[3] The breed's distinctive appearance, seeming long, lean and finely coloured compared to other cats, has been analogized to that of human fashion models.

Personality-wise, the cats traditionally display active, curious attitudes in which they frequently follow owners around and encourage play.

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.

"[6] 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 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.

[9][10] The head is moderately wedge-shaped, with a slight break at the muzzle, and nose and chin ideally forming a straight vertical line when viewed in profile.

The ticked or agouti effect that is the trademark of the breed—genetically a variant of the tabby pattern—should be uniform over the body, although the ridge of the spine and tail, back of the hind legs and the pads of the paws are always noticeably darker.

[9][11] The breed's original colour standard is a warm deep reddish-brown base with black ticking, known as "usual" in the United Kingdom, "tawny" in Australia, and "ruddy" elsewhere.

Sorrel (also called cinnamon or red), a lighter coppery base with chocolate brown ticking, is a unique mutation of this original pattern.

[14] Veterinarian Joan O. Joshua has written that the "dog-like attachment to the owners" of Abyssinian and Burmese cats causes "greater dependence on human contacts".

This stands in contrast to the mere "tolerant acceptance of human company" based around "comforts" that multiple other breeds display.

[16] The Abyssinian has had severe problems with blindness caused by a hereditary retinal degeneration due to mutations in the rdAc gene.

[17] An Australian analysis found the Abyssinian to be over-represented in cases of feline infectious peritonitis when compared to the expected frequency based on census data (4.4% versus 1.5%).