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Somali In the Beginning
One day in 1969 a year-old, longhaired Abyssinian cat named George--who had been given away at the age of five weeks by his breeder--was surrendered by his fifth owner to a private shelter in Gillette, New Jersey. Evelyn Mague, the woman who operated the shelter, bred Abyssinians at the time.
"When I opened the door," says Mague, "I thought here was the most beautiful cat I had ever seen."
Mague was fascinated by George's good looks. She eventually traced his pedigree back to his original breeder. Since George had not been used to living with other cats, Mague placed him in a single-cat home after having him neutered and vaccinated. None of George's five previous owners nor his breeder, who had given him away when he was far too young, had bothered to do this.
During her research into George's background, Mague learned that he was sired by a male she had bred and still owned, and that his mother was a cat she recently acquired from someone who had given up breeding. Mague also discovered a growing resentment in her heart because "this little longhair had been no better off than an unpedigreed cat in the street."
The more she thought about the shameful way George had been treated, the more she was determined to find another longhaired Abyssinian to show. That wasn't difficult. She owned George's parents, who obviously were carrying a longhair gene, and would thus produce a longhaired kitten in every litter of four on the average. Almost quicker than you can say, "What are you doing in the show hall with that unworthy beast?"--a polite translation of what some people did say--Evelyn Mague was showing her longhaired Abyssinians. Since Aby breeders would have sooner died than allow her call the cats by that straightforward name, she chose the name somali because Somalia forms the eastern and southeastern borders of Ethiopia, which used to be called Abyssinia.
Mague's choice of names was descriptive as well as ironic. There is at most a genes' worth of difference (the one that governs coat length) between an Aby and a somali. The differences between the breeds, like the borders between Ethiopia and Somalia, are manmade--though some breeders tried to blame natural mutation for the appearance of longhaired kittens in Abyssinian litters. The long hair was introduced, instead, by Abyssinian breeders who used cats of unknown origin (or known, longhaired origin) in their breeding programs during times--the late 19th/early 20th centuries and the postwar periods--when pedigreed breeding stock was scarce.
When Mague began showing her somali's, "it was all downhill from the start," she laughed. "One of my good friends--who had the largest Abyssinian cattery in the country at the time--told me that longhairs would be recognized over her dead body. Sadly, that's exactly what happened."
Not every Abyssinian breeder took such a rigid posture. An ad that Mague ran in Cats magazine produced a letter from a Canadian breeder who had been working with longhaired Abys for four or five years. Gradually other Aby breeders with longhairs came out of the woodwork and closets, and in 1972 Mague founded the Somali Cat Club of America (SCCA). Registration and championship status soon followed--first by the now defunct National Cat Fanciers' Association, eventually by all registries in North America.
Since there is so little difference between Abyssinians and somalis, there was little sense in creating a new breed for somalis. They should have been registered as an Abyssinian variety. There is less sense for insisting, as most registries do, that shorthaired kittens born from legitimate somali- Abyssinian crosses have to be registered as Somalis and cannot be shown. The International Cat Association, fortunately, has the common sense to allow all kittens from such matings to be shown as Abys or somalis, depending on their coat length.
It Looks Like ...
The somali is a medium long, lithe, and graceful cat with a rounded rib cage, slightly arched back, and semilong coat. In conformation the somali strikes a balance between the tanklike and the tubular.
The somali's head is a modified, slightly rounded wedge with gentle contours in the brow and cheek. The chin is full and rounded; the muzzle round with no hint of snippiness; and there is a slight rise from the bridge of the nose to an ample forehead, which is topped by large, moderately pointed ears that are broad and cupped at the base.
Large, brilliant, expressive, almond-shaped eyes--accented by dark skin around the lids that is, in turn, circled by a light colored area--complete the somali face. Gold and green are accepted eye colors in all registries, and the American Cat Association accepts hazel eyes as well.
The somali's medium length, double coat is extremely soft and fine. A generous ruff and breeches are preferred, while necklaces and tabby stripes are considered faults. White hairs anywhere other than the upper throat, chin, or nostrils are cause for disqualification. The somali's full, foxlike tail is thick at the base, slightly tapered, and free of kinks.
Like its Abyssinian brothers and sisters, the somali has a ticked coat that contains contrasting bands of light and dark colors. Coat is worth more in the somali standard (25 points) than in the Abyssinian 10), while color is more highly prized in the Aby (35 versus 25 points).
Personality
According to its breed standard, the somali shows "an alert, lively interest in all surroundings, [has] an even disposition and [is] easy to handle." Those who own somalis are wont to describe them as "the epitome of everything that most people would ever want in a companion animal": a "natural clown" whose "zest for life" is evident at home or in the show ring.