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Breed profile
the Abyssinian Cat (Somali is a long haired
Abyssinian)
Contact
Abyssinian & Somali Breeders
Dr David Richardson August 2005
History of the Abyssinian
An Abyssinian cat was exhibited in the Crystal
Palace exhibition in London in 1871. It was said this cat had been
brought back from the recent war in Abyssinia. However there are no
accurate records of importing of cats from Abyssinia, and there are
no ticked cats found in Abyssinia - modern day Ethiopia. A sorrel
coloured ticked cat has been on exhibition in a museum in Holland
since it was brought back from India in 1834, and DNA testing shows
modern Abyssinian cats probably came from India or even South East
Asia. Another theory is that the Abyssinian cat was developed in
England from a local ticked or “bunny” cat.
Abyssinian cats appeared in the USA in the
early 1900s however a breeding program didn't occur until the 1930s.
Description of the Abyssinian cat
The Abyssinian is an elegant high standing cat
with a ticked coat and an extremely active personality. The
Abyssinian is a lithe, strong and muscular medium-sized cat of
foreign body type. The head has a modified wedge softened by
rounded contours. The ears are large set wide apart and slightly
flaring, continuing the modified wedge profile of the head. The
legs are long straight and fine boned leading to small oval compact
paws; the cat stands high on its toes giving the impression of being
on tiptoe. The tail is fairly long, thick based then tapering to
the tip.
The eyes are large and almond shaped and wide
set now accentuated by fine dark line of the base colour and circled
by a light-coloured area. Eye colour must be a deep shade of amber,
hazel or green. The neck is long and gracefully arched. There is an
M on the forehead and thumb prints on the back of the ears. The
base colour of the tabby coat is also found on the tip of the tail.
Coat colours of the Abyssinian cat
These are black, also described as
ruddy or usual, blue, chocolate, lilac, cinnamon also described as
sorrel, & fawn plus all these colours in silver. Paw pads and nose
leathers must match the coat colour. An excellent summary of this
is found in the WNCA BOOK OF
STANDARDS, page 29.
Coat pattern of the Abyssinian cat
Desirable facial markings include: an M
on the forehead extending from the outer edge of the eyes towards
the ear, dark lines extending from the eyes and brows, dots on the
whisker pads are desirable, eyes accentuated by fine dark lines and
circled by a lightly coloured area (spectacles). The back of the
ears should be darker at the tip preferably with a clear brighter
colour at the base and thumb prints. Chin, lips and nostrils should
be the base colour or cream; white hair is undesirable.
Desirable body
markings: the coat colour should be warm and glowing, the
kicking distinct and even with dark-coloured bands contrast in
light-coloured pans on the hair shafts. The under coat colour
should be clear and bright to the skin. The darker shades of colour
is desirable, as long as the intensity of the ticking is not
sacrificed for depth of colour. Darker shading is desirable along
the spine ending in a solid tail tip of the base colour. Cats are
preferably unmarked beneath the chest and legs. The solid base
colour is to extend well of the Hock and on the tail tip.
Desirable ticking: should consist of
two to three bands of genetic colour alternated with ground colour
and finishing with the genetic i.e. dark colour at the tip of the
hair shaft.
What I am looking for when judging an
Abyssinian cat
I am looking for an alert high standing cat
with well-defined muscles and the foreign body type. I am looking
for a warm coat colour with well-defined ticking covering the body
apart from the underbelly and chest and inside legs. I am looking
for distinctive tabby markings on the face, eyeliner and spectacles
and M. on the forehead a dark line back from the eyes and dots on
the whisker pads. I am looking further hazel green or amber, the no
all almond shaped eyes and large cupped ears with broad base and set
well apart. I am looking for base colour which matches the nose
leather and paw pads. When judging I remember that 45 points are
given over to the coat of the Abyssinian cat.
Scoring the Abyssinian cat
Head, neck, nose, ears and eyes are worth 25
points. Body, legs, paws and tail are worth a further 25 points.
Coat type is worth 10 points with a further 15 points the colour and
fully 20 points for pattern, giving a total of 45 points out of a
hundred for the coat.
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