The Burmese

The Burmese in Australia...

Carol and Ian - Incazo Cattery

The first Burmese to arrive in Australia was a Brown boy named Tomahawk. He was from the same litter as one of the females imported into New Zealand in 1956. Tomahawk arrived in Sydney in 1957, aged 14 months. In 1957, a female kitten was imported from England. In 1958, three female kittens were imported from New Zealand. These five cats were the foundation of the Burmese breed in Australia.

Due to the limited availability of Burmese, Australian breeders had the same problems that plagued the early American breeders. The breeders sought permission from the RAS Cat Control Consultative Committee (now the NSW Cat Fancier's Association Management Committee) to outcross to Siamese, in a similar way to the original American development of the breed. The committee agreed to this, as long as strict conditions were met. These conditions involved a long term breeding project and were accepted by the breeders.

The first Blue Burmese in Australia was born in Brisbane in 1959. Blue was not recognised in Australia at that time, and although he was shown, he was not judged as a Blue Burmese and was neutered before he sired any progeny. The second Blue Burmese male born in Australia didn't come along until 1962, and whilst this cat became the first Champion and Grand Champion Blue Burmese, he suffered from lungworm which made him impotent, and he too died without progeny.

A Blue female was imported into Australia from England in 1959 and the first litter of four Blue and one Brown Burmese kittens was born in Sydney in 1964.

Tasmania welcomed it's first Burmese with the introduction of two female kittens from mainland Australia in 1965.

The first Chocolate Burmese in Australia was born on 1st October 1968 in Randwick, a suburb of Sydney in New South Wales.

In 1974, a Cream female kitten was born in Western Australia. She became the first Cream Burmese in New South Wales.

In 1975, the RAS Cat Control recognised Lilac and Chocolate as official Burmese colours, allowing cats of these colours to be awarded challenges at cat shows.

The first Chocolate Tortoiseshell cat was born in 1978, and two Lilac Tortoiseshell kittens were born in 1979. These colours were officially recognised in 1982.

In 1989 the Burmese Advisory Committee was formed which worked to improve the standard of Burmese in Australia. They also achieved the recognition of all four tortoiseshell colours.

Visit Pamela and the Cuddleton Kitties at www.cuddleton.com