Personality

While most people are drawn to the Maus for their exotic looks it is often their extraordinary personalities that endure. They are moderately active and often express their happiness or excitement by chortling in a soft melodious voice and wiggling their tails at great speed while treading with their forepaws. They like to be with people and other animals and join in with everything that is going on. A Mau will follow you around the house, ride on your shoulders and sit on your lap. Maus tend to bond very strongly to their owners and some can be shy of strangers. The Maus are very athletic and will perform stunning leaps. Maus are very protective of their toys carrying them around and growling at anyone who threatens to remove them. Maus are extremely intelligent and will learn to open cabinets and many other things to get toys or food. Many Maus will play fetch without any special training. Maus are also fascinated by water – they love to dip their toes and drink from the faucet.

Appearance

This breed’s most striking feature is the randomly placed, distinctive spotting. Considerable variety exists in placement and shape; the spots can be large or small, round or oblong, irregular or uniform, or in any combination. Regardless, the spots must be vivid and distinct with good contrast between the background and the color of the spots. The face bears tabby barring including mascara lines on the cheeks. The characteristic “M” on the forehead is sometimes described as a scarab beetle. The legs and tail also possess barring and the tail ends with a dark tip. They are medium-sized cats, the adult males usually weigh 10 to 14 pounds, and 6 to 10 pounds for adult females. The mau’s head is a slightly rounded wedge shape, with a slight rise from the bridge of the nose to the forehead. The muzzle is neither short nor pointed. The alert ears are medium to large, pointed, broad at the base, and set with ample width between. The large, alert eyes are almond shaped and slightly slanted. Eye color is gooseberry green and can take over a year and a half to reach their full color. Maus have the distinction of being the only naturally spotted domestic cat. They are always spotted and come in five colors: silver, bronze, smoke, black, and blue. Silver - black spots on a pure silver white background. Bronze - warm bronze ground color shading to tawny-buff on the sides with dark brown-black spots. Smoke - a pale silver ground color with all hairs tipped in black with jet black spots. Black - pure black with ghost spotting. Blues come in three varieties - blue silver, blue smoke, blue spotted, and blue solid. Coat color can take up to 15 months to fully develop. The mau is long, graceful, and muscular with a stride like a cheetah. A unique flap of skin extends from the flank to the back knee, which allows for greater length of stride and agility. The Egyptian mau is the fastest breed of domestic cat, clocked at more than 36 miles per hour.

Color Chart

Silver Female

Smoke Female

Bronze Male

Black Female

Blue Male