The Somali looks like an Abyssinian, but has a semi-long fur. It is a medium sized cat that is smooth, graceful and muscular. It has a heart-shaped face with large alert ears.
The ears should be well set apart and they should be wide at the base. It is desirable for the Somali to have turfs of hair at the top.
The eyes are large, almond-shaped, brilliant and expressive. Eye color can be amber, yellow or green, preferably with a pure, clean and intense colour.
The Somali has exciting and contrast-rich facial markings that give it both charm and a wild animal-like look.
Around the eyes it looks as they have an eyeliner. The legs are long. Paws are small and oval. Tail should be well furnished . The coat should be extremely fine and dense.
The ticking should consist of at least three ribbons, but up to 10 ribbons is not unusual. The coat develops slowly. Ticking and color are rarely fully developed until 2-3 years of age.
It is also desirable with well-developed frills and breeches, which means that the hairs around the hind legs and neck is preferred to be longer then the rest of the coats.
Because there are relatively few Somali cats in Sweden, you are allowed to use the "sibling breed" in the breeding process, these offspring are called Aby-Var and are not allowed to be used in the Abyssinian breeding.
The Somali is a healthy breed with few hereditary diseases.
The first Somali cats appeared after a mating between two Abyssinian who both carried the long-haired gene. It is not a mutation or hybrid between a Abyssinian and another long-coated breed.
Somali is simply a long-haired Abyssinian.
Somali has been mated with Abyssinians to broaden the narrow genetic pool. Kittens after a mating is always short-haired, but carries long-haired gene. These are called Aby-Variant. The simplest way to explain it by saying that it is an Abyssinian who is carrying the long-hair gene.
Aby-variants may not be used in The Abyssinian breeding since the long-haired gene is not desirable in the Abyssinian breeding.
The text is borrowed from the Aby & Somali-ringens site and translated to the best of my abilities.
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