HISTORY OF SOMALI CATS

Somali cats originate from Abyssinian cats. Long-haired kittens were born to Abyssinian parents, but there is debate whether this was cause by a recessive gene in purebred Abys or by mixed ancestry. You see the World War II was destructive to cat breeds also – after the war there were only a few Abys left. The breeders of those years may have bred their cats to other breeds to keep the breed alive at all (not to mention accidental breeding), and this may have brought the long hair gene into the gene pool.  And, of course, one possibility is a genetic mutation.

Three explanations, all of which may be valid. Some genetic research has been done, and these seem to point to the first option – that long-haired breeds were purposefully used in Abyssinian breeding programs.

What is known, however, is that the gene that causes the beautiful long hair is recessive. This means that both parents must carry it in order for a long-haired kitten to be born.

In the early years of the breed the long coat was considered undesirable, and the breeders did not tell about them. Some, however, found these long-haired Abys beautiful and kept of breeding them.

All the Somalis in US can be traced back to one ancestor – a male Aby, Raby Chuffa of Selene. He arrived in the States from Britain in 1953. His ancestry can be traced back to an Aby dam called Mrs. Mews. Mrs Mews was brought into the country by a sailor who gifted the cat to Janet Robertson. This cat most likely carried the long-hair gene, as there were the occasional long-haired kitten in her descendants.

In the US the first breeder of Somalis was Evelyn Mague. She rescued a long-haired Aby called George from an animal shelter only to find out it was a descendant of one of her own Abys, Lord Dublin. She acquired the mother of George, Lo-Mi-R Trill By. With Lord Dublin as the sire, a new line of Abys was created.

When Abyssinian breeders did not like the new breed to be called long-haired Abyssinian, and so Evelyn Mague named the new cats Somalis (as Somalia was right next to Abyssinia on the map). She founded the Somali Cat Club of America in 1972.

The first person to breed Somalis in Canada was Ken McGill who met his first Somali at a cat show in Calgary, when he was a judge in the said show.

This beautiful feline was then bred as a breed in its own right from 1960s onwards in USA and Canada. The breed was accepted into Cat Fancier’s Association in the US in 1979, and was accepted as a breed in Europe only in the 1980s.

Thank you, Rita Bruche of Vivace Somali Cattery for the permission to use your beautiful photos.


Back to Homepage from Somali Cats History

What is this beautiful cat like as a pet?

Looks and colors of the breed



Space Witches series

The Seven Shabtis series

The Creature Wars series

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Leena's Books

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This book travels with the King Tut - Treasures of the Golden Pharaoh exhibition on his world tour of ten cities from March 2018 onwards

Tutankhamun: In My Own Hieroglyphs tells the story, for older children, of the life and afterlife of the famous young pharaoh in his own words. Tutankhamun tells us about the trouble he got into as a child in Akhenaten's palace in the new city of Akhetaten, and how he became a boy pharaoh. As we learn, his life changed a lot when he died as a teenager, and long years of boredom started in his tomb with only his pet monkey Fingers and his treasure for company. He did meet some of the Egyptian gods, of course, and had fun scaring off tomb robbers, but it was mostly rather dull. Then one day, some new and strange people, including a Mr. Howard Carter, arrived and began to take all the treasures out of his royal tomb. Fortunately, through the eyes of his beautiful golden mask, Tutankhamun, could have fun again traveling around the world

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An ancient friend of mine, Mr Mummific dictated a book about how he became a mummy - and I was his scribe and artist. The book is available at Amazon.com and Amazon.co.uk

On my other website www.ancientagypt101.com he continues his stories about life in ancient Egypt.

Another hilarious adventure for children with Mr Mummific, the mummy with attitude. He now tells the story of his mishaps, misunderstandings and misadventures as he leaves his tomb through the False Door to embark on the complicated and dangerous journey to the Afterlife aboard the magnificent Ship of Millions. 

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If you are looking for demanding coloring, check:

Online Coloring Books Magazine - No.1

It shows you step by step how to color this pretty Abyssinian cat with flowers. Each page has a color sample, and all the techniques are explained.