Egyptian Mau Cats
Egyptian Mau cats are the only spotted
domestic breed of house cats. They are reportedly traceable back to the time of
the Pharaohs, thus their name, and were highly praised, even mummified.
There are three accepted types of
Egyptian Mau: the bronze, the silver, and the more rare smoke. The cats were
introduced to the United States by an Italian cat fancier in the mid-1950s. In
1980, a line of breed from India was introduced to expand the gene pool. A blue
has been added since 1997 to the Cat Fancier’s acceptable breed list.
Maus are short-haired, with large
ears and gooseberry green eyes. Their markings include facial striping which
breaks into spots along the pelt. They average 6-12 pounds for females, and
slightly larger for males, making them average size. Their lifespans are typically
an average of 12 years, and they are generally healthy when well cared for with
little heart or lung issues since the introduction of a secondary line
The cats are reportedly
family-friendly and very loyal. They prefer to be individuals, but tolerate
other animals.
They rarely make a purr or loud
meows typical of other cats, but instead chirp in a high pitch, or chortle, and
can make a wheezy intermittent purr of contentment. They are very fast runners
and can leap as high as six feet.
For articles that discuss in depth
the breed and its particular characteristics, please visit the Cat FancierAssociation website with its accompanying articles.
Wikipedia is another source.
For photographs of several
varieties, please visit the Oxford Pet Database.
The photograph of a bronze Mau is courtesy
of Creative Commons. This image was originally posted to Flickr by
Muffet t https://www.flickr.com/photos/53133240@N00/2765391874. It
was reviewed on 24 October 2009 by FlickreviewR and
was confirmed to be licensed under the terms of the cc-by-2.0.