Abyssinian

The Abyssinian cat is said to be descended from a cat called Zula, brought to England by Captain Barrett Leonard when he returned from service in the Abyssinian wars in the 1860�s. Apparently he brought two cats, but Zula was the sole survivor. There is no verifiable record of Abyssinian cats directly descended from Zula, but Abyssinians were certainly exhibited at Crystal Palace in 1871, so that this breed may claim to be one of the original pedigree cats. Certainly every Abyssinian in the world is descended from cats bred in the Unitied Kingdom.

Physical Characters: The Abyssinian's body is of medium length, lithe, with well-developed muscles. The legs are slender in proportion to the body, with a fine bone structure. The paws are small and oval. The Abyssinian has a fairly long tail, broad at the base and tapering to a point.

The head is broad and moderately wedge-shaped, with almond-shaped eyes that can be gold, green, hazel or copper. The nose and chin usually form a straight vertical line when viewed in profile. Their alert, relatively large ears are broad and cupped at the base, and moderately pointed at the tips, where tuffs of hair commonly seen. Large ear tuffs are viewed as a must for show breeds. An M-shaped marking is sometimes found in the fur on the forehead.

Temperament: Abyssinians are extroverted, willful and intelligent, but are usually not "lap cats", being too preoccupied with exploring and playing as they would in their natural habitat. Although very popular among breeders and owners, Abyssinians aren't often used as show cats because of their shyness towards strangers and their timid nature. They have quiet, engaging voices that can often be misleading. Abys, as they are affectionately referred to by their fans, need a great deal of contact with the family to keep them happy and can get depressed without daily activity and attention. They generally get on well with other cats, although they need their space and the females can sometimes be irritable around other cats. Abyssinians are known for their curiosity and enjoy exploring their surroundings, including heights, although they are sensible cats that do not take unnecessary risks.

Inherited Defects of the Abyssinian Cat: The Abyssinian can be prone to patellar luxation (dislocation or slipping kneecap), renal amyloidosis (kidney disease), retinal atrophy (a rare eye condition that leads to impaired vision).

Abyssinian Cat Club - UK

The Abyssinian Cat Club (link to their website) in the UK was founded in 1929. Their first "members show" took place in an upper room in Brooke Street, Holborn, London, on March 12th 1930 as reported by the Times newspaper.At the time there were only about 30 Abyssinian cats in England. 21 of them were at the show. The Abyssinian was a rare breed in 1930. It is much less rare today, being almost common (but no less fine a cat).The Times newpaper described the breed as rather small and elegant with quite large ears. The journalist referred to the color of this cat breed as looking like that of a rabbit. One of the Abyssinians was melanistic black and the ticking was referred to as being caused by the tips of the individual hairs being blackish or dark brown. Perhaps of more interest the character was described as being rather shy and gentle and not liking strangers that much but very affectionate (presumably to those people and other animals that he/she was familiar with). {source: Times Archive - dated March 13th 1930}

Things of Interest

In 1963 an Abyssinian cat was worth about £700 ($1400 approx.). In today's money that is about £7000+ or $14,000 at least. This is perhaps a reflection of the rarity of the breed at that time. By my reckoning the breed is one of the least rare purebred cats today (see rare cat breeds). {src: Times Archive}

In the demanding world of the show cat, and if you want an Abyssinian that is truly of show cat quality, it is useful to take note of what are considered "faults" in appearance. These are purely cosmetic, of course.

Apparently in the 1970s breeders were less rigorous or the standard was a little easier to meet and some cats had a white patch on the neck/chest area (called a "locket" after lockets worn as jewelry). This is now considered a fault and has been largely bred out. White patches are caused by the white spotting gene or piebald gene, which is behind the tuxedo appearance of the well known non-pedigreed black and white cats (Tuxedo cats).

As mentioned above this cat's popularity is based in part on the beautifully ticked coat caused by the Agouti gene. The coat is also dependent on the presence of the tabby gene, which produces the familiar tabby pattern such as the lines (mackerel) pattern or in the Bengal cat the marbled pattern.

Such patterns are definitely a no go area for the Abyssinian cat as the coat needs to have a pure shaded (used in a laypersons sense) appearance. Patterns are considered a fault. These markings can be apparent as bands (rings) on the tail and legs and breeders use their knowledge of selective breeding to try and eliminate them.

In some cats a straight line in profile from the forehead to the end of the nose if considered the objective (I am thinking of the Modern Siamese). This is considered part of the "Oriental" look. The Abyssinian cat profile should have a nose "break". This means the profile where the top of the nose meets the forehead has an angle to (not straight). The break varies from breed to breed and breed standard to breed standard. In the Abyssinian cat it is a noticeable but not profound nose break.