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EGYPTIAN MAU
The spotted Egyptian Mau shares with the Abyssinian not only its build but also its supposed descent from the sacred cats of Egypt. There is a convincing link for the Mau, which rests on the fact that it is the only natural breed of spotted domestic cat. Several wall-paintings in the temples of Thebes on the Nile, built around 1400 B.C., show spotted cats taking part in duck-hunting expeditions, and it has been suggested that these cats were used to flush wildfowl out of their hiding places on the marshes, or even (a less likely story) to retrieve game. ORIGINS OF THE BREED
An earlier tomb at Thebes, dated about 1850-1650 B.C., contained a glazed earthenware statuette of a spotted cat. The Egyptian Book of the Dead, the collection of ‘spells’ to ensure a safe passage into the after-life dating from about 1100 B.C., includes more than one papyrus showing a spotted cat killing a snake or a serpent. Typically, the cat holds the snake down with one paw while wielding a knife with the other. While other coat patterns, especially the striped tabby, are common in Egyptian art, the spotted cat appears often enough to make it clear that it was a well-known variety. The African wild cat is occasionally found in spotted varieties, which points suggestively to Felis libya as at least part of the origin of the Mau. Expert opinion is that somewhere between the dates represented by the artefacts mentioned above, cats became fully domesticated in Egypt as economic and companion animals and were about to take on a role in Egyptian goddess worship. The foundations of the Mau breed can therefore be said to go back something like 3,500 years. The Mau (the word simply means ‘cat’) is now a common domesticated breed throughout north-eastern Africa and still a familiar street cat in Cairo. However, its history in the western cat fancy began in 1953. A Russian émigré breeder in Italy, Princess Natalie Troubetskoy, had admired two Maus, a spayed silver female and a smoke male called Gepa, which were pets at a Middle Eastern embassy in Rome. Through diplomatic channels, she obtained a silver Mau kitten named Baba, which she brought from Cairo to her cattery in Rome, where it was first shown at the International Cat Show in 1955. Baba was mated with Gepa, the embassy tom, and the result was a litter of two males, Jo-Jo and Jude. Jude died, but Jo-Jo was mated with Baba and produced, among other kittens, a daughter, Lisa. In 1956 Princess Troubetskoy took Jo-Jo, Lisa, and Baba to the United States, and these were the foundation of the breed in America. Indeed no further Maus have ever been imported, so every American Mau has one of these three cats in its ancestry. The same breeding line provided the foundation stock of the breed in Canada. From then on, the long struggle for breed recognition began, culminating in the Cat Fanciers’ Association granting championship status in 1977, the last North American organisation to do so. The breed’s history in Britain is rather different. The first Mau arrived there direct from Egypt in 1978, but the breed has not yet received recognition. Curiously, a different but broadly similar cat, now known as the Oriental Spotted Tabby, was originally called the Egyptian Mau in Britain, but this term was dropped in 1978 when the Oriental Spotted Tabby was recognised. This has a more Siamese appearance and, unlike the true Mau, is a breeders’ creation. Meanwhile, the newer Mau seems to have all but vanished out of sight in the British cat fancy. Because the development of the Egyptian Mau in the United States and Canada rested on only three cats, extensive out-crossings had to be made to extend the gene pool and this resulted in a loss of type. Although the Egyptian Mau is regarded as a natural breed, it is very different from the cats from which it was developed. In particular, breeders were concerned to civilise the original Mau, which was wild and unpredictable, vicious with other cats and highly disturbed by strange surroundings – definitely not good show material. In today’s Maus, uneasiness with strangers and a dislike of change persist, although a generally quieter temperament has been bred in. CHARACTERISTICS
The distinctive feature of the Mau is its spotted coat, sharply contrasting with the ground colour. The dark spots should ideally be rounded and evenly distributed, although they are often random and run together to form broken stripes. The legs and tail are banded with the darker colour. The Mau’s body type is cobby but long, of medium size, graceful and muscular, similar in conformation to the Abyssinian. The overall impression is of an alert cat, vibrant with life and with a commanding presence. The hind legs are longer than the front, with small, dainty feet and round to oval paws. The medium-long tail is thick at the base and tapers slightly towards the tip. The head is a modified slightly rounded wedge with gentle curves on the brow, cheek and profile. The ears are large and alert, set well apart and broad at the base with moderately pointed tips. The eyes are large almond shaped, and slant slightly upwards towards the ears. The preferred eye colour for all coat colours is gooseberry green, but amber is acceptable. The coat should be lustrous, silky and fine, but dense and resilient to the touch. It should be medium in length, but long enough to show two or more well-separated bands of ticking. The ‘M’ mark on the forehead, sometimes called the scarab mark after the symbol that the Ancient Egyptians considered divine, should be distinct and prominent. COLOUR VARIETIES There are four colour varieties in the Mau: silver, bronze, smoke and pewter. TEMPERAMENTThe Mau is an extremely active and agile cat, which needs plenty of exercise and dislikes being left on its own. The ideal home has a large roofed outdoor run in the garden, with shelter from the sun and rain. An alternative is to train the cat to walk on a leash, which it accepts readily. In any event, the Mau should not be expected to live an entirely indoor life. It is very intelligent with a good memory and will teach itself tricks such as opening latched doors and windows. Maus tend to attach themselves to one person, to be possessive and to be wary of strangers. They are quiet-voiced, their usual articulation being a chirp. CARE Only light grooming is required to remove dead hairs, but it is in any case a pleasure to keep such a handsome coat looking its best, and the Mau enjoys the attention. It is said that, unusually, the male is as keen to play with and train the kittens as the female. The spotted coat shows up in kittens from birth. Information sourced from: The Encyclopaedia of the Cat For further information check out these websites: http://www.chantina.co.uk/ - located in Suffolk, UK http://www.cfainc.org/breeds/profiles/egyptian.html http://www.angelfire.com/art/egyptianmaus/ - located in Jacksonville, Florida NB: Since writing this article, it has come to my notice that the Egyptian Mau has slipped from favour in its own country. The Egyptian government, in an attempt to control the stray cat population, is poisoning all cats roaming the streets, the wonderful Mau cats included. What you can do to help: please click here:
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