Editing Abyssinian cat (section)

== History ==
What is thought to be the earliest known designated Abyssinian cat is in an exhibit still residing in the Leiden Zoological Museum in The Netherlands. It was purchased around 1834-1836 from a supplier of small wild cat exhibits as a taxidermy and was labeled by the museum founder as "Patrie, domestica India." The first example of a domesticated Abyssinian, however, involves the story of a cat being brought to England by the British Lt. General Sir Robert Napier in 1868 who had returned from the Abyssinia War. The cat was given the name "Zula" and won first prize in the December 1871 Crystal Palace cat show.

Many modern Abyssinian breeders dispute Zula as having been the first domestic Abyssinian, arguing that the existing illustrations of Zula portray the cat as having ears too small for an Abyssinian and a coat too waved and long.

The breed was nearly wiped out in the United Kingdom following the Second World War and an outbreak of feline leukaemia virus, resulting in cats being imported from places such as Holland, America, Scandinavia, Australia, and New Zealand.

The Abyssinian is one of the oldest established cat breeds, being recognised in 1929 by the Governing Council of the Cat Fancy. The breed was developed in the United Kingdom with references dating back to the 1890s.