Egyptian mau cat

History of origin

“Mau” in the language of the builders of the pyramids of Giza meant “cat”. The tailed wards of Bastet, the goddess of the Moon with the head of a cat, were literally idolized in Ancient Egypt, deified – as soon as there was a fire in the dwelling, it was she, the precious “mau”, the faithful keeper of the hearth, that was taken out of it first; the four-legged was diligently protected from all sorts of troubles and misfortunes, and the one who harmed her, even if through negligence or oversight, was stoned to death with no hesitation.

And for the rest of the world, already in modern times, this incredible cat was discovered by our compatriot, Princess Natalia Trubetskaya, who, due to well-known circumstances at the end of the first decade of the past century, was forced to emigrate from Our Country to Italy.

According to the widely spread canonical version, in 1953 the princess brought to Italy the first modern “Egyptians” – a cat named Baba (emphasis on the last syllable) and her daughter Liza. So these same Baba and Lisa successfully “debuted” at the Rome Cat Show in 1955.

A year later, Natalia Trubetskaya and her pets, silver Baba, Lisa and bronze Yoyo, permanently settled across the ocean, in the United States, where Her Excellency founded the Fatima nursery, no less successful formation and further development of which was facilitated by the fact that in 1957 the mentioned cat Baba won at a very prestigious exhibition.

And then everything went as if by knurled, somehow by itself, as if according to the “pike command” – this “old-new” breed immediately had its fans and even patrons, and in 1988, after its official recognition by the Association Fanciers of Cats (CFA), specialists from the International Cat Association (TICA) compiled the first Egyptian Mau standard.

And in 1992, felinologists from the International Federation of European Cat Fanciers (FIFe) joined their colleagues from CFA and TICA, after which professionals, masters of their craft, European breeders, took up breeding Egyptian Mau.

Nowadays, the Egyptian Mau and its MAU standard in the shorthair category are recognized and supported on both sides of our planet, in the Old and New Worlds, by all known felinological federations and associations.

Breed description

The Egyptian Mau is a medium-sized, medium-sized cat, like her Abyssinian “sister”, with a graceful body with well-developed muscles and spotted hair.

As for any creature on Earth, Egyptian Mau is characterized by (moderate) dimorphism – their adult healthy cats are always larger and weigh an average of 4,5 – 5 kg, against 3 – 3,5 kg of the average weight of cats of the same age and health status.

The head of the Egyptian Mau is of medium length, slightly modified wedge without flat surfaces, the profile gently rises from the bridge of the nose to the forehead and then flows smoothly without breaks. The nose is of the same width along the entire length, the cheeks are not full. The muzzle is not short or pointed, full cheeks are allowed in adult males.

The size of the ears of the Egyptian Mau varies from medium to medium-large, they are moderately pointed, the base of the ear is cupped, rather wide. There is a slight forward lean, giving the cat an alert look. The ears are covered with short, close-lying hair, and the tips may have the same tassels as those of a lynx.

The eyes of the Egyptian Mau are rather large, almond-shaped, but not of a pronounced oriental type, slightly slanted. The color of a young gooseberry allowed by the standard is light green. In young animals, the eyes “blossom” to green at the age of seven to 18 months. After 18 months, the eye color should only be green.

– Separately, I would like to tell you about the look of the Egyptian Mau, – our interlocutor, a connoisseur of these cats, shares her impressions about this breed with us, expert AB ICU, breeder and owner of the first Egyptian Mau kennel in our country Polina Gorelova. – These cats have a special one – surprised and enthusiastic. The look of the Egyptian Mau seems to say: “Oh, moms, did I miss dinner !!!”. Many judges, when assessing overall harmony, pay attention to the look of the cat.

The Egyptian Mau’s neck is muscular and slightly arched.

The body of the Egyptian Mau is of medium length, with well-developed muscles, the balance between compact and foreign (foreign) type is obvious. The shoulder blades are high and pronounced.

The limbs of the Egyptian Mau are of different lengths – the hind limbs are slightly longer than the front ones, quite matching the body of this cat, they are just as muscular. Paws are small, slightly oval.

The tail is of medium length and medium thickness at the base and tapering towards the end as expected.

The coat of the Egyptian Mau is short and fine, with a spotted tabby pattern, close fitting to the body and ticked with at least two stripes on the guard hair, in the colors silver spotted and bronze. In the color black smoke ticking is completely absent, but the residual bright pattern also makes the cat spotty. On the forehead of such a cat, its “brand name”, its “visiting card” is clearly visible – a drawing in the form of the letter “M”, then an inverted letter “M”. And in combination they form the “sign of the scarab.” The following types of colors are allowed: silver, bronze, smoky.

– The Egyptian Mau is a medium-sized cat with an “athletic” build, its distinguishing feature is a fold of skin on the abdomen between the hind legs. She has a spotted body and these spots are the main breed-forming trait and the breed standard imposes strict requirements on the pattern, – continues Polina Gorelova. – On the muzzle there is the so-called “goddess makeup”, the eyes are close in shape to almond-shaped and only green.

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Character

The Egyptian Mau is an extremely mobile, lively and playful creature with a completely balanced character, this cat is not at all aggressive, but also does not tolerate fuss and various disturbances. With strangers, like any truly noble young lady, the Egyptian Mau will be restrained, but in communication with her beloved master, this very outstanding person will become the very embodiment of all-consuming love, a model of tenderness and forgiveness. With their own kind, this cat is very easy to contact. And also the Egyptian Mau is a chatty cat with a quiet and very pleasant, soft voice, which is not at all averse to “talking about life”, and just to joke around.

– The Egyptian Mau is full of energy and curiosity, she is active, loves to play and participates in every possible way in the life of the house. They are affectionate and sociable, they are firmly attached to the owner, follow him with their tail everywhere, they love to “talk”. This breed is suitable for both single people and families with children, says Polina Gorelova. – Egyptian Mau are very smart and willing to make contact. They are very fond of playing. Sometimes it seems to me that they understand everything that I tell them.

Egyptian Mau do not tolerate loneliness, moreover, it is categorically contraindicated for them.

It is clear that in the absence of conditions that are much more acceptable for her, the Egyptian Mau successfully adapts to life in a city apartment, although these cats urgently need space for a full-fledged existence, and therefore a country house with a small garden plot with a garden will be an ideal place to live for the Egyptian Mau: nothing can be done, this cat cannot stay in one place for a long time, it is vital for her to move, to learn something new all the time, they need to hunt, after all.

Care and maintenance

In terms of care and maintenance, the Egyptian Mau is, in principle, a very unpretentious and unpretentious creature, and in terms of personal hygiene, she is able to do everything she needs for herself. These cats are extremely clean, without any difficulty and very quickly tamed to the tray and scratching post. Grooming for the Egyptian Mau comes down mainly to weekly brushing.

If you like, the real hedonism, sybaritism and epicureanism are not at all alien to the Egyptian Mau; the now very common expression “I love to have fun, especially to devour” – this is just about them, and each such cat has its own Ivan Andreevich Krylov, forgive us the generously famous writer.

– Egyptian Mau will not cause much trouble in keeping. In food, they are completely picky, one can even say that they love to eat, thus replenishing the costs of the energy that they actively spend during the day, – Polina Gorelova complements our story.

And yet, surprisingly, Egyptian Mau are very fond of water, on occasion they play with it, trying to catch it one way or another, they are definitely interested and curious to watch how the owner and his household take a bath.

Education and training

The Egyptian Mau is a very smart, smart cat, and therefore it can be easily trained and is able to master all the sets of elementary short commands calculated for such cats in order to subsequently execute them to the greatest pleasure of oneself and others.

Health and disease

Fortunately, no genetic diseases have yet been identified in Egyptian Mau, they have excellent health, which, of course, does not cancel the mandatory vaccination and the entire list of necessary vaccinations, and also does not at all relieve the owner of such a cat from all feasible work on care of her health, periodic consultations with felinologists and annual visits to veterinary clinics.

– The Egyptian Mau is an aboriginal cat breed that inherited good health from its ancestors, this breed does not have genetic diseases. Proper nutrition, timely vaccination and proper animal care allow the Egyptian Mau to live a long life, – Polina Gorelova sums up our story.

Popular questions and answers

Animal engineer, veterinarian, cat breeder Anastasia Kalinina told us about the Egyptian Mau cat breed.