Abyssinian cat

One of the oldest bred cat breeds in the world is the Abyssinian cat or Abyssinian. The Abyssinian does not come from Ethiopia, as the name would suggest, but from the Southeast Asian region.

The Abyssinian cat has been bred since the late 19th century. Today, the Abyssinian is primarily bred in the United States, Canada, Australia, Japan and Europe. Abyssinian cats belong to the group of short-haired cats, their fur can have different colors. Typical of the Abyssinian breed is a double, sometimes triple banding of the hair, this banding is also known as ticking. The coat pattern resulting from the ticking is known as the agouti effect, this coat pattern is comparable to that of wild hares and wild rabbits. This fact has earned the Abyssinian cat the nickname "bunny cat".

In the middle of the 20th century, attempts to breed Abyssinian cats resulted in semi-long-haired Abyssinians. This breed now forms its own pedigree cat stand and is referred to as Somali cats.

Origin

As mentioned above, the Abyssinians did not come from Abyssinia (now Ethiopia) as their name might suggest. The claim that Abbesinian cats are descendants of cats living in pharaonic Egypt and worshiped there as divine is also wrong.

The Abeesinian Originals most likely originated in the jungles of Southeast Asia. This can be deduced from the fact that the ATM (Abyssinian tabby mutation gene TA) typical of the Abyssinian cat can only be found on the coast of the Indian Ocean between Singapore and Ceylon. While it is undetectable in Egypt and East Africa. Similar wild cat species from Eurasia, Asia and Africa are the wild cat (Felis silvestris lybica) and the reed cat (Felis chaus).

Well-known histories of the modern or present-day Abyssinian cat also point in the same direction: Early illustrations in English cat journals from the 19th century indicate that cats resembling the Abyssinian were referred to there as "Asiatic cats". A stuffed specimen from the 1830s with the characteristics of the Abyssinian tabby mutation gene exists in the Netherlands, or more specifically in the Leiden Zoological Museum.

history

The history of today`s Abyssinian race in Europe begins in 1868. The cat breed was first mentioned in a British cat book in 1874, a colored lithograph shows a specimen with speckled fur. The cat`s name is Zula, and the accompanying description reads: "Zula, Mrs. Captain Barret-Lennard`s cat. The cat comes from Abyssinia as a result of the war....". Since the British troops left Abyssinia in May 1868 and the country fell within the catchment area of ??Italy, it can be assumed that Zula was the first Abyssinian cat to come to England with the colonial army. However, how this cat breed got from Southeast Asia to what was then Abyssinia is unknown.

The new and unknown cat breed aroused the interest of English breeders, especially because of the agouti effect. In order to counteract inbreeding, there were crosses with British shorthair cats, some pedigree cats, some domestic cats. These crossings resulted in the first silver colored Abyssinian cats. At the first public cat show in the Crystal Palace in London in 1871, an "Abyssinian" cat was already shown and won 3rd place overall. The Abyssinian was recognized as an official cat breed in 1882. The breed status of the Abyssinian cat was defined in 1889 by Harrison Weir, then President of the English National Cat Club.In addition to the Persian and Siamese cats, the Assinian cat is one of the oldest pedigree cats in the world. After years of defining the breed standard, the English studbooks were filled with the first Abyssinian cats. At the beginning of the 20th century, the breed also came to the United States and was increasingly bred there. Abyssinian breeding was recognized in the United States in 1911 by the Cat Fanciers Association.

The spread of Abyssinian cat breeding in Europe and the USA continued to expand in the first half of the 20th century. In the 1930s, breeders on both continents worked harder to select characteristics typical of the breed. The first Abyssinian Cat Club was founded in 1926 by Major E. Sydney Woodiwiss. The first Abyssinian cat in Germany was registered in 1933 by the German Noble Cat Breeders Association.

Abyssinian breeding suffered serious setbacks during the two world wars. Only 12 purebred Abyssinian cats survived the Second World War in England. Because of a feline leukosis epidemic in the 1960s, the number of cats in breeders declined, which almost led to the extinction of the Abyssinian cat breed. The numbers have stabilized since the 1970s.

Appearance

Because of their appearance, Abyssinian cats are often referred to as a miniature form of a puma, or compared to wild cats. Abyssinian cats belong to the group of so-called "ticked tabby cats" in which the fur markings have been almost completely suppressed by the agouti effect. Due to the influence of the breeders, the tabby pattern is only recognizable on the head in the form of the eye rim. Abyssinian cats that are completely free of all known markings are generally considered ideal.

Optical characteristics of the Abyssinian cat:

• Lean and muscular
• medium-sized shorthair cat
• Weight cat: between 2.5 and 4 kg
• Weight male: between 3.5 and 5 kg
• High-legged cat breed
• Paws with monochromatic pads
• Relatively long, narrow tail

The Abyssinian cat`s head is moderately wedge-shaped, sitting on a slender long neck. The snout is not puckered and the profile has a smooth contour. The bridge of the nose is medium long and gently curved, it has no "stop". The ears are comparable to those of a lynx, they are set wide apart with occasional tufts, they are erect and large in proportion to the head.

The eyes of the Abyssinian cat are almond-shaped and large, they have an inner border which has the same basic color as the ticking. They are widely spaced and are usually amber in color, but may also have hazel or green hues.

The close-lying short coat has little undercoat. The dorsal stripe, a continuous dark stripe of color, runs down the back and ends in the dark tip of the tail. The sole stripe, which is dark in colour, runs along the hind legs.

Character

Character traits:

• Intelligent, lively
• Curious
• Independent, balanced, sociable
• Uncomplicated, stress-tolerant
• Lively temperament
• Great urge to move

Abyssinian cats are very sociable cats, so keeping them alone should be avoided if possible. The Abyssinian also gets along very well with dogs. Very typical of the breed is the quiet voice and the rather low need for communication. If an Abyssinian cat lives with another cat breed, it often assumes a dominant position, but it is considered to be very social and tolerable.

Breed Standards and Breeding

Chronology:

• 1882 Official recognition as a cat breed in England
• 1889 First binding breeding standards are defined
• 1896 First appearing in the stud book of the British National Cat Club
• 1907 First appearance of the Abyssinian cat in the United States
• 1911 Final recognition of the breed in the USA
• 1933 First official registration of the cat breed in Germany

error

Breeding mistakes:

• Too many facial markings
• Ears too small or too pointed
• Too round eye shape
• Ghost drawings in fur

breeding

Abyssinian cats can usually be mated from the age of 12 months, sometimes even from the age of 14 months. 1-4 kittens can be born per litter, but statistically the litter size is 2. This leads to a relatively low spread.

Abyssinian cats are only crossed with a single breed outside of their own, namely the Somali cat. This results in a heterozygous cat with the gene for long hair, the so-called "Abyssinian Variant".

When breeding within the Abyssinian breed, it is important to pay attention to the blood group of the breeding animals, otherwise the offspring may die. There are three blood groups A (about 95% share), B and AB (each about 3% share). With certain blood group combinations, especially B x A, the offspring die.

Only members of a recognized pedigree cat breeding club are allowed to breed. A kennel name is registered with this club, this is a registered breeding name. The names of the kennel and the individual cats are chosen by the breeder himself. The association issues the breeding pedigrees, which makes the exhibition of these cats possible.

colors

The color of Abyssinian cats is determined by the presence of melanin. Due to the differentiated melanin structure in arrangement, shape or size, there is a variability in color. Breeding is limited to four eumelanin-based primary colors.

• Wild color (ruddy, usual, tawny, lièvre)
• Blue (blue)
• Sorrel (cinnamon, red)
• Fawn (beige-fawn)

Color variations in Abyssinian cats and their origin
Generally recognized colors :

Wild colors (ruddy, usual, tawny, lièvre)

Body Color: warm reddish brown with black ticking
Basic color: dark apricot to orange
Ear tips: black
tail tip: black
Color of the paw pads: black or dark brown
Nose leather: brick red with black border.

blue

Body Color: warm blue-grey with dark steel blue-grey ticking
Basic color: light, fawn (beige)/cream
Ear tips: dark steel blue-grey
Tail tip: dark steel blue-grey
Color of the paw pads: dusky pink/blue-grey
Nose leather: old pink with a dark steel blue-grey border

Sorrel (cinnamon, red)

Body Color: Bright warm coppery red with chocolate brown ticking
Basic color: dark apricot
Ear tips: reddish brown
tip of tail: reddish brown
Color of the paw pads: pink
Nose leather: light red with a red-brown border

Fawn (beige fawn)

Body Color: dull matte beige with dark warm cream ticking
Basic color: light cream
Ear tips: dark warm cream
Tail tip: dark warm cream
Color of the paw pads: pink
Nose leather: pink with antique pink border

Diseases

Hereditary diseases:

Progressive Retinal Atrophy (PRA)

Serves as a clinical collective term for a degenerative retinal anomaly. Especially in the case of Abyssinian cats, this means a recessively inherited, genetically determined rod-cone degebreation. Here, the tissue of the retina of the eye is continuously destroyed due to a metabolic disorder. Night blindness is a common symptom of progressive retinal atrophy.

There are two forms of progressive retinal atrophy:

The degenerative form, in this form, visual impairments occur from the second year of life, which leads to blindness in the animal later on. This form is possible up to the age of 6, after which it is referred to as a genetic predisposition. Breeding animals are therefore from the 18thMonths of life up to the age of 6 years examined annually for this disease.

Pyruvate kinase deficiency (PK deficiency) This is a hereditary disease that leads to a special form of anemia. Cats with this condition primarily lack the pyruvate kinase enzyme in red blood cells. This is necessary there to generate energy.

This disorder leads to a massive shortening of the lifespan of the red blood cells. This leads to the number of blood cells becoming too low. There is no therapy for pyruvate kinase deficiency - the disease leads to death.

Renal amyloidosis (RA) This is a metabolic disorder that leads to the accumulation of non-degradable proteins in the kidneys. The disease usually breaks out between the ages of four and seven, and 75% of hangovers are affected. As the disease progresses, chronic renal failure develops, and the disease usually leads to death.

Patellar Luxation (PL) This is a deformation of the knee joint or kneecap. As a result, a permanent dislocation of the kneecap can occur.