The slimmer Burmese of Europe: a glossy, golden-eyed shorthair in ten colours that follows you everywhere.
There are two kinds of Burmese. This is the European one: the Burmese you nearly always see in the Netherlands and Belgium. It is slimmer than the round American Burmese, with a short wedge-shaped head and slanted golden eyes. Our page on the Burmese covers both types. Pick one up and it is surprisingly heavy. It follows you around the house, loves to play and does not like being alone.
Very devoted to its people and follows them around the house.
A real lap cat that goes from lap to lap, as close to you as it can get.
Loves games, and many Burmese learn to fetch.
Lively and playful into old age, but not overly busy.
Often talks to you, but more softly than a Siamese, and likes to purr for attention.
Clever and quick to learn tricks. It also learns to open doors and cupboards.
Rarely shy. It often greets visitors at the door.
Usually great with children who play nicely.
Usually gets on with a friendly dog.
Sociable with other cats, and often happiest with a companion.
Hates being alone. If you are out all day, it needs a companion.
Does well indoors with places to climb and plenty of play. Outdoors it can be too trusting.
The European Burmese is just a thin American Burmese.
They share one ancestor, but have been bred apart since 1949. The European has a short wedge-shaped head, slanted eyes and ten colours. The American is rounder and comes in four colours.
Wong Mau, the mother of the breed, was just a dark Siamese.
No. Breeding tests showed she was half Siamese and half Burmese type. With her son she had solid brown kittens, and those were the first Burmese.
Burmese were sacred temple cats, guarded by monks.
A lovely story, but nobody has proved it. What is certain is that today's breed began with one cat taken to California in 1930.
There are two kinds of Burmese, with the same founding mother. In America breeders made a round, compact cat with a short muzzle. In Britain, where the breed arrived in 1949, it stayed slimmer, with a short wedge-shaped head. That is the European Burmese. For FIFe, GCCF and the Benelux clubs it is simply the Burmese; the American registry TICA knows only the American type.
A small walnut-brown cat, Wong Mau, comes from Burma to San Francisco. Nearly all Burmese descend from her.
Wong Mau has kittens with a Siamese. Later, with her son, the first solid brown Burmese are born.
Lilian France brings two Burmese from America to Britain. That is where the European type begins.
Britain's GCCF recognises the Burmese, then only in brown, after three generations bred in Britain.
The first blue Burmese is born in England. Until then every Burmese was brown.
The European federation FIFe recognises the Burmese.
The first two Burmese come to the Netherlands, two brown cats from England.
Red, cream and tortie Burmese, bred in England, are recognised. Chocolate and lilac follow in 1975.
The American registry CFA starts registering the European Burmese, as a breed of its own next to its Burmese.
CFA gives the European Burmese championship status.
Medium-sized, muscular and moderate, with a glossy coat. It feels much heavier than it looks: fans call it a brick wrapped in silk.
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).
Brown(n 31)
Blue(a 31)
Chocolate(b 31)
Lilac(c 31)
Red(d 31)
Brown tortie(f 31)Bred in the Netherlands and recognised by independent Dutch clubs, not by FIFe or GCCF. Fawn is a very light shade, a pale lilac-beige.
Only the WCF standard for the European Burmese lists these colours. In FIFe the Burmese is always solid, and clear stripes are a fault.
No registry allows white in the Burmese. White patches or too many white hairs are a fault or disqualify the cat.
The European Burmese comes in ten colours. The American Burmese is shown in only four.
Pick up a Burmese and it feels much heavier than it looks. That is why fans call it a brick wrapped in silk.
The British-bred Burmese crossed back over the ocean: in 1993 the American CFA took it in as the European Burmese.
Until 1955 every Burmese was brown. Then a blue kitten turned up in an English litter: Sealcoat Blue Surprise.
A closed door rarely stops a Burmese. Many learn to open door handles, cupboards and bin lids.
A Burmese often lives long. In a large British study the Burmese had the longest life expectancy of all breeds: 14.4 years on average, against 11.7 for cats in general. That study does not split the two types. Many Burmese reach 16 to 18.
The body can no longer control its blood sugar well. It mostly affects older, heavier cats. In British vet practices about 2 in 100 Burmese had it, three to four times as often as a crossbred cat. Keeping your cat slim is the best protection.
How it is found: There is no DNA test. Keep the cat slim, especially from middle age.
Young cats get bouts of muscle weakness: the head droops and walking is stiff and wobbly. Extra potassium helps well. In test data about 1 in 5 Burmese was a carrier; a kitten only gets it when both parents are carriers.
How it is found: DNA test of the parents. Carriers are only mated with cats that tested free.
A rare inherited brain disease in young kittens that cannot be treated. A kitten only gets it when both parents are carriers, and a DNA test prevents it.
How it is found: A one-off DNA test of every breeding cat.
Kittens with two copies of this gene are born with a badly malformed head and cannot survive. With one copy the cat is healthy but has a very short muzzle. It is found mainly in American short-faced lines, but European lines are tested too.
How it is found: DNA test of the parents. Two carriers are never mated with each other.
Very little work. Once a week with a rubber brush or your hand keeps the satin coat glossy. It sheds little and needs no bath.
Lots of energy: play together every day, with toys, scratching posts and sturdy high places to sit.
A Burmese does not like being alone. If you are out a lot, keep two cats, so it always has a friend.
A Burmese loves its food and easily gets too heavy. Measure its meals, because extra weight raises the risk of diabetes.
The Burmese is not hypoallergenic. If you are allergic to cats, do not count on this one being different.
Checked on 23 October 2026
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