A British family of cats with the body of a Burmese, in all the colours and patterns the Burmese does not have.
The Asian is not one breed but a whole family. They all have the sturdy, glossy body of the Burmese, but in silver, smoke, tabby, solid black and much more. In Britain the Burmilla and the black Bombay belong to this family too. Despite the name, the Asian does not come from Asia: it began in England in 1981. It is playful, clever and wants to be part of everything.
A true people cat that wants to be wherever you are.
Likes to be close, sometimes on your lap or next to your pillow, but is not a true lap cat.
Stays playful all its life and loves strings, balls and fetch.
Busy and athletic: it wants to play and explore every day.
Not noisy, but happy to chat back when you talk to it.
Clever and curious. It learns fast, but has a will of its own too.
Usually friendly with visitors and not easily upset.
A lovely family cat, best with children old enough to be gentle.
Usually gets on with a dog, if they get to know each other slowly.
Usually good with other cats, though it sometimes likes to be the boss.
Likes company. Long days on its own are not a good fit.
Does well indoors with plenty of play and places to climb. If you want it outside, a closed run is safer.
The Asian is a cat from Asia.
No, it is British. It was made in England from 1981 and is called Asian because its ancestor, the Burmese, comes from Burma.
An Asian is just a Burmese in other colours.
Almost. It has the Burmese body, but a Persian ancestor brought in silver, smoke, tabby and semi-long hair. That is why it is its own group in Britain. In France it does count as a variety of the Burmese.
A smoke Asian is a Burmilla.
No. A Burmilla is shaded or tipped: only the tips of the hairs are coloured. A smoke is coloured almost all the way down and has its own class, the Asian Smoke.
It all began with an accident in 1981: a lilac Burmese queen and a Chinchilla Persian tom had four silver kittens. The Burmilla came first. Breeders then wanted cats with the Burmese body in many more colours and patterns, with short and semi-long hair. That is how the Asian group grew, with five varieties. Only Britain's GCCF recognises the Asian as a group. FIFe, WCF, TICA and CFA do not; FIFe does recognise the Burmilla and, for now preliminarily, the Bombay as breeds of their own.
In England a lilac Burmese queen and a Chinchilla Persian tom have four silver kittens by accident.
A Burmilla club is founded and the first breed standard is written.
Britain's GCCF gives the Burmilla preliminary recognition, the first step towards championship classes.
All five Asian varieties can compete for champion titles in the GCCF. The semi-longhaired Tiffanie is the last.
Every Asian has the same build as the Burmese: medium-sized, elegant and muscular, and heavier than it looks. Fans call it 'bricks wrapped in silk'. Only the colour, the pattern and the length of the coat differ.
Solid colours and tortoiseshell. The black one is called the Bombay and shines like patent leather; read more about it on the Bombay page.
Recognition: Championship classes in the GCCF. Outside Britain, Bombay usually means the American Bombay.
At rest it looks like one solid colour. When it moves, you see that the hairs are silver-white at the root.
Recognition: Championship classes in the GCCF.
Shaded or tipped: the hairs are pale and coloured only at the tip. This is the variety where it all began; it has its own page, Burmilla.
Recognition: In the GCCF it is the shaded Asian. FIFe and CFA recognise the Burmilla as a breed of its own.
With tabby markings: ticked, spotted, mackerel or classic, silver or not. Ticked, where every hair is banded but the coat has no spots, is by far the most common.
Recognition: Championship classes in the GCCF.
The same cat with semi-long, silky hair, in every colour and pattern of the Asian and the Burmese.
Recognition: Fully recognised by the GCCF and France's LOOF, preliminarily by WCF. TICA only registers it.
Cat registries write colours as an EMS code. The letter is the colour (n black, a blue, d red, f tortie), s means silver or smoke, y golden, and the numbers tell you about white (01–09), shading (11, 12), the tabby pattern (22–25) or colourpoint (33).
Black (Bombay)(n)
Chocolate(b)
Black tortie(f)
Black smoke(ns)
Black silver shaded(ns 11)
Black silver ticked tabby(ns 25)Smoke comes in every Asian colour. In an adult cat a third to half of each hair is silver-white.
In the GCCF this is the Burmilla. Shaded also comes without silver, on a warm undercoat.
Every Asian colour also comes in the softer shade of the Burmese. Brown in that shade is black in full colour. Whether solids and torties in this shade compete fully differs per registry and has changed over the years.
White and white patches are not part of the Asian; a white spot on the chest is a fault. Golden is not in the GCCF's Asian group. A golden Burmilla does exist in other registries: see the Burmilla page.
The whole family began with an accident between a Burmese queen and a Persian tom. The British Asian society calls it a blissful mistake.
The Asian comes in more than 400 combinations of colour and pattern. You will never see them all at one show.
Fans call the Asian 'a Burmese in fancy pyjamas' or 'bricks wrapped in silk': solid and heavy, with a coat like satin.
The gene for long hair can hide. Two shorthaired Asians can suddenly have a fluffy Tiffanie kitten.
The Asian has five varieties: solid and tortie, smoke, tabby, the Burmilla and the semi-longhaired Tiffanie.
An Asian is usually healthy. It often lives about 14 to 18 years; the GCCF says 16 to 18. There is no large study yet of how long Asians live.
The potassium in the blood drops now and then, so the muscles go weak and the head droops. It usually starts in kittens of 2 to 6 months. Extra potassium helps well. A kitten only gets it when both parents are carriers. It is the only inherited disease the GCCF reports in Asians.
How it is found: DNA test of the parents. The British Asian society requires it for every breeding cat.
Fluid-filled blisters grow in the kidneys, so they slowly work less well. This comes from the Persian side of the family. It is rare in Asians.
How it is found: DNA test of the breeding cats.
An inherited fault from the Burmese in which a kitten's head does not form properly; such a kitten cannot survive. A vet lab lists it for the Asian too, but how often it happens is not known.
How it is found: DNA test of the parents. Two carriers are not mated with each other.
Brushing once a week is enough; the semi-longhaired Tiffanie needs a little more. It does not get mats. If the coat looks greasy, the cat is not grooming itself well and may be unwell.
It needs lots to do: hunting games, strings, balls, a cat tree to climb and food puzzles.
An Asian wants to be part of everything. It fits best in a home where someone is often around.
It sheds little. Whether that helps with an allergy has not been studied, so visit some Asians first before you get one.
Asians become sexually mature young. Ask your vet in good time about neutering or spaying.
Checked on 23 October 2026
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