Any Ideas Of What Breed My Kitten Is?

[J. A. Vann]

This is our newest kitten. We bought him at a cat show. I walked past the cage he was in, all by himself & thought he was so cute & so sweet I just had to have him!! We were told he is a Sable Burmese but the breeder also breeds Bombays!! We're just not so sure he's a "pure bred" Burmese we kinda think he's a "BurmBay"! Any ideas or could he really be a Burmese? We love him no matter what he is, just wondering if the breeder told us a little fib!! He's 7 months old now & is a bundle of energy & is the most affectionate cat we have ever owned & also has the softest coat ever!

 

[1CatOverTheLine]

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First off, welcome to TCS. Your gorgeous boy doesn't fit the breed standard for Burmese - his eyes are bice green, or aqua-green on my screen. He does, however, bear a very good resemblance at this age to a Champagne Tonkinese, which suggests the possibility that the breeder's queen might have run afoul of a randy Siamese, since the original Tonks were bred as Burmese by Siamese progenitors. He certainly has the Tonk's stance and broad chest, and his facial conformation would doubtless please any judge who was viewing him as a Tonkinese. Genuinely stunning little fellow, he is.
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[J. A. Vann]

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First off, welcome to TCS. Your gorgeous boy doesn't fit the breed standard for Burmese - his eyes are bice green, or aqua-green on my screen. He does, however, bear a very good resemblance at this age to a Champagne Tonkinese, which suggests the possibility that the breeder's queen might have run afoul of a randy Siamese, since the original Tonks were bred as Burmese by Siamese progenitors. He certainly has the Tonk's stance and broad chest, and his facial conformation would doubtless please any judge who was viewing him as a Tonkinese. Genuinely stunning little fellow, he is.
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Thank you for the welcome & your quick response! I'm sorry but I totally forgot...my kitty's eyes are gold in color not that green in the photo! I was looking for a place to click on to edit it but unfortunately I couldn't find it! The lady we got him from was admit he is a pure Burmese! We have our doubts! His face seems too pushed in to be either breed you mentioned! His nose, however is only slightly pushed in but he does have the runny nose & eyes plus he makes a lot of funny snorting noises & boy...does he snore! With out mentioning names, I won't name this breeder but after we got to know her a little we aren't so sure of her quailifications as a breeder or her intentions as a breeder!!! She had 3 other Silver colored Burmese(?) in a cage that people were trying to buy. She quickly stated "They are my breeders & not for sale." For some reason that statement didn't sit well with me! Believe me, I have nothing against cat or dog breeders that is unless they are the puppy or kitten mill types!!!! But we just are not sure he's a Burmese! The breeder did mention that's she has Bombays as well. She use to breed another type of cat but I just can not remember what that breed was, but I will try & find out!!! In the long run, we honestly felt that we "rescued" this little guy & are very glad we have him! Thanks so much for your reply & if I can find out what the other breed was, I will let you know!! Hopefully I can find another photo where his eyes are gold! I have no idea why they came out green! But they did look pretty!!!

 

[haleyds]

I could see Bombay in his eyes/head shape but since Bombay cats are typically always black it would have been hard to produce a pointed baby. As in order for points to show up in a kitten, both parents have to carry the gene for points and if the Bombay is from a long line of black cats then (although still possible) it would be difficult for one to carry said gene.
I believe rather than being a mix he is just not up to breed standard, I.e. not from show quality parents which by the way you describe the breeder would not be out of the ballpark. Often breeders that are in it for profit purchase pet quality kittens without breeding rights but still breed them, so technically their kittens are purebred but with both parents having physical faults away from breed standard their kittens end up looking less than perfect.
For example there is currently a HUGE market for "doll face Persians" which are beautiful, but essientially they are off standard and "flawed" cats that people aren't supposed to be breeding.

 

[abyeb]

He's got that Burmese "grump face" (as I've heard one breeder call it), lol. He does resemble a champagne colored Burmese- especially if he does have those amber eyes. If the breeder was selling him as a pet, he would probably be off-standard, meaning that he won't match up perfectly to the pictures of the Burmese you see online. Did you manage to get a pedigree on him? He is a gorgeous boy, regardless.

 

[1CatOverTheLine]

I could see Bombay in his eyes/head shape but since Bombay cats are typically always black it would have been hard to produce a pointed baby.

Nikki Horner spent two decades developing the Bombay from Burmese lineage, and British Bombays utilised Burmese by British Shorthair crosses. Every American and British Bombay would carry cb on the C locus, thus carrying the pointing gene.
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[J. A. Vann]

I could see Bombay in his eyes/head shape but since Bombay cats are typically always black it would have been hard to produce a pointed baby. As in order for points to show up in a kitten, both parents have to carry the gene for points and if the Bombay is from a long line of black cats then (although still possible) it would be difficult for one to carry said gene.
I believe rather than being a mix he is just not up to breed standard, I.e. not from show quality parents which by the way you describe the breeder would not be out of the ballpark. Often breeders that are in it for profit purchase pet quality kittens without breeding rights but still breed them, so technically their kittens are purebred but with both parents having physical faults away from breed standard their kittens end up looking less than perfect.
For example there is currently a HUGE market for "doll face Persians" which are beautiful, but essientially they are off standard and "flawed" cats that people aren't supposed to be breeding.

Thank you so much! When we got him, he was totally a chocolate brown & he was 18 weeks old, he's just over 7 months & is developing points! He's also very tiny! At 18 weeks he was 3 pounds & he is about 7 now! The breeder we got him from seems to only have silver colored females that she uses to breed at least that's all I've seen. I was not very familiar with the Burmese or the Bombay breeds since I'm mostly a Siamese owner. I had no idea Burmese had points. He was just so sweet & cute I had to have him! Let's face it...I'm a pushover for a cute face!!! LOL I think you may be totally right...he's just not the perfect Burmese for showing! That doesn't matter to us! We love him & he gets along well with our rescued 7 year old Orange Tabby & our 7 year old Siamese sorta kinda tolerates him, when he's in the mood!!! We feel he's living in a better home than he was & I'm sure if the breeder had any idea he would have been a prize winner we would have never got him as a pet!!!
Thank you again!!

 

[haleyds]

Nikki Horner spent two decades developing the Bombay from Burmese lineage, and British Bombays utilised Burmese by British Shorthair crosses. Every American and British Bombay would carry cb on the C locus, thus carrying the pointing gene.
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You truly are the wisest of the wise!!

 

[1CatOverTheLine]

You truly are the wisest of the wise!!

I've been called, "a wisest," before, but it was spelled slightly differently, and the "t" was silent.


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[StefanZ]

Just to agree with what is said. And once again saying as Abyeb mentioned, although a purebred (possibly allowed outcross), he is probably a pet-quality, and thus, not necessarily a copy of the show quality typical looks.

That is why we are a little unsure on exactly what he is.

Did you got the certificate / pedigree? What did you payed, full price or reduced price for a pet quality?


(btw, In Sweden its common they are sold at full normal price, supposedly as pet quality - because the breeder can seldom quarantee a young kitten will become show quality as adult - BUT if the buyer wants to use the cat in shows or in breeding - he has full blessing and allowance of the breeder.
IF the breeder doesnt want the cat to be used in breeding, he writes it in the sale contract and demands spaying (we dont do early spaying in Sweden). AND reduces the price somewhat).

 

[J. A. Vann]

Just to agree with what is said. And once again saying as Abyeb mentioned, although a purebred (possibly allowed outcross), he is probably a pet-quality, and thus, not necessarily a copy of the show quality typical looks.

That is why we are a little unsure on exactly what he is.

Did you got the certificate / pedigree? What did you payed, full price or reduced price for a pet quality?


(btw, In Sweden its common they are sold at full normal price, supposedly as pet quality - because the breeder can seldom quarantee a young kitten will become show quality as adult - BUT if the buyer wants to use the cat in shows or in breeding - he has full blessing and allowance of the breeder.
IF the breeder doesnt want the cat to be used in breeding, he writes it in the sale contract and demands spaying (we dont do early spaying in Sweden). AND reduces the price somewhat).

 

[J. A. Vann]

No, we didn't get any kind of petigree or papers on him! My experience when buying kittens has been that they are already spay or neutered and no papers! I just figured that since they come already "fixed", papers aren't really necessary! Although one day I would like to breed but I would do that just for myself! We did get a some-what reduced price of $800.00. She regularly charged $1000.00 and I bought with my heart plus I wasn't looking for show quality! So we are happy with this little fellow! He's just so sweet and affectionate, but he's so full of energy, he wears us out playing!! We get woke up in the wee hours of the morning with him and a toy on our bed wanting to play fetch and this is usually every morning unless we can manage to wear him out before we go to bed! He's a 2 year old ina cat suit!!! I will say this, I did not have the best opinion of the breeder but he was the healthiest kitten we have ever purchased or rescued! We've just been wondering if he truly is a non show pure bred Burmese or a mix of Burmese and something else! That's just out of cuiriosity!

 

[haleyds]

What country are you in?? Here in the states you never ever ever pay that much money for a cat without papers. Regardless of spay or neutered, you get the pedigree regardless. The papers are to an extent what justifies a $800 price tag.
I understand you got a wonderful amazing cat out of the situation but you were wronged by the breeder, in my opinion.

 

[abyeb]

Go ahead and ask for the pedigree- the breeders you meet at cat shows are most often reputable, because they're the ones who care enough to drive the distance and spend the money to enter their cats.

 

[J. A. Vann]

What country are you in?? Here in the states you never ever ever pay that much money for a cat without papers. Regardless of spay or neutered, you get the pedigree regardless. The papers are to an extent what justifies a $800 price tag.
I understand you got a wonderful amazing cat out of the situation but you were wronged by the breeder, in my opinion.

I'm here in the US...Tennessee to be exact. Honestly I never even gave "papers" a thought when I bought the kitty. I figured I'm not going to show him and he is a terrific kitty, so it wasn't that important to me! But I really don't care for the breeder! She seems to be in it just for the money! I can't be that way! While I was quite taken with the little fellow I also felt kinda sorry for him and the 3 females she called "her breeders",the three were huddled together in their crate as if they were afraid of every one!
When I was showing dogs I got the papers right away! But I honestly never expected papers from this breeder! She won't contact me any more! I had problems with the micro chip company that she used & I couldn't get any help from her! She sad her husband missed the kitty & asked if I would send her pictures, which I did & she's never acknowledged them! So I'm convinced she's not very reputable as a breeder! She's into making fancy cat beds and toys and crate curtains! I don't know when she even has time for her cats! I do appreciate all your information and help!!