Has anyone owned both a Somali and an Aby? Are they pretty much the same in disposition? For some reason I am convinced a somali may perhaps be a little less mischevious than the Abys, but its just a guess...
Are they as hard-to-find as well? Or do many breeders normally do both?

somali's are just long-haired abys, so i think their disposition is about the same. they come from abys, and they used to be hidden or killed because they were one thought to be mutants. finally, someone decided to show one as a joke... and the cat won awards! since then, they've been loved. they're called somali's because in history, the somalis were the enemy of the abyssinians.

learn somethin new everyday!

when looking for a cat, i looked for either... tho i'm glad i got the short hair, just because she sheds enough as it is, i couldnt imagine how much hair would be around if i had a somali! but they're so gorgeous!

It's so hard to generalize about the personalities of breeds. My Abby son, Riddick, is typical - a feline rocket racing through my apartment at breakneck speeds, causing mischief, but also spending extremely loving and sweet moments during his rest periods. He's too smart for his own good.

Meanwhile, my Somali, Cezanne (poor baby RIP) was the complete opposite. I swear each time he walked into a room he thought it was a new place. He was my model son: stunningly beautiful, but dumb as a post. He was MADLY, INSANELY in love with my oldest son, a gray and white mixed named Nietszche. He couldn't care less about his people, except when it was food time. And oddly, I got him at a cat show from Evelyn Mague, one of the first (if not the first) Somali breeders.

Go figure!

my aby is dumb, but can be manipulative when she wants something. she follows me around the house and i've been told she'll "peep" if she cant find me when i'm gone. she loves our dog and lays with her a lot, but is constantly in competition for attention with her. she comes when called, and 95% of the time only scratches the scratching posts i've made for her. she wont play with the expensive toys, instead, a pipe cleaner is much more entertainment. but her favorite toy is the laser pointer i got at the dollar store. we've gone through a lot of batteries on that thing (thankfully the dollar store sells those too). she'll walk on a leash outside if she wants to, and loves to get in my face if she wants attention. she'll lay on my head at night sometimes. i've never met a more loving cat.

our previous aby, rest her soul, was much more independant, and very happy to just lay around the house all day, or sit in the window and watch birds. she never wanted outside. being held had to be on her terms, but i'll never forget the night before she died, i laid beside her in her bed on the floor all night, and had to get up early to tell my parents it was time to take her to the vet to put her down. i'd had her for 18 yrs. that killed me and i knew i had to get another aby.

truth is, i've never known a bad aby. they're amazing pets. or rather, they're amazing owners of you! both of mine have been very aware of when we're sad or in pain and have been companions through thick and thin. couldnt ask for anything better.

The breeder I bought my somali from said she actually noticed (seeing as Somali are said to be a semi-active race whereas Aby are said to be an active race) a difference in their activity-levels. The Somali were active, but not quite as active as the Aby. The strage thing is that the aby-variants she had (who were Aby's only with the somali's longhair-gene) were on the same acticity-level as the somali.. So it almost seemed to her that the activity had a connection with the longhair-gene.. Strange.

the original question was just a question from someone wanting to know the difference. no one has ever said one is better. i'd be glad to have either (altho i think i'd rather have an aby because of my allergies to the shedding).

I agree with the second poster. Somalis and Abys are the same cat just different fur length. My somali is very active and very dominant. I personally perfer long hair that is why I chose the somali over the aby.

That's the reason I chose Somali as well. I love the long fur :)