The Standard

The Sacred Birman is an elegant cat, with a massive build, white gloves and blue eyes. The morphology of the Burmese cat is unique and differentiates it from all other breeds. 

Body Structure: 

The Birman has a medium build: males can reach 4-5 kg in weight while females, on average smaller than males, can weigh between 3 and 4 kg. The bone structure is robust; the body is slightly elongated compared to the legs, which are not particularly long; the tail, whose length is proportionate to the body, usually reaches the shoulder.

The head: 

The forehead is slightly rounded and the cheeks are full; the nose, of medium length, is without stops and its profile, called "Roman", is rounded; the strong chin must be aligned vertically with the nose. The eyes are slightly oval, deep blue in color and set far apart on the muzzle. The ears are positioned on the sides of the skull, always facing forward and well spaced from each other, they are of medium size, triangular in shape with a wide base starting from the temporal surface of the skull, the tips are slightly rounded. 

The cloak:

The Birman is a semi-long haired cat. The fur has a silky texture to the touch and has no undercoat, therefore it is difficult to tangle. The Burmese as a whole appears to be a light-colored cat because the color is intense only on the tips of the body: the so-called "points". Hence the name colourpoint (coloured tips). The points are the coldest parts of the body: muzzle, ears, legs, tail, and in males also the genitals. On the rest of the body, where the body temperature is warmer, it has the same color but in a more "discolored" version, almost white.

The glove: 

White gloves are a distinctive feature of the Birman cat, it is the only cat breed whose standard prescribes its existence. They must not exceed the joint of the legs and must be symmetrical with each other. The hind legs have, on the plantar surface, a white inverted V-shaped rise called the hock.

Standard defects:

On show, the Birman cat can easily be penalized for small deviations: 

• Body: thin structure, too slender or long-limbed, short tail
  
• Muzzle: Siamese triangular shape, straight nose profile, depigmented nose (for seal-point, blue-point, chocolate-point colours), receding chin
  
• Eyes: small in size, color changing to green, non-uniform color, light color 
• Ears: Too pointed and slender at the top, folded back 
  
• Gloves: white that exceeds the standard limits, presence of lifts (called ranners), absence of one or more gloves, absence of the hock on the hind legs, gloves not symmetrical with each other 
  
• Color: tufts of white fur on the body, tufts of colored fur on the gloves, phantom markings present in adult cats (except for the tabby variants, and the red-point and cream-point colors and red areas of the tortie)
  
• Coat: too long and with a lot of undercoat, rough or too woolly coat, hair that creates knots and becomes felted, short hair