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American
Burmese breeders were appalled at what the Pommies
did to the Burmese in the 1960s. The Yanks had
always considered to it be a plain brown cat. Now,
not only was it suddenly appearing in five
additional colours to the Sable, they had also
added four in tortoiseshell! Scandalous!!!
Early
American breeders, in fact, tended to ignore spontaneous
occurrences of the blue, chocolate and lilac
colours appearing in litters. The
"purists" persuaded the Cat Fanciers
Association, the largest registry of purebred cats
in the U.S.A., not only to give the dilutes
different breed numbers but also called them by a
different name! "Malayans!!"
Fortunately, during the 80s, all four basic
Burmese colours were once again united and
considered to be one breed.
The
South African history of the Burmese started in
1957 when Fairlawns Fernreig Charkki, a Brown male
arrived from England, imported by Mr. & Mrs.
Johnson. Several others landed in the following
years and the Burmese as a "new" cat
breed made it's appearance at shows.
Ten
colours are accepted by our local Governing
Council. Besides the traditional colours and the
very well known and ever popular Brown, there are
the two "orange" or Red and Cream
colours which are appealing too. The four
tortoiseshell colours, corresponding to the four
basic colours of Brown, Blue, Chocolate and Lilac,
tend to be less pleasing as most people think they
look like moggies. However, the late Mary Fleet a
well known Burmese Breeder and Judge in the United
Kingdom, who visited South Africa a number of
times, considered breeders who used torties in
their breeding programmes to be 'far advanced'.
Joyce Dell played a very significant roll in the
development of the colours. Her Kupro prefix is
well known in South Africa.
Although,
it is generally recognised that the Burmese is a
man made "American" breed with a
distinct Malaysian connection, developed by Dr.
Joseph Thompson in the 30s from a cat known as
Wong Mau. Some reports suggest that the cat was
given to him by a renowned collector of wild
animals Buck "BRING 'EM BACK ALIVE"
Wilson.
Speculation
exists that Burmese have been around for a lot
longer than most guess. Early periodicals found in
England gave reports by various breed experts of
the day and the conclusions drawn cannot be
ignored. The opening pages of "Burmese Cats
in Camera" relate some of the theories.
In
1903, Frances Simpson described the two variants
of Siamese being exhibited at the time. "The
Royal Cat of Siam" was preferred because of
it's clear cream coat with distinct chocolate
points with blue eyes. Whereas the
"Rajah" type, appears to be an overall
chocolate shade with eyes tending to be a deep
amber colour. (Harrison Weir - 1889). When
considering the present day "type"
of each of the two breeds, one must remember that
the early Siamese bore a far closer resemblance to
our contemporary Burmese.
CATS
Magazine (1948) published an account of another
original Burmese import. A Major Finch had been
stationed in Malaysia during World War II and he
described a definite breed of cat known as the
Rajah that were found in the region. The
description of Simbuni whom the Major took back to
the USA closely resembles the early reports of
Wong Mau, the earliest recorded ancestor of the
modern day Burmese.
Fascinating
legends are told of the eastern cats that traveled
to the west. The Burmese have their fair share
too. Like the Siamese, the Burmese was a temple
cat. A young monk would be assigned to a cat and
had to cater to it's every whim; also it is
suggested that the Burmese was traditionally the
pets of Royalty long before the Siamese.
The
Burmese is classified as a 'Foreign'. Its coat,
regardless of colour, is smooth, satin like in
texture, close lying and glossy. It is a medium
sized cat with the males tending to be larger. It
is muscular and well developed. When picking up a
Burmese, one should be astonished at its weight.
The head is rounded with the emphasis of
roundedness. The ears are well placed with rounded
tips in profile. The eyes have a rounded lower
line with the upper having a slight oriental
slant. The muzzle is blunt, allowing a complete
rounded look to the head. Eyes of golden yellow
are preferred, however, any shade of yellow is
acceptable.
The
handsome Burmese, regardless of colour, is a
highly intelligent, affectionate, tough, vital,
mischievous, athletic, (also at times extremely
clumsy - so watch the precious porcelain
mementoes!) without the strong vocal attributes of
the Siamese. It has a delightful sense of humour,
is an extrovert and extremely loyal to its owner.
Burmese
are doglike in their devotion; clownish with an
amazing repertoire of stunts from headstands and
somersaults, walking along narrow picture rails,
balancing on the tops of open doors to lying
sprawled out on their backs, legs in the air, on
the sofa! Many are excellent retrievers and will
play the game endlessly, seeming never to tire,
with their owners. The also have the reputation of
being skilled hunters as many owners have learnt.
Few rodents and large insects wait around when a
Burmese is in the vicinity. One extremely agile
Burmese queen was witnessed catching bats - in mid
flight!! Some are also known for their incredible
capacity for food.
The
breed has the reputation of being wanderers as
they dislike being left alone and go off in search
of human company. It is inadvisable to give a
Burmese full freedom.
The
Burmese is a 'low maintenance' cat, requiring very
little grooming. Most Burmese owners unconsciously
groom their cats during the natural course of
loving, petting and cuddling their cats. A soft
brush and small rubber curry comb is useful in
removing dead hair. A rub with a silk scarf
"polishes"
the coat beautifully.
Burmese
queens tend to be precocious, with queens being as
young as 4 months when they call for the first
time. The queens breed readily with four to six
kittens in a litter. Larger litters have been
recorded both locally and in England.
Burmese
are usually good mothers having few problems
during the birthing process; and cope well with
raising averaged sized litters. Kittens are born
with soft downy coats and tend to loose body heat
rapidly if not kept warm in a draft free room.
Smaller kittens must be rotated with the more
robust to ensure that each has sufficient
nourishment from the mother.
Author's
Note:
As
far as the dismay expressed by the Americans, with
regard to the development of 'colour'
Burmese over 30 years ago, I feel the Burmese
breed benefited greatly from the Tortie and Red
programme. Not only has there been an improvement
in coat colours with bars diminishing; more
importantly, the programme gave the breed with a
much needed injection of hybrid vigour,
guaranteeing improved health. The Americans are
faced with a dilemma as the Burmese gene pool is
very narrow. Unlike the English cats with their
broadened genetic base with which to work, the
Americans admit that Burmese have a low tolerance
to line-breeding in their country as when it is
done, genetic faults seem to multiply at an
alarming rate.
Fear
has been expressed by some poorly informed
individuals that the Canadian Burmese brought in
by myself may be carrying the lethal North
American gene reported in some overseas
journals. The lines represented by Hullabaloo
Cattery, where my two queens were bred have been
bred exclusively from healthy traditional lines.
Fortunately, research carried out by Cornell
Veterinary University with the help of determined
American Burmese breeders, made identifying the
carrier cats easy. Serious and committed breeders
have avoided 'contaminating' their lines by not
using any cats coming from suspect ancestry.
Gail
Francois - Free State Cat Club Newsletter -
November 1992
Gail now resides in Texas USA
having relocated after the unexpected death of her
beloved husband Edward Pomerantz - October 2002
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