The Birman cat, shrouded in an aura of mystery and legend, is a striking color-pointed breed distinguished by its long, silky coat and four immaculate white paws. This breed is characterized by a strong, elongated, and stocky build, avoiding extremes of slenderness or chunkiness. Their distinctive heads feature strong jaws, a firm chin, and a medium-length Roman nose. With well-spaced, medium-sized ears and captivating blue, almost round eyes, the Birman possesses a sweet and endearing expression.
Understanding the Birman Breed Standard
The evaluation of a Birman cat is based on a point system that allocates scores across several key areas:
Head, Body, Type & Coat (65 points):
- Head (30 points): This includes assessing the skull’s breadth and roundness, the profile of the nose and chin, and the shape and set of the ears and eyes. A slight flat spot may be present in front of each ear and on the forehead between the ears. The forehead slopes back and is slightly convex.
- Body/Type (25 points): This encompasses the cat’s overall build, bone structure, stockiness, elongation, legs, and tail. Birmans should feel muscular and possess a pleasing proportion.
- Coat (10 points): The coat should be medium-long to long, with a silken texture. A noticeable ruff around the neck is desired, and slight curling on the stomach is acceptable. The coat’s texture should resist matting.
Color – Including Eye Color (35 points):
- Color except gloves (15 points): This covers the body color, point color, and eye color. A strong contrast between the body color and the points is essential. The mask, ears, legs, and tail should be a dense and clearly defined shade, all matching. The mask must cover the entire face, connecting to the ears with tracings. Ticking or white hairs within the points are not permitted. A desirable trait in all point colors is the “golden mist,” a subtle golden-beige cast on the back and sides, which is more pronounced in seal points and may be absent in kittens.
- Gloves (20 points): This is a defining characteristic of the Birman. Front paws must have white gloves that end in an even line across the paw, ideally at or between the second or third joints. The upper limit of the white should not extend beyond the metacarpal (dew) pad. Symmetry in the front gloves is highly valued. Back paws also feature white gloves, which may extend higher than those on the front paws. Crucially, the back paws must have “laces” of white extending up the back of the hock, ideally forming a point or inverted “V,” covering half to three-quarters of the hock. Symmetry in these laces is also important. Paw pads can be pink or a combination of pink and other colors complementary to the point color. While perfect gloves are rare, the overall symmetry and quality of the gloves are significant factors in evaluation.
Penalties and Disqualifications
Certain faults can lead to penalties, such as white not forming an even line on the front paws, lack of white on all front toes, a delicate bone structure, or white shading on the stomach and chest. Lack of laces on one or both back gloves, or white extending beyond the metacarpal pad on the front paws, are also penalized.
Disqualifications include the complete absence of white gloves on any paw, a kinked or abnormal tail, structural defects, crossed eyes, an incorrect number of toes, or areas of pure white in the points not connected to the gloves. Eye color other than blue, white tail tips, or chin spots will also lead to disqualification.
Birman Color Variations
The Birman breed presents a rich palette of colors, categorized into solid point and tabby point variations.
Solid Point Colors
- Seal Point: Characterized by a pale fawn to cream body, with points, nose leather, and tail in deep seal brown.
- Blue Point: Features a bluish-white to pale ivory body, with slate blue points and nose leather.
- Chocolate Point: An ivory body with milk-chocolate colored points and a cinnamon-pink nose leather.
- Lilac Point: An almost white body with frosty grey points that have a pinkish tone, and lavender-pink nose leather.
- Red Point: A creamy white body with deep red points and a bright pink nose leather. Freckles may appear on the nose, lips, eyelids, and ears.
- Cream Point: A creamy white to clear white body with buff cream points and a flesh pink nose leather. Freckles may also appear on mature cats.
Tabby Point Color Classes
Tabby pointed Birmans display distinct markings, including an “M” on the forehead, “spectacles” around the eyes, spotted whisker pads, and solid ears. Legs should show broken stripes or rings, with solid markings on the back of the hind legs above the laces. A preferred tail shows lighter and darker rings.
- Seal Tabby Point: Pale fawn to cream body with seal brown markings on a pale brown agouti background for the points.
- Blue Tabby Point: Bluish-white to pale ivory body with blue markings on a light beige agouti background.
- Chocolate Tabby Point: An ivory body with milk chocolate markings on a light bronze agouti background.
- Lilac Tabby Point: An almost white body with lilac markings on a pale beige agouti background.
- Red Tabby Point: A creamy white body with deep red markings on a light apricot agouti background.
- Cream Tabby Point: A clear white to creamy body with buff cream markings on a paler cream agouti background.
- Seal-Tortie Tabby Point: A mottled pale fawn to creamy white body with seal brown markings overlaid with shades of red.
- Chocolate-Tortie Tabby Point: A mottled ivory to creamy white body with milk chocolate markings overlaid with shades of red.
- Blue-Cream Tabby Point: A mottled bluish-white to clear white body with blue markings overlaid with shades of cream.
- Lilac-Cream Tabby Point: An almost white body with lilac markings overlaid with shades of cream.
Parti-Color Colors Class
These colors feature a mottled body with points that are a blend of solid color and red or cream.
- Seal-Tortie Point: Mottled pale fawn to creamy white body with seal brown points mottled with red.
- Blue-Cream Point: Mottled bluish-white to clear white body with slate blue points mottled with cream.
- Chocolate-Tortie Point: Mottled ivory to creamy white body with milk chocolate points mottled with red.
- Lilac-Cream Point: An almost white body with lilac points mottled with cream.
The Birman’s unique beauty and gentle temperament make them a beloved breed among cat enthusiasts. Understanding their breed standard and diverse color variations allows for a deeper appreciation of these enchanting felines.
