The shape of the head is a wedge which is rounded and does not show any squareness or flatness. When viewed in profile, the head is medium long and the profile shows a gentle curve up to the eye brows. When viewed from the front the nose is even broad from its base to its tip, thus showing two parallel lines. The head shall not appear to be triangular. The muzzle is well defined and shall not be pointed, no full cheeks.
The ears are medium to large, wide at the base, and giving the cat an alert expression.
One notices immediately the large eyes, with this certain "surprised" expression, and this astonishing gooseberry-green colour.

The body is medium long and well muscled, a loose skin flap between the hind legs, extending from the flanks to the knees, can be seen.
The legs are medium, not too strong with small and dainty paws. The hind legs emphasize the appearance of being on tip-toes, when the cat stands upright. This is very characteristic for the Mau.
The tail is medium long, broad and only slightly tapered.

One of the most striking parts is the coat of the Mau with its colourful and contrasting spotted pattern. The coat is different in the smoke spotted Mau and in the silver and bronze Mau. The smoke Mau has a fine and silky coat, the other two variants have a dense and resilient coat, where the hairs are ticked.
The coat is medium-short, i.e. not so short as one would expect in shorthair cats.

History

The Mau is believed to be the oldest domestic cat known, it is said that the Mau derives its origin from the African wild cat, Felis Lybica Ocreata, which lived in the highlands of Ethiopia. Its is believed that the Mau dates back 3000 to 4000 years. The Mau came to the Ancient Egypt by trading, which is dated back to around 1500 B.C., and was used as domestic cat and given the status of a deity. The word 'Mau' is the ancient Egyptian word for cat. The Mau can be traced back to the time of the pharaohs. Many hieroglyphics painted on the walls of the tombs in the great pyramids show this spotted cat.
One earlier document outside of Egypt, Marcel Reney's Mes amis les chats in 1940 describes the Mau as being imported and shown in Europe before World War II.

The more recent history states that the Russian princess Nathalie Troubetskoy, who lived in exile in Italy, brought the first Mau, her silver spotted foundation female Baba, to New York in 1956. Together with Baba, Jojo, the bronze spotted son of Baba, and their daughter Liza, another silver spotted female, the princess founded her legendary cattery Fatima, from which almost all modern Maus can trace their origin.
1980 Mrs. Jean S. Mill (Millwood cattery, famous for her Bengals) brought in Maus from the Delhi zoo, India, Millwood's Toby, a bronze male, and Millwood's Tashi, a bronze female, which founded the so called Indian line.
In the 1990s J. Len Davidson (Grandtrill) imported another four Maus from Egypt, which is called the Egyptian line.
The Egyptian Mau was recognized by CFA 1968, and shortly afterwards by CCA. In 1977 the Mau was recognized by TICA, and 1994 by FIFe.

Temperament

The Mau is an extremely intelligent cat, takes her family as very important and is very loyal and devoted to its family. It is a medium active cat and can be quite fast, she likes her toys, and has a soft not very loud voice. The Mau is a very gentle cat and needs some time to adapt to people whom she does not know. The Mau does not like to be held with its hindlegs off the table. The Mau does not want to be forced, and the approach to the cat should be kind and gentle from the front.

Grooming

Even though the Mau is a shorthair, it will be still a benefit to groom her regularly. Use a fine toothed comb to help remove the dead and shedding hair. A soft brush or rubber brush may be used occasionally.