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Mau égyptien |
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TranslationFrancis Vandersteen |
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OriginThe Egyptian Mau is a cat breed originally from Egypt. |
| Developed from 1953 in Italy and then in the United States by a Russian princess. |
A brief historical overview |
| Nathalie Troubetzkoï was a Russian princess exiled in the palace of the Egyptian ambassador to Italy during the Second World War. A cat lover, she is considered the creator of the breed. She received her first cat from a little boy who brought her a kitten in a cardboard box. The kitten's unusual beauty won her over immediately, and she named him Ludivine, then Ludol and Lulu. Lulu is a beautiful silver color with black spots. The princess noticed that the box in which the kitten had been brought to her had come from Egypt. She deduced that the cat was a descendant of Pharaoh's cats. She uses her many friends to find another such cat and get a litter all speckled. Friends find her Gregorio, an 11-year-old black male from a spotted family, and she acquires Geppa, a black smoke male from the Near East, through the Syrian ambassador. Lulu and Geppa soon give birth to their first litter, which is as speckled as its parents. Among them, Nathalie Troubetzkoï kept a small silver female, Baba. However, Baba's origin varies according to sources: she may have been imported directly from Egypt, or she may be the original kitten from the cardboard box. From Lulu and Gregorio came, among other kittens, Jojo, the first bronze Mau. Liza, Baba's daughter, and Jo-Jo were shown in Rome in 1955. When she obtained permission to immigrate to the United States in 1953, Nathalie Troubetzkoï registered just three cats in 1956. Baba, a 4-year-old female silver, Jojo (or Jo-jo, real name Georgio), a 3-year-old male bronze, son of the first, and Liza, an 11-month-old sterile female silver, set off to conquer the United States. Once she had settled in, Nathalie Troubetzkoï continued her efforts to promote Egyptian cats, exhibiting them and having them recognized as a breed under the name Mau égyptien. She founded her cattery under the name “Chatterie de Fatima”. In 1957, Baba was the first of the breed to be crowned champion. All Egyptian Maus bred today are descended from these first subjects. |
General appearance |
| The silhouette of this breed is semi-foreign, i.e. it oscillates between the European and Oriental types, without ever being one or the other. The medium-sized body must appear both powerful and elegant. Musculature is well developed, particularly in males. The Egyptian Mau's great mobility is attributed to this feature, which is also characteristic of the Mau égyptien and Keuda breeds. |
Behavior / characteristics |
| Character traits are completely individual and depend above all on the history of each cat, whatever the breed. The Mau égyptien has a temperament that breeders aim to keep docile, not least because the first generations of Egyptian Mau were difficult to handle. They are generally independent, intelligent and moderately active. They are considered good hunters, and need exercise to maintain a balanced character. A cat close to its master, it demands attention and can be aloof with strangers. The Egyptian Mau has a reputation for showing its joy by meowing softly, and also by wagging its tail briskly. According to Mau égyptien breeders, there are differences in character between the different colors. The bronze Mau égyptien is reputed to be much more exclusive towards its master, and more dominant over other cats. The Smoke Egyptian Mau is said to have a more tender disposition, seeking physical contact. |
Genetics |
| The spotted tabby pattern that characterizes the Mau égyptien's coat is complex to obtain. There is a theory that the spotted cat is a striped or mackerel cat with broken markings. The spotted cat would then be subject to at least one dominant gene changing the mackerel pattern, or the action of mackerel-modifying polygenes. Kittens lacking the spotted tabby pattern are sporadically born to spotted cats. In terms of color, the Mau égyptien standard plays on the I gene, responsible for the appearance of silver and smoke, and the A gene, responsible for the appearance of spots. A cat's coat is made up of several bands of more or less contrasting colors. The action of the “I” inhibitor gene is to stop the production of pheomelanin in the hair, resulting in a transparent band of white appearance. On a plain hair, this translates into a light root and a uniform black tip: a smoke. On an agouti coat, the root is white, followed by a succession of transparent and colored bands: this is silver tabby. The A gene determines whether the coat is tabby or not. The introduction of d-dilution genes produces the blue color. Genetic research carried out by the University of California at Davis has reported the presence, at very low frequency, of the recessive allele responsible for the white tabby of the Sacred Birman in the Mau égyptien. This particularity is obviously not sought after by breeders. A specific genetic test exists to detect the Burmese gantage gene. |
Head |
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Cranial region |
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Head |
The head is of medium size. A round head is considered a fault, as is a pointed muzzle. | |
Facial region |
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Foreface |
The face takes the shape of a triangle with rounded contours: there must be no flat face. | |
Forehead |
In profile, the forehead is rounded, with a slight indentation at the base of the nose, which is straight. | |
Nose |
The nose is of equal width along its entire length. | |
Muzzle |
The muzzle is of medium size, with a well-proportioned chin, i.e. neither protruding nor receding. | |
Cheeks |
Flat cheeks, except in males, where jowls are tolerated. | |
Eyes |
The almond-shaped eyes are large and set at a slight angle, without being completely oblique like those of Orientals. The requested color is “gooseberry green”, which is in fact a light green. LOOF accepts that the color is not completely fixed until 24 months, ACF, ACFA and FIFé until 18 months, TICA and CFA are more precise and wish that at 8 months the green be discernible in the kitten's eyes and that at 18 months the eye be entirely of the desired color. Round or too oriental eyes are penalizing in shows, but eyes that are not green are simply eliminatory. | |
Ears |
The ears are medium to large in size and set far apart, in harmony with the shape of the face; ears that are too small are considered a fault. Set fairly far back on the skull, they have rounded tips and broad bases. Plumes, which appear on certain breeds such as the Maine coon, are accepted. | |
Neck |
| Arched neck with prominent shoulders. |
Body |
Tail |
| Medium length with rounded tip, not small. |
Limbs |
| The legs are of medium length, with medium bone structure but well developed muscles. The hindquarters are slightly higher than the forequarters, but according to TICA, the hind legs are bent, allowing for a straight back. | ||
Forequarters |
Hindquarters |
Feet |
| The feet are small and slightly oval, with long toes on the hind legs, says TICA. This conformation gives the Mau égyptien a distinctive stance, as it appears to walk on tiptoe. |
Coat |
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Coat and texture |
The Egyptian Mau is the only natural cat breed to be spotted tabby: an Egyptian Mau with a coat other than spotted tabby is in any case excluded from any title in competition. The quality of the coat is of paramount importance for the Egyptian Mau, as in many federations it represents the highest number of points in competition. The coat must be short, but long enough to allow four bands of color to alternate on the agouti coat. The texture is soft and elastic for silver and bronze colors, and should be silkier for smoke and black. The spotted tabby pattern must be clearly visible, so there must be sufficient contrast between the background and the spots: the M on the forehead is clearly visible, and the horizontal stripes starting from the outer corner of the eye, known as “Egyptian make-up”, are well marked. An additional, fainter stripe crosses the cheeks below the first stripe. From the M onwards, a stripe runs down the spine into aligned spots. The spots are larger on the neck and legs. The spots on the flanks must not be aligned, so as not to recall the mackerel (striped) pattern. The tail is ringed with a black tip, and at least one open collar stripe should frame the chest. Touching spots and the absence of a collar are penalizing faults in competition, while the appearance of rosettes, an insufficient amount of spot or an unspotted pattern are eliminatory. |
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Color and ticking |
Three colors are accepted by all federations: silver (silver-gray spotted with black), bronze (brown) (light brown spotted with black) and smoke (base of coat silver, rest of coat anthracite, black spots). The silver coat is the best represented: in 2004, it accounted for 58% of CFA registrations, against 26% bronze and 14% smoke. The Mau égyptien silver must have a very contrasting silver color in relation to the spots. The back of the ears is pink-gray, the tip black. The back of the feet is black, as are the pads, and the nose is brick-colored. The base of the Mau égyptien bronze is bronze to ivory on the inner parts of the body (belly, throat). Spots may be dark brown. The pads and back of the legs are brown to black. The nose is brick-colored. The Mau égyptien smoke is not a spotted tabby, but thanks to its silver undercoat, the patterns are clearly visible. The coat is light gray for a quarter of its length, then black. The inner parts of the body are lighter. The nose, pads and back of the legs are black. The Black Mau égyptien has been recognized by the LOOF as a new color (NRC) since 2006, and is only authorized for breeding by the CFA. The coat is entirely black, but may show a ghost pattern under certain lighting conditions. It must be well glossed. CFA has been registering the Blue Mau égyptien in its four shades (spotted blue, silver blue, smoke blue and self blue) for tracking purposes only since 1997. Bronze Mau Egyptians come in two shades, depending on the federation. The classic color is a warm brown with patterns ranging from brown to black. This is the only color allowed in the LOOF standard. CFA, like TICA and GCCF, prefers a reddish hue, thanks to the presence of numerous rufous polygenes. This color originates from the Indian lineage, although rumors abound that the gene's appearance is maintained by regular crossbreeding with the Bengal. The LOOF defends the original color, and forbids any trace of rufus or glitter from the Indian line. |
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English (United Kingdom)