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Baton Rouge cattery
Breeder: Christine Rüssheim, Switzerland |
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Abyssinians exist in the following colours:
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ruddy
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sorrel
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blue
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fawn
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all those colours can be also with silver, where the base colour
is silver white. |
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In the ruddy Abyssinian the base colour is a rich orange
colour, the hairs are ticked with dark seal.
The ruddy Abyssinian is
genetically black, the warm coppery coat colour comes from rufismus (caused by
rufus polygenes) which has been increased over the years through sorrowful
selective breeding.
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In the sorrel Abyssinian the base colour is apricot, the
hairs are ticked with chocolate.
In some federations this colour is called
"red", which has nothing to do genetically with the red colour caused by the gene
"Orange", but with the gene "bl" an allel of "b", called
cinnamon.
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Ch. Mikkar Heathermist
Owner & Breeder: Mike & Karen Shammas,
Mikkar
cattery, U.K. |
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In the blue Abyssinian the base colour is blue-grey with a beige ground
colour, the hairs are ticked with dark blue.
Chest, stomach, inside of
the legs are coloured with the beige ground colour and don't show any ticking. |
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In the fawn Abyssinian the base colour is beige (cream)
with a very pale ground colour, which is also cream in tone, the hairs are
ticked with dark cream.
Chest, stomach, inside of the legs are coloured
with the very pale cream ground colour and don't show any ticking.
The colour is very rare and appears to be slightly dull, it is a colour for cat
fanciers.
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Maichrest Philine
Breeder: Leila Nielsen,
Maichrest cattery, Denmark |
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In the black silver Abyssinian the base colour is silver
white, the hairs are ticked with black.
It is very difficult in this colour
not to have a yellow tinge in the coat (mainly not in the face, on the back and
the front legs) which is caused by too much rufismus.
Chest, stomach,
inside of the legs are silver white without any ticking or darker colour
patches. |
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Eurocatfancy
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| Breed profile |
The Abyssinian is a very elegant and active shorthair
cat.
Size is medium.
The body together with the legs form more or less a
square. The body is very muscular with senewy slender legs.
The shape of the
head is a short modified wedge where all lines and curves are soft and
gentle.
What does that mean ?
Looking on the head either from the front or
in profile there should not be seen any straight lines or flat planes. The
forehead is gently curved, the muzzle is gently curved and round, i.e. the head
is not pointed.
When viewed from the side the head is rather short, the nose
shows a gentle curve and the profile is not straight.
Ears are fairly large
and wide at the base, when viewed from the side they are slightly tilted
forward, called pricked, which gives the cat this certain alert
expression.
Eyes are large and almond in shape and very brilliant, you get
caught by these eyes.
The tail is medium to almost long with a rounded tip,
i.e. not pointed like on the Siamese.
The most characteristic and important part of the Abyssinian is its coat, in
the non-silver colours it shows a rich base colour and each hair of the upper
body parts is ticked, which means each hair shows several bands of the base
colour alternating with the darker colour of the ticking, the tips of the hairs
are coloured with the same darker colour as the ticking.
The ticking is it
what gives that certain impression of wild hairs as you can see it also f.e. on
rabbits and deers.
The underside of the body (chest, stomach, inside of
the legs) is without ticking.
In the face you can see, that the Abyssinian is a tabby cat (called Ticked
Tabby), because you can find the typical tabby markings like the "M" on the
forehead and the rims around the eyes. But on all the other parts, like around
the neck, the flanks, the legs and the tail no stripes or rings are
permitted.
The best place to see which colour the ticking has is the tail tip
which is uniform in colour.
Hairs are quite fine and thin.
The Abyssinian has short hairs which are
close lying to the body.
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History
The Abyssinian is one of the oldest breeds and very popular. The coat pattern
is based on one single gene, called Ta (ticked tabby).
The
origin is likely to be traced back to those cats which had been painted and
sculpted in Ancient Egypt. It is said that in the 1860s a cat named Zula was
imported to England from Abyssinia (Ethiopia). The names for this breed had been
several ones, like Abyssinian, Hare cat or Bunny cat because its ticked coat is
very similar to the wild hair of the rabbits, in France the ruddy colour is
still called lièvre. The colour was described in 1889 as "deep brown ticked with
black, somewhat resembling the back of a wild (only not so grey) rabbit". Also
other colours have occurred in this breed quite early, like the so-called red
which was already mentioned in 1887.
Already 1917 the first Abyssinians were
registered with CFA. In 1929 the Abyssinian was recognized in France. |
Temperament
The Abyssinian is extremely gentle and affectionate to people. They are very
good companions, not excessively "talkative". They are interested in their
surroundings, which gives them this very special expression in their sparkling
brilliant eyes. Nothing is too small, nothing too big not to be the subject of their
adventure of investigation.
They love to climb, but very seldom break or
disturb things, even when they move between things like a slalom skier.
This
breed seems to be able to read and anticipate the needs of their favorite
persons.
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Grooming
The Abyssinian has very short and rather fine hairs, and the coat is close
lying. Their coat has no tendency to get filthy or knotted. They do not need to
be bathed or excessively combed and brushed. Grooming is rather easy, from time
to time one should lightly brush them so that the old and dead hairs get out
from the coat.
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Include
the link to the database.
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