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Egyptian Mau
Temperament:
*Extremely Intelligent
*Often Reserved
*Quiet
*Loyal
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| Head: Medium
size; rounded wedge |
| Eyes: Almond
shaped but not oriental; gooseberry green |
| Ears: Medium
to large; upright; sometimes tufted |
| Body: Intermediate;
muscular, graceful; longer back legs |
| Coat: Medium
length; silky, dense, resilient |
| Tail: Medium
length; slight taper; banded or ringed with darker tip |
| Patterns: Silver,
pewter, smoke, bronze; distinct spotting |
Breed History: Look
at Egyptian Mau with its gooseberry green eyes and distinctive spotted coat,
and you can see all the way back to ancient Egypt. It was there that this
unique cat's ancestors stalked along the Nile, hunted their prey in the tall
grasses and protected the granaries.
A descendant of the African Wild Cat, the Egyptian Mau was domesticated- and
ultimately worshipped- thousands of years ago. An Egyptian Mau graces a wall
painting from 1300 BC of a scene from the Book of the Dead, in which
the sun god Ra takes the form of a cat and slays the god of darkness and
chaos. An Egyptian Mau was considered the living form of the Goddess Bastet,
the eye of Ra during the night. Egyptian Maus were protected by laws,
respected by commoners and royalty alike, mummified at death, prayed to and
cherished.
Invading Romans brought the Egyptian Mau to Italy, where centuries later, in
the early 1950's the exiled Russian princess Nathalie Troubetskoy first saw
two Maus- one male and one spayed female- owned by the Egyptian ambassador.
Hoping to breed the cats, she obtained a silver female from Cairo and named
her Baba. Baba was mated with the Italian male, bore two bronze sons, then
later a female. The princess moved to the U.S. with all of her cats- and the
Mau found its place in North America. Still, while the Mau as we know it was
almost exclusively developed in the U.S., it is every bit as exotic as its
Egyptian ancestors.
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