Arabian Mau

The Arabian Mau is a short-haired desert cat of the Arabian Peninsula — a landrace formalised as a breed rather than one built from crosses.

History

It descends from the free-roaming cats of the Arabian desert and its towns, animals shaped by heat and scarcity long before anyone wrote a standard for them. Recognition came late and deliberately, to record a population that already existed.

Temperament

The breed is known for being alert, independent and confident — affectionate with its own household and reserved with strangers. Generations of fending for themselves left a cat that is friendly on its own initiative.

Care

The short coat asks for almost nothing. A landrace adapted to open ground tends to want height and something to watch, and it keeps a strong hunting instinct that indoor life needs to accommodate.

Health

Natural selection in a harsh climate left a generally robust cat with no widely documented breed-specific defect. These are patterns for the breed rather than a forecast for one cat; the measured facts and trait ratings are in the panels.