The Somali Cat Breed

The Somali cat is a new breed and was first established during the 1960's. It is a semi-longhaired version of the Abyssinian cat breed.

Although the Abyssinian is a shorthaired breed some kittens were being born with a fluffy coat naturally. Although this was initially suppressed in the breed, it was later encouraged to produce the Somali Cat breed.

The coat of the cat is very distinctive; it has a very striking pattern that is ticked with three two-colour stripes on each hair. It comes in a variety of colours, which are:

Picture by Robert Fox

Usual - rich gold brown, ticked with black.

Sorrel -apricot ticked with cinnamon

Blue - Mushroom ticked with lilac

Chocolate - apricot ticked with dark brown

Lilac - mushroom ticked with lilac

Fawn - mushroom ticked with fawn

There are also red, cream, silver and tortie variations of colour.

The breed has a balanced body of medium build. It is firm and lithe as well as muscular. It has long legs and a long bushy tail.

Ears and toes are tufted; the ears are set wide apart and very prominent.

The breed is not as out going as it's Abyssinian relatives but still requires an active lifestyle and is not therefore suited to an indoor life only.

Coat: The breed has a fine soft coat that is thick and dense. It lies flat along the spine and the fur is distinctly longer around the neck and hindquarters.

Eyes: The cat has almond shaped eyes that are slanting upwards. The eyes are outlined with a dark colour. The eyes are hazel, green or amber.

Grooming: The Cat breed does not require and a lot of difficult grooming. The coat is very fine and so weekly grooming is easy and fairly quick.

Temperament: This cat breed has a lively personality and is very alert and active. It is very intelligent and so needs lots to keep it occupied, so a varied environment is essential. Ideally the cat should not be kept inside all the time.

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