A Sacred Birman should look like a Sacred Birman.

The Sacred Birman is more than blue eyes and white gloves. It is a special whole of build, head shape, proportions, coat and expression – a whole that has been preserved through generations of breeders.

The images are AI-generated mood illustrations, not documentation of the specific judging details of the FIFe standard.

Hanne-Sofie Sneum wrote a thorough, English-language review of the FIFe standard. She knew the breed and warned against it being pulled towards the extremes of other breeds. Her point was not that the Birman should stand still at the expense of health and welfare, but that it should be allowed to remain itself.

Preserve the breed type – not a fad

Det er Birmakredsen editorial position – not a quote from Hanne-Sofie Sneum and not a claim that all formulations in the standard have remained unchanged for 100 years. The standard has actually received clarifications and changes over time.

What Hanne-Sofie wanted us to see

A cat with substanceThe Birman is medium-sized, but not small and slender. It should be muscular, have good bone structure and often develops slowly. A solid cat is not the same as an overweight cat.

A head with its own characterFull, rounded cheeks, a firm chin, slightly rounded forehead and a medium-length nose with a slight indentation – without an actual stop. Neither the head type of a Persian nor a Siamese.

Eyes and ears in balanceDeep blue, slightly oval eyes and relatively small ears with rounded tips. It is the overall impression that carries the expression; no single detail can stand alone.

A silky, semi-long coatThe coat should be silky soft with a little undercoat, not compact and woolly like a completely different coat ideal. Coat length and thickness vary between body parts and with the cat's development.

White gloves – but more than glovesThe white gloves and wedges are characteristic and important. But the Birman's breed character can never be reduced to four white paws. The head, body, coat, tail and temperament are part of the larger picture.

A tail in harmonyThe tail should be of medium length and form a plume. It is crucial that it fits the cat's other proportions and does not appear short in the overall impression.

Hanne-Sofie talked about a cat that should not be too thin, too short-nosed or too heavily furred. It is a professional discussion that is still worth taking seriously.

What the FIFe standard actually says in 2026

The current FIFe standard still describes the Birman as medium-sized, with a slightly elongated body, strong short legs, a firm chin, a medium-length nose without a stop, and a silky, long to semi-long coat with only a small undercoat. It also highlights the breed's unique morphology.

This means that many of Hanne-Sofie's fundamental considerations are still relevant. But her wishes for changed wording do not automatically become the applicable standard. For example, she wanted legs described as medium-high, while FIFe continues to write short and strong legs. Her assessment of a Roman nose must not replace the official description of a medium-long nose without a stop, but with a slight indentation.

FIFe's assessment is still based on 100 points: 20 for head, 5 for eyes, 20 for body, 10 for tail, 20 for coat and color, 20 for gloves and wedges and 5 for condition. This supports the fact that the whole Birman should be assessed.

It has changed since Hanne-Sofie's text.

The following comparison is a editorial update from the Birmakredsen – not changes made by Hanne-Sofie Sneum in her original article.

Sources: FIFe, Summary of changes as of 01.01.2024 og Sacred Birman (SBI), effective 01.01.2026. A removed special rule does not mean that any marking is permitted; other rules, including faults with white in the colored areas, may still be relevant.

A small but important genetic addition

Hanne-Sofie also discussed the inheritance of the white gloves. Research has since made the understanding more precise: the typical white gloves of the Burmese are linked to a variant in KIT-gene, which is inherited in an autosomal recessive manner. This is not quite the same as simply describing the markings as ordinary bicolour.

We therefore do not change her historical argument retrospectively, but draw the reader's attention to the more recent knowledge. Genetics can explain the inheritance pattern; it does not change the importance of wholeness, structure and health in breeding work.

Read UC Davis' explanation of the Burmese KIT variant ↗

We owe it to the breed to see the whole cat

Hanne-Sofie Sneum's text is worth rereading precisely because it insists that the Holy Birman has its own type. A breed does not necessarily disappear overnight. It can also gradually lose its distinctiveness if breeding and judging reward characteristics that pull it away from what it is.

Therefore, it is important that we both read the history of the breed, use the current standard correctly, and dare to discuss what actually promotes the health, function, and characteristic expression of the Birman.

The final message of the Birmakredsen – not a quote from Hanne-Sofie Sneum.