History of Somali Cats

While there's some mystery regarding the origin of the Somali cats, there's no doubt about their genetic makeup. Somalis have now been universally accepted as the long-haired descendants of Abyssinians.

According to some scholars, the origin of the Somali people dates back to the early 1900s, when a few Abyssinian cats crossed with an unidentified long-haired cat breed. A new Somali breed emerged in their litter as a result of this introducing a unique "long-haired" gene into the Abyssinian population.

Some others think that Janet Robertson, a British breeder, introduced the first Somali cats' Abyssinian forebears to the world. She sent several Abyssinian kittens to Australia, New Zealand, and North America in the 1940s. Some of their progeny produced long- or fuzzy-coated cats. Later, it was determined that these cats were Somali cats.

The majority of historians think that only when these cats were well-known in pet exhibitions did breeders begin to actively promote the Somali breed. For instance, one of the long-haired Abyssinians was submitted at a nearby pet show by Canadian breeder Mary Mailing. Judge Ken McGill of the show was so taken with the cat that he began breeding it. Mayling Tutsuta, one of McGill's cats, was the first Somali cat ever to be acknowledged by a fancier group.

All North American cat registries have completely accepted the Somali breed by the early 1980s. Europe started to adopt these cats in the same decade. These days, this special breed is recognized by all significant cat registries worldwide.

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