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History
Abyssinian cat is a direct descendant of the sacred cats worshiped as the physical manifestations of the gods in the temples and palaces of the ancient Egyptians some 4,000 years ago. Abyssinians do look remarkably like the cats depicted in Egyptian murals and sculptures.
An Abyssinian named Zula was transported from Abyssinia (now Ethiopia) to England at the end of the Abyssinian War in 1868, according to Dr. Staples in his 1874 book, Cats, Their Points, Etc., but whether the cat was native to that area is subject to speculation. Recent genetic studies indicate that today’s Abyssinian may have descended from a breed found in Southeast Asia and the coast of the Indian Ocean. Abyssinians do resemble the African wildcat (Felis silvestris lybica), the progenitor of all domestic cats.
Since there’s no written evidence linking Zula with today’s breed, some breeders maintain that the original lines died out and the Abyssinian was recreated by British breeders. Undeniably, the breed was established and refined by early British fanciers until World War II decimated the breed, forcing British breeders to start over from scratch.
Two Abyssinians arrived in America in the early 1900s and were first exhibited in 1909. Active breeding of Abyssinians didn’t begin until the 1930s, but then breeders made up for lost time. Today, the Abyssinian is second only to the Siamese in popularity among the shorthaired breeds, according to the CFA’s registration totals.
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