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Historical Fowl Up
The foregoing
assertion, found in Helen and Sidney Denham's Child of
the Gods, is based on perceived resemblances between modern-day
Abys and the cats portrayed in various paintings, drawings
and sculptures bequeathed to us by those fun-loving "ancient
Egyptians." These perceptions frequently masquerade as premises
- while adjectives are transformed into uppercase co-conspirators
- on a merry brick road that leads to conclusions like the
following: "It is certainly interesting to note that the Ancient
Egyptian drawings show the Abyssinians' ancestors retrieving
and putting up water fowl."
We, too,
have seen cats retrieving water fowl, once it has been brought
home, cooked and placed conveniently on a table; yet this
does not inspire us to connect the dots between our cats and
those "ancient Egyptian" felines. Resemblance may be in the
eye of the beholder, but historical documentation is more
than a matter of perception, and what those "ancient Egyptian"
drawings suggest is that cats existed in Egypt a long time
ago. Period. Any connection between those cats and pedigreed
cats living or dead is plainly coincidental.
Rock,
Paper, Scissors
Like its
resplendent coat pattern, made up of alternating bands of
color, the Abyssinian's history is composed of alternating
theories. Already we have seen one jolly band that believes
Abys were the cat's meow along the Nile. A second band maintains
that Abys originated in the jungles of North Africa from whence
they were brought to England by soldiers returning from the
Abyssinian War during the late 1860s.
This latter
supposition is based on slightly more credible - yet scarcely
overwhelming - evidence. As near as records can attest, the
first "Abyssinian" to reach England was a cat named Zula,
who was imported by Mrs. Barrett-Lennard in 1868. According
to one writer, Zula "and possibly other imports were bred
with similarly marked cats of partly unknown origin," and
thus the Abyssinian breed was born. Trouble is, the names
of those other possible imports - if indeed they ever existed
- have either gone unrecorded or have been lost. Nor does
Zula's name appear on any pedigrees that survive today.
Of the
various theories purporting to explain the Abyssinian's origin
the sensible-shoes description was advanced by Rosemonde S.
Peltz in the 1972 Cat Fanciers' Association Yearbook, wherein
she insisted "there is no doubt that the Abyssinian breed
was made in England" by persons who "began with British Shorthairs,
in most cases of unknown parentage, and gradually broke up
tabby striping and eliminated white spotting and bars until
they produced a cat with a uniformed ticked coat." Thus, concluded
Peltz, "the Abyssinian is more at home on the Thames than
on the Nile."
Another
contestant in the battle of the bands is the theory that Abyssinians
originated "along the shores of the Bay of Bengal." Proponents
of this theory generally refer to "recent genetic studies"
that support it. Unfortunately those studies are never identified,
nor is any connection demonstrated between Bengalside Abys
and current members of the clan.
Tick,
Tick, Ticking
Whatever
its origin the Abyssinian was listed as a separate breed in
England by 1882. "In the beginning there was a great range
of colors extending from the wild silver agouti ticking to
an intense yellow ticking," wrote Peltz. "The silver color
seems to predominate in the early Abyssinians if one notices
the names of the cats. Such names as Aluminum, Quicksilver,
Silver Memelik, and Silver Fairy hardly could have been given
to ruddy-colored cats."
By 1900
many authorities believed that the name Abyssinian could hardly
be used to describe a breed that was, when push came to pedigree,
the result of chance matings among ordinary tabbies. Therefore
Abyssinian was replaced for a time in official cat circles
by Ticks, British Ticks or Bunny Cats. This revisionist opinion
was supported by the fact that each of the 12 Abyssinians
registered in the stud book of the National Cat Club in England
for 1900-1905 was descended from at least one parent of unknown
origin.
Further
Developments
The first
Abys to arrive in the United States were owned by Jane Cathcart
of Oradell, New Jersey. Their names Ch. Aluminum and Salt
suggest that they were silvers. These cats were exhibited
in Boston in 1909. There is no record of additional Aby imports
until the 1930s - when a great many Abys were brought to this
country - and the first Abyssinian litter born in the United
States was not recorded until 1935.
The growing
interest in Abyssinians in this country was fortuitous because
World War II had a detrimental effect on the Aby in Great
Britain. The war forced many breeders to discontinue their
efforts to preserve the Aby, and the list of stud cats in
the 1947-48 General Council of the Cat Fancy records included
just four Abyssinians, two of which were unproven.
The breed
was able to rebound from this situation, however, and eventually
became a perennial fixture among the top five cats in the
United States. In 1998, for example, the Abyssinian ranked
fifth among the 37 breeds recognized by the Cat Fanciers'
Association (CFA). New registrations totaled 2,012 for the
year. Admittedly this represented a decrease of 13 percent
from the preceding year, but the Aby was not alone on the
down escalator. CFA's total new registrations fell by 6 percent
in 1998, continuing a decade-long decline that suggests a
parallel decline in public interest in pedigreed cats.
Mr.
England's Cat
In 1985
a 3-year-old Abyssinian named Terra Cotta, who lived with
her owner, Will England, in Eagle River, Alaska, made headlines
when she became the first cat to receive a kidney transplant.
Terra Cotta needed the new kidney because she was dying of
amyloidosis, a form of kidney failure common to Abyssinians.
Amyloidosis occurs when the protein amyloid is deposited in
the kidneys under conditions other than ordinary. The amyloid
buildup impairs normal organ function, and an affected cat
can die or suffer from depleted organ function or organ failure.
Amyloidosis can strike early and severely, but milder forms
of the disease can go undetected throughout the cat's life.
Current diagnostic tests are limited in value, and the mode
of inheritance for amyloidosis in the Abyssinian cat has yet
to be determined.
The
Building Code
Some cat
registries describe the Abyssinian as a medium-sized cat,
while others describe it as a medium to large one. The Aby
is also characterized as lithe, hard, muscular and regal in
appearance: a cat that strikes a medium between the cobby
type and the svelte, elongated breeds.
The Aby's
effulgent color, its handsome ticking and its silky, dense,
resilient coat are its most commanding features, accounting
for 35 to 40 points in the various organizations' standards.
The Abyssinian pattern is described as "a form of agouti ticking"
with even, contrasting bands of light and darker color producing
"a translucent effect." Coat length in the Abyssinian should
be medium, but long enough to accommodate four or six alternating
bands of color. Depending on the association, the Aby is recognized
in ruddy, red (also called sorrel), blue, fawn, lilac, cream,
silver, chocolate silver, blue silver and fawn silver.
The Abyssinian's
head is shaped like a modified, slightly rounded wedge without
flat planes. Large, almond-shaped, expressive eyes - in gold,
hazel, green or copper, depending on the association - dominate
the Abyssinian's face; and large, alert, moderately pointed
ears, broad and cupped at the base, create the impression
that the Aby is alert and listening.
The Abyssinian
body, described variously as medium, medium long or rather
long, should have a rounded rib cage with no evidence of flat
sides, a slightly arched back, and a reasonably level flank
with no tuck up.
Personality
Profile
Abyssinians
have been called "Lions of Love" by one dazzled enthusiast.
"Do not get one of these cats if you want an entirely decorative,
docile pet," this breeder continued. Abys are valiant and
outgoing. They love people and it shows. Although more than
intelligent enough to amuse themselves when left alone, they
flower in a one-on-one person-cat relationship. Thus, we are
told, "it's easy to fall in love with a splendid, little mountain
lion of a cat that is quite willing to fall in love with you.
If you want something wild, yet gentle and loving, something
exciting, yet peaceful and serene, something unique, elegant
and beautiful, share the good times of your life with an Abyssinian."
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