in two coat lengths, semi-longhair and shorthair. Semi-longhair Burmilla are known as the Tiffanie in GCCF. The most common (standard) coat is the shorthair. This is a short, close-lying coat, similar in appearance to the Burmese, but with a slightly padded feel. Due to the undercoat, it has a soft, silky feel. The recessive longhair gene inherited from the Chinchilla Persian can produce longhair Burmilla. These cats have a semi-longhair coat following the lines of the body, with a soft, silky feel and a large plumed tail. The shorthair gene is dominant and where a cat receives one of each, shorthair dominates. Two longhair Burmillas mated together produce longhair kittens, while shorthair matings depend on whether the longhair genes are carried by the shorthair parents. Colours The Burmilla sports a variety of coat colours, including black, blue, brown, chocolate and lilac. Red, cream and tortoiseshell (calico) varieties have been bred, although these colours are not recognized by CCCA in Australia. Burmilla coat colours can be expressed in either Burmese expression, or full expression. The Burmilla is now recognized in Shaded Golden and Golden Tipped in FIFe registries, but only Shaded Silver and Silver Tipped elsewhere. The Burmilla's shading comes in two major coat patterns which relate to the depth of colour. These are Tipped and Shaded. Tipped Burmillas have a light dusting of colour (1/8 to 1/4) over the top of a silver or golden undercoat. In the case of Silvers, these cats can appear almost white. Shaded Burmillas have 1/4 - 1/2 as their colour, giving the appearance of a mantle of colour over the back, shoulders and outside of the legs. Smoke pattern is not a Burmilla and in some registries is only allowed to be registered for breeding, not showing, they have almost all colour with only a faint pale base to each hair. The cats have nose leather coloured correspondingly to their coat colour and outlined in the matching coat shading colour. In addition, their paw pads correspond to the coat colouring: Black Silver cats have black or dark brown paw pads, Brown has dark brown, Chocolate has pinkish brown, Blues have Blue-grey and Lilacs have Dove grey tinged with pink. Colour genetics Since the Burmilla inherits its colour ranges from two breeds, there is also the possibility of the entire Burmese spectrum of colours (Black, Brown, Blue, Chocolate, Lilac and all the O gene range,