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COLORS OF SACRED OF BURMA
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We begin by saying  that in any kind of cat there are  dominant and recessive colours. The dominant colors are black, white and red, in addition to the types Tabby (see below the paragraph about genetics) and Tortie because carriers of the gene "Orange"). Simplifying the most, we can say that in Burma,  the colours Seal, Chocolate and Red  are dominant, in addition to Tabby and Tortie; their respective dilutions, Blue, Lilac and Cream, are instead recessive.  Dominant, finally, is also the carrier of the gene "I".Up to this time, the colours allowed by F.I.F.e, in Italy, are 20: 6 self (non-Tabby) between solid  and diluted colours, the respective colours in Tabbit, 4 types of Tortie and 4 of Torbie (Tortie-Tabby).
Other feline  groups, (For example, the WCF, however, also admit type Silver and Smoke (carriers of the gene "I") include all 20 colours above: we have all the whole 40 colors).

SOLID AND DILUTED COLOURS

a) THE BURMESE no tabby point

Seal Point (codice EMS: SBI n)

The color Seal (originated from the sea animal and and therefore  dark, almost black) is the original colour of Burma, that it has been the only one for over 20 years.
 It  is a subject in which the contrast is more clear and evident: the points (mask, ears, feet, tail and genitals) are  beautiful dark brown tending to black and contrasting with the rest of the clear coat. The whole splendid fur tend to darken with age, especially in breeding cats, particularly in intact males, and it includes a range of colours from ivory to  more or less dark beige. The belly, as in every Burma, must be white without black spots. The colour of hair, as for all other variants,  may be more or less dark depending on whether the specimen results from Seal-Seal, or results, for example, from Seal + Blue. Puppies are born with a completely white mantle of any variety of colour are the parents. With age, as in all other colours, the face, will change and the surface of the mask will tend to expand and, in fact, some specimen may also darken over the head, between the ears. For the exposure standards,  these excesses  of colour are  considered as a defect. As in all variants, the Seal-Point must have blue eyes as dark as possible, which  almost reaches cobalt - violet and white gloves, not "back." This, being the darkest color, allows the breeder to understand already at  few weeks of life, whether a puppy will have exposure standard or not, because the contrast between his legs already dark and  his feet already  white will soon early now highlight any gloves defect. In the same way it will be easy to see if there are clear spots on the testicles.

Blue Point (codice EMS: SBI a)

We have to wait until 1950 or so, to get a first-Blue Point: it appears in France, obtained through a breeding program which included cats "Kmers" and the Persian Blue Colourpoint.
Blue is the first diluted colour (direct dilution of the Seal) and it is therefore more clear:the points (mask, ears, feet, tail and genitals) are in fact, blue-grey, more or less dark, depending on whether the specimen results from Blue + Blue, or Blue + Lilac. The mantle, as always, is completely white in puppies, in adult cats it will become a shade of grey-beige silver. Even the eyes are usually more clear in Blue-Point.
As in the Seal and the Chocolate it is fairly easy to discover the defects when they are puppies

Chocolate Point (codice EMS: SBI b)

In 1975  the color "brown", or Chocolate,  is added to the genetic of Burma, along with its dilution Lilac. This result was achieved using the Siamese, carrier of  such variety and, once again, the Persians Colourpoint. The Burmese Chocolate-Point, after Seal, is the most opposed. The points will have a brown colour, but, unlike the Seal, it never become almost black, and his fur, with age, become golden-beige, but always more clear than that of a Seal. Again as for the Blue, the intensity more or less dark in its colour will depend on the parents: darker if the parents are darker, such as Seal + Choc, more nuanced if the parents are, for example, Choc + Lilac. The Chocolate-Point, along with Red Seal is not  a diluted colour. It has very dark eyes, which often tend to violet, a characteristic inherited from the Siamese.

Lilac Point (codice EMS: SBI c)

The Lilac-Point is the direct dilution of the Chocolate-Point (as the Blue is for the Seal) and it is the second diluted colour. The points are a shade of beige / lilac that takes long to pigments. For some time after birth, the body is completely white and very slowly it takes over the beautiful rose reflexes. It will be particularly difficult, therefore, to recognize some defects, if not in an advanced state of growth, even to the eye of a careful expert breeder. The Burmese Lilac, although with a diluted color,  boasts wonderfully eye-blue purple.

SOLID  AND DILUTED COLOURS BEARER OF  "ORANGE"  GENE

Red Point (codice EMS: SBI d)

Last, in order of time, the Red Point, undiluted colour, and their dilution the Cream-Point, both bearer  of  "orange” gene. The points are, at the beginning, of an orange-pink colour, which gradually will darken , first in a more intense orange and then into a light red. Adults have a very clear  mantle that, over the years, takes the classic red gold. Each cat is, deep down, a Tabby: his hair,  retains the characteristic of the feline "M" on the muzzle and stripes on the body. Even in very dark cats, for example, the classic black domestic cat, these characteristics are "hidden" under the uniform colour , but if you look into the light, we may be able to identify them. They are called "ghost brands", from "ghost markings" in English (see genetics). In our Burmese Red, although solid, the "ghost brands" can be seen for  a long time, sometimes for life. It will then be difficult to  recognize quickly a Red Point by a Red Tabby: to do so, we must rely on some characteristics of Tabby, of which I will speak you later. Of course, as in the Lilac and in the Cream, to see defects  in the points will  be a difficult thing , because they darken, and only a little, very late. The eyes colour of a Red Burmese is perhaps that of a decidedly more intense blue, velvety, and the contrast with the red of his mask and the pink nose is truly remarkable. Being a Red, this Burmese cat like all red, will amaze you for his character.

Cream Point (codice EMS: SBI e)

The Cream-Point is the dilution of the Red-Point, then they are very clear cats in which the contrast between the mantle and points, even in adulthood, is really minimum, which will bring the breeder to have even more patience before knowing  whether he  possesses  an exposure cat or a pet. For the rest, the characteristics are the same for the Cream and for the Red, both bearers of the  "orange,"  gene and "ghost brands" (even if, in this case, its are much less visible) and beautiful blue eyes. It  is a new colour  in Italy.

TORTIE

Tortie, or turtle. Like the turtles, with their typical scales , Torties (not only in Burma) combine two colors. One of them will always be red or cream, because the Torties are bearers of the  "orange" gene. They have, therefore, a dominant colour. For one reason, purely genetic, torties colour  belongs only to  the female cats (although it seems to have been discharged a few rare exceptions). Torties-Point have the points of two colors (one will always be red or cream) mixed randomly among them. Some people find them absolutely fascinating, and others (especially the purists) don’t appreciate them because of the difficulty of assessing the start and end on the gloves. In fact, when the areas are pale red, and especially in diluted varieties, it can be difficult to notice any irregularities. In return Torties have a special particularity, the fact that the two colors  mix  in a completely random way so that no cat is identical to another,  also in the same variety of colour. Apart from that, as you can see from the table of the colours of puppies in the genetics, Torties  are an authentic wildcard for breeders, because they can get  many colours, with a careful choice between the mother and father, even all 20 colors so far admitted.

Seal Tortie Point (codice EMS: SBI f)

Sometimes the randomness of the distribution of their tortie never given out  symmetrically and very contrasting,  is not appreciate by  novices who approach  the Sacred Burma.
But the intensity of the colour of eyes that comes from the seal, creates in sacred Burma, eyes truly spectacular

Blue Tortie Point o Blue Cream Point (codice EMS: SBI g)

The Blue-Cream have a random distribution of the blue and cream  colour and, of course, the dilution of Seal-Tortie. It is a very rare colour in Italy.

Chocolate Tortie Point (codice EMS: SBI h)

The Choc-Torties have a random distribution between the colour of chocolate and the red colour  (or Red). These are not  diluted varieties

Lilac Tortie Point o Lilac Cream Point (codice EMS: SBI j)

The Lilac-Cream, is the dilution of Chocolate-Tortie, then they will have a random distribution of Lilac and Cream colours.

b) BURMA TABBY POINT

TABBY - POINT

The gene Tabby (better say aguti) as  the "Orange" gene is dominant but for more clarification, I suggest you to refer to the section genetics: to remain to our Burma, we can say that a subject Tabby is characterized by the famous "M" that is drawn on the screen from scratches on the legs and the rings on the tail. The eyes are surrounded by a black mark that almost seems made-up, and the truffle goes from pink to red brick, red-purple, depending on the colors of the points and it is surrounded by a net mark of the same colour of the points. The chin and the inner ear are white, so that it seems  drawn by a white outline, and, at their outer,  you can see a characteristic imprint in the form of a thumb

BRIEF REFERENCE ON GENETIC THAT IT IS PLEASANT TO KNOW

The designs of the mantle

The speech on feline genetics is very long and complex, so we only take into account the genetics of coat colour, as referred to our beloved Burma.

The progenitor of the domestic cat is the African wild cat, with a typical striped mantle  (Tabby), which enabled him to camouflage into the natural hunting environment. The original design is dominant as to regard  genetic profile and it is inherited by all the domestic cats. The hair that rank among the streaks or stains, have alternating bands of colour, almost always clear at the root and dark on top, serving as a camouflage. This design is called aguti, because it is present, as well as in other animals, including rodent Dasyprocta agouti. The bands of colour create an issue "salt and pepper”, which together with streaks Tabby, help the cat to be confused with the environment.

All cats inherit a form of gene aguti, even those who have the mantle of uniform colour. In genetic,  the dominant gene of aguti character, is called gene A.
The uniform colour (or self) exists because there is a recessive option to aguti that takes the name of non-aguti and is defined by "a". In every cat that inherits from both parents, or cat "aa", the mantle has a single uniform colour (cats "self"), but in fact, a closer examination shows the typical designs Tabby, very little obvious.  The effect, known as "ghosting" or "ghost brands", is more evident in young kittens and tends to disappear with age.

In clearer colours, for example, Lilac, Red or Cream of our Burma, these "ghost brands" may remain visible even for life, even in not-Tabby subjects. There are four basic types of design Tabby: the mackerel or striped, the classic, or mottled, the ticked, or Abyssinian, the spotted.
The subject is so interesting as complex, and I think it is better to stop there.

I wanted to deal with the  speech Tabby, in a seriously way even if not exhaustive, because the Burmese Tabby is  more and more successful and  I considered  right for a person who chooses Tabby to know what type of cat he has. You must  remember, then, that  Tabby gene, like orange  gene is dominant and may be pure (homozygous), that is a child of both parents Tabby, therefore carrier of  only Tabby  gene  or not pure (heterozygous), that is a child of a self-Point and a Tabby, therefore bearer of both genes.
From a pair homozygous Tabby cats should be born only Tabby kittens  (nature  can always reserves surprises!); whereas, from a pair monozygotic self-Point, should be born only kittens  self-Point, theoretically, from a couple self-Point + Tabby should be born  50% Tabby kittens and 50% non-Tabby.

It can be interesting to say a few words on "shading", an absolutely natural phenomenon and not invented by man. The hair colour is determined by the pigments in it that are introduced by special skin cells. The inhibitor gene or gene "I",  allows the pigment is distributed only in the hair that grows on first. Simplifying the most, we can say that the base of the hair is white. This produces a series of delicate patterns which seem to change depending  how the cat moves, resulting in a changing and spectacular outcome.

POINTED

The gene "I" is not the only gene that limits the appearance of colour. When the colour is present only on the extremities of the body, in English "points", we speaks of "pointing".
Cats "pointed" have  a light-coloured coat on the body and darker colour on  the ends, that is, on the ears, face, legs and tail: in males,  colour also interestes   the hair of the scrotum. This type of design is determined by a thermosensitive enzyme present in  melanocytes, that is the cells of pigment who are in the skin.
The normal body temperature inhibits the production of pigments on almost the entire body, but the enzyme is activated, causing the appearance of colour, where the temperature is lower, namely at the ends. Our Burma cats, of course, belong to the family cat with pointed mantle, even if the races of this "family" are many and different from each other. The kittens at birth  are all white, then darken in time the "points":  in subjects  naturally darker as the Seal, the Chocolate and Blue, it will be easier to discover when they are puppies  if there are  defects (in ascending gloves, white spots on the testicles, etc..): more difficult it will be with the clear subjects , as the Lilac, Red and Cream, especially if Tabby, Tortie or Torbie.

THE GENETICS IN COLOR

As we have seen, the original colour of the feline mantle is  aguti, a means of camouflage in the wild.
The first mutation that, deviating from streaks of colour, produced a uniform colour (or non-aguti), was the change to black, which is observed in other felines, in exemplary fashion in the "black panther", which is none other than a jaguar that has hidden the typical spots.
Subsequent mutations  led to the appearance of red and white and  to the dilution of the uniform colour and that is perpetuated because the domestic cat did not need of his natural camouflage to survive.
These genetic mutations are the cause of almost unlimited variety of colours that exists today. We recall that, in addition to gene Tabby, there are absolutely dominant colors, like black, red and white. This applies to all cats, domestic and breed. From a pair Seal + Lilac, dark-colored dominant + clear recessive colour, we will have a high possibility that all the puppies are Seal. Regarding Tabby and the possibility of the puppies, I talked earlier.

GENETICS IN THE RED

A particular talking would merit carriers of the gene "Orange, Red & Cream and females Tortie, but it might be too long.

• Both parents RED a/or CREAM:

1. All  males will be "Orange, Red or Cream (where both parents are carriers of the gene for dilution)

2. All females will be "Orange, Red or Cream (where both parents are carriers of the gene for dilution

• Male "ORANGE" and female TORTIE

1. Males can be "Orange" and "non-Orange" (Seal / Blue / Choc / Lilac, based on genes and colours that bring the parents)

2. Females may be "Orange" and Tortie

• Male ORANGE and female NON-ORANGE

1. All the males are "NON-Orange"
2. All females are Tortie

• Male NON-ORANGE and female ORANGE

1. All males will be "Orange (Cream if both parents are carriers of the gene dilution)
2. All females are Tortie

• Male NON-ORANGE and female TORTIE

• Males may be Red or Cream (if both parents are carriers of the gene dilution) and NON-Orange (Seal / Blue / Chocolate / Lilac, based on the genes that lead parents)
• The females will be NON-Tortie and Orange (Seal / Blue / Chocolate / Lilac, based on the genes that lead their parents)

Here are tables of different options for cross breeding:
By this fact,  we can easily understand that it is much more rare and difficult to have a female Red, even  more a female Cream, compared to a male of the same colour; in fact  to have a female Red or Cream there is one only possibility, namely that is if both parents are carriers of the gene "Orange"

In this chapter on genetics, I repeat,  the explaination is exemplified at the most, because in reality the possibilities are many, depends on the "history" of the cat, found in the pedigree, a very important document that must be learn and read very  well. For example, we say "I want a Seal because he has that characteristic very dark colour," but we must remember that only a Seal, born of parents both Seal, with parents themselves Seal (subject homozygous), will have the very dark colour, unlike a Seal born of parents "mixed", as Seal + Lilac (subject heterozygote), that will have a  more clear shaded off colour. For an unexpert eye, it can happen then it is very easy to confuse a Seal with a Chocolate or a Blue, Blue, and still with a Chocolate, Chocolate or a with a Lilac, and so on.

To help  you , we recommend that you carefully read the table below, where you can see the result when different colorus cross each other. The colour before the brackets is what you  would obtain if the parents were perfectly homozygote. But since, homozygote cats do not exist  (cats that are pure and have not been crossed with other colours for several generations), it is relatively difficult to predict the color of puppies. The colours in brackets, then, are the possible outcomes when one or both parents carry a recessive trait.

Now it is up to you to find out whether your Burmese has or not this or that factor, just learning to read carefully through his pedigree