Burmese

The Burmese cat is a domestic cat breed that originated in Burma, is said to have its roots along the Thai-Burmese border and was developed in the United States and Britain. Most current Burmese are descended from Wong Mau, a female cat transported from Burma to America in 1930 and mated with American Siamese. From there, American and British breeders created radically separate Burmese breed standards, which is rare in the world of pedigreed domestic cats. The two are not technically recognized as different breeds by most current cat registries, but those that do refer to the British variant as the European Burmese.

The biggest difference between the two standards is the form of the head and body. The conventional or British ideal is a more slender, long-bodied cat with a wedge-shaped head, broad pointed ears, a long tapering nose, and relatively almond-shaped eyes. The legs should be lengthy as well, with tidy oval paws. The tail is medium in length. The American (also known as "current") Burmese is a stockier cat with a significantly bigger head, round eyes, and a visibly shorter, flattened nose; the ears are wider at the base. Legs and tail should be medium-length and proportional to the torso, with rounded paws.