The Original Domestic Cat™

Nile Valley Egyptian kittens and cats available from Maati
Hand-raised babies 100% descended from Egyptian rescues

Bulletin: Geneticists Prove Modern Cats Domesticated in Egypt

For information on the Nile Valley Egyptian breed, the origin of the modern domestic cat, and felis sylvestris Lybica, the African wild cat (the sole ancestor species of the modern domestic cat), please see: Nile Valley Egyptian Association

EMRO: The Egyptian/Mau Rescue Organization rescues & re-homes Egyptian ferals

Who We Are
The Egyptian domestic cat story
What does "Maati" and "Mau" mean?
Our Queens

Bastet's Children Maati Cattery's Blog; follow our kitten adventures
Maaticats on Twitter http://twitter.com/maaticats
Maati Nile Valley Egyptians on Facebook

Research

Who we are

We are one of only 3 catteries in the world that have dedicated ourselves to saving and preserving the oldest existing domestic cat bloodlines in the world, the Nile Valley Egyptian. (Nefertari [Switzerland] and Cairo Cats [West Texas] are the other two.) Maati cattery is in southern Texas, an area where the climate is much like that of Egypt.

The Egyptian domestic cat story

In the Temple of Bast (or Bastet) in the ancient city of Bubastis, which was about 50 miles from modern downtown Cairo, the ancient Egyptians domesticated the African wild cat, felis silvestris lybica, which is now known to be the sole parent species to all current-day domestic house cats. (Archaeologists have found a cat buried with a human woman as much as 5,000 years earlier, but there is no way to determine from the remains if the cat was, indeed domesticated, nor is there any indication that any domesticated cat bloodlines from any earlier periods survived to today.) Feral cats living in and around Cairo are the closest relatives to those original Egyptian cats (as depicted in Egyptian art) that exist today.

From http://www.messybeast.com/cathistory.htm
"In 2007 studies published in Science journal of mitochondrial DNA from cats in the UK, US, Germany, Israel, Spain and France showed that at least 5 female ancestors from the Egyptian region gave rise to all the domestic cats alive today. Apart from accidental cross-breeding, European wildcats have not contributed to the domestic cat's ancestry. It also ruled out the Central Asian wildcat, the Southern African wildcat and the Chinese desert cat as ancestors."

"According to J A Baldwin, there was little question that European domesticated cats came out of Egypt between 3,000 BC and 2,000 BC (J A Baldwin, Anthropos 70:428-448, 1975). There are no confirmed records of domesticated cats from the Old Kingdom (2686-2181 BC). The earliest Ancient Egyptian evidence of the presence of cats dates from about 2500 BC and there was evidence of primitive domestication around 2000 BC, however the Egyptians also depicted many non-domestic species. There was little pictorial evidence to suggest that cats were fully domesticated until the New Kingdom, 18th Dynasty (circa 1600 BC). More recent archaeological and genetic studies suggest domestication was under way before these dates.

The Egyptian government years ago adopted a policy of putting out poison for the feral cats and dogs of Egypt, as well as shooting cats and dogs in the streets. In addition, they are still putting out poison for rats, and the particular poison they use then kills any feral cats or dogs who eat the poisoned rats. There are no animal cruelty laws in Egypt, thus, anyone is free to put out poison, traps, or use any means necessary to kill stray dogs and ferals cats. It is a common practice to bury tiny kittens alive in order to dispose of them. Casual torture of cats, such as setting them on fire, or poking their eyes out, is far too common.

We at Maati would like to invite you to join us in the effort to save this most unique of all domestic cat breeds. If you are looking for a new feline friend, please consider either adopting a rescued Egyptian cat from EMRO: The Egyptian/Mau Rescue Organization, or, if you are wary of taking in a cat directly from the street, consider one of our hand-raised babies. Our cats are now registered with TICA as their newest Experimental New Breed, the Nile Valley Egyptian. Within a year, we hope to achieve full recognition as both the newest, AND the oldest cat breed in the world.

Our cats are either rescued from Egypt, or descended from rescues. With only 3 breeders currently, the Nile Valley Egyptian is very rare. We expect to have less than five litters this year. Our cats are selected and bred for health, longevity, personality, and beauty, and hand-raised indoors in a loving (read that: cat-crazy) home.

Egyptian cats are intelligent and independent in nature. Because the Egyptian Islamic culture does not encourage the keeping of companion animals, the vast majority of them (it would not be an exaggeration to suggest +99%) have, for the past 1,500 years, lived purely as ferals, without the benefits of healthy food, clean water, veterinary care, or human companionship. 1,500 years easily translates into 1,500 possible generations. Under those circumstances, you would expect that all Egyptian ferals would be completely wild and untameable. To our surprise, we are discovering that *many* of the cats living on the streets are actually extremely human-oriented, and will try, sometimes desperately, to make friends with humans. Unfortunately, this often gets them kicked, poisoned, killed, and even tortured.

However, it also means that their kittens, when hand-raised, are likely to be extremely sociable and loving pets, despite their feral heritage.

Nile Valley Egyptian kittens and cats available from Maati

We will be offering these rare kittens for sale within a couple of months, and we will have retired adults available for adoption from time to time, so if you are looking for a more sedate, well-socialized cat, please ask for one of our adults! We pride ourselves on our ability to work with, and socialize, these very ancient felines.

Nile Valley Egyptian cats come in all colors, such as spotted and striped beauties, including the stunning red and ultra-rare blue, colors that can not be found in any other spotted breed of cat.

Maati Cattery is specializing in brown Lybica cats, which look like African wild cats, and solid black beauties, both short and semi-longhair.

What does "Maati" mean?

Ma'at is the Egyptian goddess of truth: that which is right, straight, level. One of her symbols is an ostrich feather which was used by the Egyptian gods of the afterlife to weigh against the heart of a deceased person; if their heart was "no heavier than a feather", then it meant that they were free of guilt, and would be allowed to live in the Duat, the Egyptian heaven. Another of her symbols was the straight edge, used to make sure that construction projects would be "true" and level. She was sometimes portrayed as identical twins, called "Ma'ati" (plural of "Ma'at"), or "the Twin Truths".

What does "Mau" mean?

Ancient Egyptian word for "cat". So called by the people who first domesticated them, for the sound that they make.

The Coffin Texts, spell 335: "I am the Great Tomcat (miu oa)...Who is the Great Tomcat? He is the god Ra himself. He was called 'miu' ("cat") when Sia ("knowledge") spoke of him because he was mewing during what he was doing, and that is how we know his name of 'Miu' came into being."

Just for fun:
I Can Has Cheezburger? LOLcats; "This is a treasure fuh you"
Cheezburger Channel
Harry Pointer's Brighton Cats Possibly the oldest LOLcats?
From 1905: What's Delaying my Dinner?

Research

The Nile Valley Egyptian Association

2007 U.C.Davis domestic cat genetic study "The Ascent of Cat Breeds: Genetic Evaluations of Breeds and Worldwide Random Bred Populations" Preliminary version
2007 U.C.Davis study final version

TICA
TICA Individual Registration Form
TICA Litter Registration

Ruling Queens
Ruling Queens
Queens List
Queens List
Pharaohs and their Queens

Cat Genetics at hdw-inc.com

The Original Domestic Cat™

Bulletin: Geneticists Prove Modern Cats Domesticated in Egypt

Who we are

The Egyptian domestic cat story

What does "Maati" mean?

What does "Mau" mean?

Links

Research