I have a pet-quality silver Egyptain Mau called Flynn. He is off-breed type in many ways, which is great because that meant I ended up with him.
They come from a different liineage than most domestic cats. people think thay are decended from Cairo street cats. They have longer pregnancies, really long bodies and very long toes on narrow feet. They run like a cheetah and have skin flaps to allow fiull extension so that they can run like a cheetah. The coat pattern is very distinctive. There is a cat rescue organisation in Cairo (
www.emaurescue.org) but their website doesn't seem to be working just now. You can find out about them here:
http://www.mystic-mouse.co.uk/SecondaryPages/Mau.htm.
Flynn is great. When you read about an Egyptian Mau's character, that's Flynn. Having a mega-athletic cat was a challenge when he was a kitten but is fantastic now that he has 24/7 access to a catproofed garden. There is no wildlife left in it thought because he hunts and eats his kills. In fact, he will eat anything so I can just imagine him surviving as a street cat (although he is much better off being spolit by me). He chirps rather than meows, loves water (paddles), is affectionate to his cats and his humans, although suspicious of outsiders.
The silver coat is ticked (the pale grey) and double tricked (the dark grey). On the breeders sites it suggests keeping them in and not brushing them much as this disrupts the pattern. Needless to say, Flynn is more interested in having a good time than having a perfectly spotted coat!
Some pictures of Flynn - the black cat is Mitzi (they were raised together from 2 and 4 weeks)
