Klaatu gets nasty!
© 1996 Chanan All Rights Reserved
They are the only naturally spotted breed of domesticated cat. The spots are not just on the coat; a shaved Mau has spots on its skin! The Ocicat is very similar in appearance to the Egyptian Mau, but was the product of selective breeding which led to its spots. Sad to say, Maus and Ocicats are so similar, that there probably has been significant cross-breeding, which would threaten the genetic strain of the Maus.
Maus are relatively rare, at least outside of Egypt. There are about 2000 in the US. And we have three of them.
Maus are thought by many to be one of the progenitor breeds of the modern domestic cat. They have anatomical, metabolic and behavioral differences from other cat breeds which could be considered as evidence of antiquity or at least uniqueness from other cat breeds. For instance, Maus have a loose flap of skin on the lower abdomen, like a cheetah, which allows them a longer stride and partially accounts for their speed. Maus are more temperature sensitive than most breeds and are also more sensitive to medicines and anesthesia. They seem to be more geared to snake hunting than rodent work; our cats are much more interested in a toy snake than a toy mouse. At a recent cat show, one of the judges also stated that Egyptian Maus have ears further back on their heads than any other domesticated cat. Hmmm... Maus also have an unusually long gestational period. The maximum normal period for cats is 69 days, although Siamese may take a day or two longer. For a Mau, 73 days is still considered normal.
The breed conformation is described by The Cornell Book of Cats as
"a balance between the compactness of a Burmese and the slim elegance of a Siamese. Its medium-length body is muscular, with the hind legs longer then the front, giving the Mau the appearance of standing on tiptoes when upright."The longer hind legs are another reason for the breed's startling speed. A Mau running at full speed is impressive, with incredible acceleration.
Some cat fanciers consider the Mau to be just a minor variant of other breeds, but these differences and others seem to point to a more unique place for the Mau among domesticated felines. If nothing else, the temperature sensitivity and snake hunting suggests a real Egyptian ancestry. Some of the confusion exists because British cat clubs traditionally defined the Egyptian Mau differently than in the US, allowing some other breeds to pass for Maus by their definition.
I was raised with cats - all my life. For almost 30 years my parents have had at least one Siamese. At the moment they have 6 cats, one Siamese, one Siamese/Himalayan cross, and another that is half Siamese; the rest are mixed breeds. Brian and I decided to try a purebred, and were intrigued by what we read about maus. We'd never seen one. We visited the breeder and were immediately engulfed by curious, friendly felines. We fell for them, and within about 5 months had three of them. Baksheesh will be 4 tomorrow, and the boys (Tintagel and Klaatu) just turned 2. All are spayed/neutered, and none have ever missed the litter box or sprayed. They're not as vocal as Siamese, and their voice is one of their unique characteristics. One book described it as "musical, almost birdlike." It's much softer than the Siamese, and ours are never raucous. They trill a lot, and sometimes talk to us when we talk to them. They know their names, race around the house a lot, can climb like monkeys, and love high places. They're clever little devils, too. Personality-wise, Baksheesh, a bronze female, is very timid - she can't be held and I can only pick her up briefly, if I'm lucky - but she's a great lap cat. She often purrs if you say her name. (At the moment she's watching me from her spot atop the monitor.) Tintagel is the perfect gentlecat. He's a silver, and rubs legs every chance he gets. Sometimes we stumble over him, too. He purrs if you pet him just right, and he sometimes goes for laps. He's also our show cat - a Grand Premier. The judges are surprised, since maus have an unfortunate reputation for being too feisty to handle. He's a real sweet boy. Klaatu is a smoke, and he is too feisty for the judges. He's a Premier, but he hates shows. He gets frightened and becomes mean with all the other cats around, so when we take him at all, it's usually to serve as companion cat for his half-brother. He's a major chow hound, and cares little for people. He sleeps under the covers of the bed, and he only purrs when Baksheesh treats him like a kitten. The different coat colors have different textures. The smoke coat has no ticking, so it's very soft - almost like rabbit. Silvers have some ticking, and bronzes have the most, so their coats are a bit rougher. Their gooseberry-green eye color is highly variable - Klaatu's mother is a silver with eyes that are almost fluorescent, they're so luminous. When they're kittens, their eyes (like Tintagel's were) can be gold, but they change to green by about 18 months. Newborn maus have their patterns, then they fade out quickly, and come back after several weeks, often getting better and sharper. I have never regretted having maus over any other breed. They're so unusual that they always attract attention, and we've found mau breeders as a whole to be a nice group of people.
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