1999 - 2008

Association Internationale du Mau Egyptien (AIME) fondée le 20 février 1998, membre du collège des clubs de race du LOOF Tel: 03 29 32 61 21 - mail : info.aime [at] orange.fr

juillet 2009

                                               

New : our forum, Maus d'Amour (with an English space) on http://forum.aime.ws

 

History of this breed dates back at least 4,000 years to Ancient Egypt. The Egyptian Mau is in fact the cat domesticated from a spotted sub-species of the African Wild Cat (felix lybica). It is probably the ancestor of all our domestic cats.

Mau is the Egyptian word for cat. In ancien Egypt, it was nearly a god and cat killers were sentenced to death. Its picture can be found on many hieroglyphs. It still exists as semi wild cat in Egypt.

The exiled Russian princess Nathalie Troubetskoy first imported them from Egypt to Italy in 1954, then to North America in 1956. In the past, all Egyptian Maus traced their ancestry to two of the original imports from her Fatima Cattery.

In the 1950's the British who had admired Egyptian Maus in Egypt or Italy could not import them because of the rabies quarentine. They tried to "re-create" this breed by using abyssinian hybrids, tabby cats and siameses. The result was the spotted Oriental, which of course could not be transferred to CFA or other organizations as a true Egyptian Mau.

Vella (silver), Vidora et Victoire (smoke) du Fort de la Bosse Marnière

Upswing de Fondcombe (bronze)

 

The Mau is the only naturally spotted breed of domestic cat. The Egyptian Mau shows off an elegant, randomly spotted body with a skin flap on the belly banded legs and tail, expressive almond-shaped gooseberry green eyes, distinctive mascara lines. Hind legs are slightly longer than the front legs.

VASAR

The coat comes in four colors: silver, bronze, smoke and black.

Upchange de Fondcombe Bronze	Maullenium Meskhemet of Fondcombe Silver
Imhotep Sobek Smoke	Amseth du Fort de la Bosse Marnière Black

Extremely intelligent, the Mau is very affectionate to their families, both human and feline. They often are shy with strangers. They are moderately active and express their happiness by chortling a soft melodious voice.

Unfortunately, there are still very few breeders in Europe.