- 2 or 3 bands of colour on each hair with dark tips for preference.
4 breeders are on record here.
Medium-sized, elegant cat with a distinctive ticked coat pattern giving a wild appearance. Known for its athletic build, almond-shaped eyes, and highly active, curious personality.
One of the oldest known cat breeds, believed to have originated in the coastal regions of the Indian Ocean and Southeast Asia. The breed was developed in Great Britain from cats imported from Abyssinia (now Ethiopia) in the 1860s.
Generally described as active, energetic, independent, intelligent, gentle, curious and playful.
That is the breed in general, not a promise about one animal. Ask the breeder what their own line is like, and meet the parents before you decide.
Breed reference from The Cat API.
Drawn from sources, not opinion: FIFe breed standard; The Cat API; UC Davis VGL — PRA rdAc (CEP290) test. An empty column means we hold nothing for that side, not that there is nothing to say.
The Abyssinian standard is published by the FIFe (Fédération Internationale Féline), the international federation of pedigree-cat clubs, and it is what show judges apply. This section sums up what it says about coat and colour. It does not assess any one animal: use it to know what to ask the breeder.
Short, fine and close lying.
Resilient to the touch.
Shortened from FIFe standard ABY — each label is the standard’s own wording with the verdict lifted into the tag beside it. Read the full clause at source. FIFe lists this standard’s last modification as 2016. Text read on 31 Aug 2026.
The colour varieties FIFe recognises for this breed are listed, with their EMS codes, in the table at the end of its standard. FIFe describes each colour group in the General Part of its standards.
The colours and patterns the standard admits, and what it prefers, discourages or disqualifies in each. An accepted colour says nothing about health. Quotations from the FIFe are in English, as the standard publishes them; the headings are ours.
Known hereditary risks for the Abyssinian breed, and the specific documentation to request from any breeder before paying a deposit. A responsible breeder will have these readily available; deflection is a red flag.
6 conditions documentedThis is breed-level literature, not veterinary advice about an individual animal — your vet knows the animal.
Health checklist (PDF)Found in more than about one in twenty of the breed's dogs screened, or described as common in the sources.
Breed-level information from The Cat API. It describes the Abyssinian in general; any individual animal can differ.
An inherited late-onset retinal disease: affected kittens see normally at birth, but photoreceptor degeneration begins around seven months of age and most cats are blind by three to five years old. There is no treatment, so a breeding cat's genotype is the only way to know a kitten's risk before it is sold. A 2022 screen of over 11,000 cats found it in 18 of 167 Abyssinians, about one in nine (one of them with two copies).
What to ask for
UC Davis VGL PRA rdAc (CEP290) DNA test result, on both parents
An inherited haemolytic anaemia caused by low activity of the pyruvate kinase enzyme in red blood cells. Onset and severity are variable — some cats have intermittent lethargy and weight loss, others become jaundiced — so a clear DNA result is the only way to rule it out before breeding. It is common in the breed: 52 of 497 Abyssinians whose samples were sent for other tests carried it in a 2012 study, about one in ten, and a 2022 screen found it in 9 of 163.
What to ask for
UC Davis VGL PK deficiency DNA test result, on both parents
An inherited late-onset retinal disease: affected kittens see normally at birth, but photoreceptor degeneration begins around seven months of age and most cats are blind by three to five years old. There is no treatment, so a breeding cat's genotype is the only way to know a kitten's risk before it is sold. A 2022 screen of over 11,000 cats found it in 18 of 167 Abyssinians, about one in nine (one of them with two copies).
What to ask for
UC Davis VGL PRA rdAc (CEP290) DNA test result, on both parents
An inherited haemolytic anaemia caused by low activity of the pyruvate kinase enzyme in red blood cells. Onset and severity are variable — some cats have intermittent lethargy and weight loss, others become jaundiced — so a clear DNA result is the only way to rule it out before breeding. It is common in the breed: 52 of 497 Abyssinians whose samples were sent for other tests carried it in a 2012 study, about one in ten, and a 2022 screen found it in 9 of 163.
What to ask for
UC Davis VGL PK deficiency DNA test result, on both parents
Documented in this breed, but no source says how many of its dogs carry or have them. That is a gap in the evidence, not a sign they are rare.
A dislocating kneecap that produces a bow-legged or knock-kneed gait and can worsen over the cat's first one to two years. Abyssinians are named as one of the breeds with rising reported incidence, alongside Devon Rex and Chartreux.
What to ask for
No DNA test exists — ask for a veterinary orthopaedic exam (kneecap palpation) on both parents
An outward or inward bend in the lower chest bone. It is seen mostly in oriental-bodied breeds but is also documented, less often, in Abyssinians. Outward protrusion is typically harmless; an inward one can press on the chest cavity and needs veterinary assessment.
What to ask for
No DNA test exists — ask for a veterinary chest exam noting sternum conformation, on both parents
A kidney disease in which insoluble protein deposits build up in the kidneys, usually appearing in young adults and sometimes progressing to kidney failure within a year of diagnosis. It is well documented as prevalent specifically in this breed, but despite extensive study the mode of inheritance has not been established, so there is no DNA test.
What to ask for
No DNA test exists — ask for the breeding line's known family history of kidney disease, and recent urinalysis/kidney bloodwork on the parents
A dislocating kneecap that produces a bow-legged or knock-kneed gait and can worsen over the cat's first one to two years. Abyssinians are named as one of the breeds with rising reported incidence, alongside Devon Rex and Chartreux.
What to ask for
No DNA test exists — ask for a veterinary orthopaedic exam (kneecap palpation) on both parents
Described in this breed, but found in few or no dogs in recent screening, or only ever in one dog or one family. They are here so a test result makes sense if a breeder mentions one.
A separate and more aggressive inherited blindness in the same breed: the light-sensing cells never develop properly, already abnormal under the microscope at 22 days old, and changes can be seen at the back of the eye at 8 to 12 weeks. It is inherited as a dominant trait, so a single copy of the mutation causes disease, unlike the rdAc form. It has been described only in a single family, descended from one Abyssinian, from which a research colony was bred, and a large screen of cat breeds found the mutation in no other breed.
What to ask for
UC Davis VGL PRA Rdy (CRX) DNA test result, on both parents
A separate and more aggressive inherited blindness in the same breed: the light-sensing cells never develop properly, already abnormal under the microscope at 22 days old, and changes can be seen at the back of the eye at 8 to 12 weeks. It is inherited as a dominant trait, so a single copy of the mutation causes disease, unlike the rdAc form. It has been described only in a single family, descended from one Abyssinian, from which a research colony was bred, and a large screen of cat breeds found the mutation in no other breed.
What to ask for
UC Davis VGL PRA Rdy (CRX) DNA test result, on both parents
A kidney disease in which insoluble protein deposits build up in the kidneys, usually appearing in young adults and sometimes progressing to kidney failure within a year of diagnosis. It is well documented as prevalent specifically in this breed, but despite extensive study the mode of inheritance has not been established, so there is no DNA test.
What to ask for
No DNA test exists — ask for the breeding line's known family history of kidney disease, and recent urinalysis/kidney bloodwork on the parents
An outward or inward bend in the lower chest bone. It is seen mostly in oriental-bodied breeds but is also documented, less often, in Abyssinians. Outward protrusion is typically harmless; an inward one can press on the chest cavity and needs veterinary assessment.
What to ask for
No DNA test exists — ask for a veterinary chest exam noting sternum conformation, on both parents