🇹🇭 Burmese

Thai cat breed

Origin: Descends from Wong Mau, a walnut-brown cat taken from South-East Asia to the USA in 1930. CFA first registered the breed in 1936. 📎 CFA · Burmese
Coat & genes: Sable: the "sepia" form of the TYR gene — a rich brown body with slightly darker points. 📎 OMIA · colourpoint / sepia (TYR)
Lifespan: UK vet records: life expectancy at birth 14.4 years — among the longest of any breed (all cats 11.7) · only 45 cats of this breed in the data, so it is a rough number. 📎 Teng et al. 2024 · VetCompass UK life tables
Registries: Recognised by CFA, TICA, FIFe, GCCF and WCF; American and European Burmese differ in head shape. 📎 CFA · Burmese · FIFe · recognised breeds · GCCF · cat breeds
Temperament (research): Burmese were the least shy towards strangers, and with Oriental cats the most likely to groom excessively. 📎 Salonen et al. 2019 · Scientific Reports

🩺 Welfare & health

Inherited hypokalaemia (low potassium → muscle weakness) has a DNA test. In UK vet data Burmese had about three times the odds of diabetes. Some American lines carry a gene for a lethal head defect (DNA test). 📎 Gandolfi et al. 2012 · Burmese hypokalaemia (WNK4) · O'Neill et al. 2016 · feline diabetes (UK) · Lyons et al. 2016 · Burmese head defect (ALX1)

Made with AI · data from the sources shown · Zilo Game