Asian

It came from the same accident as the Burmilla: in 1981, in the UK, a Chinchilla Persian called Jamari Sanquist mated a lilac Burmese, Bambino Lilac Fabergé, belonging to Baroness Miranda von Kirchberg. The breeders decided to keep the body and head of the European Burmese and widen the range of colours and patterns, and so the Asian group was born, which the British GCCF classes alongside the Burmese. Today it brings together several varieties: the Smoke, solid with a silver hair base; the Tabby, with a soft pattern; the Self, in a solid colour or tortie, which in black is called the British Bombay; and the Shaded, which is the Burmilla. In character it is very like the Burmese: sociable, curious, attached to its people and fond of play.

A once-over with a chamois or mitt each week is enough for the coat, which sheds little. The demanding part is company: it is a cat that follows you round the house and copes badly with long days alone; if you are all out during the day, two cats are better. Hunting play every day, tall scratching posts and puzzle feeders. It eats heartily, so weigh its portions and watch its weight after neutering. Annual dental check.

It inherits the predispositions of its two founding breeds. From the Burmese side, hypokalaemia (low potassium causing muscle weakness, DNA test available); more diabetes and feline orofacial pain syndrome have also been described in the Burmese. From the Persian side, polycystic kidney disease (PKD, testable). Ask the breeder for the parents' test results and, from the age of seven, blood tests to keep an eye on kidneys and glucose.