Egyptian cat breed

Egyptian Mau - photograph copyright Helmi Flick

People who search for Egyptian cat breed are probably referring to the Egyptian Mau. The Egyptian Mau is a popular purebred cat in the cat fancy. According to the Pictures of Cats.org website's long standing poll, the Egyptian Mau is ranked 9th in popularity. There are about 70 well known cat breeds so 9th is good. See poll results.

This cat breed has a dual existence, however. While in the West, particularly, the United States, this cat is a valuable and glamorous show cat, pampered and preened, in Egypt, the country of the breeds origin, this cat is an ostracized feral cat.

The difference between the two is that the show cat is naturally more refined through careful breeding while the feral cat is, as expected, a rougher version but noticeably still an Egyptian Mau. You can see an interesting comparison on this page: Egyptian Mau Pictures.


Abyssinian Cat - photograph copyright Helmi Flick

Another cat that is associated with Egypt or Egyptian cat breed, at least the geographical area of Egypt is the Abyssinian cat. The Aby, as the cat is fondly known in the cat fancy, has a statuesque appearance that resembles the ancient Egyptian bronze statues at the time the cat was worshipped (see Egyptian Cat Art). We don't know what kind of cat the sculptures used as models. They are probably an idealized representation of a cat but the Aby's appearance fits very well.

The origins of the Abyssinian cat are a little vague. It is thought that the Abyssinian originates from an area around the Indian Ocean. I speculate on the origins of the Abyssinian cat on this page: Origins of the Abyssinian Cat. In my view, this cat breed came to the West (specifically the UK) from the west coast of India via Ethiopia (Abyssinia) in the mid/late 1800s.

Then there are wild cats in Egypt. Of the six possible wildcats that inhabit the Egytian landscape there is the Sand cat, the Cheetah and the Caracal. The Cheetah is probably extinct in Egypt. The Sand cat and Caracal are elusive. Finally how about a bit of Egyptian Cat Art?

Egyptian cat breed to Home page

Donations to Texas Maine Coon Rescue

I am proud to say that Pictures of Cats.org has been able, over a number of months, to make donations to Texas Maine Coon Rescue. This is one of my favorite cat rescue organizations to which I am pleased to make donations. This is in part because it is based in the Dallas area and the president of the organization, Christie, is a friend of Helmi and Ken Flick, with whom, I am at this moment, staying. As a result I am lucky to have had the opportunity to meet up with Christie who joined the Flicks and me at thanksgiving.


Michael, the creator of the charitable website http://www.pictures-of-cats.org presenting a check to Christie Montgomery of Texas Maine Coon Rescue.

This is a picture taken by Helmi of the presentation of a cheque (check) to Christie for $412, representing the donation made in November 2008 from earnings from the website pictures of cats.org over the month of October. The site was also able to donate to other cat charities in November. A list of the donees can be seen on this page: Pictures of Cats org Donations.

Donations to Texas Maine Coon Rescue will be a priority of mine. Christie told me that the money was used to part pay a large veterinarian bill.

I also had a chance to meet with Christie and some of the rescued cats at her work place (more to come on this later). Thanks Christie for doing great work and my regards and love to all the team at Texas Maine Coon Rescue.

Donations to Texas Maine Coon Rescue to Maine Coon Cats

Cats as a disposable item

Is it right that during this time of financial difficulty for some people, that they should treat cats as a disposable item?

It seems that the abandonment of domestic cats is on the increase in the United States. The Shelby County Humane Society has taken in a significantly larger number of abandoned and stray animals this year compared to 2007. This is despite the fact the county has a high proportion of educated people.

Cats that are handed in to the The Shelby County Humane Society facility are most likely to be euthanized as there is no chance of the owners turning up to recover a lost cat. The rescue center must be turning into a kind of processing plant as a large number of cats must be euthanized as they are full.

The situation seems hopeless. It seems that some (perhaps a significant number judging by the increase in abandoned cats) people do treat cats as a disposable item in the same way that they would throw away a old washing machine. It is understandable but we cannot it seems to me treat a living creature like an inert machine. We have to find a better way surely.

If the people can find somewhere to live isn't it possible to keep there cats? If a house is repossessed don't the local authorities help with rehousing in some way? And if the rehoming precludes a cat why should this be the case?

It seems to me that we have a responsibility to our domestic cats that we cannot walk away from and a little more effort and commitment may save many cat's lives. Am I being too harsh?

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Cats Pilgrims and Thanksgiving

One the eve of Thanksgiving, for a cat lover it is apt to ask, "What have Cats, Pilgrims and Thanksgiving got in common?" Well, in 1620, the Pilgrims or English Separatists sailed from Southampton, England in the now famous ship, the Mayflower, on their journey to Plymouth, North America and it is pretty well common knowledge that cats were stowed on board as mousers. And, traditionally, the first thanksgiving is meant to have occurred at the site of Plymouth Plantation in 1621.


A modern replica of the Mayflower - photo by Lady-bug under creative commons license.

In the 16th century cats were useful on ships in helping to protect limited food supplies from rodents. The culture of having a "ships cat" was and still is widespread. There is a sad news story, in fact, of a young person who threw the ships cat on HMS Belfast into the Thames this year. HMS Belfast (a tourist attraction now) is moored on the Thames, London, England. It is thought the cat drowned.

OK, we almost know for sure that cats came over on the Mayflower in 1620. The Mayflower was a privately commissioned ship and returned to England 6 months after arriving at Cape Cod. The journey took 66 days. It was a hard journey and the spread of disease was a constant threat.

At the time of this epic and famous journey there was no cat fancy (an organized group of people interested in cats). Nearly all cats in England at that time would have been the classic moggie or domestic shorthair cat. These cats are still the kind of cat that most people in England keep as pets. Only a small percentage of people keep purebred cats and the percentage is probably smaller in England than in the United States.


First Thanksgiving "The First Thanksgiving", painting by Jean Leon Gerome Ferris (1863–1930). Published under a Wikimedia Commons license. User: Themadchopper .

Although I am speculating it is probably reasonable to say that the British Shorthair domestic cat brought over from England may have contributed to the development of the American Shorthair cat about 300 years later. The British Shorthair cat (as a purebred cat) is similar to the American Shorthair (purebred pedigree cat).

This, to me, begs the question whether there were any domestic cats in North America at the time the Pilgrims arrived. It would seem reasonable to expect that moggies did exist in North America in the 1600s but there is no record as far as I know of this. Apparently the first written record of the presence of cats in north America date from 1634 (src: Carolyn Travers, research manager at www.plimoth.org in Plymouth, Mass), 14 years after the arrival of the Pilgrims.

In which case the ancestors of the British domestic cats brought over by the Pilgrims could now be the ones that can be seen at, for example, a Cat Fanciers Association (CFA) cat show as "Household Pets". These are non purebred domestic cats that most people keep, which can be shown at cat shows.


Cats classified as "Household Pets". They are Cathy Aronstein's Household Pets, Bentley and Merlin that were at the TICA Waxahachie, Texas, cat show, 2008. The photograph is by Helmi Flick, copyright Helmi Flick and was taken at the 2007 South Central Regional.

Cats, pilgrims and Thanksgiving have lots in common and we can perhaps thank the Pilgrims for the cat fancy in the United States.

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Ken and Helmi Flick's Cats

Ken and Helmi Flick's cats are great and they all very definitely have their own characters. They have 4 cats and one stray cat (Buttermilk) who does not live with Ken and Helmi but who they feed.

Here are the cats. The pictures are mine (I guess you can tell!) except, of course the one of me with Buttermilk. The photos by me were taken spontaneously, mainly in my room in Ken and Helm's home. First we have Quin. He is a large Maine Coon. Well, he might not be that large by Maine Coon standards but he is large, long limbed and quite rangy in conformation compared to the average moggie. His hair flows over his slender body. His face is strong, broad and somehow tender looking. Like his brother, Zak, he can look you straight in the eye and hold that look. That is unusual in a cat but usual for a Maine Coon.


Maine Coon cat- Quin a Black Smoke MC - He has this wonderfully piercing gaze. He is sitting at the window. He has a swirling, glamorous, black smoke coat.

Maine Coons are fairly quiet cats. Judging by Quin and Zak they rarely actually open their mouth to meow but prefer to trill with the mouth closed. The trill is very distinctive and definitely a Maine Coon voice.

Here is a picture of his brother Zak:


Maine Coon cat - Zak is a Blue and White Bicolor MC. Helmi says that he is the alpha cat in the group. He is a sweet boy. As can been seen he has long hair and he is lean; there is no fat on him. I love the long slightly disheveled coat and whiskers. In this picture he is about to jump up. When he stands on his back legs he is tall, much taller than the average cat. The picture is copyright Michael Broad and it links to a jumbo sized version on another page plus some more about ZAK.

Ken and Helmi Flick's cats include 2 British Shorthair cats, one is black and the other blue (grey/blue). They are very lovable. Sky, the blue British Shorthair cat is a past champion cat having been shown by Helmi and Ken Flick. Here is a picture of her:


British Shorthair cat - Sky a Blue BS - great open face and a very cute cat. She has just come into my room as I write this......She is now sitting by the window sill and now she is curled up on my trousers....

One defining difference between the British Shorthair and the Maine Coon is the voice. Sky has a very quiet, almost silent voice. It is very sweet indeed. She does her own thing like all cats but is very loving. Helmi chose the name "Sky" very wisely. The sound of the name is apparently easily recognized by a cat and the word sky, evoking the color blue, makes it a very apt name.

And last but not least, we have Nox. He has the most plush, silky black coat and a quiet voice like Sky. British Shorthair cats are known for the plush coats. Here he is:


British Shorthair cat - Nox - the boy with the super plush coat - it's great to touch. You could stroke him all day and he'd let you, I think.

If you'd like to read and see more about these 2 cat breeds, you might like to try these pages. They contain Helmi Flick's photographs of the best cats:

• British Shorthair cat
• Maine Coon cats

I love Ken and Helmi Flick's cats. I have never lived with a purebred cat so this is a pleasure. All Ken and Helmi Flick's cats are purebred.

And I almost forgot, here is the outdoor stray cat, Buttermilk, that Helmi and Ken feed and give some love to.


Here's Buttermilk. Oh, the person on the left is me. He's saying OK, OK, that's enough. He has that jowly look of an unneutered boy cat and he is all muscle.

From Ken and Helmi Flick's cats to Home Page