Egyptian Mau
Introduction The history is a little hazy and is one of the most interesting aspects of this breed. It is said that this cat breed could be the oldest domestic cat breed originating in the period of Egyptian history called, the "Egyptian Middle Period", roughly between 2030 BC and 1640 BC (about 4000 years ago).
Although at the time wild cats were domesticated there were no formally recognized domestic cat breeds. It seems that the evidence that the Egyptian Mau is a domesticated sub-species of the African wildcat is to be found in ancient Egyptian illustrations. This may be fairly good evidence but probably isn't conclusive. The African wild cat is certainly of similar size and appearance however.
In any event since domestication some 4000 years ago and since being adopted by the Cat Fancy in 1953 or 1956 (and being selectively breed thereafter) her appearance has changed. Certainly the Egyptian Mau today does not have the appearance of a wild cat that has been domesticated. She looks distinctly a domestic cat, although of medium build and very athletic, she does not have the strong and slightly wild appearance of a wild/domestic hybrid cat, for example an F1 Savannah or the Ashera GD. However, two things seems sure, (a) the spotted coat has uniquely been acquired naturally (i.e. without our interference through cross-breeding) and (b) this cat is a very old established domestic cat breed. History
There is a nice connection between the goddess Bastet or Bast, the domestication of the wild cat and the Mau (which incidentally means "cat" in Egyptian). The African/Asian Wildcat still inhabits the region although obviously to a much less dense level than at the time of its possible domestication. Bast was worshipped by a cult in the city of Bubast (or Bubastis) in the Delta region of the Nile. Some experts say that this is the area that witnessed the beginnings of the domestication of the African wildcat. In this area there is and was a high concentration of snakes so a good domestic working cat would have been very useful. See map immediately below for this location.
Photos
of
Starz (on left) and Luke © Helmi Flick
Appearance and Character Considered to be the only natural spotted domestic cat, meaning not bred to be spotted.She is a medium sized short haired cat of elegance and distinction; looking extremely attractive and is described as being "semi-foreign type (see cat body types). The conformation is also described as "Modified Oriental". Understandably, this is a very popular breed of cat, supported by the current poll on this website. She has more than good looks, however, as she is claimed to be the fastest domestic cat breed (31 mph, 48 kph). This would seem to be anecdotal. Cats such as the tamed Serval (therefore technically it could be argued, a domestic cat) are bigger and have longer strides and are therefore, faster at 50 mph. In doesn't surprise me that she is fast. It would seem that the wild/domestic hybrids are very fast too. That said, all fit domestic cats can move extremely quickly for a relatively small animal. See also Cheetah Speed for some speed comparisons. The Egyptian Mau's fur is apparently more "primitive" (evidence of the ancient origins) and cats of this breed are prone to face off danger rather than flee from it (evidence no doubt of her wild ancestor). Her skin is spotted in the same pattern as her fur.
If you look at the photographs of Starz and Luke you can see the outstanding gooseberry green eyes. Three colors are acceptable for the CFA Championship classes, Silver, Bronze and Smoke. You can see the Silver (Luke) and Bronze (Starz) above. They have a distinctive voice, making chirping sounds and other sounds peculiar to this breed (other cats chirp too, such as the Maine Coon). The Egyptian Mau appears to demonstrate her ancient origins in some of the uniquely different anatomical features that she possesses. Apparently this cat is very sensitive to air temperature and understandably prefers very warm temperatures. She also has a longer than normal gestation period (as does the Siamese) The Egyptian Mau is recognized for her slightly worried expression, which I think you can see in the above photographs particularly Miuty (the header picture). Update early Sept. 2008: The Wikipedia author writing an article about this cat breed makes a number of errors in my opinion. For example, he says that the Egyptian Mau is "significantly smaller than other breeds" but earlier on in the piece he says that the cat is "medium sized". These two statements can't be compatible and in any event this cat is not smaller than the average cat. See Largest Domestic Cat Breed for size comparisons. He also says that the Mau is the fastest of the domestic cats. This is a very unscientific statement and almost certainly incorrect. This cat is probably a fast runner (maybe one of the fastest) but a number of other cat breeds are also going to be fast including cats that are not even breeds but plain moggies. The author's sources are almost exclusively websites which are very incestous in their sources of information. Great care should be exercised in using the internet for research. He refers to the belly flap on this breed as a specific feature of this cat, which enhances running speed. Belly flaps are either loose skin related to fat loss or simply a normal feature found on many cats purebred or not -but see below. A feature of fast cats is the flexible spine (see the Savannah for instance, a cat that is almost certainly faster than the Egyptian Mau) and a lot can be learnt from the Cheetah, the fastest of land animals - see Cheetah Speed which expliains why the Cheetah is fast. _______________________________ Update: in relation to my comment above about the Eyptian Mau belly flap a visitor to this site, Athena, has made a valuable contribution, which I'd like other visitors to read and see: Egyptian Mau belly flap - it seems that I am incorrect - that's fine. _______________________________ He also says that the Egyptian Mau is a natural breed. It may have been but is not longer as selective breeding is very much part of the evolution of this breed. The Egytian Mau is a feral cat in Egypt and wantonly neglected and in fact persecuted there. The coat patterns of the Egyptian Maus in Egypt are not the glamorous looking coats of the purebred Amerian Maus but quite dull, although the basics are in place.  Egypt - Feral Maus one a melanistic black cat This image is reproduced under a creative commons license See a fantastic slide show of the best pictures of the Egyptian Mau cat. Egypt It seems that in Egypt, they are treated as plain domestic cats and not treated that well. Their future looks poor in Egypt. An Egyptian website concerned with the welfare of this cat breed in Egypt says that in ancient times it was an offense to kill or hurt this cat breed. Many are mummified.The author says that times have changed and the Mau now faces persecution and extinction as they are not protected. There are many feral Egyptian Maus in Egypt that are being systematically poisoned by the local authorities (not much different to what happens in the West then).
Breeders Best Google search ranked websites:Wild Trax Exotics (new window) Located in Central Arkansas, USA. This cattery also breed Bengals. This is the only cattery website (other than directory websites) listed in the first 4 pages of a Google search (at 2008 - things change of course). Would you like to be listed on this site? This site is currently (Oct. 2009) getting 17,000 page views daily and 7,000 unique visitors daily. Get seen advertise on this site. Contact me for a full custom page or upload your own on the above form. Sources:
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