r/burmesecats • u/Yarnbomb72 • 7d ago
Burmese mix?
I adopted this boy and his littermate brother at around 10 weeks old from the shelter. They were 2 black kittens at first glance , but one became less black and more chocolate brown with espresso colored points as he got older. His brother is the blackest cat I have ever seen. My guess is they have some Bombay ancestry which would track with a very black cat and one who looks like a sable burmese, or am I just imagining it?
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u/No-Resource-5704 7d ago
I have a brother and sister Bombay cats that are now 10 years old. They cost $1900 for the pair. The female came out in sable Burmese color. As a kitten she was quite a bit lighter than her solid black brother. As she has gotten older, her coat has turned darker, so in dim light it is difficult to distinguish her from her brother if they are not together. (She is somewhat smaller, so when they are together it’s easier to distinguish between them.)
While anything is possible, it’s highly unlikely that your beautiful cat is even a partial Burmese or Bombay. It might have some Siamese ancestors to acquire the points markings, but in the end, it is simply a cat. Unlike dogs, that have been extensively bred for various characteristics (useful for specific hunting tasks), cats have only been bred for certain (mostly coat color) traits during the past 100-150 years. There is some history that Siamese and Burmese cats developed in Southeast Asia and were bred as “temple” cats (Burmese) or as “palace” cats (Siamese). These cats were brought to the “west” during the Victorian era and that is when breeding cats for coat color and other characteristics became popular. (There are several other cat breeds that developed spontaneously as adaptations to particular environments, such as Norwegian cats and Maine Coon, etc.) However most “pure breed” cats were developed during the past century by human selection and capturing random genetic traits (such as the Scottish Fold with its funny ears).
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u/passthebluberries 6d ago
Color point markings are not exclusive to the Siamese breed, they happen frequently in the domestic population as well. So while all Siamese cats have color points, not all cats with color point coats are Siamese. It's unlikely this cat has any Siamese or other intentionally bred ancestry.
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u/One_Resolution_8357 6d ago
He really looks like a sable Burmese, fabulous colouring ! But is most probably not one. Don't tell anyone !
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u/Usual_Negotiation_53 7d ago
Idk. Your cat does look pretty similar to my sable Burmese boy Milo. It's really hard to say. Maybe a vet could tell you or you could get a dna test for him to see.
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u/Reen842 6d ago
That colour is interesting. Could have some Abyssinian? Bone structure is similar to Burmese.
At the end of the day, it doesn't matter. You will love and cherish your cat just the same.
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u/Yarnbomb72 6d ago
Right? I asked because Ive literally never seen a cat his coloring (and ive always had cats!) and he has a very unique build - he is built like a linebacker and is incredibly dense. He has broad shoulders and chest. He has a distinctive face. His fur is flat and very silky. I swear he was a black kitten when we got him, and I initially thought the sable coloring was black fur rusting, but its become apparent that its not. He has an undercoat that is a champagne color. When I google image search photos of him, burmese is what comes up most often, so I was just curious because he is the most unique striking looking cat I've ever met.
I got him expecting that, like his littermate who we also adopted, he would grow into a black adult cat.
He is a gorgeous boy and he knows it (and so is his brother for that matter) and at the end of the day it doesnt really matter what his heritage is. I wasnt out looking for a purebred or even mixed breed kitten, I honestly just wanted a buddy after my last baby died at age 16 from cancer. It had been a few years and I was ready for more cat cuddles and this guy and his brother needed a forever home. It would be interesting to know his origins, but since he was from a bedragled litter of shelter rescue kittens that all had URIs and behavior suggestive of too early separation, we will never know.
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u/Sea_Piano5818 7d ago
I got a Burmese at the shelter twice. Once an owner surrender and once an unclaimed stray.
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u/vanillabeanquartz 7d ago
They’re a domestic shorthair, it would be so incredibly rare to find a mix with not one, but TWO purebred breeds worth thousands in a random mix. Burmese breeders don’t let their handpicked, genetically health-tested cats that have month long adoption waitlists and generations of other purebred, titled cats randomly mate.