Somali Cat

Country of Origin:	USA
Colors:	Red, Ruddy, Blue, Fawn, Sorrel
Average Size:	Weight: : 8-12 lbs ( 3.6 – 5.4 kg)     Length: Medium
Life Span:	9-13 yrs.
Coat:	Long
Personality:	Very affectionate cats, giving as much love and attention as they receive
Characteristics:	Energy:  Active      Talkative: Little       Kid Friendly: Yes       Allergic:  No

With their beautiful fluffy fur, large tufts of hair in the ears and delicate luxurious tail that resembles a fox, Somali cats are at the same time wild-looking, brisk and sportsmanlike. However, like its relatives the Abyssinian cats, Somali cats are very mild-mannered, quiet and very sociable.

This is a breed of cats named after Somalia, a country near Ethiopia (formerly called Abyssinia) in order to emphasize the similarity with the Abyssinian breed. Actually Somali cats are a long-haired version of the short-haired Abyssinian cats.

Initially, Somali cat was not officially recognized because it was believed that it was a result of mixed breeding between Abyssinian cats and long-bristled cat breeds. In fact, it is known that some breeding lines of Abyssinian cats for many generations wore a recessive gene of longhaired cats, where the descendants of these cats also had long-haired kittens.

Canadian breeder Ken McGill in the sixties grew the first official Somali cats, and they were the basis for the development of the breed in the seventies in the United States. This breed cam to Europe in the eighties and in 1991 became recognized throughout the world.

Just like its ancestors (Abyssinian’s), Somali cats have the same hair sample as Abyssinian ones, although more silky, much softer and much longer. Instead of two or three stripes of color on each hair, Somali they can have even 12 colors. Normal or crimson color was one of the first accepted in exhibitions. In all the Somali cats, the stripes on hair are much darker in the fall and winter.

Fur is lavish, but not woolly, and a luxurious mane around the neck is typical for the breed Somali cats have a lithe muscular body, and their legs are long with oval paws covered with tufts of fur. The head has a moderate wedge shape, and all Somali cats have dark -rimmed eyes – and surrounded by “glasses” of lighter hair.