Abyssinian vs Domestic Shorthair — Side by Side

	Abyssinian	Domestic Shorthair
Lifespan	9-13 years	12-15 years, commonly more
Size	Medium	Medium
Weight	8-12 lb	6-16 lb
Energy	Very high	Moderate
Grooming	Low	Low
Shedding	Low	Moderate
With kids	With supervision	Good with kids

What actually separates them

Less hair on the sofa with the Abyssinian. More with the Domestic Shorthair.
Calmer of the two is the Domestic Shorthair. The one that needs more exercise is the Abyssinian.
Domestic Shorthair tends to live longer — 12-15 years, commonly more against 9-13 years.
With young children, Domestic Shorthair is the safer default — Abyssinian is listed as "With supervision".

The honest downside of each

Abyssinian

Abyssinians are one of the most perpetually active cat breeds that exists and generally dislike being held or restrained, which is the opposite of what most people picture when a breeder describes a 'friendly, people-oriented' cat.

Domestic Shorthair

The 'ordinary' shelter cat with no pedigree is, on average, the genetically healthiest cat you can get — a large insurance-data study found purebred cats carry higher risk for heart disease, reproductive problems and several other serious conditions than mixed-breed cats do — and you can adopt one for a fraction of what a pedigree kitten costs.

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Abyssinian · Domestic Shorthair
Health problems, origin and what living with each is actually like.