Egyptian Mau Myths Exposed!

Good article with wonderful insight, Phil!
My Mau loves to chase squirrels … while my Golden Retriever lays there watching. Satch doesn't catch them but he suuure does give them a run for their money. He's absolutely hilarious because when he's through with the chase and the stare down. He'll go over and lay with my Golden. At 10 1/2 years old, she just licks his head and tells him "good job" everytime.
What makes me laugh is all the chortling he does while hunting. He'll say something and then whip that tail. When he crouches down and lurches his head of his forward … he says something else. Then, his motionless body sits and waits. It's then, ime seems to stands still.
That squirrel will start chirping and doing a dance just to taunt my boy. Unmoved, the squirrel will then call out to me as though to say, put your cat in the house!
Mau's don't appear to be able to run as fast as a squirrel but the process sure is funny.

I would agree with you regarding the myth that Mau's can run at up to 30mph. This myth seems to come from the Mau entry on Wikipedia. I have 2 Maus and one of mine loves the treadmill, so much so that when I run I have to lock her out of the room as she'll dart up between my legs whilst I'm running. Anyway, I've had her on the treadmill, didn't take much
persuading as she meows until she's allowed on it. So we had her on the treadmill at 7mph which is a fast jogging pace. An 8&1/2 minute mile in fact! I'd say given more room she could do 10mph and maybe 12mph at a push or in small bursts, but 30mph is a complete joke which seems to reel in a lot of people! This myth on Wiki needs to be corrected as I too find it hard to believe that they were "clocked". If you want to see my Mau running on the treadmill type d100965 into YouTubes searchbox or search for Tia treadmill.

Hi again Phil. You know your cats, so to me your observations based on just two Maus are more credible than any myth.
And you are quite are quite right that even siblings from the same litter will differ a lot.
Many years ago we had a Norwegian litter and the three kittens evolved into completely different personalities.
The boy Mons was the biggest that never had to struggle for anything, so he became the lap cat. The two girls were both much more active, but Molly would jump head first into anything while Milly carefully judged the distance before making her jump. Same genes, same upbringing - three different types.

Hi Michael & Finn,

Thanks, appreciated!

I agree with everything you say, Finn - especially that I am basing my 'findings' on just two Maus! Even my two, siblings from the same litter, are quite different in personality and size - Sinbad has grown into a good-sized adult, whilst Napoleon is still tiny, very slender and still looks more like a kitten..

Hi Phil. Thank you for a well written and interesting article.

The fanciers of different breeds tend to promote the special qualities of their own breed. Some are true, some are overstated and some are simply hype, so of course these myths have to be questioned from time to time. If not, we would still believe the cat to be Lucifer's little helper... 😉

Despite her viking heritage and thick fur our Norwegian Forest Cathas always hated snow, whereas I've seen Somalis enjoying it just as much as your Maus. I think it has more to do with the individual cat than what breed it is.

Thanks Phil for a quality post. I enjoyed reading it.