| The Legend of the Birman | | | | Origin |
| The Birman cat is a beautiful breed of cat that is | | | | Aside from the legend, the known history of the |
| believed to have come from the country of Burma, | | | | Birman cat is that a pair of these cats were shipped |
| where it was kept as the pet of trusted priests. | | | | from Burma to France in the early 1900s. While the |
| According to legend, the guardians of Burmese | | | | male cat did not survive the journey, the female |
| temples were actually cats that had long white hair | | | | arrived safely and was actually pregnant at the time |
| and yellow eyes. The goddess of the main temple | | | | of arrival. This established the Birman cat in the |
| had blue eyes. In this legend, the head priest was | | | | western world and the French cat registry began to |
| killed during an attack and one of the guardian cats | | | | recognize this cat as a distinct breed in 1925. England |
| placed its paws on him. Suddenly, the cat's white fur | | | | and the Cat Fanciers' Association took a bit more |
| became golden and its eyes turned as blue as those | | | | time to recognize the breed, with England recognizing |
| of the goddess of the temple. Seven days after this | | | | it in 1966 and the CFA recognizing it in 1967. |
| occurred, the guardian cat died. | | | | |