The Burmese makes an excellent pet. It has a sleek, shorthaired coat that is very easy to groom, is more intelligent and more affectionate than many cats, but above all has a fantastic personality. It just loves people and is very good with children, but it does not like to be left alone. If you are out all day, then it is better to have two, so that they are company for each other. One cat is fun, but two cats are fun squared, especially Burmese! The Burmese is Tomboyish by nature, although many people consider the smooth shining coat and yellow eyes to be the height of elegance. This cat will always give a grand, bouncy welcome to the stranger, and time and affection devoted to this breed more than repays the owner in loyalty and affection. Beautifully behaved with the children, a Burmese loves to sleep in human beds if it gets the chance. There is usually little harm in this practice and both child and cat seem to appreciate the added warmth and friendship.
Grooming
The Burmese is one of the easiest cats to groom. A very fine toothed comb used once or twice a week will remove dead hairs and be appreciated by the cat, as will plenty of hand stroking. For show cats, a bran bath a few days before the show will absorb any excess grease in the coat. However, the glossy Burmese coat is obtained only by keeping the cat in perfect condition, a healthy Brown Burmese should look like polished mahogany.
Origin and history
Although cats resembling the Burmese have been recorded in books from Thailand dating back to the 15th century, the breed as we know it today was developed in the United States in 1930, when a brown female cat of Oriental type, named Wong Mau. was imported to the West Coast from Burma. As there were no similar cats for her to mate with, she was mated to a Siamese. All the kittens born were therefore hybrids, but when they were mated back to their mother, brown kittens resembling the mother were produced. The personalities of these cats were so much admired, being as affectionate and as intelligent as the Siamese but less vocal and less destructive, that the breed soon became very popular.
Breeding
The Burmese is more prolific than most cats. A queen usually has large litters sometimes of up to 10 kittens, although four or five is the average number. Burmese make excellent mothers, bringing their kittens up very strictly with definite ideas on good manners.
Kittens
The kittens are exceptionally active and playful. They are born with much paler coats than the adults, and in the case of the Brown Burmese, mother and kittens look like plain and milk chocolate together. It is often difficult to assess the exact shade of the paler coated Burmese at birth, because the final coat colour takes some weeks to develop, as does the eye colour. Due to increasing demand, you may have to wait for one.
Grooming
The Burmese is one of the easiest cats to groom. A very fine toothed comb used once or twice a week will remove dead hairs and be appreciated by the cat, as will plenty of hand stroking. For show cats, a bran bath a few days before the show will absorb any excess grease in the coat. However, the glossy Burmese coat is obtained only by keeping the cat in perfect condition, a healthy Brown Burmese should look like polished mahogany.
Origin and history
Although cats resembling the Burmese have been recorded in books from Thailand dating back to the 15th century, the breed as we know it today was developed in the United States in 1930, when a brown female cat of Oriental type, named Wong Mau. was imported to the West Coast from Burma. As there were no similar cats for her to mate with, she was mated to a Siamese. All the kittens born were therefore hybrids, but when they were mated back to their mother, brown kittens resembling the mother were produced. The personalities of these cats were so much admired, being as affectionate and as intelligent as the Siamese but less vocal and less destructive, that the breed soon became very popular.
Breeding
The Burmese is more prolific than most cats. A queen usually has large litters sometimes of up to 10 kittens, although four or five is the average number. Burmese make excellent mothers, bringing their kittens up very strictly with definite ideas on good manners.
Kittens
The kittens are exceptionally active and playful. They are born with much paler coats than the adults, and in the case of the Brown Burmese, mother and kittens look like plain and milk chocolate together. It is often difficult to assess the exact shade of the paler coated Burmese at birth, because the final coat colour takes some weeks to develop, as does the eye colour. Due to increasing demand, you may have to wait for one.
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