SOMALI CATS

The Somali is a combination of beauty and personality. The first thing that captures your attention is the beauty and uniqueness of the Somali. They are very striking cats, with their colourful coats, bushy tails, facial markings and alert personalities.

Description

The Somali is a well-proportioned, medium to large cat with firm muscular development, showing an alert, lively interest in all surroundings. Somali coats are generally two to three inches in length, non-matting, and easy to care for. They have a remarkable "fox-like" appearance due to their markings, bushy tail, full breeches, and ruff. The Somali is available in ruddy, red, blue, and fawn. "The Ruddy Somali has an overall impression of an orange-brown or ruddy coat ticked with black, with darker shading along the spine allowed. The underside of the body and inside of the legs and chest is to be an even ruddy tone, harmonizing with the topcoat, without ticking, barring, necklaces, or belly marks. The Red Somali is a warm, glowing red ticked with chocolate brown. Again, the underside of the body is an even color, harmonizing with the topcoat. The Blue Somali's coat is ticked with various shades of slate blue, the extreme outer tip to be the darkest, with an ivory to blush-beige undercoat.

The underside of the body is a peach-apricot colour that harmonizes with the topcoat. The Fawn Somali has a warm rose-beige coat, ticked with light cocoa brown, the extreme outer tip to be the darkest, with a blush-beige undercoat. The underside of the body is a lighter cream which harmonizes with the topcoat. Abyssinians and Somalis are a medium sized cat of a lithe muscular build, foreign in type. They are exactly the same cat in type and temperament, the only difference is the length of coat. The Somali has a medium length coat. Whereas the Abyssinian has a short, close lying coat.

Characteristics and Temperament

Somalis are extroverted, lively, alert cats that love to play, love attention, and thrive on human companionship. They are very curious, captivating, and expressive, with alluring personalities. Somalis are intelligent, learn quickly, remember remarkably well, and show a playful sense of humor. They are natural show-offs and born clowns. Somalis have a naturally happy disposition, desire the company of humans, and demand to be treated as one of the family.  

Special Requirements

The Somali is a remarkably hardy cat, with few associated health problems.

Like many cats of all breeds and mixed breeds, Somali are prone to gingivitis. This condition should be monitored at annual veterinary visits (more often if a problem occurs). Feeding the cat a large portion of its diet as a high-quality dry food helps this problem. It has just been discovered that a few lines of Somali may be prone to a type of anemia called auto immune hemolytic anemia (AIHA). If you have a Somali with anemia or anemia-like symptoms, request a PCV blood test. This test is not usually done on a normal blood workup for cats, as AIHA is found much more commonly in dogs. The normal treatment for AIHA is steroid therapy. The problem is that the symptoms can be close to a fairly common cat disorder, feline infectious anemia (FIA), which is treated with antibiotics. This is an inappropriate therapy for AIHA. Somalis are no more or less prone to FIA than any other cat.