Sokoke Cat Breed Description

Active: Sokoke cats are a moderately active cat breed. They love to play and show off their athletic abilities and will seek your attention but are not overly demanding and their activity tends to come in bursts.

Size: Sokoke cats are medium in size, weighing between 5 - 10 pounds.

Characteristics: Sokoke cats are a beautiful, slightly wild-looking cat with a medium-sized body that is slender and elegant. While sleek, they are muscular and the combination of these two qualities allows them to glide gracefully in a way that is sure to mesmerize anyone. Sokoke cats have long, powerful legs that give them their strong athletic ability. Additionally, Sokoke cats have long necks and atop those necks sits a small, triangular head with striking features such as large, wide-set almond-shaped eyes that range in color from amber to green. Their cheeks and nose are prominent and striking, adding to their unique appearance. And their ears add to their special look because they are wide at the base with pointed tips and very wide-set. Sokoke cats have a gorgeous coat with a very rare look - a modified classic tabby coat with a muted pattern and ticking. The wood-grain appearance of their coat likely evolved as a form of camouflage and its muted, blotched pattern is very beautiful.

Temperament: While Sokoke cats were found in the wild, their personality is far from ferocious. In fact, they are sociable and loving, though they do not tend to show their affection in the form of cuddling but rather, by following their favorite humans around closely. While they may not be much of a lap cat, they bond closely with their humans and form an incredibly loving and deep connection. They are a very tolerant and patient cat breed, playing well with children and other pets. They are also a very active cat and love to show off their athletic abilities, using their strong muscles to climb and leap to great heights. Sokoke cats are quite chatty by nature and will meow your ear right off.

Care: Sokoke cats are a fairly low-maintenance cat breed due to their short coat with little or no undercoat. Weekly combing or brushing will keep these jungle beauties looking spectacular and otherwise only requires occasional nail trimming and ear cleaning.

Coat: The coat of the Sokoke cat breed is short, close-lying to the body and quite dense. They also have little or no undercoat.

Origin: The Sokoke cat breed is a feral cat breed that finds its origins in the east-African rainforest, more specifically - the Kenyan coastal zone. They are a breed that has been surviving and thriving on their own for many years and not much is known about their origins. The history of the breed that is known begins in 1978 when horse breeder and wildlife artist Jeni Slater found a litter of Sokoke kittens on her land. They were intriguing and quite beautiful so Slater decided to keep them as pets. A friend of Slater's, Gloria Moeldrup, visited and took an interest in the cats. Moeldrup decided to keep two and took them back to her home in Denmark where she began to breed them in 1984. Since then, more have been imported and bred and as the breed has grown, so has its recognition. In 1994, the Federation Internationale Feline (FIFe) granted teh breed recognition and championship status soon after. While the breed is still slowly gaining recognition, they have been accepted for various statuses by the United Feline Organization (UFO), the Canadian Cat Association (CCA) and The International Cat Association (TICA).