Egyptian Maus - Think Twice...
Lisa Sweet
world! We HAD four, but are now left with two. Unfortunately these
cats are so inbred they are doomed with genetic faults. If you want to
fall in love with a cat that is loving, extremely smart, comes by the
call of their name and exceptionally loyal this is the cat for you.
However, be ready to have your heart ripped out, shredded and thrown
on the floor.
I know the breeders are going to disagree with me, but let me tell you
my story.
We bought our first Mau (Clayton) at a cat show in Los Angeles. Upon
the onset, he had troubles breathing and spent most of his kitten life
in an oxygen tent at the vet and then put on prednisone. This is the
first mistake, any animal put on prednisone is doomed with a life full
of problems. We called the breeder, who was in total denial of the
problem with his breathing and continued our vet care. After much
research, we soon found out that this was a genetic problem with the
breed. We lived in fear every day of loosing him. He was our baby and
was so loving, such an incredible cat!
Upon moving to Northern California, in the course of several years
purchased three more Maus from a different breeder. But let me first
tell the story about Clayton…
Clayton outgrew the oxygen tents due to the drugs, but the problems
soon mounted. When he was 10 years old, he was diagnosed with a
thyroid condition, we were told this was not uncommon due to the
prednisone. We were given the option of giving him pills or putting
him through radiation treatment in Santa Cruz, which was said to be
the better long-term cure. We had to leave him (without contact) at
the clinic for two weeks! About six mouths after the treatment he
became VERY ill and was then diagnosed as a diabetic. After hauling
him around to several vets, and several insulin seizures and visits to
emergency clinics late at night, no one could seem to get the insulin
dose right except for Sequoia Veterinary in Redwood City. Thankfully
he lived another two years on insulin, but then was diagnosed with a
brain tumor and we finally had to put him down. We have never put an
animal down and believe me, this was the worst experience of our
lives. He was sick his entire life, we had spent in excess of $15K and
couldn’t believe that at 13 years old we had kept him alive so
long. Needless to say, we mourned him deeply.
With four cats left (this includes our Abyssinian – another
story entirely), we soon found out that our female Mau, Qetesh, from
another breeder in Northern California had a genetic urinary track
problem. She has ruined all of our furniture, pees on us IN bed at
night, or surprises us with wet smelly sheets upon arrival to bed. She
has had two operations to correct this problem, but the problem
hasn’t ceased. I don’t know of anyone that would put up
with such behavior, but we love cats, and again, she is a beautiful
loving animal.
On to cat number three – one day before my husband’s
birthday, our Wonderful Serapis, (5 years old) who was the most loving
animal in the entire world and had no bad habits and no health
problems to date, had problems breathing. Realizing what we had gone
through with #1 Mau, we rushed him to the vet and after 2 days and
$1200 he was diagnosed with genetic heart disease. He died in our arms
on the 3rd night.
Since there are so few Maus in existence, according to our vet, they
are so interbred that these problems are not surprising.
Thankfully, Isis, our 6 year-old has shown no health problems as of
yet. Thank God, as I would probably have to be hospitalized if
anything happened to her. One out of four, we are crossing our
fingers!!!
Please think twice before purchasing a Mau, although they are without
a doubt the most wonderful cat in the entire world, you have to have a
LARGE pocket book and an extra large heart, for when the cat starts
having problems and soon dies.
As much as we love Egyptian Maus, we will never buy another and are
now contemplating different breeds. We just can’t go through
this again, and as I type, our female of 3 years old is experiencing
similar breathing behavior to our Serapis that we just lost. As it
turns out, the breeder is in denial, yet we have become close friends
and I would never push the issue – it is just better to move on.
Once again, before purchasing a Mau for a pet, please think about what
I have said here. We cannot have children and the Maus have been our
closet substitution. We love our animals and it tears us apart when
they die without getting all of the facts on the table before taking
them into our family.
God Bless
Lisa
Lisa Sweet
Again, before purchasing a Mau for a pet, please think about what I
csi...@verizon.net
csi...@verizon.net
I was wondering if you could email me at csi...@verizon.net or 310-710-4813. I would like to get a mau, but I am afraid of all the things that you talked about. I was wondering if you could please tell me confidentially who the breeders were that you obtained the maus from.
Thank you,