Some thoughts on the colour of the Birman cat

2019-04-10

We get a lot of questions about not being able to interpret the colours of the Birman kittens, i.e. not being able to link the colours to a specific photo. I thought I’d help out a bit and write an article about the colours and other things to know about them. The pictures used in the article are all of our own and or our own bred kittens.

Like the Siamese cat, the Birman cat comes in Color Point colours and variations.

What does it mean?

Color Point kittens have heads, ears, feet and tails that show the colour of the kitten, while the body remains light.

In this picture you can clearly see the contrast between the colour of the body and the colour of the head, ears, tail and legs:

International Champion Hiset Laty Mery, Helena:

All kittens are born white and dark for life!!!

The colour of the head is also constantly changing and ranges from a tiny chocolate nose to a colour that fills the whole head of an adult cat.

So none of the kittens will stay like this:

Saba Igor:

It’s what he’ll be like when he grows up:

International Champion Hiset Laty Mery, Helena:

As a general rule: The older a Color Point kitten is, the darker the color.

Fun fact: The colour of kittens also depends on the temperature change. The colder it is, the darker the colour of the kitten. This also applies to their own body temperature. E.g. if a Seal-coloured kitten has an inflamed tooth, the area will lighten, showing the location of the inflamed spot!

Let’s get down to the main basic colours, which happen to be all present in our kennels among or born to their own kittens. J

There are specific codes for the different colours, which are the same all over the world and mean the same colour. This is important information for breeders and judges.

In the next part I will show you with my own pictures what the kitten colour will look like during the election period and what it will be about. At 2 years old.

Seal Point SBI n: In this colour, the limbs can be quite dark, even black, while the rest of the body ranges from platinum to hooded.

Saba Daniel:

World Champion Moonlight Yenzo, Yoda:

Chocolate Point SBI b: The limbs can vary from milk chocolate brown to very black (dark chocolate J), while the rest of the body is very light pearly, but never white. The contrast between the colour of the limbs and the body is strongest in this colour, but the body also darkens steadily, but more slowly than in the seal.

Saba Choco:

International Champion Hiset Laty Mery, Helena:

Blue Point SBI a: The colour of the limbs is greyish blue the body colour is darker than chocolate but lighter than a seal, with a creamy greyish brownish tinge.

Saba Dalia:

World Champion Azzurro dei Baffi Buffi:

Purple Point SBI c: Our brightest coloured cat. The limbs are lavender, while the rest of the body is quite light but not white, with a hint of pearl grey. This colour has the least contrast between the limbs and the rest of the body. The colour of the body also remains lightest at this colour.

Saba Kimberly:

International Champion Saba Kimberly:

These colours are the main basic colours for the Birman cat, but there are of course red and cream colours, and every year the big international cat breeders’ associations try to get new colours adopted. The tortoiseshell colour variant is a rarity among Birman kittens.

I admit that I personally only like the colours we breed, so I don’t want to write about the other colours.

Also rare and I also like the tabby version of the main colours, which are also found in our kennel and can be born in our kennel. In the tabby variety, the whole cat will not be tabby, only the limbs will be tabby, most noticeably on the head. As we have seen in the previous colour evenings, the colour of the limbs is the colour of the cat.

Seal with tabby SBI n 21: Meaning the tabby version of the seal colour. The chocolate colour on the limbs is not uniform but tabby. However, the tabby markings are usually darker in body colour than the non-tabby variety. This difference is clearly visible, for example, between the body colour of Yoda and Dorty.

Saba Lana:

International Grand Champion Saba Lana:

Chocolate tabby SBI b 21:

Sábacat Julia:

International Champion Saba Kamil:

SBI with blue umbrella on 21:

Sábacat Betti:

Hungarian Champion Sábacat Betti:

Purple cirmos SBI c21:

International Champion Sábacat Brian (thanks to the owner for the picture)

I hope this article will make your choice easier. Although in my opinion all the main colours are beautiful. Ideally, we don’t like the colour of our cat anyway, but its personality. J

For each litter announcement, we indicate on our page what colour kittens can be born from the given parents. This is also to make it easier to plan the kitten. J

Finally, our three princesses together from left to right:

International Champion Saba Désirée Lila Pont SBI c, International Champion Saba Desdemona Csoki Pont SBI b, Hungarian Champion Sábacat Betti Kék cirmos SBI a 21,