Talk:Birman

Untitled

Excellent photo, and superb specimen! But it'd be best to have a full-body photo. 00:39, 31 May 2004 (UTC)

Yes, a full body shot would be good, especially one that highlighted the white gloved paws. Sergeant Snopake, 20:48, 26th of Febuary 2006.

There's a rather low resolution shot of Chalcedon Faramondo at [1] which I can make available. But I won't be offended if there's a better one!

There are lots of Birman cat clubs (six are listed at [2]) and for some reason several in the UK. Is there any reason behind the selection? Richard Pinch 22:01, 19 August 2006 (UTC)

I have upload a full body photo taken by myself of a Lilac Point Birman domestic cat breed by my Mother. Unfortunatly his mittens are not visable because of the grass. Martin Spamer 23:15 BST 23rd August 2006.

Birman Pets

A Birman as a pet, humm? Well, yes, but I am a Birman owner, so let me clue you in on some input. They are loyal, happy, funny, and playful, but mine LOVES to get attention, and anytime he wants attention, he MEOWS!!! They are usually white, and I love mine! (Even though he does meow!) And also, out of all the pictures I have of him, they're all pretty dark, and he's not very photogenic.

I too am a Birman owner, infact I'm on my 2nd Birman as the first one was such a wonderful cat, I've owned cats all my life including Persians and moggies, I also have a Seal Point Ragdoll, ok the Birman is very different from most cats, they are the most affectionate cat and will follow you around the house for attention or food, they are also house cats, my 2nd Birman does what is called the Birman swish (waves its tail back and forth), most cats do this when very angry but he does it all the time, the 1st Birman never did this at all so it's not a common trait. Birmans are also fairly vocal cats, 1st one meowed the 2nd one makes unusual puuurrrp noises, generally you can pickup a Birman and hold it like a baby, rub it's belly, pull its tail (lightly of course) and it won't care at all, their personality is very laid back and they make excellent pets even with small children, so much so that I would only ever get a Birman from now until the day I die. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 86.158.206.57 (talk) 21:25, 24 July 2011 (UTC)

tone

needs some work on style and tone to bring up to encyclopedic standards Goldfinger820 00:39, 18 August 2007 (UTC)

== social aspects -- I posted details in the Pets section, unfortunately due to a rare illness my 2nd Birman died when he was about 16 months old, I then waited a year and now have 2 female Birmans so in total I have owned 4 Birmans (so far) ... Social aspects of a Birman, Very friendly cats, talkative when they want attention and food mainly, definate house cats, when they go out they just sit in the garden if it's a warm day chasing butterflies, they don't tend to roam and stay indoors most of the time specially in winter, females seem to be more affectionate but do like to playfully bite you which the male cats didn't do, we have a Jack Russell dog and they interact with her too so generally they get on with other pets very well, generally they are laid back cats with great personalities, my first Birman male I had for 14 years and in his entire life he never caught any birds or mice etc. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 81.156.252.155 (talk) 00:28, 4 December 2013 (UTC)

this article mainly focuses on physical attributes of the birman. can someone add a social behaviors section (i would, but i have no idea about these cats) maybe the above poster (BIRMAN PETS) could. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Bananacheer725 (talk • contribs) 06:16, 6 April 2008 (UTC)

source copyright

The introduction seems to be pretty much a straight copy of this page from the CFA web site: http://www.cfainc.org/breeds/profiles/birman.html Perhaps the OP poster could clarify? If the same person wrote both, then perhaps this is OK... Jjcarder (talk) 10:09, 8 November 2009 (UTC)

User:Alescart I added references. 30 June 2010 —Preceding undated comment added 02:35, 1 July 2010 (UTC).

Too many pictures?

I think this page is a little excessive with pictures. Who else does? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 65.80.205.55 (talk) 14:12, 6 October 2007 (UTC) i get the idea that the birman is (for most intents and purposes) genetically identical to the himalayan. birmans have white feet, while himalayans generally have brown feet. in either case, we are dealing with a siamese/persian mix. despite all the "romantic" stories about them, birmans appear to be a cross between the persian and the siamese (despite the fact that persians are not mentioned in the article). can someone give me a hard-and-fast delineation of the difference between the birman and himalayan? if not, then i would say that breeders are making a distinction that doesn't make much of a difference. (the similarity between the two breeds is just too striking to be a coincidence.) —Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.233.206.70 (talk) 04:18, 21 August 2008 (UTC)

I don't think there's too many pictures, maybe just one picture for each of the main breeds would be enough, with regards to the Persians, i've owned 2 Persians and now on my 2nd Birman, from a lay persons view the Persian has a much thicker coat that needs combing and gets matted easily, a Persian doesn't have blue eyes and the obvious differences in the face/body, temperament wise a Persian is fairly similar to a Birman (but generally not as vocal), I also think the Birman is a lot more affectionate than the Persian cat. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 86.158.206.57 (talk) 21:32, 24 July 2011 (UTC)

Assessment

It has been requested that an assessment be given for this article at Wikiproject Cats. I have rated this article a Start-class. Here are the issues that need to be addressed:

• There are absolutely no references in this article. There needs to be references per the verifiability policy of Wikipedia. Editors need to locate reliable sources and incorporate them into the article. With the length of this article, there is a lot of searching to do.
• There are four tags that have yet to be dealt with. You need to take care of what these tags are requesting.
• The majority of the pictures need to go! Please remember that Wikipedia is an encyclopedia, not a photo album. There are far too many galleries within the article. Choose a few good quality images and place them within the article. See WP:IMAGE for details and tutorials. In addition, some of the pictures which are not part of a gallery need to be reformatted (one is too large and thus drowns out the text) and either defaulted to the right or placed after the second paragraph of the section.

Once these issues have been addressed, then request another assessment and/or leave me a message on my talk page and I will take another look. You can also leave me a message if you have any questions. The makings for a good-quality article are here...it just needs to be tightened up. Happy editing! – Ms. Sarita ^Confer 12:05, 30 October 2008 (UTC)

Tabby Birmans

I was just wondering if in the guide (if there isn't something there already) it should say that tabby Birmans have the tail and coat of regular birmans but the paws and head that looks like the American Shorthair or Brittish Shorthair. I have this book called The Cat Breed Handbook and it has photos of them in there and they look really odd. Melon247 (talk) 10:33, 26 February 2009 (UTC)

The idea that a Birman has the same head type as an American Shorthair or British Shorthair is totally wrong. Each breed of cat has very distinct bone structure, ear placement, eye shape etc. Having a tabby gene for pattern in the color points doesn't make them a different breed! Check the breed standard for these other cats to discover what their attributes are. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 209.97.195.68 (talk) 19:39, 4 February 2014 (UTC)

Suspected LOLCat Infiltration

The first sentence in the Origin section reads "The Birman cat is said to have originated in Burma, where it was considered a sacred companion cat of the Kittah priests."

Kittah priests? If you search for Kittah here, it redirects you to the LOLCat page. Nothing about Kittah priests on Google, either. Xavius, the Satyr Lord (talk) 11:32, 1 September 2009 (UTC)

There's a fair amount of hits if you google that actually. I was all ready to delete these references but it seems it is just an amusing co-incidence Toxicbreakfast (talk) 23:57, 18 October 2009 (UTC)

This kittah priest business needs a reference or a delete . . . there's no other reference to "kittah" anywhere on Wikipedia, and certainly not in the articles about Burma. I see there are some hits on Google, all sort of the same legend, but nothing scholarly. Given that "names" in the legend below don't even look like Burmese (they appear to be some sort of pseudo-Mandarin), this whole section sounds fishy.118.71.9.113 (talk) 10:17, 2 November 2009 (UTC)

Kittens

""All Birmans are born white". Well my family used to breed them when I was a child and almost all of the kittens were white but there was definitely one black one. Obviously as this is WP:OR it can't go in but maybe someone has the reason and the sources. Toxicbreakfast (talk) 00:04, 19 October 2009 (UTC)

Size

Can someone add info about the weight, length, height of birman? Gatorgirl7563 (talk) 20:35, 16 November 2009 (UTC)

"Legend"

The legend has no citation, and is certainly not true, more likely the product of some Western fantasizing about the history of the cat. The bit about "Kittah" priests is unfortunate enough, but this entire section is too much. First of all, the Khmer people are from Cambodia, not Burma, although their empire once controlled portions of Burma. Secondly, the Khmer were Hindu, generally Vaisnites, and there was no goddess such as the one mentioned. The Siamese did not migrate to SE Asia until after Burma was out of Khmer hands, so the story is historically impossible for that reason alone. Lastly, the names in the legend are all Chinese, not Burmese and certainly not Khmer. In fact, other than "Khmer" (which means Cambodian) none of the proper names here can be substantiated anywhere else on Wikipeida (Mount Lugh? Phoums? Mun-Ha?). I'm going to put a citation tag here. It needs citations to scholarly sources -- i.e. from sources on Southeast Asian history and religion, not a website about cats. It's fine to put this as a made up "story" as long as there is a citation for the background and its clear that it's not real history.113.22.66.88 (talk) 15:45, 23 January 2010 (UTC)

Gah. The opening line, that all this took place before the birth of the Buddha, is even more exceptional. The Buddha lived centuries before any of the people or states alluded to in this legend existed, or had even arrived in SE Asia -- including the Khmers. The whole thing needs to go.113.22.66.88 (talk) 15:51, 23 January 2010 (UTC)

Notes:

I have added several information about Birman history based on my readings of French documents at the French National Library François Mitterand in Paris and on Auguste Pavie Mission in Indo-China, as he is one of the scholar always falsely quoted for that time in relationships with the first Birmans' arrival in France). I also added notes about the first French pedigrees about the introduction of the new colors: Blue and Chocolate. I also added notes about Mme Marcelle Adams and the improbable historicity of the legend. Alescart June 28, 2010 —Preceding undated comment added 06:04, 28 June 2010 (UTC).