Animals

The exact origin of the Egyptian Mau is not documented and therefore cannot be known for certain. However, the popular belief is that the Egyptian Mau is an ancestor to the African Wild Cat. This belief is due to the Egyptian Mau’s remarkably similar appearance to the African Wild Cats. The African Wild Cats were also known to be in the same region where the Mau first appeared. No matter how they came about, once this breed was domesticated it became indispensable.

The Egyptian Mau is an elegant beauty that graced Ancient Egyptian art as early as 2200 B.C. Throughout most of the Ancient Egyptian timeline, these cats were seen as both loving companions to be treasured and valuable protectors to be honored and revered. Egyptian Maus were originally trained to hunt prey, such as birds and fish, and return the bounty to their humans. They were also taught to guard crops by keeping away small animals that would disturb them. Cats were held in such high regard that if anyone were to be caught killing a cat in this time period, they would be immediately stoned to death for their crime.
These active, athletic cats have the randomly-spotted tabby pattern resembling wild cats, but are fully domesticated. In fact, the Mau is the only naturally-occurring pedigreed breed of spotted domestic cat. It is an intelligent and devoted breed with expressive green eyes and known for a slightly “worried” expression.

They are accepted in colors such as bronze, silver, and black smoke. They were first accepted in 1968 by CFF.

The Egyptian Mau is a medium sized cat with distinctive darker spots that stand out from the background color. The dark spots are usually round and evenly distributed but are random and can run together to form stripes. The legs and tail are usually banded with the darker color. The breed has an ‘M’ mark on its forehead which is sometimes called the scarab mark after an ancient Egyptian symbol. This graceful and muscular medium-sized cat is similar in conformation to the Abyssinian. Male Maus can weigh from 8 to 11 pounds and females are smaller at 6 to 8 pounds.

There are four color varieties in the Mau breed – silver, bronze, smoke and black.

Egyptian Maus are extremely active, agile and playful cats which need lots of exercise. The Mau is intelligent, loyal and affectionate and can be possessive of its owners. Maus that have been thoroughly socialized make good family pets but can be distrustful of strangers. Maus can be trained to walk on a leash but will do fine as indoor cats. Maus have quiet melodious voices and communicate through chirps and chortles. This breed needs daily exercise and play time and doesn’t like to be left alone.