Birman

Birmans are medium-sized, color-pointed cats. Their bodies are elongated, stocky, and strong.

The Birman's legendary coat is medium-length with a silky texture and no undercoat. As pointed cats, Birmans have darker colors on their face, legs, tail, and ears. They're known for their "gloves" and "laces"—pure white paws with white fur that extends up the back of their hocks.

All Birman kittens are born white, and color comes in as they mature. With 20 different colors possible, they can range from shades of light ivory to warm gold. And all pointed colors are allowed under the breed standard.

Popular colors are seal point (warm cream with dark brown points), blue point (bluish-white with slate blue points), chocolate point (ivory with milk chocolate points), and lilac point (almost white with pinkish grey points). Birmans also come in red point and assorted tabby and parti-color points.

One notable trait of Birmans is their Roman nose, which has a prominent bridge that appears curved when viewed from the side. They also have strong chins and somewhat rounded muzzles. Their medium-length ears are almost as wide as they are tall. And their round, vivid, blue eyes give them a sweet expression. Medium-length legs, round, large paws, and a medium-length tail round out their appearance.

No one knows the true origin of the Birman, but many legends exist.

According to one folk tale, Kittah priests raised 100 pure white cats in their temple in Burma before the birth of Buddha. Inside the temple stood a statue of a golden goddess with sapphire eyes. When raiders attacked the temple, mortally wounding a priest, one of the cats came to his master and stood on his chest as he died.

As the story goes, the priest's soul entered the cat's body and transformed its appearance into what we now know as a seal point Birman—with pure white paws and sapphire eyes like the goddess. The day after the cat's passing, the other 99 cats also transformed, leading to the belief that when a Birman cat dies, a priest's soul escorts it to heaven.

Legends aside, the Birman breed—or "the Sacred cat of Burma"—first gained recognition in France in the 1920s. England then acknowledged the breed in 1966, and the United States followed suit in 1967.

The Birman has since earned a place on the list of most popular cat breeds in the world—which isn't surprising, given their mystique, charming personalities, and striking looks.