Abyssinian Cat Breed
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Abyssinians are very lithe looking cats that boast a wild look about them. They are muscular, athletic and medium in size with well-balanced bodies and beautifully ticked, close-lying coats. Their heads boast being nicely contoured which is especially noticeable from a cat’s brow to the top of their heads showing a good width between the ears. Their heads are rather wedged shaped and muzzles are slightly rounded. Males have fuller cheeks than their female counterparts. Abys have a slight nose break, but the nose to the chin is straight.
Ears are large, nicely cupped and set well apart on the head being furry on the inside edges and with distinct tufts on the tips. Their eyes are almond shaped and set well apart with Abys boasting an intelligent, expressive look in them. Their eyes can be a deep shade of green, hazel or amber. They have elegant necks that arch from the top of a cat’s head to their shoulders. Abys have muscular, lithe bodies with nice straight backs and nicely rounded ribcages. They have elegant, slender legs that are nicely in proportion with the body which adds to their overall well-balanced appearance. Feet are oval in shape and small in size. Tails are long being thicker at the base before tapering to the tip.
When it comes to their coat, Abyssinians boast having a fine, short, dense close lying coat with distinctive ticking that ends up with cats having a minimum four bands of colour in their coats with the roots being the same colour as the base hair. The last band being the ticking colour. Their all-important markings should always go from the inner edge of a cat’s eye to the top of their heads as well as from the outer edge of their eyes to the edge of their ears. The hair found around a cat’s eyes should be pale in colour, whereas the outer edge should be that much darker. The back of a cat’s ears is darker at the tips, but a brighter colour at the base.
Chins, lips and nostrils match the colour of a cat’s base hair or they can be cream, but never white. Abys should have a line of ticking colour running the full length of the back of their heads right along their spines and tails, but which ends up being a solid colour at the tip of the tail. Rhis same colour should go well up a cat’s hock. Cats can have a nicely broken “necklet” or a slight amount of barring on their legs which are acceptable under their GCCF breed standard.
Abyssinians now come in a variety of colours which are as follows:
- Usual
- Sorrel
- Blue
- Chocolate
- Lilac
- Fawn
- Red
- Cream
- Usual Silver
- Sorrel Silver
- Blue Silver
- Chocolate Silver
- Lilac Silver
- Fawn Silver
- Red Silver
- Cream Silver
- Tortie Abyssinian
- Usual Tortie
- Sorrel Tortie
- Blue Tortie
- Chocolate Tortie
- Lilac Tortie
- Fawn Tortie
- Tortie Silver
- Sorrel Tortie Silver
- Blue Tortie Silver
- Chocolate Tortie Silver
- Lilac Tortie Silver
- Fawn Tortie Silver