It is that the ancestors of the modern-day Abyssinian cat were transported from their native Abyssinia to England on British ships around the time of England’s nineteenth-century military expedition to Abyssinia. Took The cats aboard the ship for the practical reason of hunting vermin. It was from Britain’s Abyssinian War that many of the hybrid British “bunny” or “ticked” cats derived their Abyssinian bloodlines. The Abyssinian, as it is known today, however, was developed in Great Britain and the United States, particularly between the Second World War and the 1970s. It is unclear whether or not the cats taken to England were the same as today’s Abyssinians; some experts believe the original Abyssinians mainly had, if not entirely, disappeared from their native region by that point in time, having interbred and ‘diluted’ their bloodline with other foreign varieties of cat. It is the breed in Great Britain and the USA.
The origins of the Abyssinian cat are shrouded in mystery, with speculation surrounding the breed. The consensus among experts is that the breed is one of the oldest known to man, with evidence suggesting that the breed originated in a region once known as the Abyssinian Empire. This region is now known as the country of Ethiopia. Early depictions of the breed are in Egyptian art. The most notable are the sculptures and paintings of ancient Egyptian cats; the cats are strikingly similar in appearance to the modern-day Abyssinian cat.
Ancient Egyptian Connection
It had that the Abyssinian received its distinctive look from statues of Egyptian cats; the resemblance is striking. In a 1966 letter to Mr. Beryl Cox, an influential breeder from the 1950s into the 1970s, with then Abyssinian Breed Committee’s Chairman Mrs. M B Taylor wrote, “We are inclined to believe that the Aby is a direct descendant of the sacred cats of ancient Egypt. The general type supports this, and similar to the cats depicted in ancient Egyptian statues and the cats portrayed in tombs in Egypt.” This theory is supported by the fact that cats look strikingly similar to modern-day Abyssinians in ancient Egyptian wall art pictures.
There are many stories of how the breed got to England. In the warmer climates of most parts of southern Asia, parts of Africa, and Portugal, a recessive ticked tabby pattern is most commonly seen in domestic cats because it is the best camouflage. The three-tiered ticking effect protects against the heat and sun of these regions. An example of natural selection was witnessed in England during the mid-1800s when the first Abyssinians were brought there by a British soldier returning home from service in the Abyssinian war.
Unfortunately, the initial importation of Abyssinians to England (and England is the foundation of the breed) is a mystery because the breed still needs to be recognized as a distinct breed. According to Carol Ann Brewer, M.D., it is recorded that in 1826, Mrs. Captain Barrett-Lennard brought ‘an Indian domestic cat’ from near Bombay to Falmouth, Cornwall. This particular ‘Indian’ domestic cat has ‘tawny’ fur like a lion, ‘ jet black’ legs and ears, and a ‘black tip’ on his tail. Mrs. Captain Barrett-Lennard’s Indian cat may have been an attempt to describe something resembling an Abyssinian. Still, there is no concrete evidence and no tie between the cat she imported and the Abyssinian breed of today. The first recognized importation of an Abyssinian occurred in 1868 when an English woman named Mrs. Mary Forester Simpson brought a cat or possibly a pair of cats from Ethiopia-Dar in the Horn of Africa to England. These whole-colored cats and their resulting offspring were the foundation cats of the breed.
Introduction to Europe
From depictions in ancient Egyptian artwork, the Abyssinian cat vanishes from documented history until the end of the 19th century. Some believe British soldiers deployed to North Africa returned home with kittens purchased from locals during the nineteenth century. Around the same time, breeders may have taken cats of the “Indian” type, which resembled the modern Abyssinian in and around England, where the breed—formally created The Abyssinian breed in Great Britain. The first actual Abyssinian cat in England was a rabbit hybrid-looking cat named Zulu, owned by Mrs. Captain Barrett-Lennard. He was brought from Alexandria, Egypt, by the British Army.
The cat was exhibited at the Crystal Palace in 1871 and did well. The breed was further developed by crossing Zulu with a female domestic shorthair. 1882 Harrison Weir, also known as “The Father of the Cat Fancy,” referred to the Abyssinian as a “honey-colored hybrid” in one of his letters. The breed did not see immediate success, as a few more hybrids were probably brought in and crossed with the original hybrids. Owners of the hybrids were not altogether concerned with breeding actual Abyssinian cats. With the start of the First World War, the Abyssinian breed almost vanished. After the war, certain British breeders tried to resurrect the breed using hybrids of the original Abyssinians and British shorthairs.
Recognition as a Breed
In 1985, an Abyssinian named GC RW VICTORIAN’S RED SHADOW of Kikicat was a top winning cat in CFA history. In 1987, another Abyssinian, GC NW AI-MUSHELLE’S ANZA of Kenkat, held the same title. With the growth of these wins, the Abyssinian became one of the most popular and beloved breeds and is now one of CFA’s most numerous breeds. Now, the breed has its color class. Fanciers’ dedication and the Abyssinian’s spirited, winning personality have brought the Aby to its current prominence.
In England, Abyssinians were granted championship status in 1912. When the cats were in the United States, it was difficult to track them because Persians were often labeled as Abyssinians to attract buyers. However, by the 1930s, the breed was gaining recognition in America. In the early 1960s, though, breeders began a new effort to promote the breed. Genetic testing and studying the blood type of the Abyssinian to prove that the breed was distinct from the cats it was often confused with, such as the British Shorthair.
