The Egyptian Mau is a desirable breed due to the attractive exotic spotted pattern on its coat. They have retained a couple of the survival traits of their early ancestors, namely a cheetah like gait for speed, and a lose flap of skin that ranges from the flank to their hind leg. As a result, the Egyptian Mau has amazing agility and freedom of movement when performing jumps and twists.
Egyptian Mau Cat Personality
Egyptian Mau cats are intelligent yet gentle companions who are usually fiercely loyal to one person in particular but they maintain close friendships with everyone else in the family. They tend to be wary of strangers, so early socialisation is important if you plan to show or travel with your Egyptian Mau.
While friendly and affectionate they do maintain their own schedule of who can handle them and when. You won’t get cuddles on a whim, but expect to be doted on profusely when your Egyptian Mau decides its time.
Naturally active they also love to climb, including up onto your shoulder to view the world from above.
They are keen hunters so you will often see the Egyptian Mau honing its skills while stalking around the house or yard. For those pet parents who enjoy a little more interaction with their cats Egyptian Maus are well known for their love of playing fetch with toys.
Did You Know?
Mau is the Egyptian word for cat, taken from the first name for the cat – miu, which was used in Ancient Egyptian writings.
The Egyptian Mau is believed to be a descendent of the African Wild Cat – they are the only naturally occurring spotted domestic cat.
Egyptian Mau are naturally athletic and exceptionally fast runners with one cat clocked at 30 miles (48 kilometres) an hour.
They often look like they are tip-toeing due to their hind legs being shorter than their front legs. In the cat show ring, they are known for their ability to strike model-like poses.
Caring for Your Egyptian Mau
Egyptian Maus are short haired cats but shed regularly so they do require regular brushing to keep their coats shiny and healthy. Otherwise they have very little in the way of health issues.
Have you ever met an Egyptian Mau cat? Please share your experiences in the comments below.
Image: Liz West via Flickr
I’m pretty sure I have an Egyptian Mau, she is exactly like the pictures above, she’s three months old but tiny as hell, she does twist and flips off my walls and loves hunting, I literally throw her toy crab and say kill and she attacks it, she’s very active at night like a tiger, she only come to me when she wants cuddles and knocks my phone out of my hand then walks away when she’s satisfied. I am her favourite but she’s nice to everyone. Everything I read just described my cat and she even has the stripes and spots. I wish I knew for sure.
I think we have an Egyptian Mao. All of the described characteristics my cat Houdini has. Thanks for the info.
My husband and I have two Egyptian Maus and they are spoiled. But I want to try to get to them off if dry kibble and onto wet food and I have been doing a lot of research and cats and dogs too are suppose to have A Raw diet, but right now I have them on natures variety and ziwi peak, they hated the ziwi peak air dried, I am hoping that they will like the wet, but the only way I can get them to eat the air dried only is to put it in a blender and pulse it until it is a powder form and sprinkle some on their other wet food and yea, they eat it, also treats they really love their treats, they really love the greenies, and I want to get them on a much healthier treats, I have tried all kinds and they hate and thing freeze dried even cat food that is freeze dried. Help
We’ve had our Egyptian Mau cat since he was 1 1/2 years old. He’s 10 years old now. It took him about 2 months to really feel comfortable with us but once he was we were able to truly enjoy his beautiful personality. He loves to play hunt at least twice a day – sometimes “mouse” and other times “bird” (Da-Bird), run through the house practicing hunting skills (twice a day), meow us to the rug where we have to pet his tummy for at least 10 minutes about 10 times a day, beat us to the top of the stairs which means we owe him snacks (he confidently walks us to the snacks). He’s bossy at times and very quiet and polite at other times. We love him more than anything and can’t imagine life without him.
We think Jewel has some Egyptian Mau in her. Sadly, no spots, but she has those big striking green eyes and she has a lot of the personality of the Egyptian Mau. She even used to fetch milk rings for me! 🙂
Oh wow, my P.A. has wanted an Egyptian Mau like furever!! Thanks fur sharing today, we loved it!
That sounds like a great cat. It sounds like it would be a little like having a feral cat. Are they all the same color?? Do they get really big?? Never heard of this kind of cat before. Great post.