There is such an expression in English, lucky strike - they say, a lucky chance. It is precise as a result of such a happy event in the 80s of the last century that the Burmilla cat breed was born in Foggy Albion.
But first things first.
History of the origin of the breed
In the role of the "fairy godmother" of the new breed of cats, the Burmilla, unexpectedly for herself, was played in the now distant 1981 by a certain English baroness of German origin - and all because of her own negligent maid, who overlooked her mistress's Burmese cat, one of whose entertainments, a German woman -Baroness, there was the breeding of Persian and, as it is already clear Burmese cats.
One day of that year, the baroness intended to present to her “friend” a cat of the Persian breed of chinchilla color, and that, that is, this very “familiar friend” of the baroness, in turn, was going to castrate him right away. The cat, as if immediately sensing something was wrong, quickly washed away from the unjust reprisal into the backyard of the Baroness's estate, where he accidentally found (that very lucky chance!) The aforementioned tailed runaway - a Burmese cat.
The cat obviously turned out to be at its best: while the essence and the matter, while the "sweet couple" realized, they "had" sudden love, after which, after the due date, charming babies were born, distinguished by an agreeable character, large yellow-greenish eyes, and wool of an unusual color - with a silvery sheen.
As a result, the happy owner of both pets and their newborn offspring-hybrids made a wise decision to keep and further breed cats with a similar color and character and even came up with a name for a new breed - Burmilla, which became a derivative of the name of the mother's breed, Burmese cat, and chinchilla color of the cat - the manufacturer.
Description of the breed with photos
For some reason, the most popular on the World Wide Web are photographs with images of short-haired individuals of this breed - the Burmilla cat breed. Probably because the breed standard means short hair. Although, along with short-haired cats, Burmillas with long hair, long-haired, are no less famous, widespread, and even more popular.
According to unverified rumors, representatives of both species may appear in one litter.
- Exterior or shorthaired
- The head of the animal is of medium size, without any abrupt transitions - say, from the forehead to the nose.
- The muzzle with noticeable cheeks, in cats, is somewhat larger than in cats.
- The ears have a slight forward inclination, of medium size.
- Eyes with dark rim, large, oriental cut, set wide apart.
- The nose is pink, rather small.
- The body is well-muscled, graceful, proportional.
- Feet are of medium length, described as powerful, and tipped with black pads.
Longhaired
Everything is the same as just described above, with the exception of the wool itself - this time long.
Varieties of colors
Currently, there are different variations or, more correctly, the standards of the following colors of Burmilla cats:
- smoky,
- shaded,
- tabby - striped
- solid is homogeneous.
The character and behavior of the Burmilla
Like any other domestic cat, the "average" (if, of course, there are any at all, because each cat has its own special character) Burmilla is a real aristocrat, an unusually intelligent, well-mannered, affectionate, and humane cat, extremely loyal and unobtrusive, which is easy gets along with fellows and other animals.
Burmilla cats and cats are unpretentious to the living conditions and are easily trained, they are equally good in a city apartment and a country house, if only their beloved two-legged is always there.
Due to its extreme attachment to humans, the Burmilla categorically does not accept loneliness and misses the owner very much if he is absent for a long time, and therefore these cats, like cats in general, should not and should not even be kept as a pet. people who are forced to leave home for a long time, going, for example, on a long business trip.
Charming big-eyed Burmillas are completely devoid of aggressiveness and are quite loyal to small children - they never allow themselves to release their claws or, say, bite a child. This statement is true both for cats of this breed and for cats.
And also the Burmilla is an incorrigible chatterbox who undoubtedly loves to "chat" about this and that, to tell the loving owner about what she saw and knows what happened to her during the day while he was away; she is playful, but, we repeat, by no means unobtrusive, she is pleased, it is vital for her even to constantly interact with a person, but she herself can occupy herself with what she loves more than anything else - playing with her own toys. Having played enough, she lies down to rest, as befits her from above, curled up in a ball.
Health and longevity
Alas, as nothing is imperfect under the moon, so unjustly imperfect by nature are such cute Burmillas who, as it turned out over time, are prone to hereditary diseases. For example, the ancestors of the Persians got polycystic kidney disease, which, unfortunately, is not yet treatable. They are also characterized by cardiomyopathy - a pathology of the heart muscles.
How many years do Burmillas live?
The average life span of Burmilla cats is 12-14 years.
Maintenance and care
Like any other pet, any other pet, be it a Labrador or a white rat, Burmilla cats need basic care.
Care
The concept of "care" in the case of cats implies a whole range of hygienic measures, from bathing once a quarter at most, combing a fluffy coat, and ending with periodic examination of their ears for possible infection with a special type of ear mite - otomycosis. The first, however, is more concerned with exhibition specimens, which are bathed a little more often than it was just mentioned, five to six times a year with the use of special shampoos.
A separate article is the care of the pet's claws, which are usually trimmed or, more precisely, shortened a little on average once every one and a half to two weeks, as well as for the oral cavity (hygiene) and the eyes of the animal.
For more detailed information and advice on each of these points, it makes sense and it is hereby even strongly recommended to refer to the appropriate sources on the Internet and specialized specialists - veterinarians.
Feeding
Like cats of any other breed or even outbred mestizos, Burmilla cats are fed according to their age: kittens three to four times a day, adults - twice a day, in the morning and in the evening.
Natural products
Adequate nutrition presupposes the presence of animal protein, and therefore in the diet of cats in general, and in the daily diet of cats of the Burmilla breed in particular, lean meat, and for one with it amino acids and, of course, vitamins, should be at least 80% of the total volume of all their food. And this is beef, rabbit meat, poultry, finally.
By the way, fish is not very suitable for adding to the daily diet of all domestic cats, no matter how paradoxical it sounds, and raw fish is so simply contraindicated, strictly prohibited due to possible diseases of the kidneys and the genitourinary system of these animals.
The remaining 20% are vegetables, cereals, eggs, milk - the latter, by the way, is more suitable for kittens than for adults.
Of course, all this should be taught to the pet literally "from young nails" and in no case,
should you overfeed it - for example, castrated cats do not know the measure of food, and often this leads to profuse vomiting, at best, and to obesity - at worst.
should you overfeed it - for example, castrated cats do not know the measure of food, and often this leads to profuse vomiting, at best, and to obesity - at worst.
Recommended feed
Certified dry and wet food from renowned premium and super-premium producers, which should never be economized on in order to avoid the most unpleasant consequences for pet health.
Walking
Despite all their "hopeless domesticity", Burmillas really need regular walking, and this should be done, first of all, for the sake of keeping their beloved pet in good physical shape. It is clear that each such "exit" should be accompanied by the owner, and the cat (or cat) should be taken outside strictly on a harness - exclusively in clear, not rainy, and warm weather.
It is also clear that before the beginning of the walking season, the animal must be properly prepared - pre-treated against parasites and vaccinated.
Breeding Burmilla breed
Breeding this breed requires from breeders, in the literal sense of the word, titanic efforts and financial costs, which, among other things, lead to a rather high price for pets, especially those of them that have an exhibition perspective.
Last but not least, such prices are associated with the difficulties associated with finding reliable, healthy breeding cats that would fully comply with breed standards.
Pros and cons of the breed
This breed has much more pluses than minuses - of the pluses, the character and external data of these cats are usually immediately named, and of the shortcomings, their high price.
How to choose a kitten.
When conducting transactions of this kind, it is considered mandatory to have a sale and purchase agreement, a passport of the future pet with a pedigree, veterinary certificates of vaccination and vaccinations, and other related documents.
Ideally, the choice of a baby should be carried out in the presence of a specialist, at the age of 10 - 12 weeks of age, and the baby should be clean and well-groomed, without bald patches and other defects, the possible presence of which the breeder is simply obliged to warn the potential buyer about.
Nurseries
At the moment, only one cattery is registered on the World Cat Federation website, specializing in the reproduction and breeding of Burmilla cats - Chatburdeoa, located in the city of Serpukhov, Moscow region.
Breed cost
It all depends on the place of purchase of the kitten - in a club or nursery, the price will be noticeably higher than that of a private breeder. Some individuals with a pedigree, but without any exhibition perspective, they may ask for 30,000 rubles.
Reviews of Burmilla owners
It goes without saying that the cat owners themselves, first of all, enthusiastically note everything that has already been described above - the intelligence of Burmilla cats, their docile nature, and an irrepressible desire for constant, but completely unobtrusive communication with the owner and members of their family, and so on and so forth. ...
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Cats