my kitty is an actual breed!!

Squibby:Not Squibby:

One thing you should know about me is:
Im pretty much obsessed with my cat! I always thought i was more of a dog person even though ive lived in a house with 7 cats..i always proffered my Collie, Collin..

But...ever since i moved out of my parents and moved with my husband and his dog..that came with him (which literally took me like a year or more to ever feel like he was actually my dog too) i felt like i wanted my own pet..and the husband agreed on letting me get a cat since we thought it would be easier than having 2 dogs. Well i got Squibby (Jake picked his name out..it was either Meeks or Squibby..) and i have been obsessed with him ever since!

My point..he was found in a baseball field by himself (adopted him from the vet) and so i never knew what breed he was..nor did i really think he was any breed since just about 99% of cats you see, are mixed..unless you actually breed or show cats..wellllllll...i decided to look up literally..gray, white, siamese mix cat..and looked at google images and saw cats that look EXACTLY like him! Some are short hair..most are long hair like him..and they even have his 'dirt' make on his nose that i just thought was from being a mix! So doing a little research i found out that he is a Lynx Point Birman! I guess the true breed is Birman. But ive noticed that there are different varieties such as..Lynx Point Siberian, Lynx Point Siamese, and Lynx Point Birman,..oh and even Lynx Point Ragdoll! Not sure the difference or what it all means..but all i know is he looks EXACTLY like them!! I guess the 'color points' can come in different colors...seal, lilac, chocolate, blue, flame, lynx, and tortie..from what ive seen he would be a Seal Lynx Point Birman.

BIRMAN

The Birman has the colourpoint pattern with the addition of white bootees/gauntlets. The Birman arrived in Europe around 1920 and has also been known as the Tibetan Temple Cat and the Sacred Cat of Burma. Modern Birmans are descended from a pair brought to Europe by Mr. Vanderbilt. It is also reported that 2 Englishmen, Major Gordon-Russell and August Pavie, then living in France, received a pair of Birmans from the Kittah people in 1919 as gratitude for their part in saving the temple from being overrun by invaders. The remainder of the tale is the same: the male unfortunately died during the voyage, but the female was pregnant. Of her kittens, only a female survived. This meant two female Birmans and no male. To re-establish the type, these cats were crossed to Siamese, Colourpoints and White Longhairs.

In 1927, judge Mrs Basnett reported on the Paris Cat Show held on 14^th and 15^th of January by the Cat Club de France and wrote "The Sacred Burmese Temple Cats interested me very much, with their long fur on the tail and coat resembling that of a poorly bred Persian; their colouring is exactly like that of the Siamese, but their feet sometimes have white toes. I was given to understand that they are very difficult to rear, only about one in ten survive. I do not think they possess the same quick movements as the Siamese, life to them seems much more dreamy and slow, but they are very loving and intelligent." This clearly referred to the Birman; confusingly the name Burmese Temple Cat was also used at that time for the gold-eyed brown Thai cats analogous to modern Burmese or brown Orientals.

As a result of its early near-loss and re-creation, some say the Birman comes from temples in Burma, while others claim it is a breed entirely manufactured in France using Siamese andblack-and-white longhairs. French breeders had to re-create the Birman not once, but twice since the Second World War caused pedigreed cats in Europe a great set back. Only two purebred Birmans survived and their offspring formed the new post-war foundation of the Birman breed in France. They were bred with other longhairs out of necessity, but by 1955, the Birman was once more recognised as pure bred and there was no more outcrossing. In the early 1960's Mrs Elsie Fisher and Mrs M. Richards imported the first Birmans into Britain from France.

While some claim the cats were created in France, it is interesting that in 1960, a pair of "Tibetan Temple kittens" was given to a North American cat lover and were identical to the Birman cats being bred in Europe. In recent years new point colours have been introduced, including chocolate, lilac point, red, cream, tabby and tortie point. Not all societies recognise the newer colours.

Birman variants are known e.g. the "Khmer" being a bootee-less Birman-type cat and the Tibetan being a Birman in solids colours and tabbies. Some of the early Birmans lacked the gauntlets.

As you can tell..im pretty excited!!