Considered to be one of the
oldest known breeds of cat in the world, the Abyssinian cat is an animal
whose history is a swirling mix of speculation and intrigue. Bearing a
strong resemblance to the same cats depicted in the sculptures and
various artwork of the ancient Egyptian people, the Abyssinian is an
elegant and lithe cat that possesses a lean muscled body, proud yet
delicately arched neck, pronounced ears, and very captivating
almond-shaped eyes. The Abyssinian cat is also known to have maintained
the appearance of the African wildcat, felis lybica, which has been
traced back and pinpointed as the ancestor of all modern-day domestic
cats.
The Abyssinian cat has not gained his name from
being from Abyssinia, as one might expect, however. Instead, she was
given the title simply because cats of this breed, first exhibited in
English cat fancier shows, were supposedly imported from the country of
Abyssinia (now known as Ethiopia). While the true origins of this
fascinating feline are obscured by time, it is said that a ruddy-coated
cat won 3rd place honors at the 1871 Crystal Palace cat show and, upon
further investigation, that the cat had been brought to England at some
point during the Abyssinian war. There is also mention of them in the
1874 publication, "Cats, Their Points and Characteristics," written by
Gordon Staples. Featuring a colored lithograph of a reddish cat with
ticked coat and lack of tabby markings around the face, neck and paws,
this book also points in the direction of Abyssinia, stating that the
cat had been brought to England during the end of the Abyssinian war,
which would date this unique breed of cat back as far as 1868 in text.
Strangely
enough, however, no written records can link today's Abyssinian with
these imported felines and, quite often, skeptics will claim that the
Abyssinian cat was created when various silver and brown tabbies were
crossed with native British cats that possessed coats which bore
distinctive "bunny" ticking. Genetics work may point the Abyssinian cat
off in an entirely different direction though - recent studies suggest
that the origins of the Abyssinian cat may actually stem from somewhere
off the coast of the Indian ocean or, perhaps, parts of Southeast Asia.
Perhaps strengthening this theory is the fact that the oldest known
identifiable member of this breed is actually kept in a taxi dermal
exhibit in the Leiden Zoological Museum, of Holland. Sporting a
red-ticked coat, this cat was purchased somewhere between the years of
1834 and 1836, and was labeled as 'Patrie, domestica India,' by the
founder of the museum. This suggests that, while the breed may have
been refined and promoted by English cat fanciers, that she may have
originally made her way there via merchants and colonists who first made
port in Calcutta, a major trading port along the Indian Ocean.
While
the first Abyssinian cats arrived in England as far back as the early
1900Ãs, it wasn't until the late 1930Ãs that quality cats of this breed
were exported from Britain and used to found our modern-day American
breeding programs. Considered to be superiority intelligent even
amongst the cat world, the Abyssinian is known to be a people-cat; a
little creature that is never happy to lounge about on a lap but,
rather, wants to know what their human litter mates are doing and, most
certainly, insists upon helping at every opportunity. Owners of
Abyssinian cats are fond of saying that, once you've owned one of these
unique little felines, you will never want another kind of cat - the
Abyssinian cat is sure to become your favorite companion.
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