About the Breeds

The Ocicat

There have been no wild genes used in Ocicat bloodlines at all, despite the exotic look of this beautiful spotted cat, with such a wonderful affectionate personality.

The first Ocicat occurred by chance in the USA in 1964 when Mrs Virginia Daly attempted to obtain an 'Aby pointed' Siamese. However, she found, in a second generation Abyssinian-Siamese cross, a beautiful gold spotted male kitten (Out-crossing to the Abyssinian is still permitted, a valuable means of adding to the gene pool). Her daughter remarked on the resemblance to a baby Ocelot and asked 'Why don't we call him an Ocicat?' Tonga, as he was called, brought the new breed into the world. The next step was the introduction of the American Short Hair, which contributed body substance and the silver colour gene. In America it took over 20 years for official recognition, but they have now become a very popular bred in the States. In 2002, the breed was accepted at Intermediate Level by the Governing Council of the Cat Fancy in the UK.

The Ocicat is a medium-large athletic cat with a powerful body, heavily boned with well sprung ribs. It has a graceful arching neck and modified wedge shaped head, curving gently from muzzle to cheek, with a slight dip to the nose. Large almond shaped eyes have mascara markings. The muzzle is well defined with a hint of squareness. Spots go in rows along the spine and scatter across the shoulders and hindquarters, extending down the legs. The belly should be well spotted too. There are broken bracelets on legs and broken necklaces at the throat. The short tight coat with a satin sheen shows off the long well muscled body (with equally proportioned long tail), and spots well.

This breed has strong dog-like tendancies, and will follow you from room to room 'helping' with whatever you may be involved in. After reading this, one owner actually trained her first Ocicat, in just two weeks, to do a perfect 'sit, 'wait', 'come', and retrieve, using pieces of ham and praise as rewards! They do like to please. Many love to leap onto shoulders to perch like a parrot, although this behaviour can easily be discouraged if not wanted. They are devoted to people, and are very intelligent and alert. The Ocicat is fairly vocal, but never overly noisy. They get on well with children and other animals, and enjoy their company - they would be lonely left alone without another pet for long periods. Their broad genetic background leaves them less prone to disease than some breeds.

The lifespan is approximately 15 years, but some live to 18 or 19. Litter sizes average between 4 and 6 kittens.

Colours available are: Tawny, Blue, Chocolate, Lilac, Cinnamon, Fawn, Black Silver, Blue Silver, Chocolate Silver, Lilac Silver, Cinnamon Silver, Fawn Silver.

Many of the above colours are shown on the linked page.

This very exciting breed of cat is derived from the Asian Leopard Cat (Felis Bengalensis) and a domestic cat. Through careful selection, the Bengal is friendly and loving with a strong resemblance to its wild ancestors.In 1963 in America, Jean Mill made what is believed to have been the first deliberate cross between the Asian Leopard Cat (ALC) and the domestic cat.She hoped by putting a leopard coat on a domestic cat, the pet trade could be safely satisfied and if fashionable women could be disuaded from wearing furs that looked like friends pets, the diminished demand would result in less poaching of wild species.

Jean Mill's work with the breed came to a halt when she was widowed and it was not until the 1970s that her work on the Bengal programme really took off, with the help of geneticist Dr W Centerwall. He was particularly interested in the ALC because it can lack the feline leukaemia genome in its DNA structure, giving it a natural immunity to feline leukaemia.

In 1985 Bengals were first exhibited in America and they have Championship status in that country with The International Cat Association (TICA). Three generations of Bengal to Bengal mating are required for the American show ring.

Bengal kittens are very outgoing and learn to be naughty from an early age. Water is definitely the 'in thing' as far as they are concerned. They continue to play and climb even as adults but grace is not their strong point. They use their front paws to pick up things and like to hunt and retrieve.

There are two coat patterns in the Bengal: the spotted or rosetted and the marble, which has a swirling pattern and no counterpart in the domestic cat.

The spotted/rosetted pattern is different from other spotted breeds as it is horizontally aligned. The pattern is sharply defined and the contrast to the base colour is extreme and striking. Single spotting is allowed but rosettes, formed by a part circle of spots around a redder centre are preferable.

The first Bengal to be imported into the UK was Gogees Tigretracks, a striking rufus male with a good pelt well dusted with gold. The female - Gogees Winterhawk Freedom - followed three weeks later. She was a snow Bengal of very good type. The next Bengal was imported in 1991. His name was Millwood Whimsey, a cinnamon Bengal and he has established his colour in the UK Bengals. He was closely followed by other Bengals - thus giving a working gene pool.



Examples are shown on the linked page.