Standard

GENERAL STANDARD

The Birman is a medium to large strong-boned, muscular semi-longhaired cat. It is slightly longer in all its component parts than a Persian or Exotic Shorthair. It has medium-sized, flared ears, almost round eyes, Roman nose and rounded muzzle. It has Himalayan markings, but with white paws and gauntlets added; both strongly
defined. Males are generally larger than females.
HEAD: Strongly boned and broader than high. Forehead slopes well back, slightly convex in profile, with flatter appearance in front of and between the ears. Broad cheeks and slightly rounded in the muzzle.
EARS: Medium in height, almost as wide at the base as tall. Modified to a rounded tip and set as much to the side as into the top of the head. Slightly flared.
EYES: Almost round, set well apart, not bold. In repose, the upper lid should appear to be flatter, less rounded than the lower lid. The outer corner tilted very slightly upward.
NOSE: Broad, medium length. Starting just below the eyes, a slight dip is essential, but a definite stop is not acceptable. A downward change in angle below the dip makes the nose slightly Roman in profile, setting the nose pad a little low.
CHEEKS: Full and broad, helping create the broader than high head.
JAWS: Strong and broad, with a somewhat rounded muzzle.
CHIN: Firm, full and strong, in a vertical line with the tip of the nose.
NECK: Strong and medium length, in proportion to the head and body.
BODY: Medium length solid and muscular, with no appearance of fragility. Chest broad. Males more robust than females.
TAIL: Sufficiently long to reach to just before the shoulders. Bushy, wider at base, tapering in boning to an oval tip.
LEGS: Strong and heavily boned. Medium length, so that although the body is long, the cat does not stand high on its legs. The hind legs are slightly longer than the front legs.
PAWS: Large, round and firm.
TEMPERAMENT: Should be placid, allowing easy handling at all times.

SCALE OF POINTS

Head (incl. size and shape of eyes) 25
Body (incl. tail size, shape, length and bone) 25 50
Coat length and texture 10
Coat colour 10
Gloves and gauntlets 20 40
Eye colour 5
Overall condition 5 10
Total 100

FAULTS / PENALTIES

Small, rounded ears.
Lack of width in head.
Strongly almond eyes.
A second downward dip or slight bump near the end of the nose called a
beesting is a fault.
Weak chin.
Lack of length in tail.
Fine boning.
Hooding.
White whisker pads.
No contrast between point and body colouring.
Tabby barring, though ghost markings acceptable on kittens.
Runners (streaks of white) up the legs.

WITHHOLD:

Siamese or Persian type.
Green eyes.
Areas of white in point colour.
Spots or patches of white (excluding gloves and gauntlets) anywhere on the
body, particularly on chin, chest or stomach.
Coloured toe(s).
Grossly uneven foot markings.
Lack of white on the hock(s) of one or both back legs
Coloured Chin, on Mitted and Bicolour..
Coloured spots on gloves or gauntlets.

NOTE: A cat may have slightly imperfect gloves and/or gauntlets, small areas of white around the genitals and still be eligible for awards. Areas of white connected to other areas of white by paw pads of any colour are not to be penalised.

COAT AND COLOUR

COAT LENGTH AND TEXTURE: Semi-longhaired, silken in texture. The fur is short in appearance about the face, but to the extreme outer area of the cheek it is longer, with a full ruff around the neck. Slightly curled on
stomach. It is of such texture that it will not mat.
COAT COLOUR AND PATTERN: The distinguishing colours of the Birman are those of the Himalayan pattern, but with white gloves and gauntlets added. Mask, ears, legs and tail are dense and clearly defined, except in kittens. On reaching maturity, the mask is complete, covering the face to over the eyes (including whisker pads) and is connected to the ears by tracings, leaving an oval of body colour in front of the ears which is quite apparent. Chin is
shaded to match the mask. Some allowance should be made in mature adults for darker body colour, especially in Seal Points. However, the body colour must never be so dark that contrast with point colour is lost.
LEGS: Leg point colour to go up just above the elbows on the front legs and to merge into the flanks at the rear. Leg colour is lighter on the inside of the legs.
PAWS: The white feet are characteristic of the Birman. It is preferable that the white is even on all four paws.

GLOVES AND GAUNTLETS:

Front paws are pure white, gloved in an even line across the paws at the third joint. The upper limit of white should be the metacarpal (dew) pad, which is the highest up little paw pad located in the middle of the back of
the front paw (above the third joint and just below the wrist bones). Back paws have pure white gloves covering the entire paw and tapering evenly up the back of the leg (hock), preferably to a spearhead positioned just below the middle of the hock. Higher markings are acceptable, but should not extend beyond the heel.
PAW PADS:
Are coloured (to harmonise with the colour of the points), pink or mottled. Individual paw pad colour is not listed, so reference should be made to this general description and to individual nose leather colour description.

Coat Pattern and Colours

The coat pattern of the Birman resembles that of a Siamese with the colour being on the face, ears, legs and tail.  Birmans are born white and generally by the time they are ready to go to their new homes the colour is a paler tone of the mature colour to be on the ears, legs and tail.  The coloured mask on the face may only be a smidgeon of colour showing down the nose and this takes 12 to 18 months to cover the entire face.  The coat colour ranges from a cream in seal points, magnolia in lilac points, off white in cream points a golden hue over the back maybe present in all varieties.  The eye colour ranges from a deep blue ranging to a bright blue depending on the point colour.  What makes the Birman quite special are its four white paws often called gloves for the front feet and gauntlets for the back feet.  They are absolutely pure white.

The colours included below are the colours that it is possible for us to breed

Other colours include Tabby and Tabby Points in all the above colours as well as Red and Cream Point.

Legend

Many centuries ago by a sparkling lake, in a valley surrounded by majestic mountains, the temple of Lao-Tsun was guarded by 100 yellow-eyed white cats with long silken hair. The temple housed a beautiful golden goddess with sapphire blue eyes who watched over the transmutation of souls. The head monk, Mun-ha, whose beard had been braided with gold by the enlighten one, often knelt in meditation before the golden goddess,Tsun-Kyan-Kse. At his side was his faithful and beloved companion, a beautiful temple cat named Sinh. Sinh would always shared in his master's meditation. As the monk meditated, Sinh would gaze steadily at the golden goddess beautiful sapphire blue eyes.

One night as the moon rose, Mun-ha was in communion with the sacred goddess, Tsun-Kyan-Kse. He was deep in a transcendental state. So deep was his devotion, that he suffered no pain when the temple was attacked by marauders and Mun-ha was killed. At the moment of his masters death, Sinh placed his paws upon the monk's flowing robes and faced the golden goddess. Instantly, an amazing transformation took place. The hairs of Sinh's white fur were as though misted with a golden glow which radiated from the beautiful golden goddess. Her deep sapphire blue eyes became Sinh very own. His face, ears, legs and tail became the velvety brown color of rich earth, but his four paws resting gently on his master, remained perfect white, a symbol of purity. The next morning the temple radiated with the transformation of the remaining ninety-nine white cats which with Sinh reflected the golden hue of a hundred brilliant sunrises. Sinh did not move from his place He stayed on the spot of his masters death, and gazed fervently into the sapphire eyes of the goddess. Exactly seven days later Sinh died carrying with him into Nirvana the soul of his beloved master,the monk Mun-ha. The next morning all the other white cats of the temple had undergone the same transformation as Sinh. From then on the priests guarded their sacred golden cats, believed them to have custody of the souls of the priests.

History

A veil of mystery surrounding this initial background of the Birmans. According to the explorer, Auguste Pavie who made a study of this subject stated the pointed cats of all colors, some mitted and some not, can be seen in today's temples. He believed that because the numerous wars waged in Northern Burma by the Siamese and the Annamites through out history, that it is very likely that the origin of the Birman evolved from a cross between the Siamese cat and the Annamites cats. But as with all legends there is am element of truth.

The original Birmans of France are said to have been a gift from the priests of a new temple of Lao-Tsun in the mountains of Tibet. Two cats were reputedly sent to France, one - a male - dying in transit. The female, already pregnant, is said to have survived to become the founder of the pedigree Birman breed of Europe.

It is intriguing when, that in 1960, a pair of ‘Tibetan Temple’ kittens were given to a North American cat lover, they had colouring identical to the Birman and were accompanied by the same legend - even down to the 100 temple cats.

Whatever its true origin the Birman is a fascinating variety which became very successful in France until World War Two decimated the feline population. After the war the breed was again reduced to two individuals and it was a long time before it could fully recover. Birmans were first taken to England from France in the early 1960’s and were accepted for championship competitions in 1966.”