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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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