Egyptian Mau Grooming

About the Egyptian Mau

The Bengal and Savannah pages carry serious warnings, because those breeds have recent wild ancestry, come with legal restrictions in some places, and are refused by many groomers on handling grounds.

An Egyptian Mau looks like it belongs in that conversation and does not belong in it at all. It is a fully domestic cat, and its spots are natural rather than bred in from anything wild: it is the only domestic breed whose spotting arose on its own rather than by design or by hybridising.

The grooming is correspondingly ordinary, which is the point of saying so. A short fine coat, a comb once a week, and none of the legal or handling complications the hybrid group carries.

What it does have is a genuinely unusual anatomy worth knowing about.

Spots on the skin, and what that means

The spots on a Mau are in the skin as well as in the coat. Shave a patch and the pattern is still there on the skin underneath, which is unusual and is a genuine identifying feature of the breed.

It matters practically in one place: if a Mau is shaved for surgery or a blood sample, the visible pattern on bare skin is normal and not a rash, a bruise or a fungal problem. Owners and unfamiliar vets do occasionally worry about it.

The spots themselves are random in size and placement rather than laid out in rows, which is another way the breed differs from the deliberately patterned Ocicat. Every Mau is marked differently.

The forehead carries a distinct M marking and the cheeks have lines that produce what is usually called a worried or concerned expression, which is characteristic rather than a mood.

The coat is short, fine and silky with a natural lustre, and in silver and bronze cats each hair is banded, giving the coat depth in changing light.

Grooming is a comb or a rubber mitt once a week, which removes the modest amount of loose hair and spreads the oils that produce the sheen.

The skin flap, and the fastest cat there is

A Mau has a loose flap of skin running along the flank from the back of the knee toward the belly, sometimes called the primordial pouch, which is far more pronounced in this breed than in most cats.

It is not fat and it is not a hernia. It allows the hind legs to extend further in a stride, and Maus are commonly described as the fastest domestic cat, credited with well over thirty miles an hour.

It is worth knowing when handling one, because an owner feeling a loose swinging fold along the belly can reasonably think something is wrong.

It also means you cannot judge weight by that area. Feel over the ribs and the spine instead.

The hind legs are slightly longer than the front, which gives the breed its distinctive on-tiptoe stance.

The other consequence of that build and speed is that a Mau is an athletic, quick, easily startled cat. It is affectionate with its own people and often shy with strangers, so a grooming appointment is more stressful for this breed than for most, and there is nothing on the coat that requires one.

Why the hybrid warnings do not apply

Worth being explicit, because the spotted cats get grouped together in owners' minds and in some salons' policies.

A Savannah is a serval cross with real legal restrictions in many states and generations that require experienced handling. A Bengal has Asian leopard cat ancestry a few generations back and a reputation, deserved or not, that makes some groomers decline it.

An Egyptian Mau has neither. There is no wild ancestry in the breed's recent history, no legal restriction anywhere, and no handling caveat beyond ordinary caution with a fast and rather sensitive cat.

An owner told their Mau needs a specialist groomer, or refused by a salon on hybrid grounds, is being misinformed.

What it does share with those breeds is the coat type: short, fine, low maintenance, needing a weekly comb and no bathing.

The one genuine caution is temperament rather than pedigree. Maus are sensitive and bond closely with their people, so home handling is far better tolerated than a salon, and that is a preference rather than a restriction.

The weekly routine

With no coat work to speak of, the routine is claws, teeth, ears and weight, done weekly and started in kittenhood.

Comb or mitt once a week. It takes two minutes and doubles as a check over the body for lumps, scabs and parasites.

Claws want tipping every two to three weeks, the sharp tip only, well clear of the quick. Provide a good post, since this is an athletic cat that will use it, and never consider declawing.

Teeth are worth brushing. Dental disease is one of the main reasons any cat stops grooming itself.

Ears are moderately large and open, so a weekly wipe of the visible part is enough. Nothing goes into the canal.

Do not bathe routinely and do not clip. A healthy Mau keeps itself immaculate and the coat is doing nothing that needs help.

Because Maus are shy with strangers and quick to startle, keep sessions short, quiet and predictable, and do them in the same place each time.

What to tell your groomer or vet

Say the spots are in the skin as well as the coat, so a shaved patch showing the pattern is normal.

Say the loose flap along the flank is normal breed anatomy and not fat or a hernia.

Say the breed has no wild ancestry and none of the hybrid handling or legal caveats.

Ask for a comb or rubber mitt only, no bathing and no clipping.

Say the cat is quick and shy with strangers, and ask for a quiet unhurried approach.

Ask for claws tipped and the mouth looked at.

Keeping the coat between grooms

Common Questions About the Egyptian Mau