Burmese cats are sometimes referred to as copper cats, which we think is a pretty cool nickname. They are generally well known for their playful and affectionate nature, and as we all know many cat breeds just aren’t very comfortable around people, that’s not the case with Burmese.

Burma (formerly Myanmar) is a large country in Southeast Asia bordering Thailand and China, and also has close ties to India across the sea. The country has a long and turbulent history, and was colonized by the British not long ago. It is through British colonization and ties to the Western world that Burmese cats found their way into homes around the world. In fact, the colonization of much of the world in the 19th century did much to disperse most cat breeds, without ties to the Western world we would not enjoy these cats today.

Interestingly, all Burmese cats in the United States are supposed to have a common ancestor, that cat’s name is Wong Mau, and was brought to the United States by a man named Joseph Thompson sometime in the 1930s.

If you own one of these cats, you might want to build a small makeshift altar to your little friend’s great ancestor, the illustrious Wong Mau. It is known that the ancient Burmese worshiped these cats and also worshiped their ancestors, who knows, this might make your cat feel at home.

There are three separate breeds of Burmese: the contemporary, the traditional, and the European; they are all a little different. The European variety is slimmer, for example, and the traditional one is more like the original cat brought from Burma (the illustrious and prolific Wong Mau). All of these cats are quite muscular and have short fur, which makes perfect sense knowing that Burma is a tropical country where a long-haired cat would not be advantageous.

Purchasing Burmese kittens in most areas of North America should be quite simple as this is a fairly common breed, all we ask is that you check if the breeder is licensed and reputable because sometimes in the pets there is some shade going on.

Burmese cats are somewhat similar in appearance to the Siamese cat, which shouldn’t surprise you when you realize that Thailand (the home of the Siamese cat) lies just to the east of Burma. In closing, these Burmese are very humane and therefore extremely popular cats all over the world.