Somali Cat Breed

The Somali cat breed is the long-haired Abyssinian, a breed that arose within Abyssinian breeding programs when the recessive gene for long coat, present in the Abyssinian gene pool but typically unexpressed, occasionally produced long-haired kittens in otherwise short-haired litters. For years, these kittens were given away as pets and kept out of sight in breeding programs embarrassed by their appearance.

Eventually, breeders recognized that these long-haired variants were beautiful in their own right, and the Somali was developed as a separate recognized breed.

The Somali's coat transforms the Abyssinian's distinctive ticked agouti pattern, each hair banded with multiple colors, giving the coat a wild, luminous depth, into something dramatically different. Where the Abyssinian coat lies flat and appears as an even, vibrating color field, the Somali's longer coat fans out to reveal the full complexity of each ticked hair in flowing, fox-like waves.

The breed's distinctive appearance, combining a wild-cat ticked pattern with medium-long coat, ruff, breeches and plumed tail, is one of the most immediately recognizable in the pedigree cat world.

Origin and Recognition

The Abyssinian breed carries a recessive gene for long coat (the l gene) that entered the gene pool at some point in the breed's history, possibly through crosses with Balinese or other semi-longhaired cats during the breed's development in the United Kingdom in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.

The gene is recessive, meaning both parents must carry one copy for a long-haired kitten to appear. This occurs often enough in Abyssinian breeding that long-haired kittens were a recurring feature in many programs.

Canadian breeder Mary Mailing and American breeder Evelyn Mague were among the pioneers who recognized the potential of these long-haired Abyssinians as a distinct type. The breed was named "Somali" after Somalia, a country adjacent to Abyssinia (modern Ethiopia), reflecting both its African heritage and its Abyssinian origins while distinguishing it with a geographic reference of its own.

CFA granted the Somali Championship status in 1979. TICA and other international registries also recognize the breed.

The Ticked Coat in Long Form

The Abyssinian's ticked agouti coat pattern, produced by the Ticked Tabby gene (Ta), gives each individual hair multiple bands of color from base to tip. In the short-coated Abyssinian, this creates a fine, shimmering surface texture. In the Somali's longer coat, each ticked hair is displayed in its full length, creating a coat with extraordinary visual depth and a flowing, layered quality.

The four standard Abyssinian/Somali colors appear in the Somali:

Color	Description
Ruddy	Deep brown ticking on warm apricot ground; most common
Red (sorrel)	Chocolate brown ticking on red-orange ground
Blue	Blue-grey ticking on warm beige ground
Fawn	Pale pinkish-beige ticking on pale ground

In each color, the spine is darker, a line of concentrated ticking runs along the back, while the belly, inner legs and chest are lighter. The ticking must be clearly visible in show-quality individuals, and the ticking is expected to be clearly visible in show-quality individuals.

The Somali's coat in this ticked pattern creates the "wild fox" appearance for which the breed is famous. The combination of the ticked coat, the dense tail plume, the full neck ruff and the longer breeches on the hind legs makes the Somali's grooming profile quite different from the Abyssinian's despite sharing identical genetics except for coat length.

Physical Characteristics

The Somali shares the Abyssinian's medium-sized, athletic body type, a foreign body type that is neither extreme nor cobby, with a fine-boned structure and a lithe, graceful movement style.

Characteristic	Details
Build	Medium, athletic, fine-boned
Head	Slightly rounded wedge
Eyes	Almond-shaped; amber, hazel, or green
Coat	Medium-long; ticked; no woolly undercoat
Coat features	Full tail plume, ruff, breeches
CFA recognition	1979

The coat is medium-long with a silky texture and minimal woolly undercoat, it does not mat as readily as Persian or Maine Coon coats. The tail is full and plume-like, the neck ruff frames the face attractively, and the breeches, longer hair on the thighs and hindquarters, give the hind legs a distinctive "pants" appearance. All of these features are absent or minimal in the short-coated Abyssinian.

Temperament

The Somali inherits the Abyssinian's famous personality: highly active, intensely curious, playful throughout life, athletic and engaged with its environment in a way that is described as almost frenetically investigative. These are cats that cannot leave anything unexplored. They move through a room by climbing every accessible surface, investigating every container and testing every obstacle.

The breed is social and affectionate with its own family but may be initially reserved with strangers, in this it resembles the Egyptian Mau more than the gregarious Ragdoll or Birman. Once comfortable, the Somali is interactive, communicative and entertaining. It is not a lap cat in the traditional sense, it is too active for extended periods of sitting still, but it is affectionate on its own energetic terms.

For jumping capabilities see How High Can Cats Jump. For Abyssinian comparison see Abyssinian. For grooming guidance see How to Groom a Cat at Home. For Somali care guidance see Somali Cat Care Guide.

Health Profile

The Somali shares the Abyssinian's hereditary health concerns, and prospective owners should understand these thoroughly.

Progressive retinal atrophy (rdAc-PRA) is a hereditary form of retinal degeneration caused by an autosomal recessive mutation that causes gradual vision loss progressing to complete blindness. A DNA test is available and responsible breeders should test breeding animals.

Pyruvate kinase (PK) deficiency is a hereditary blood disorder in which defective pyruvate kinase in red blood cells causes hemolytic anemia, the premature destruction of red blood cells. Severity varies from subclinical to significantly life-limiting. A DNA test is available.

Renal amyloidosis, the deposition of amyloid protein in kidney tissue, causing progressive kidney failure, has been reported in Abyssinian and Somali lines, though prevalence estimates vary and the genetic mechanism is not fully characterized.

Health Concern	Details	DNA Test
rdAc-PRA (retinal atrophy)	Autosomal recessive; progressive blindness	Available
PK deficiency	Hemolytic anemia	Available
Renal amyloidosis	Kidney failure; familial pattern	Not fully characterized
Dental disease	Progressive with age	Clinical care

For Norwegian Forest Cat comparison see Norwegian Forest Cat.

Grooming

The Somali's coat is easier to maintain than it looks. The absence of a woolly undercoat means the coat does not felt or mat readily, and weekly combing with a medium-toothed comb is sufficient for most of the year. The tail plume and the breeches benefit from more frequent attention during shedding season.

The coat responds well to regular grooming and develops a full, flowing appearance when kept in good condition. A damp hand run over the coat can remove fine loose hairs between brushing sessions.