Cat Breeds: The Abyssinian

The origin of this cat is unknown, although many stories exist about it. Unfortunately, none of them have any hard evidence to back them up, so they just remain stories. In fact, one story has it originating in Egypt, but DNA testing has revealed that it likely originated near the Indian Ocean.

The Abyssinian cat has a very distinctive ticked coat as exhibited in the above picture. The Abyssinian is one of the most popular short-haired cats in the United States. This cat's body is medium in length and lithe, with well developed muscles. Its tail is broad at the base and slowly tapers almost to a point. The legs are slender and fine boned; the paws small and oval shaped. Its eyes are nearly almond shaped and can be green, gold, copper or hazel in colour. The head is broad and wedge shaped. If you view a profile of this cat, you will see that the nose and chin form a vertical line. The Abyssinian's ears are broad and cupped at the base, tapering to a rounded point at the tips. Most Abyssinians have hair tufts on their ears, a must have feature for show animals. A “M” shaped marking often appears in the forehead hair, above the cat's eyes, which has led to it being referred to as “frown lines.”

All Abyssinians have a darker shade on the backs of their hind legs and the pads of their paws. The original Abyssinian's coat was a warm, reddish-brown with black ticking, however, over the years, other colours have been developed. New colours are Sorrel, which is a cinnamon (yellowish-brown) base with chocolate brown ticking, paw pads and the back of hind legs. Fawn Abyssinians have a light-cream base with darker cream ticking, pads and backs of hind legs. Blue Abyssinians have a light-beige base colour with blue ticking, paw pads and backs of hind legs.

A separate group among Abyssinians is the Silver Abyssinian, which is not recognized by the Cat Fancier's Association, even though this colour has be around for a long time. Silver Abyssinians have a silvery-white base colour, with tickings of black, blue, warm dark cream or cinnamon.

Rare colours include Red, Cream, Tortoiseshell, Lilac and Chocolate, which are bred on a small scale in Great Britain and Holland.

Abyssinians are very active and playful. They can become depressed without daily activity and attention. As a result, Abyssinian cats should not be considered as “lap cats,” because they have to be doing things. If allowed outside, they are great hunters as they are physically capable and intelligent animals.

If you are interested in a cat that is active, good looking and loves to play games, then an Abyssinian is a cat that you should consider.

Until next time,

Teia