Any members have a birman cat? I downloaded a photograph from Webshots that has 3 birman cats that is absolutely captivating.

I dont have a birman cat, but if it is what I am thinking about, then I was very close to becoming a mommy to a birman not too long ago. I was purchasing the flame pt. siamese for my mother in law, susan, and the breeder let me know she had a birman (i think!) for sale as well. i saw her and WOOOOOOOOW was she gorgeous. i wanted to take her home SO very badly, but i already had two kitties and now a puppy and there is a limit on pets in my building. darn!!! what does the photo look like?

~Candace



This site http://www.birman.net is very informative with a history of the Birman or Sacred Cat of Burma. They are NOT part Siamese or Persian. Without showing a picture, if a Siamese was longhaired with tuxedo markings, that's about what a Birman looks like. The colors would be the lighter seal-point of Siamese kittens, but the body build would be of a typical cat, not slender.

Over two years ago, I found what may have been a Birman mix. There is a long story about how he got rescued, bit me, narrowly escaped being put down by Animal Control, found a good home.

see also http://www.birman.org/

If you use the link on the previous post, there is a birman ring: http://www.birman.net/ring/

Anyone who loves longhair cats that don't mat will love Birmans and MCs

spencer thanx for posting that link. those cats are phat! the only strange thing 'bout them is u can hardly see their nose but they have really cool eyes.

This is a foster cat I rehomed. He may be part Birman. Some breeders are introducing a lynx-point Birman, which looks a lot like him.

Back in March 2000, I noticed this cat in my back yard. I forgot to take the food away from the poarch. I took him in. Nobody claimed him. I was with a rescue at the time, so the paperwork to make him a foster was started. Just before going to the vet to neuter him, I made the big mistake to trim his claws. He tried to chomp my left wrist off. A day later, the infection was pretty bad.

It is worth while to check the rabies laws in your state - it could save your pet's life In Texas, Animal Control can have the pet's head decapitated and sent to Austin for a rabies check. This happened to a friend's Golden Retriever. The man was the gruff type, but he was in tears. Worst of all, the dog did not have rabies.

Back to the cat, I was at the vet before going to the clinic (and Animal Control). She gave the cat a rabies shot. This saved the cat's life because once given, examining the decapitated head will prove nothing.

In Texas, all animal bites require Animal Control intervention. While the cat lived, Animal Control made life as difficult as possible. I had to prove it was property of the rescue. The cat had to be on a ten-day quarantine. While the vet would have done it for free, she was just outside of the town I lived in. I could not keep it at Animal Control because the did not have a vet and did not want to take a one-in-million chance of a lawsuit. So I had to pay more to keep it at a PetsMart. Fortunately, it was only eight days and they charged half-price. This and a future incident has given me a dislike for Animal Control and the rabies laws in Texas.

I named him Harry Kim after the mild-mannered ensign on Star Trek:Voyager. On the surface, the name seemed to fit as the cat was a long-haired oriental. His temperment was much more like a Klingon warrior . At least I could tell when his was thinking of biting. Harry would twitch his tail with a high-pitched trill. Ernie has a similar temperment . It took awhile to find a good home for Harry, but it finally happened.

A single guy was interested in Harry. This was good because he would not be good with teasing children at all. He also needed to be an only pet because he got along with my cats through intimidation. Ironically, AJ (a scardy cat) associated with him. Harry and AJ were part of the "Siamese Mafia" (AJ is a little slender and very vocal) .

It took all day for the guy to adopt the cat. He was getting all the supplies ready. That was good, but usually stalling means the adoption fell thru. While we were waiting, Harry got to stand on top of a parakeet cage salivating . The birds were never in any danger.

If you read Get Fuzzy (http://www.dilbert.com/comics/getfuzzy/), Harry Kim might remind you of Bucky Katt. The best strips involve Bucky's "random act of biting"



[This message was edited by SpencerTheLion on September 28, 2002 at 12:27 AM.]

i didnt know about the laws in texas and decapitating the animals head! dang! thats messed up.

thats a cute kitty doesnt look like it would hurt any1. thats good that u do rescue work no wonder u got so many cats.

Over a year ago, I told this story in a hurry. Someone in New Jersey made an unpleasant reply . She is also into rescue and sometimes they take things very seriously. The other thing is the rabies laws DO VARY from state to state. For instance, Hawaii quarantines incoming pets for several months to keep the state rabies-free, like Britain.

Again, check the law on bites. Animal Control will often be involved. The animal that bites may not have any rights at all, depending where it happened. I am NOT recommending for a bite victim to wait until they have rabies. I do think it's possible to do a rabies quarantine without killing the animal or putting yourself in mortal danger. Less than 8% of rabies are spread by cats and dogs. Infection is a much more likely outcome of a bite. I know of a vet's assistant that lost a finger from infection .

Suffice, be careful when touching a strange pet.

That cat (Harry Kim) does have an attitude. It just takes time to gain the trust of a cat out on the streets to gain their trust.



[This message was edited by SpencerTheLion on October 02, 2002 at 11:23 AM.]

Those birmans have blue blue blue eyes! SpencerTheLion, you got one?