PetStyle

The very elegant, and mysterious Birman cat traces it's origins back to the country of Burma, and are not to be confused with the Burmese,which also is a native cat of that region, but with short hair and yellow/gold eyes.Birmans are known as the Sacred Cat of Burma, and as legend has it, were orginally a pure white cat, of which there were one hundred, to guard the temple of the gold, blue-eyed goddess Tsun-Kyan-Tse. Mun-Ha, an aged priest, often knelt in prayer before the goddess, accompanied by Sinh, one of the white temple cats.One night it came about that the aged priest lay dying before the statue, with his beloved Sinh, sitting on his chest. A turning of the cat's head towards their compound gates warned of an impending attack, and the priests were able to save themselves. Mun-Ha died where he lay, and the cat Sinh, gazing at the goddess above, was transformed. His fur became as a golden mist, the colour of his ears, legs, face and tail were the earth beneath the priest, but his feet remained white where they touched his beard, as a sign of purity. And his eyes took on the sapphire blue of the goddess. The next morning, it was discovered that the other 99 temple cats had also become marked as Sinh. Seven days later, Sinh also died, transporting his master's soul to heaven.Charming as the legend is, the "modern" history finds that in the early 1900s, two Europeans, then living in France, were sent a pair of Birmans as a gesture of appreciation by the priests of the temple. The male did not survive the trip, but the female being pregnant, established the breed for the first time in Europe.The modern Birman as we know it, can only be traced back to one pair, from that era, due to lost pedigrees. It was recognized as a breed in France, in 1925. However, the second World War decimated the population, and it is said only one breeding pair were left at that point. Outcrossings were then done to Persian and Siamese to maintain the size and colourpointing.The Birman then went on to be recognized in Britain in 1966 and in the United States in 1967.

The Exotic Shorthair is a man-made breed, the result of selective breeding programs to produce a Persian type without the long hair. This attempt started in the 1960s and was greeted with screams of outrage from some Persian breeders. Ultimately, though perseverance, Exotic Shorthairs were recognized for championship competition and have delighted fanciers ever since. To obtain the shorthair characteristics, another breed had to be crossed with the Persians; most Exotic Shorthair breeders selected the American Shorthair. Burmese and British Shorthairs were also used, but since 1968 these two breeds have not been allowed as outcrosses. Many early Exotics did not have good Persian type, but today?s Exotics have exquisite Persian type as well as the Persian?s mellow disposition.

The idea of Himalayan may be traced to a geneticist in Sweden in 1922 who set about to introduce the pointed allele into the Persian gene pool Longhair whites were bred to Siamese. Longhair whites were bred to Siamese. Whether this was successful is unknown, as records of the results are unavailable. In 1924 there were reports of pointed longhairs, called Malayan Persians, but these cats soon disappeared from the record. The Himalayan as we know it today developed in the 1930s in Britain and North America.The breeding in the United States combined Siamese with smoke, silver tabby and black Persians. These crosses produced several shorthaired kittens. Two of the kittens were mated to produce a longhaired black female who was mated to her sire. This mating produced the first longhaired pointed kitten, named Debutante, born in the United States in 1935. It took five years to produce Debutante who was very Siamese in type. The breeding experiments in the United States were done primarily to gain more knowledge of domestic feline genetics. Breeders in Britain were to work toward establishing a new breed. It took years of hard work to produce the necessary three-generation pedigree. In 1955 Himalayans received a breed number and a standard; in 1957 they were granted championship status. By the 1960s all cat organizations recognized them as a separate breed.

The RagaMuffins have their roots in the work of Ann Baker, a Persian breeder who discovered a litter of extremely friendly street cats in the 1960s. She developed this litter, with the help of other breeders, into a breed group she called ?Cherubim,? which included the Ragdoll, Miracle Ragdoll, and Honeybear breeds. In 1967, a group of these original breeders broke away from the perhaps over-controlling authority of Ann Baker and registered their cats with the mainstream cat associations. Those cats are the RagaMuffins? cousins, and they are named ?Ragdolls,? for the way they often go limp in your arms when you pick them up. After continuing with Ann Baker for a time, a second group of breeders broke away in 1993 (there are many interesting stories about this!) and registered their newly named ?RagaMuffins? with the more established cat associations. The American Cat Fancier?s Association is the official registering body for the RagaMuffins, and most of the three dozen or so RagaMuffin breeders world-wide belong to the RagaMuffin Associated Group, which has a strict code of ethics and a strong breeder network to provide the best care and methods for raising little ?Muffins.You can find this list at www.ragamuffingroup.com/BreedersList.htm Although they come from the same roots, the RagaMuffins are different cats from the Ragdolls. Ragdolls are blue-eyed, pointed cats, with light bodies and darker ears and tails. They also have darker feet and noses, although sometimes these are covered with white mitts or blazes. They are bred to have specific markings and coloring. Unlike Ragdolls, RagaMuffins can be any color or pattern. There are also differences in shape and conformation. One of the most noticeable differences is the ?Muffins? ?scoop,? which, together with their rounded whisker pads and walnut-shaped eyes gives them a very sweet look. Still fairly new to the cat associations, RagaMuffins achieved championship status in 2001.

The exact origin of the Persian is unknown. By some accounts they originated in Asia Minor and were first seen in Europe in the early 1700s, although there were reports of long haired cats in Italy (imported from Asia) in the late 1500s. Early British books referred to these cats a French casts or Angoras. They were reported to have come from Ankara, Turkey, also the supposed birthplace of the Turkish Angora, to whom they bore a close resemblance. The Turkish Angora was used in many breeding programs as it was prized for its beautiful long cat; its speculated that Turkish Angora genes can be found in many of our modern cats.Most of the Persians exhibited at the first cat show in Britain, in 1871, were black, blue or white. Queen Victoria and other members of Britain?s royal family kept blue Persians, adding to their popularity. Gradually, different colors and patterns have been introduced and accepted for championship, though blue is still a popular color. Persians were first introduced to North America towards the end of the nineteenth century and were just as popular among the breeders, exhibitors and judges in this country as they were in Britain and Asia.