Shorthair

Egyptian Mau

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Christopherjga1 · Wikimedia Commons · Egyptian Mau Cat.jpg · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Resized and converted to WebP for this website. Thumbnails may be cropped.
Coat length Shorthair
Weight Male: Ø 4 kg
Female: Ø 3 kg
Coat colours: Silver, bronze, black smoke
Coat patterns: Spots of varying size, shape and distribution on the body; stripes on the legs and rings on the tail. The pattern need not be symmetrical.
Activity / playfulness  High
Grooming needs  Low

The Egyptian Mau resembles the cats depicted in ancient Egyptian wall paintings. Its body and face are moderate in shape, and its coat is spotted. The original colour is brownish.

Although early depictions show fierce-looking eyes, the Mau has large, almond-shaped eyes with a concerned expression. The original profile describes it as the fastest domestic cat, with a top speed of about 50 km/h.

Development

Russian émigré Nathalie Troubetzkoj was so impressed by the spotted cats of Cairo that she took two to Italy and bred them with a male obtained from the Syrian ambassador. She moved to America in 1956 and registered her developing breeding programme under the name Fatima in 1958.

The Cat Fanciers' Association recognised the breed in 1977. European breeding began in 1988, when Dutch and Swiss breeders imported the first Egyptian Maus from America. The breed has historically had relatively few breeders in Europe.

Quick facts

  • Place of origin: Egypt.
  • Development as a breed: the 1950s.
  • Weight: 2.5–4.5 kg.
  • Temperament: friendly, people-oriented, playful and intelligent.
  • Recognised colours: black silver spotted tabby, black spotted tabby (bronze) and black smoke.

Physical features

  • Head: medium-sized, forming a rounded wedge.
  • Eyes: large, almond-shaped and gooseberry green.
  • Ears: medium to large, broad at the base, continuing the head's outline and tapering to moderately pointed tips.
  • Body: well muscled, long-legged and slender, neither stocky nor thin.
  • Coat: fine, silky and close-lying.
  • Tail: medium-length with a slightly rounded black tip.

This article is based on Ägyptischmaukatze from the free encyclopaedia Wikipedia and is available under the GNU Free Documentation License. Wikipedia provides a list of contributors.

The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike licence.

English translation and editorial updates by Stubentiger. Text attribution and licensing follow the source notices above; photographs have their own credits.