Cat breed · Egypt
The Egyptian Mau is a small to medium-sized, short to medium-haired rare standardised cat breed. It bears a solid or spotted tabby coat pattern, which makes the Mau relatively unique as it is one of the few naturally spotted tabby breeds of domesticated cat. The spots of the Mau only occur on the tips of the hairs of its coat.
Characteristics: The breed conformation is described 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 than the front, giving the Mau the appearance of standing on tiptoes when upright."
The Egyptian Mau is the fastest of the domestic cats, with its longer hind legs, and unique flap of skin extending from the flank to the back knee, which assists in running by allowing the legs to stretch back farther, providing for greater agility and length of stride. Maus have been clocked running more than 48 km/h (30 mph).
Characteristics: The breed conformation is described 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 than the front, giving the Mau the appearance of standing on tiptoes when upright."
The Egyptian Mau is the fastest of the domestic cats, with its longer hind legs, and unique flap of skin extending from the flank to the back knee, which assists in running by allowing the legs to stretch back farther, providing for greater agility and length of stride. Maus have been clocked running more than 48 km/h (30 mph).
Appearance: The Egyptian Mau is a muscular cat with notable features being their spotted coat and a tabby marking on their forehead that is said to resemble a scarab design. The head is gently rounded and of medium size. The ears are medium to moderately large, broad at the base with a bit of pointing at the tip. The hair on the ears is short and may have tufting. The eyes are round and large. The eyes are light green although kittens may have amber eyes. The body is of medium length with prominent shoulder blades. There is a loose flap of skin extending from the flank to the knee of the hind legs. The tail is of medium length and thick at the base.
Coat: The Egyptian Mau has a medium length coat with two or more bands of ticking. The Egyptian Mau's coat contains dark patterns of varying size and shape, located all over the body and limbs. They also may have a stripe running down the lower spine and tail.
Health: The Egyptian Mau has a higher prevalence of urate urolithiasis (bladder stones) than mixed-breeds. A review of over 5,000 cases of urate uroliths had almost half the population of Egyptian Maus as having had the condition with an odds ratio of 44.41. A Canadian study with over 10,000 examinations of uroliths in cats found that 14 out of 17 Egyptian Maus surveyed had urate urolithiasis.
The typical gestation period for a regular house cat is 64–67 days, but the Egyptian Mau has a longer gestation period, at 73 days.
