Asian

The Asian is a group of varieties; the Burmilla, the Asian Smoke, the Asian Tabbies, the Asian Self and Tortie, plus the Bombay and the semi-longhaired Tiffanie. The breed developed from an accidental mating in 1981 between a Lilac Burmese queen and a Chinchilla. The resulting litter produced four kittens which formed the basis of the Asian breeds. Their combination of the elegant muscularity of the Burmese with the possibility of a huge range of coat pattern, both in length and colour, particularly the potential for shading and tipping within the coat.

The Burmilla, Tiffanie and Bombay have separate pages, so here we shall deal with the three varieties known as Asians. They are described in the GCCF Breed Standard as being “elegant cats of medium foreign type; the overall type should be the same as the Burmese cat. A tendency to Siamese type or the cobbiness of the British is not permissible”. Therefore, they should be distinctively of Burmese type but distinguished by the non-Burmese coat colour.

Unusually, temperament is included as part of the Breed Standard and they are renowned for their easy going attitude; they are playful, gentle and affectionate and make lovely family pets.

Although Asians have no particular health problems, it makes good sense to insure your cats.  Many breeders sell their kittens with six weeks free insurance cover.  More and more owners are now insuring their pets as advances in veterinary medicine, plus the soaring costs of drugs can mean astronomical bills. More people claim on their pet insurance than home or motor policies. ss

Different insurance companies offer different types and levels of cover, and we particularly support the specialist pet insurers.  With RSCPA pet insurance 20% of your premium helps fund the RSPCA - it is also very competitively priced.  Petplan.co.uk have been specialising in offering policies for pets for 25 years, and when a policy is taken out online the first two months of cover are free.  All insurance companies offer a discount for buying your policy online.

The colourings are extremely complex and really only of interest to breeders and exhibitors, but the basics are as follows:-

Asian Self

These are solid colours, ie without shading on the hair shaft and include the Tortie. The best known is the Bombay, but other colours are Blue, Chocolate, Lilac, Red, Tortie, Cream, Caramel and Apricot. Self colours should have as consistent colouring as possible for the length of the hair shaft, and the colour which is based on the Burmese is very much darker than the original colour.

Asian Smoke

A wonderfully glamorous coat. The undercoat is silver or white for between one third and a half of its length, the topcoat being a solid colour. This gives a deep mantle of colouring, which from behind can be mistaken for a solid colour, but once moving the coat ripples as the undercoat shows through.

Asian Tabby

There are four different Tabby patterns; the Ticked, Spotted, Mackerel and Classic. Silver Tabbies will have colouring which extends quite well down the hair shaft, whilst the Standard Tabbies should have solid colour down to the root. Pattern definition is critical for the show cat and the most commonly seen Asian Tabbies are the Ticked. Breeders are working hard to achieve high quality patterning on the other three varieties of Tabby and as yet they are not commonly available.

Variants

Variants are those cats which appear to be Burmese by their colour; however, although they cannot be shown they are genetically Asian and play an important part in breeding programmes.

Asian Breed Clubs and Rescue

• Asian Cat Association
• Asian Group Cat Society
• Bombay and Asian Self Breed Club

Asian Breeders

Charleste - Asians and Burmillas.  Location Bath, North Somerset.  Visit website for kitten availability.  Also Burmese.

Hurtlepuss - Asians, Burmillas, Bombay and Tiffanies.  Location Wantage, Oxfordshire. Website.  Phone 01235 771742 or Email. 

Also, Contact the Breed Clubs who will have lists of Breeders and may have Kitten Lists.  Whiskas kitten food has been developed to ensure your kitten gets the right level of nourishment he needs to grow up happy and healthy.  Click here for your free Kitten Care pack.