The Egyptian Mau is a fascinating cat because of its delightful personality and striking appearance. The Mau, meaning cat in Egyptian, has been clearly identified in the artwork of the ancient Egyptians, leaving no question in the minds of many experts that the Egyptian Mau is indeed the cat domesticated from a spotted subspecies of the African Wild Cat. The Egyptian Mau has the distinction of being the only natural spotted breed of domesticated cat. An extremely intelligent animal, the Mau places a great importance on family, both human and their own, and is fiercely loyal in his devotion to them. They are moderately active and often express their happiness by chortling in a soft melodious voice and wiggling their tails at great speed while treading with their forepaws. With an elegant body that is randomly spotted, banded legs and tail, expressive gooseberry green eyes, distinctive mascara lines, a worried expression on the face, and a graceful cheetah-like stride, the Mau attracts a tremendous amount of attention at cat shows. The Egyptian Mau comes in three colors that can be shown in championship classes: Silver, Bronze, and Smoke. Also accepted for registration purposes, but not for showing, are the solid Black and the dilute versions of the "primary" colors: Blue Silver, Blue spotted, Blue Smoke and the solid Blue. Although the black and the dilute Maus are not eligible for showing, they make excellent pets like all other Maus.