|
Appearance
Ideally, Abyssinians
are medium sized cats with a slim muscular body, a moderately
wedged head, generously sized ears, and an overall balanced look. This
means that their legs, body and tail should be roughly the same in length,
and their head should be in pleasing proportion to the body.
Each hair has alternating bands of color, called TICKING, or AGOUTI
pattern, which gives the cats their distinctive "speckled" look.
They should have the traditional tabby markings on their faces,
but nowhere else on their body.
In the United States, Abyssinians are bred mainly in four colors:
Ruddy, Cinnamon (also called Red or Sorrel), Blue and Fawn.
A few people in the United States also have Chocolate and Lilac Abys.
These same colors of ticking with a white undercoat, referred
to as Silver, are bred by some USA breeders,
including Abyroad.
Somalis
are first cousins to Abyssinians, differing mainly by
the length of their fur. Some Somalis are a bit larger in size,
which seems to balance the look created by their longer coat.
Somalis are semi-longhaired cats, with the long hair most apparent
in the neck ruff, "britches" and tail. Because of their longer
hair length, Somalis usually have more bands of ticking than the
Abyssinians.
Personality
The Abyssinian
and Somali personality and activity level are basically
the same: extremely active, social and outgoing. Abys and Somalis
just want to make friends and play games! They are athletic
and like high places like shelves and even tops of doors, but
they are not usually destructive. They ARE likely to "steal"
anything that, in their minds, resembles a toy. Often all the
pens and pencils that are not safely ensconced in drawers are
resting under the refrigerator!
They will follow their people around the house and supervise everything.
They love active play and interactive games, like fetch and hide-and-seek,
yet when all in the house quiets down, they will sit in laps or
cuddle next to people. They ARE very active cats and definitely
NOT couch potatoes, so owners must be prepared for this. They
usually do well with other cats and dogs, even ferrets and rabbits
-- pretty much any similar sized or larger species -- and of course,
children.
Care
Abyssinians
need only occasional grooming. They do shed, and a combing
or brushing every once in a while will minimize this. Most do
like to be combed or brushed, so this is not a chore.
Somalis,
with their longer fur, need a little more attention, but not necessarily
daily grooming. Running a comb or brush through their fur every
two or three days is usually quite adequate. If kept indoors,
as will probably be required by most sales contracts, they will
rarely have problems (like fleas) that would require bathing.
Abys and Somalis have the same basic needs as an average
cat when it comes to feeding and veterinary care. Quality food
helps to keep a cat in good shape, and annual veterinary checkups
and regular vaccinations for "the big 3" -- Panleukopenia, Calici,
Rhinotracheitis -- and in some areas, Rabies, are in the animal's
best interest.
History
Many people
would like to believe that the Abyssinian
is descended from the cats of Ancient Egypt and certainly they
bear a resemblance to the cats that appear in Egyptian art work.
Unfortunately, no one has been able to document this as fact.
That Abyssinians were bred in England since before WW1 is documented,
and there is a theory that sailors brought the breed from Africa
to England on their trade routes. Cats imported from England
formed the foundation of the Abyssinian breed in the United
States.
The history
of the Somali is a little more obscure and much
more recent. For a number of years, kittens with "longish" fur
had been showing up in litters of Abyssinians. At some point in
the 1950s, a few breeders in the US, Canada and England began
working with these cats as a new and separate breed. They chose
the name Somali because the country of Somalia was located next
to Abyssinia in the northern part of Africa.
~top of page~
|
|
