Most modern Burmese are descendants of one female cat called Wong Mau, which was brought from Burma to the United States in 1930 and bred with American Siamese.

From there, American and British breeders developed distinctly different Burmese breed standards, which is unusual among pedigreed domestic cats.

Most modern cat registries do not formally recognise the two as separate breeds, but those that do refer to the British type as the European Burmese.

Originally, all Burmese cats were dark brown (genetically black), but are now available in a wide variety of colours; formal recognition of these also varies by standard.

However, due to continued extensive outcrossing with Siamese cats to increase the population, the original type was overwhelmed, and the CFA suspended breed recognition a decade later.

[2] Attempts by various American breeders to refine the unique Burmese standard persisted, however, and in 1954, the CFA lifted the suspension permanently.

[2] In 1958, the United Burmese Cat Fanciers (UBCF) compiled an American judging standard that has remained essentially unchanged since its adoption.

By 1952, three true generations had been produced in Britain and the breed was recognised by the United Kingdom's Governing Council of the Cat Fancy (GCCF).

[3] Most modern cat registries do not formally recognise these dual standards as representing separate breeds, but those that do refer to the British type as the European Burmese.

The International Cat Association (TICA) and CFA clubs have started using the American breed standard at select shows in Europe.

During the early period of breed development, it became clear that Wong Mau herself was genetically a crossbreed between a Siamese and Burmese type.

The British or traditional ideal tends toward a more slender, long-bodied cat with a wedge-shaped head, large pointed ears, long tapering muzzle and moderately almond-shaped eyes.

[5] The American (also called "contemporary") Burmese is a noticeably stockier cat, with a much broader head, round eyes and distinctively shorter, flattened muzzle; the ears are wider at the base.

This gene causes a reduction in the amount of pigment produced, converting black into brown and rendering all other colours likewise paler than their usual expression.

In the USA, chocolate ("champagne"), blue, and lilac ("platinum") cats were first formally considered a separate breed, the Malayan, in 1979.

This line has an initially dark pigment in the cats' coats, which fades as they grow, eventually becoming a paler orange colour.

[9] Veterinarian Joan O. Joshua has written that the "dog-like attachment to the owners" of the Burmese, as with the similarly behaving Abyssinians, causes "greater dependence on human contacts".