A slender tabby from Kenya that walks on tiptoe, with a coat like wood grain. One of the rarest breeds in the world.
The Sokoke comes from the coast of Kenya, around the Arabuko-Sokoke Forest. Cats with a special pattern had lived there for a long time, and in 1978 a British horse breeder began to turn them into a breed. It is slender, high on its legs and has a short, glossy coat with swirls like the grain in wood. It is lively, clever, chatty and likes to stay close to its people.
Likes to stay close to its people and bonds strongly, though not always by cuddling.
Follows you everywhere, but rarely sits on a lap and often does not like being picked up.
Always up for a game, from fetching to pouncing.
Very lively: it wants to play every day and needs places to climb.
Talks a lot, to people and to other cats. It lets you know what it thinks.
Clever: many Sokokes learn to fetch, do tricks and walk on a harness.
Often curious about visitors, but some are a little reserved at first.
Great with slightly older children who like to play. It is too lively for babies.
Usually gets on well with a friendly dog.
Loves other cats and likes to curl up in a heap with them.
Gets bored when left alone for long. Better with someone at home or a second cat.
Can live indoors with enough climbing places and play, but also enjoys a safe garden or large balcony.
The Sokoke is a cross with a wild cat.
No. DNA tests found no wild-cat genes. It is as much a house cat as any other: they all go back, long ago, to the wild cat of the Middle East.
The Sokoke came about entirely without people.
Not quite. It comes from the cats that had long lived on the Kenyan coast, but every pedigree cat goes back to a few cats picked by breeders. Those breeders also made sure the big pattern stayed.
The Sokoke is a natural breed: it was not made by crossing breeds, but comes from the cats that had long lived on the coast of Kenya. The Giriama people called them khadzonzo. A local kind of cat like that is called a landrace. From a few of those cats, people in Kenya and Denmark bred today's breed.
Horse breeder Jeni Slater finds a litter of kittens near Watamu in Kenya, raises two of them herself and starts breeding.
Gloria Moeldrop takes two of Slater's cats to Denmark to breed from them.
The cats are shown for the first time at a cat show, in Copenhagen.
Moeldrop brings three more cats from Kenya, so the European cats are not too closely related.
A first, provisional breed standard is drawn up in Denmark.
The European federation FIFe recognises the Sokoke as a breed.
According to the breed's story, eight cats, only two of them female, are caught in the forest for new blood.
Britain's GCCF gives the Sokoke preliminary recognition.
FIFe registers not a single Sokoke kitten this year: the least bred of the 54 breeds in its figures.
A medium-sized, slender and muscular cat on long legs. Its hind legs are longer than its front legs, so it seems to walk on tiptoe.
A very rare Sokoke with a much paler body, dark tabby markings on the head, legs and tail, and blue eyes.
Recognition: Described by Britain's GCCF. It is not in the FIFe standard.
Cat registries write colours as an EMS code. The letter is the colour (n black, a blue, d red, f tortie), s means silver or smoke, y golden, and the numbers tell you about white (01–09), shading (11, 12), the tabby pattern (22–25) or colourpoint (33).
Brown blotched tabby(n 22)The only colour in the standard. It is black tabby, but the lighter hairs make it look brown, from light brown or gold to almost black.
Very rare. Britain's GCCF describes it, but it is not in the FIFe standard.
Solid black and blue cats are sometimes born, but no registry recognises them. France's LOOF gives no award to cats with white spots.
Khadzonzo, the Giriama people's old name for these cats, is said to mean 'looks like tree bark'.
In 2024 the European federation FIFe did not register a single Sokoke kitten.
Because of its long hind legs it walks as if on tiptoe, even more so when it is excited.
The light hairs in its coat run all the way to the tip of its tail.
Unlike most cats, many Sokokes enjoy water, and some even swim.
No study has measured it. Most sources say about 12 to 15 years, but there are so few Sokokes that nobody really knows. Take it as a rough guide.
No inherited disease is known in the Sokoke. But every cat goes back to only a few ancestors. When parents are too closely related, the kittens can be less strong.
How it is found: There is no DNA test for this breed. Ask for the pedigree, so you can see how related the parents are.
With little or no undercoat it keeps in little heat. In winter it needs a warm spot.
How it is found: No test needed: every Sokoke has this thin coat.
Little work: once a week a hand or a brush over the coat. Keep the eyes and ears clean and check the claws and teeth.
A lot: play together every day, places to climb high and games like fetch. Many Sokokes like walking on a harness. A bored Sokoke is not a happy one.
It needs no special food, even though it looks wild. Good complete cat food that suits its age is enough.
It comes from a warm country and has little undercoat. Give it warm spots in winter; it can get used to a cooler climate.
With its very short coat it sheds little. That does not make it safe for allergies: nobody has studied it. Spend some time with a Sokoke first.
Checked on 23 October 2026
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