimes called the ‘Sacred Cat of Burma’ was legendary for its loyalty to its master, the monk Mun-ha who was murdered in the temple of Lao-Tsun.  At the moment of his master’s death, the white temple cat, Sinh, placed his paws on the monk’s robe, while facing the statue of the Goddess Tsun-Kyan-Kse.  The cat was transformed to adopt the deep blue eyes of the goddess, the golden glow reflecting from her statue and colour points resembling the colour of the earth while retaining its pure white paws, symbol of purity and loyalty.

By the time of the second World War, the breed had all but disappeared, however by the 1960s had been reestablished in greater numbers and gained in popularity.  Today there are many Birman cat breeders all around the globe – some links to their sites can be found on our links page.

The breed is still relatively unknown to the general public in some countries, with some confusion caused by the similar sounding breed name “Burmese” which is a different breed altogether.  The Burmese is a short haired breed while the Birman is a semi-longhaired breed with different colouring and characteristics.  The coloured points and blue eyes of the Birman are shared by the Siamese, although again, there is no similarity in body type, coat, and other characteristics.  The Himalayan cat is sometimes mistaken for a Birman by the uninitiated but it has Persian facial features, rather than the Roman nose of the Birman and does not have the distinctive white gloves (or mitts) and gauntlets (sometimes called ‘laces’) of the Birman.  Finally, the mitted Ragdoll breed does share some common characteristics but is a larger cat with slightly different facial features and body and coat type. Once you have met a Birman or find yourself owned by one, you will see clearly that they are unique.

True to the legend, Birmans make loving pets, very interested in all aspects of day to day life.  They soon fit in to the lives of their owners in a variety of situations.  They are affectionate cats, comfortable with most children and other pets.  They are resourceful and are quite happy to amuse themselves playing with each other or an assortment of toys when left to their own devices.  They are not as talkative as some breeds but each develops its own pattern of interacting with their respective humans.  In our household, Paddy is more of a talker than the girls, Khusi is relatively quiet but reserves her special chirpy voice for her closest humans and for her kittens and Bailey O Cream likes to talk to any birds she spies through the window or to ask us for a special treat now and again.

Grooming is relatively simple – they enjoy being brushed and combed and while once or twice a week is sufficient, if this is part of their daily routine, they will not complain of the attention!  The show girls and boys don’t mind their preparatory bathing and blow dry and these cats seem to be better car travellers than other breeds we have owned.  They have also adapted well to air travel when necessary.

Bailey and Delancy

Perhaps because of their dog-like nature, we have found this breed easier to train than other breeds we have had as pets (Siamese, Australian Mist and Abyssinian).  Since all of our Birman cats were trained to use their scratching posts at an early age, none of them scratches our furniture.  All of them were also trained to walk on a harness at a young age – the first cats we’ve been able to teach to do this!  On the other hand, we do find them a bit clumsy at times – they have been known to roll over and fall off their chosen resting spots in high places from time to time and bath tub rims would certainly pose the threat of a tumble into the bath so they are best kept out of this room of the house when in use!

Like many pampered pets, our Birmans enjoy exploring the latest ‘gear’ from their human’s internet shopping sprees when opportunity permits. Paddy, Bailey and Willow recently tried out their new ‘wheels’, a souvenir from my overseas trip, and are now celebrities, appearing on the Feline Fantasies website under ‘strollers’. Visit Jan's website before your next trip to the US to find something for the cat who has everything. Here are the little celebs and one of the Khusi kittens trying out the stroller.

Khusi asks Bailey how she likes the view from the stroller	Willow tries it out as a nest for the kittens	Paddy takes over	Shazam says strollers are for kittens – hope they have these in Darwin