Only domestic breed of spotted cat that developed naturally rather than through a selective process by cat breeders. First depicted in the art of the pharaohs, this shorthaired cat is named for its Egyptian ancestry and the Egyptian word for cat, mau.

Despite its ancient origins, the Egyptian mau was not recognized as a breed by the Cat Fanciers’ Association (CFA) until 1968, and then only through the efforts of Princess Nathalie Troubetskoy. A member of an aristocratic Russian family, the princess was born in Poland in 1897. While serving as a nurse for the Allied armies in Rome, Italy, during World War II (1939-1945), she was given an Egyptian mau kitten. This cat had been owned by a diplomat from a Mid-East embassy. She introduced the breed in the United States in 1956, where it soon gained acceptance.

The graceful Egyptian mau has a long, medium-sized body, with angular shoulder blades and well-developed muscles. The arched neck supports the rounded, wedge-shaped head. Large, almond-shaped eyes slant slightly upward toward the ears. Broad-based, medium to large ears with slightly pointed tips sit well back on the head. The medium-length tail is thick at the base, and tapers slightly at the tip.

The coat of the Egyptian mau displays a distinctive pattern of randomly sized and shaped spots of colour on a lighter-coloured background. Hair colouring on the forehead forms a distinctive M shape between the ears. These M lines continue down the back of the head, breaking into spots on the cat’s spine. The tail has heavy bands of colour ending in a dark tip. Coat colour combinations are silver with black spots, bronze with light brown spots, pewter with black or brown spots, and smoke with black spots. The fine, silky coat is medium in length and lies close to the skin. The eyes usually are gooseberry green in colour.

Although early Egyptian maus displayed wild, unpredictable behaviour, selective breeding has produced more domestic, gentle lines of this cat.

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