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Breed guide · Cats
She was born by the bins behind my building. Now she has her own chair.
Last updated 13 October 2026
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What they brought with them.
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At home
Lean, long-legged and big-eared, with a short coat that lies flat.
What's going onTheir short, close coat and lean build suit a Gulf summer, and they cope with heat better than most breeds. They still need cool rest and fresh water indoors.
At home
Under the sofa for days, then a little closer each evening.
What's going onTheir ancestors took food from people and kept their distance. A rescued Mau may take weeks to decide about you. Give them one quiet room, and let them come out when they are ready.
At home
Low at the balcony door every morning, jaw chattering at the birds.
What's going onThey are born street hunters with nothing to catch. Short play with a wand toy, ending with a catch and a meal, gives them the hunt they were built for. What owners in Dubai tell us: Maus are busy, playful cats, and many are real talkers.
At home
A rescue from outside your building who looks exactly like the pictures of the breed.
What's going onThe breed was named from the cats on the street, so a rescue can look exactly like a registered Arabian Mau. Their care is the same either way.
At home
A scab under the fur, a few fleas at the base of the tail, a sneeze that will not stop.
What's going onBite wounds, fleas and upper respiratory infection (cat flu) are common in Maus from their junior years, usually from time outside. Look at their coat and skin when you stroke them, especially if they ever get out.
At home
Eating, purring and using the tray as usual, then no longer jumping onto their chair.
What's going onA Mau from the street is very good at hiding pain. The first sign is often small: they stop jumping onto their favourite chair.
The bit nobody tells you.
Their past
Built for: Centuries on Gulf streets, keeping their distance from people.
In Dubai: Your flat, and a person they have not decided about yet.
The climate
Built for: Long Gulf summers.
In Dubai: Easy to assume they need less help than they do.
Their day
Built for: The hunt, many times a day.
In Dubai: Indoors and safe, with nothing to catch.
Let them decide about you in their own time.
Your Mau is the Gulf's own street cat. Keep them indoors and safe, give them the hunt, and let them decide about you in their own time. The ten things below are how.
Your plan is built around what an Arabian Mau is prone to at every age, from their teeth and skin to their kidneys, and the care that goes with each one.
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Ten things that make their life better.
They are born hunters, and a laser dot never lets them catch anything.
Every age, most of all 7 months to 2 years
Why
They are born hunters, and a laser dot never lets them catch anything.
What to do
Use a wand toy and move it like prey, away from them and into cover. Five to ten minutes, two or three times a day. Let them catch it at the end, then feed them. Most cats groom and sleep afterwards.
Maus stay lean while they are young and active. Weight creeps on in middle age, when the same bowl starts to show.
Every age, most of all from 7 years
Why
Maus stay lean while they are young and active. Weight creeps on in middle age, when the same bowl starts to show.
What to do
Split their daily food into small meals, some in a puzzle feeder or hidden around the flat. Weigh the day's food, so anything they hunt for comes out of it.
Injuries and bite wounds are common in Maus from their junior years. A street-tough cat is not traffic-proof or fall-proof.
Every age, most of all kittens and juniors
Why
Injuries and bite wounds are common in Maus from their junior years. A street-tough cat is not traffic-proof or fall-proof.
What to do
Keep them indoors, and keep the balcony shut unless it is fully netted and checked for gaps. Fit restrictors or screens on every window that opens.
Their wildcat ancestor never shared a meal or a den with another cat. A second cat can keep them off the only tray just by sitting near it.
Every age, low-sided trays from 11 years
Why
Their wildcat ancestor never shared a meal or a den with another cat. A second cat can keep them off the only tray just by sitting near it.
What to do
For each cat, a litter tray, a water bowl, a food bowl and a scratching post, plus one spare, spread across different rooms. Keep trays somewhere quiet, away from food and water.
A wary cat settles faster when they can watch from above or disappear.
Every age, add steps from 11 years
Why
A wary cat settles faster when they can watch from above or disappear.
What to do
A cat tree or a cleared shelf with a way up, and a box or covered bed, in every room they use. Never pull them out of a hiding place, especially in their first weeks with you.
Bladder trouble is common in Maus as they reach middle age, and water is the simplest guard against it.
Every age
Why
Bladder trouble is common in Maus as they reach middle age, and water is the simplest guard against it.
What to do
Give some wet food every day, and set out two or three wide, shallow water bowls around the home, away from their food and their tray, and wash them daily. A cool tiled spot to lie on helps too. Urinary health and hydration support is in your plan from their mature years.
Parasites and stomach upsets are common in Maus, and bladder trouble comes later. The tray shows all three first.
Every age
Why
Parasites and stomach upsets are common in Maus, and bladder trouble comes later. The tray shows all three first.
What to do
Scoop daily. Tell your vet about diarrhoea, worms or blood. A male cat straining, crying or going in and out of the tray with little or nothing coming out may have a blocked bladder. That is an emergency: contact your vet now. If a female cat is straining, contact your vet the same day. A baseline urinalysis (a urine test) and faecal and skin parasite screening are in your plan from their junior years.
A cat who learned to be wary on the street quickly works out that the carrier means the vet.
Every age, start as soon as they arrive
Why
A cat who learned to be wary on the street quickly works out that the carrier means the vet.
What to do
Leave it out all the time, door open, with a blanket and the odd treat inside. Once a week, touch their paws, ears and mouth for a second, then give them a treat. On vet day, cover the carrier with a towel and carry it level.
Dental disease is the first thing to watch from their junior years, and cats keep eating with sore teeth.
Every age, start as a kitten
Why
Dental disease is the first thing to watch from their junior years, and cats keep eating with sore teeth.
What to do
Lift their lip and look at their teeth and gums. Brush a few seconds at a time with cat toothpaste. Tell your vet if they drop food or chew on one side. A dental evaluation (teeth and gum check) is in your plan every year from their junior years.
They hide pain, and fleas and skin trouble are easy to miss.
Every age
Why
They hide pain, and fleas and skin trouble are easy to miss.
What to do
Weigh them once a month: step on the scales holding them, then without them, and take the difference. Once a week, run your hands along their ribs, spine and hips, and part the coat at the base of the tail to look for fleas. A Body Condition Score (BCS, a check on whether they are the right weight) is in your plan from their kitten months, and a skin and coat evaluation from their mature years.
Four of these are in your plan. The rest you can do at home.
Join the founding families. AED 1,999 of essential care for AED 199.
Their health, at every age.
How old are they?
Their age
the first six months
What to watch for
The care that goes with it
Their age
7 months to 2 years
What to watch for
The care that goes with it
Their age
2 to 6 years
What to watch for
The care that goes with it
Their age
7 to 10 years
What to watch for
The care that goes with it
Their age
11 to 14 years
What to watch for
The care that goes with it
Their age
15 years and over
What to watch for
The care that goes with it
Breed predispositions indicate an increased risk rather than certainty of disease. What is right for them always comes from their own history and an evaluation.
Before they come home.
Pedigree or rescue
The breed was named after the Gulf street cat, so a rescue from outside your building can look exactly like a registered Arabian Mau. Their care is the same either way. Their history, street or breeder, tells you more than the name.
Colours
White, black, or black and white, and brown, grey or ginger tabby, striped or spotted, often with white.
From the street or a rescue
A rescued adult may take weeks to trust you. Give them their own tray, food, water and hiding place in one room, and let them choose when to come out. Never pull them out of a hiding place.
Getting the home ready
Before they arrive, close the balcony off with cat netting or keep its door shut, and fit restrictors or screens on every window that opens. Being agile does not protect them from a fall.
Before they meet your cat
Before they meet any other cat in your home, test for these two viruses cats pass to each other. It is a good moment to look for bite wounds and fleas too.
Before the clinics open
AED 1,999 of essential care for AED 199. No payment now.
If it's a kitten: First 30 days with a new kitten · Kitten vaccinations in the UAE
When it is not behaviour.
She'll still claim her chair. If she stops jumping up to it, call your vet.
Before they were yours.
About 10,000 years ago
Their ancestor is the African wildcat, which still lives in Arabia. About 10,000 years ago it moved in around the first farming villages of the region.
What they still carryThe whole hunter, and a body built for dry country.
Medieval
Free-roaming cats lived around Gulf ports, houses and markets. At Qalhat in Oman, cats of the 13th to 15th centuries lived largely on fish scraps from people.
What they still carryA short, close coat, long legs, large ears and a lean, muscular build.
2008
A Dubai cat lover, Petra Mueller, named these street cats and spent years documenting them. The World Cat Federation recognised the Arabian Mau as a breed in 2008.
What they still carryThe street cat's own look, unchanged. The breed was named after them, not bred into them.
Today
Many street and rescue cats in the Gulf have the Arabian Mau look, with or without papers.
What they still carryAdult cats with unknown histories, and FIV and FeLV status to test.
The ones you type at midnight.
If the Arabian Mau suits you, so might these.
Domestic ShorthairThe same kind of cat: the same street roots and the same wildcat ancestor, in a more moderate build and every colour
Egyptian MauThe same kind of cat: another old, lean breed from this part of the world, spotted, green-eyed and more attached to their people
BengalThe same busy play and plenty to say, in a spotted cat who wants a little more company
SiameseA similar lean build and a short coat that copes with warm weather, in a cat who wants to be with you all day
