You’ll like this large format picture of four beautiful Egyptian Mau kittens.
Said to be descended from the African wildcat, the Egyptian Mau is also said:
- to be the fastest domestic cat over the ground (31 mph top speed but this is anecdotal) with a belly flap to make the cat more flexible and
- the only naturally spotted cat.
“Mau” means cat in Egyptian. This is a strikingly good looking cat with gooseberry coloured eyes.
Is this the cat that ancient Egyptians kept as companion animals? Well, not quite because this is a very “refined” version of the cat that was a companion animal in those days. These cats were bred in America. If you want to see what the ancient Egyptians kept as cats you’ll can see them on the streets in Egypt today; spotted cats like these but rough and ready. The same cats from 4,000 years ago are the forerunners of today’s domestic cat.
I adopted a cat sent up from No. Carolina to Danbury, CT who looks like a Mau with a eyes who looks inquisitive, spots and disposition that is very active, runs the fastest I’ve ever seen, and has a mind of her own as well as a line of white fur on its spine. I believe that is why it was put out for adoption. She needs to be spayed. I have read that this breed does not do well on the anesthetic Ketamine. All the vets in this area use this drug to spay.
I love this little wild woman very much, and do not want anything to happen to her. Do you know of any other drug that would be safer to use? She will always be an indoor cat as opposed to the many other cats that I have had. I’m having trouble resolving the problem of using this anesthetic. I’d appreciate your input. Thank you.
Hi Janet. Thanks for commenting. On a topic as important and as specific as this I can’t comment I am afraid. I would be exposing myself to being sued for negligence. There are various combinations of anesthesia. I’d ask your vet for the most suitable for your loved cat.
P.S. (1) it is not certain that your cat is a purebred Egyptian Mau (probably not because this breed looks like a standard tabby cat) and (2) if she is a purebred Egyptian Mau I don’t know if you are correct about anesthetics with respect to this cat.
I am afraid you’ll have to rely on your vet but thanks again and the best of luck.
Hi Marc. I’ll see what we can come up with. I’m sure Michael will appreciate her, too.
Beautiful cats, but definantly not the real deal. I wonder if we doing the reverse of natural selection with our breed selection. The moggies, the strays are the real cats, in their way. We have an absolutely striking cat across the street. She is white with a ginger face and a small ginger circle at her tail, which is alternating white and ginger striped. She is so unique looking. And beautiful in her own, sweet way. She is traffic smart. Doesn’t chase birds. Likes to lay in the shade and watch the world go by. I guess an outside cat is a possibility in our area. I’ll see if I can manage a pix of her tail-end. Really unique. She is a white cat with ginger face, tail and very tip of her butt. 🙂 OK, that’s me for the day.
Three more weeks nine days off than I’m at off at another semester. I’m going to get 20 credits in 3 semesters this year. 2/3 of the 30 I would normally earn in 2 full-load semesters the kids take. I’ll get six weeks in August-September. I don’t need the summer off.
Thx,
Dan
Hi Dan – I totally agree with you about moggies being the real cats and being equally as striking. Breeders seem to chase after all the striking parts only to create unhealthy prototypes. The cat on your street sounds amazing. I hope she is really street smart. I thought my cat was street smart but that didn’t work out. Cats are instinctive so it’s always possible that they will get caught on the road chasing another cat or running from a dog etc etc – but she sounds calm so hopefully she will be just fine. I’m sure if you send Michael a pic of her he would post it here or in a seperate article.
Agreed of course. The best Egyptian Maus are moggie and feral Egyptian Maus in Cairo and so on. They are more genuinely the original cat. The exact same comment can be made about the Turkish Angora and the other old world cats. The British moggie is the original British Shorthair, for example.
Purebred cats are often less faithful, genetically speaking, to the original cats they purport to represent, than the moggies that live in the areas they come from.
Yes, I’d love to show off this street smart pretty moggie. They are the best. If you email me the picture or upload it using the home page uploader, I’ll do the rest.