Introduction from Michael
I love to see domestic cats from places other than in the West. It broadens the website and our knowledge. We need to read more about domestic cats in countries in Africa, Asia and South and Central America. Joyce emailed me with pictures and text of two cats she adopted which have been imported from Kenya, Africa. The Sokoke forest is in Kenya and that is where the rare Sokoke cat comes from. The Sokoke is a registered purebred, pedigree cat in the USA. The breed looks somewhat like a wild cat hybrid.

This is what Joyce says about these Kenyan cats.
By Joyce
Hello…I found your blog. I wanted to share my cats with you. They are from Kenya, given to a local person by his cousin, who is an American teacher in Kenya, who brings kittens back to USA when she comes home for a visit. This local person posted on Craigslist that he had them and DIDN’T WANT NOR NEED THEM…well I phoned him and went to rescue them.

After I got them home, and looked at them I realized they were rare…different than house cats I was used to. I believe them to be a cousin to the Sokoke. They are not Sokoke. I had DNA (UC Davis) done on the male: NO KNOWN BREED…DNA does put them from Kenya but blood line is western Europe and not from the islands like Sokoke from central Kenya. They have web feet, no whisker pouch, thin fur, stiff tail, chirp and they are small.
When they are scared they puddle down…don’t really climb much, strong muscles on these cat – the fore legs – you can’t hold them in they want to go. The male is black and the female is black with bark on her and a slash of orange down her nose. Ee are blessed with 8 week old kittens.
it seems to me that in the photos of Sokoke cats that I see,the tabby ones have only a few,but much wider,black stripes on their long thin tails. Is that so?
Fantastic. I love to hear from people who care for such a rare cat. Well done and thanks for sharing.
I have a beautiful sokoke cat, rescued from a road side vendor in Nairobi, as a very tiny kitten. I was initially unaware that she was a Sokoke and had her spayed as there were a few un neutered Tom’s on our compound.
I took her to the vet for a health certificate as we were due to leave and wanted to bring her with us to South Africa. It was the vet who recognised her as a Sokoke.
She has all the traits and markings described bar one,she is very loving and follows my husband and I around demanding we sit so that she may sit on our laps. She is now 9 years old and as demanding and chatty as ever.
Thanks for commenting Joyce. Future comments will published automatically. You can upload photos to comments but if it does not work it will be because the image too large. The size can be reduced online (see text below comment box).
New pictures are coming, my indoor lights are all LED, and the pictures are so dark, so I must corral them and it will take 2 of us to contain them long enough for pictures.
It’s been over 25 years since I’ve had kittens born in our home, I’ve forgotten, the pleasure of kittens,and the speed of the tiny ones.
I thought Joyce’s description of their behaviour and appearance was interesting. They look like fairly regular domestic cats but there appears to be differences. Black cats are feared in Africa so their lives might have been in jeopardy there. The Africans are even more superstitious than we are in the West in respect of black cats. I have that on first hand advice from a lady who I know who is Kenyan.