I have been fascinated by Egyptian Maus since seeing a picture in a cat book as a child. Unfortunately there were no Egyptian Maus in the UK and I had to wait to get one until 1996 when my work took me to live in North Carolina in the USA for two and half years. Before even leaving the UK I had decided that I wanted to use the opportunity to try and find a Mau, possibly with the intention of trying to introduce the breed to the UK on my return. Knowing next to nothing about the breed or the American cat fancy I started searching for breeders on the internet. Most did not reply, and of those that did most were not very encouraging, however, one breeder, Melanie Morgan of Emau cattery in Virginia did reply that she might have a silver female Mau she would be prepared to sell me. The result was my first Mau, Isis.
| Emau's Isis of New Kingdom CFA Champion
Sire: CFA Grand Champion, Matiki's Better Maustrap (silver)
1st February 1996-3rd August 2004 Breeders: David and Melanie Morgan (Emau cattery) |
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I arranged to meet Melanie and see Isis for the first time at a show in Raleigh, NC just a couple of days after arriving in the US. When Melanie handed me a stunning silver spotted kitten that continued to purr despite the fact that I was a complete stranger, and that we were in the middle of a crowded show hall, I knew I'd made the right choice.
Isis had several very good features for a Mau, including large ears, beautiful gooseberry green eyes, a clear open pattern of charcoal spots and a long muscular body. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to show her until after she had had her first litter of kittens. She didn't like the show ring, and retired to have her second litter with only a handful of points towards becoming a CFA Grand Champion. However, Isis has two full sisters that have done very well at shows: GC Emau's Mausaic and GC, RW Emau's Back to the Future, not to mention two half sisters who are CFA Breed Winners.
Isis was named after the Egyptian mother goddess and goddess of fertility, and she certainly lived up to her name producing ten litters of beautiful healthy kittens in all four colours. Two of her silver daughters, New Kingdom Nini of Matiki and New Kingdom Astradots of Matiki went to Matiki Cattery as breeding queens, and her silver son, New Kingdom Abu of Mauraj, became the first CFA Grand Premier I bred. Pictures of these three cats can be seen in the gallery. In September 1998 Isis made the journey from North Carolina back to the UK where, as one of the first Maus in the UK she made a huge contribution to establishing the breed. Her gorgeous bronze daughter Newkingdom Goldilocks was a foundation queen for Monica and Jim McLaren's Chantina cattery, and several of her other daughers are currently being bred from in the UK. You can see some of her offspring on my kitten page. Isis competed at four GCCF shows and was awarded a Merit Certificate at all of these. Isis died following a short and unexpected illness in August 2004; I miss her greatly, and will never forget her.
| Matiki's Horus of New Kingdom CFA Grand Premier
Sire: CFA Grand Champion, and Regional Winner Sharbees Rusty Waters of Matiki (bronze)
1996- Breeders: Jan and Bonnie Wydro (Matiki Cattery) |
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Melanie introduced me to experienced Mau breeders Jan and Bonnie Wydro from whom I bought Horus, a bronze male, as company for Isis. I only asked for a pet, but Horus turned out to be the most beautiful bronze Mau. He was a warm rufous colour, and had huge gooseberry green eyes and the most beautiful head type. Best of all was his temperament: Horus loved everyone and was always purring. I did not intend to show my Maus, but I was encouraged by Melanie to bring Horus to the show of the Egyptian Mau Breeders and Fanciers Club. He competed in a class of five Mau kittens and amazed me by taking Best of Breed in one judging ring and going on to make the judge's top ten final. I was so excited I was hooked, and couldn't wait for the next opportunity to show Horus. Horus went on to earn his Premier and Grand Premier titles with CFA and did very well in the CFA Southern Region shows in the year I showed him, taking home many finals including two Best Cat ribbons. Although Horus was never bred from I am including him amongst my foundation cats because I don't believe I would ever have achieved what I have today without him. It was as a result of my success and commitment to showing Horus that I earnt the respect of other breeders who subsequently trusted me with some of their best cats.
| Sharbees Mihos of New Kingdom CFA Grand Champion
Sire: CFA Champion, Sharbees Jazz My Mau Man (silver)
DOB: 29th March 1997 Breeder: Sharon Partington (Sharbees Cattery) |
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Mihos was the third Mau I acquired while I was in the USA. Jan and Bonnie Wydro knew that I was looking for a good silver stud that would be suitable for breeding to Isis, and were good enough to introduce me to Sharon Partington, a breeder from the West coast with whom they had been working closely. Although Sharon was better known for her bronzes said that she had a very special silver kitten that she thought would be good for me, and on her recommendation I decided to buy him. Mihos was just 14 weeks old when he made the long flight from Portland, Oregon to JFK in New York. I immediately fell in love with Mihos. Nothing seems to bother him; he is eternally good natured, and I don't think he has ever hissed in his life.
Mihos is very aptly named after the Egyptian lion god. Apart from his wonderful temperament, his outstanding points are the clarity of his spots and his wonderful lustrous coat texture. He has a wonderful moderately long hard body, and as he has matured he has become very muscular around the neck and shoulders. His biggest fault is that he is a little tarnished around the muzzle. After a slightly tentative first show when he was just 4 months old, he never looked back and became an absolute joy to exhibit. His show career as a kitten was rather eclipsed by his flashy housemate, Qetesh, however he obtained his title of CFA Grand Champion easily, making finals under nine different judges. In the UK Mihos has done stirling work introducing the British cat fancy to the Maus. He has been on exhibition at many GCCF shows, including the 1999 Supreme Show, and has even made appearances on local television. In 2001 he was one of the first Egyptian Maus to obtain a Merit Certificate in GCCF and one of the first to be awarded four qualifying Merits. Mihos was the highest scoring Egyptian Mau male in GCCF in the 2001-2002 show season.
Mihos's career as a stud cat has been very impressive. His first litter (with Emau's Isis of New Kingdom) produced my first CFA Grand Premier, New Kingdom Abu of Mauraj, and more recently he sired my second CFA Grand, New Kingdom Bianca of Ra's Abi. Before coming back to the UK Mihos spent the summer in Canada siring kittens at Thaifong, J's Iris and Buzz catteries. Back in the UK Mihos is rapidly becoming the patriach of UK Maus. You can see some of his offspring on my kitten page. Mihos was neutered in April 2003 and is now living a life of luxury as a pampered pet with his lifelong friend Horus.
| Emau's Nephthys of New Kingdom
Sire: CFA Champion, Emau's Ghostrider (smoke)
DOB: 1998 Breeder: Melanie Morgan (Emau Cattery) |
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Nefi was the third female Mau I acquired in America. With her extremely elegant body and black and white contrast I hoped that she would be a great asset to my developing breeding programme. I'm sure Melanie would never have parted with her had it not been for the fact that she lost the end of her tail as a small kitten and could consequently never be shown. Nefi certainly lived up to my hopes, producing four gorgeous silver females in her first litter born in the UK, all of which went on to be foundation queens for UK Mau catteries. Sadly Nefi had some birthing difficulties with her second litter and was finally spayed in 2002. She now rules the roost in a County Durham pub.
| Matiki's CC Rider of Singpur
Sire: CFA Champion and Regional Winner, Matiki's Take Meow To the Ballgame (silver)
DOB: 29th March 1997 Breeder: Jan and Bonnie Wydro (Matiki Cattery) |
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CC was the third Mau stud to arrive in the UK. He came from the famous Matiki Cattery in Atlanta, Georgia and has a superb pedigree. His sire is a CFA regional winner, and his dam is a CFA Grand Champion and was CFA's Best of Breed Egyptian Mau in the year she was shown.
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CC has been a great asset to our breeding programme in the UK. He has beautiful head type, beautiful green eyes and very clear silver colour. He is a rather pale silver (although not quite as pale as these photos suggest), with delicate charcoal spots, but he complements some of our darker silver girls extremely well, and has produced some lovely kittens. CC was awarded Merit Certificates at his first four GCCF shows. He was the highest scoring male Egyptian Mau in the 2002-2003 GCCF show season. Recently CC was awarded his first IC at the Cumberland Show where he also took BOB in a nice class of four adult Maus. In 2005 CC retired to a life of luxury as a pampered only cat. |
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Text �2004 Melissa Bateson. The copyrights of the photographs in this site are held by the individual photographers concerned. No photographs from this site may be reproduced without written permission from the photographer.
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