Gray Mark Cattery

Welcome to the Gray Mark Cattery!

The Gray Mark Cattery is dedicated to restoring the popularity of the traditional Burmese cat. We breed and show exclusively traditional Burmese. In our breeding program we strive for healthy kittens and cats with exceptional personalities and outstanding conformation to the breed standard. Cats that have made a “mark” in the cat fancy!

The Burmese cat is an exceptional animal and makes a wonderful pet. Those people who are fortunate to share their lives with them or have shared their lives with them already know that there is no finer cat. The National Alliance of Burmese Breeders’ pamphlet describes the Burmese as “a people oriented cat, [who] are true lap-loving companions, quick to learn and extremely loyal. They are very trusting of people and often beat their owners to the door to greet the guests. Burmese are often described as ‘dog’ like because they tend to follow their owners from room to room.” In the 15 plus years we have bred and shown these marvelous animals we have not found any of this description to be an exaggeration. In fact, there are many marvelous attributes of their personality not described above. In addition to what has already been quoted, Burmese are playful, active far into their adult years. They are also extremely intelligent and all Burmese owners have some sort of story of how their cats have out smarted them or that they do incredible tricks like opening cabinet doors in kitchens.

The Burmese is a solid colored cat with no pointing (as with Siamese). One of the cat associations we belong to, CFA, recognizes four Burmese colors. They are the sable, champagne, blue, and platinum.

Sable is “a rich, warm, sable brown” color, very dark and solid to the roots in the adult. Kittens are often much lighter in color and darken as they mature.

Champagne (also known as chocolate) is a “warm honey beige” color. And like the color of honey, you will find shades of champagne, which are very rich and dark, and other cats that will be much lighter and pale in color.

Blue is a “medium blue with warm fawn undertones.” It is those warm fawn undertones that make the Burmese blue color an exceptional color. There are other blue cats but none with the warmth of the Burmese blue. It is also the most rare of the four colors in CFA.

Platinum (also known as lilac) is described as “a pale, silvery gray with pale fawn undertones.” It is the only true recessive color in the Burmese and sparkles as its namesake platinum describes.

In addition to these four colors, other cat associations, like TICA, recognize additional colors. These other colors are crème, red, and tortie. Currently we breed only for the four colors recognized by CFA.

Physically the Burmese is “a cat of medium size.” They also have “substantial bone structure, good muscular development and surprising weight for [their] size.” Burmese must have rounded eyes, the larger the better. Color should be a brilliant gold but a pale yellow to a darker yellow is also acceptable in the breed. Together the coat colors and the gold eyes create a very striking combination and makes for the most beautiful of cats. Coats are silky, satin like in texture and this leads me to describe one of the most often quoted descriptions of the Burmese, “the cat that is like a brick wrapped in silk.” The size medium mostly refers to the male, who truly is a medium cat, weighing most commonly between 8-10 pounds. Females are often smaller; even diminutive, with their average weight between 6-8 pounds.

You can see our wonderful cats and us at many of the CFA and TICA shows around the San Francisco bay area.

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