- In all colour varieties are the underparts of the body paler than back and legs, but shading should be gradual.
- Hair should shade gradually to a paler colour at the roots.
- Face and ears may show a little contrast.
- All varieties without any bars or spotting.
About the Burmese
View Burmese breedersSee Burmese kittens
1 breeder is on record here. Portugal’s FIFe member club does not list this breed in its breeder directory at all, so an absence here says nothing about whether anyone breeds it in Portugal.
- Typical life span
- 15-18 years
- Size
- Medium — from its typical weight
- Weight
- 3.6-6.4 kg
- Height
- 25-30 cm
- Registry status
- Recognised by TICA
- Breed group
- Short-haired
- Origin
- Myanmar (Burma)
- Known hereditary risks
- 3 documented conditions, with the test for each
About
What is a Burmese?
Medium-sized, muscular cat with a compact body, rounded head, and expressive golden eyes. Known for its dog-like personality and love of human companionship.
Burmese history and origins
Modern Burmese descended from Wong Mau, a cat brought from Burma to the US in 1930. Developed by breeding with Siamese. Two distinct varieties exist: American (more compact) and European (more moderate).
Burmese appearance and size
Typically 3.6-6.4 kg and 25-30 cm at the shoulder — published as one range rather than separately for males and females.
Burmese temperament and personality
Generally described as curious, intelligent, gentle, social, interactive, playful, lively and affectionate.
That is the breed in general, not a promise about one animal. Ask the breeder what their own line is like, and meet the parents before you decide.
Breed reference from The Cat API.
Characteristics
- Size
- Medium
- Exercise needs
- —
- Easy to train
- —
- Amount of shedding
- 1 of 5
- Grooming needs
- 2 of 5
- Good with children
- —
- Cost to keep
- —
- Tolerates being alone
- —
- Intelligence
- —
- Health of breed
- 3 conditions documented
Pros & cons
Pros & cons for the Burmese
What you get with the Burmese
- Low grooming needs, fitting for a busy owner — the coat is “lying close to the body, almost without undercoat, very short.”
- Commonly described as: “Curious, Intelligent, Gentle, Social”
- Longer-lived than a non-pedigree cat — median 15.31 years across 45 recorded deaths, against 13.01
What you are taking on
- 2 serious inherited conditions are documented, mainly in brain & nerves. The health guide tab has the test to ask for on each.
Drawn from sources rather than written as an opinion — cited health research, the registry’s own standard, and peer-reviewed longevity. FIFe breed standard; The Cat API; Teng et al. 2024, median age at death; UC Davis Veterinary Genetics Laboratory. One breeder’s animals can differ from any of it, and an empty column means we hold nothing for that side rather than that there is nothing to say.
Characteristics
FIFe standard · Burmese
Coat and colour
As the FIFe standard sets it out. Every line below is the standard’s own wording.
Coat
lying close to the body, almost without undercoat, very short.
- Fine
- Glossy
- Silky
Colour
- Preferred
- Permissible
- Undesirable
- Disqualifying
Preferred, permissible, undesirable and disqualifying are FIFe’s own words about the breed. They describe what the standard asks for — not an assessment of any individual dog, and not ours.
Shortened from FIFe standard BUR — each label is the standard’s own wording with the verdict lifted into the tag beside it. Read the full clause at source.
Temperament
CuriousIntelligentGentleSocialInteractivePlayfulLivelyAffectionate
Breed-level information from The Cat API. It describes the Burmese in general; any individual animal can differ.
Health guide
Health & screening guide for the Burmese
Known hereditary risks for the Burmese breed, and the specific documentation to request from any breeder before paying a deposit. A responsible breeder will have these readily available; deflection is a red flag.
3 conditions documentedThis is breed-level literature, not veterinary advice about an individual animal — your vet knows the animal.
Health checklist (PDF)Brain & nerves
Burmese head defect (craniofacial / central nervous system malformation)
Serious
A 12-bp deletion in ALX1 causes a severe, typically lethal craniofacial and CNS malformation when inherited in double dose. The same gene region is associated with the rounded head shape favoured in the breed standard, so heterozygous carriers can show typical or typier head type while carrying a single copy of the mutation.
What to ask for
ALX1 DNA test, UC Davis VGL, explicitly validated for Burmese. Testing lets breeders avoid ever pairing two carriers, which removes the risk of the defect without needing to remove carriers -- or the associated head type -- from the breeding population.
GM2 gangliosidosis
Serious
A 15-bp deletion in HEXB causes a fatal, early-onset neurodegenerative lysosomal storage disease when inherited from both parents. Affected kittens develop progressive neurological signs and do not survive to adulthood.
What to ask for
HEXB DNA test, UC Davis VGL, validated for Burmese and European Burmese.
Hormones & metabolism
Hypokalaemia (Burmese hypokalaemia / periodic paralysis)
Monitor
An autosomal recessive mutation in WNK4 causes episodic muscle weakness and periodic paralysis from low blood potassium, typically appearing in kittens or young adults.
What to ask for
WNK4 DNA test, UC Davis VGL, explicitly validated for Burmese among other breeds. Affected cats are usually managed successfully with oral potassium supplementation once identified.
How long the Burmese lives, in the records
Median age at death 15.3 years
Middle half of deaths between 11.8 and 18.6 years, from 45 recorded deaths. 2.2% of them were before age two.
Computed from United Kingdom veterinary records covering 7,936 deaths. This is an age at death, not a life expectancy: half the cats of this breed in the records died younger. The source does not distinguish varieties this platform lists separately (TICA splits Burmese and European Burmese; UK clinical records do not).
Dataset: O'Neill, D. & Teng, K.T. (2024), Figshare, doi:10.6084/m9.figshare.25006802, CC BY 4.0. Teng, K.T., Brodbelt, D.C., Church, D.B. & O'Neill, D.G. (2024) Life tables of annual life expectancy and risk factors for mortality in cats in the United Kingdom. Journal of Feline Medicine and Surgery 26(5).
Gallery
No photographs yet
This is where Burmese owners’ own photographs will go, from the pet profiles they keep here. Nobody has added one to a public page yet.
A photograph in a pet profile stays private to its owner. We will not put one here unless they ask us to.
Kittens
No kittens listed right now
That is not the same as none existing. Publishing a litter is part of a breeder's subscription here, so a Burmese breeder can have a litter and no listing — ask them directly.
See Burmese breeders