Over recent years burmese cats have been avaliable in a wide range of colours. From seal to cream, in torties, tabbies, silvers and smokes.
More recently the colour range has been increased by the introduction of the Mandalay colours.
The General Type Standard may be viewed here
These new colours intensify the burmese colours so that a seal burmese becomes an ebony mandalay.
There has been no change in the nature of the cats wearing these new colours. One of their parents may be a burmese, and some of their brothers and sisters will
most likely be burmese.
A history of the mandalays in the the North Island of New Zealand written by the originator of the northern breeding program, Jan Parsons may be read here
An article written by Carol for the Australian Judges magazine, Felijudge may be viewed here

The Mandalays in New Zealand are being bred in Whangarei, Auckland, Hamilton,Wellington and Christchurch.
With regard to the UK We believe that the Asian standard would be closer to our Mandalay standard but we have been unable to clarify this in correspondence with Asian breeders.
Information on many other breeds may be found at the Fanciers Breeders Referral List ]

Mandalay colours

The colours being produced so far are:ebony, blue, chocolate, cream, lilac, cinnamon, red, black tortie and ebony tabby, fawn.
All colours are equally popular with kitten buyers. To date ebony and chocolate have been successfully shown.
Successes include Top New Zealand kitten, Best in Shows, Top Ten placings, Breeders Awards of Merit and championship status.

Taboulah and one of the kittens from her first litter Wanda who has turned into a superb young cat.
She has the same markings as her mother but is of a better type.
Taba also has the habit, inherited from Rasputin of loving to have her whole head enveloped by a hand and stroked very firmly.
She and her father, Rasputin are the best of friends. They are often to be found together either hooning around the property, ganging up on the dogs or being quite innocent of all of the above and curled up together soundly asleep in whatever spot they can find. Along with many a cat owner, if we happen to be in the same place as any of the cats then our comfort as mere humans becomes secondary as we assume the role of a backrest and, in the winter a reliable source of warmth.
We acquired a waterbed for the winter of '97 and the cats have given it a 100 % approvable rating making the bedroom ,which also has the flue from the fire running through it as it is above the lounge and the big old foam rubber lounge chair with the heated pad under several blankets, the complete and utterly best place in the whole house.
Taba has recently taught herself to open the drawers under the waterbed, throw out whatever items of clothing she finds, and curl up to sleep in peace and quiet!

At her first 3 shows for 1998 Taba gained the necessary challenge certificates to be awarded the title of Champion - the first ebony ticked mandalay champion for New Zealand.
Taba has now been speyed and is enjoying a well earned retirment and is a very plump home cat.           Retired 1998

We're big cats now
Samson commenced his glittering career by becoming Best Other Shorthair Entire Kitten for 1996 and Best Other Shorthair Entire Kitten for the Northern Region. This was the first time that a mandalay had placed in the National Top Tens.

And congratulations to Sophie who was Best Other Shorthair Neuter/Spey Kitten for the Northern Region.

These superb animals received their first ribbons and a trophy for Samson ( won by Rasputin the year before ) on March 17 1996
Samson achieved Grand Premier status on the 7 September 1997 and attained the status of Best Other Shorthair Neuter\Spey Cat, NZ. 1997
After his 5 shows for 1997 and for his first three shows for 1998 his impressive awards have exceeded even our expectations. He achieved the honour of being the top cat in the Nationals held in Auckland in June and gained his first challenge on the way to becoming a Double Grand Premier.

The following weekend he was entered in the Wellington show and achieved the status of Double Grand Premier. He was entered in two more shows over July and August and that was the end of his show career.
These two shows were a success and Sam attained the distinction of being the Best other neuter\speyed shorthaired cat, Northern region and New Zealand 1998.
Retired 1998

Sam and his sister Sophia, have helped pave the way for more mandalays to come through the show circuit and display their wonderful qualities.
Sam has consistently been held up as an example of what a burmese should look like and other breeders have seen and taken note.
This cat is the superb result of careful breeding by us and the other mandalay breeders with whom we cooperate.
Equally important is the exceptional love and care by his owners. Without that, the best bred cat would not make it to the top.
The four of us and our friends all share in his success

In 1997, Sophie had a third, a sixth, 3 sevenths and gained Premier status.
She was 10th Best Neuter/Spey Cat for New Zealand and 7th Best Neuter/Spey Cat for the Northern Region.
Sophie enjoyed the success of being awarded the status of Grand Premier in her first 3 shows of 1998.

Retired 1998

Rasputin and Zeus pictured together on February 1 1998

Zeus is one of the 2nd litter of Taboulah. He is one of three male kittens and has a pronounced ginger shade to his fur. He also has a very docile nature and is now delighting his future owners. As you can see, Rasputin has developed into a truely magnificent animal and has now finished his growth. His nature has remained the same: in fact it has grown even more soppy than before.