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The Egyptian Mau breed, while perhaps not the oldest recognized
cat breed in registries, is believed to stem from the oldest
domesticated cat. The original African Wild Cat, is thought to be
the cat originally domesticated by the Egyptians, over 4,000 years
ago. Today, the Egyptian Mau is the only naturally-occurring
spotted breed of cat. To add to its historical distinction, the
name "Mau" literally means "cat" in Egyptian. This striking cat
fully lives up to these honors, and then some.
Physical Appearance:
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Body: The Egyptian Mau's body is
medium long, with well developed muscles, while retaining a
graceful appearance. Its hind legs are slightly longer than the
front, giving the cat a somewhat "rakish" appearance.
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Head: Its head is described as a
slightly rounded wedge with no flat planes, medium in length.
The nose, when viewed from the front, is even in width for its
whole length, with a slight rise from the bridge of the nose to
the forehead.The Mau's muzzle is neither short nor pointed, and
its ears, which may be tufted, are of a medium size, moderately
pointed, with ample width between the ears. One of the most
distinctive features of the Egyptial Mau is its eyes: large,
slightly slanted, and of a unique light "Gooseberry green"
color.
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Coat: Its lustrous, dense coat can be
silver, bronze, or smoke, and is distinguished by a marvelous
mixture of striping and spotting, which makes this cat really
stand out in a show hall.
Personality:
Highly intelligent and personable, the Mau is extremely loyal and
devoted to his family members, both human and 4-legged. Maus have
a distinctly soft melodious voice, and chortle to express their
happiness. Although regarded as a "living relic" because of their
ancient historical roots, Maus are very much "today" in their
roles of being active, expressive family members, while at the
same time enthralling throngs of worshipers at cat shows.
History:
Its ancient lineage notwithstanding, the Egyptian mau was first
shown in Europe prior to WWI, but during the war its numbers were
decimated, with most of the known survivors found in Italy. A
Russian Princess, Nathalie Troubetskoy, who had a varied and
distinguished history, exiled in Rome shortly before WWII. While
there, she was given a spotted kitten living in a shoebox, by a
young acquaintance. Through research, she determined the kitten to
be an Egyptian mau, and named her Baba.
In 1956, Princess Troubetskoy emigrated to the U.S., bringing with
her Baba and two other rescued maus. Shortly thereafter, she
established her cattery, Fatima, and set off to establish the
Egyptian mau as a recognized breed in North America. Her efforts
were successful, with the acceptance by the Cat Fanciers'
Federation in 1968, and The Canadian Cat Association shortly
after.
It was fitting that in 1972 silver Egyptian mau female bred by
Princess Troubetskoy became the first Egyptian mau to win a grand
championship in CCA. During those early years, because of the lack
of breeding stock, the mau was likely outcrossed with selected
domestic cats, along with some inbreeding. However more recent
imports of maus from Egypt and India, have preserved and
strengthened the breed.
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Tiuk |
The legacy of Princess Troubetskoy will live on in the remarkable
Egyptian Mau breed.
POINT SCORE
HEAD (20)
5 .. Muzzle
5 .. Skull
5 .. Ears
5 .. Eye Shape
BODY (25)
10 .. Torso
10 .. Legs and Feet
5 .. Tail
COAT (5)
5 .. Texture and length
PATTERN (25)
COLOR (25)
10 .. Eye color
15 .. Coat color
GENERAL: the Egyptian Mau is the only natural domesticated
breed of spotted cat. The Egyptian's impression should be one of
an active, colorful cat of medium size with well developed
muscles. Perfect physical condition with an alert appearance. Well
balanced physically and temperamentally. Males tend to be larger
than females.
HEAD: a slightly rounded wedge without flat planes, medium
in length. Not full-cheeked. Profile showing a gentle contour with
slight rise from the bridge of the nose to the forehead. Entire
length of nose even in width when viewed from the front. Allowance
must be made for jowls in adult males.
MUZZLE: should flow into existing wedge of the head. It
should be neither short nor pointed. The chin should be firm, not
receding or protruding.
EARS: medium to large, alert and moderately pointed,
continuing the planes of the head. Broad at base. Slightly flared
with ample width between the ears. Hair on ears short and close
lying. Inner ear a delicate, almost transparent, shell pink. May
be tufted.
EYES: large and alert, almond shaped, with a slight slant
towards the ears. Skull apertures neither round nor oriental.
BODY: medium long and graceful, showing well developed
muscular strength. Loose skin flap extending from flank to hind
leg knee. General balance is more to be desired than size alone.
Allowance to be made for muscular necks and shoulders in adult
males.
LEGS and FEET: in proportion to body. Hind legs
proportionately longer, giving the appearance of being on tip-toe
when standing upright. Feet small and dainty, slightly oval,
almost round in shape. Toes: five in front and four behind.
TAIL: medium long, thick at base, with slight taper.
COAT: hair is medium in length with a lustrous sheen. In
the smoke color the hair is silky and fine in texture. In the
silver and bronze colors, the hair is dense and resilient in
texture and accommodates two or more bands of ticking separated by
lighter bands
PENALIZE: short or round head. Pointed muzzle. Small, round
or oriental eyes. Cobby or oriental body. Short or whip tail. If
no broken necklaces. Pencillings in spotting pattern on torso.
Solid stripes on underside of body instead of "vest button" spots.
Poor condition. Amber cast in eye color in cats over the age of 1
1/2 years.
DISQUALIFY: lack of spots. Blue eyes. Kinked or abnormal
tail. Incorrect number of toes. White locket or button distinctive
from other acceptable white-colored areas in color sections of
standard.
MAU PATTERN
(Common to all colors)
PATTERN: markings on torso are to be randomly spotted with
variance in size and shape. The spots can be small or large,
round, oblong, or irregular shaped. Any of these are of equal
merit but the spots, however shaped or whatever size, shall be
distinct. Good contrast between pale ground color and deeper
markings. Forehead barred with characteristic "M" and frown marks,
forming lines between the ears which continue down the back of the
neck, ideally breaking into elongated spots, along the spine. As
the spinal lines reach the rear haunches, they meld together to
form a dorsal stripe which continues along the top of the tail to
its tip. The tail is heavily banded and has a dark tip. The cheeks
are barred with "mascara" lines; the first starts at the outer
corner of the eye and continues along the contour of the cheek,
with a second line, which starts at the center of the cheek and
curves upwards, almost meeting below the base of the ear. On the
upper chest there are one or more broken necklaces. The shoulder
markings are a transition between stripes and spots. The upper
front legs are heavily barred but do not necessarily match.
Spotting pattern on each side of the torso need not match.
Haunches and upper hind legs to be a transition between stripes
and spots, breaking into bars on the lower leg. Underside of body
to have "vest buttons" spots; dark in color against the
correspondingly pale ground color.
EGYPTIAN MAU COLORS
EYE COLOR: light green "gooseberry green." Amber cast is
acceptable only in young adults up to 11/2 years of age.
SILVER: pale silver ground color across the head,
shoulders, outer legs, back, and tail. Underside fades to a
brilliant pale silver. All markings charcoal color with a white to
pale silver undercoat, showing good contrast against lighter
ground colors. Back of ears grayish-pink and tipped in black.
Nose, lips, and eyes outlined in black. Upper throat area, chin,
and around nostrils pale clear silver, appearing white. Nose
leather: brick red. Paw pads: black with black between the toes
and extending beyond the paws of the hind legs.
BRONZE: warm bronze ground color across head, shoulders,
outer legs, back, and tail, being darkest on the saddle and
lightening to a tawny-buff on the sides. Underside fades to a
creamy ivory. All markings dark brown-black with a warm brown
undercoat, showing good contrast against the lighter ground color.
Back of ears tawny-pink and tipped in dark brown-black. Nose,
lips, and eyes outlined in dark brown, with bridge of nose brown.
Upper throat area, chin, and around nostrils pale creamy white.
Nose leather: brick red. Paw pads: black or dark brown, with same
color between toes and extending beyond the paws of the hind legs.
SMOKE: pale silver ground color across head, shoulders,
legs, tail, and underside, with all hairs to be tipped in black.
All markings jet black with a white to pale silver undercoat, with
sufficient contrast against ground color for pattern to be plainly
visible. Nose, lips, and eyes outlined in jet black. Upper throat
area, chin, and around nostrils lightest in color. Nose leather:
black. Paw pads: black with black between the toes and extending
beyond the paws of the hind legs. Whiskers: black.
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Buffy - Silver |
Willow - Bronze |
The following information is for reference purposes only and
not an official part of the CFA Show Standard.
Egyptian Mau Color Class Numbers
Silver 0842 0843
Bronze 0844 0845
Smoke 0846 0847
AOV 0848 0849
Egyptian Mau allowable outcross breeds: none.
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