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| Abyssinians |
| The Abyssinian is one of the oldest known breeds. In appearance, Abyssinians resemble the paintings and sculptures of ancient Egyptian cats, which portray an elegant feline with a muscular body; beautiful arched neck, large ears and almond shaped eyes. Abyssinians today still retain the jungle look of felis lybica, the African wildcat ancestor of all domestic cats. |
| In the book, by Gordon Staples, Cats, Their Points, Etc. published in 1874, there is the first mention of an Abyssinian. The book shows a coloured lithograph of a cat with a ticked coat and absence of tabby markings on the paws, face and neck. The description reads: "Zula, the property of Mrs. Captain Barrett-Lennard. This cat was brought from Abyssinia at the conclusion of the war…” British troops left Abyssinia in May 1868, so that may have been the time when cats with ticked coats first entered England. |
| Recent studies by geneticists show that the most convincing origin of the Abyssinian breed is the coast of the Indian Ocean and parts of Southeast Asia. In fact, the earliest identifiable Abyssinian is a taxidermal exhibit still residing in the Leiden Zoological Museum in Holland. This ruddy ticked cat was purchased around 1834-1836 from a supplier of small wild cat exhibits and labelled by the museum founder as "Patrie, domestica India." Although the Abyssinian as a breed was refined in England, its introduction may have been the result of colonists and merchants stopping in Calcutta, the major port for the Indian Ocean. |
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