OCICAT CAT BREED
History
The first Ocicat was created in 1964 when Virginia Daly, a Michigan breeder interested in new and unusual varieties of cats, tried to create a Siamese with Abyssinian-colored points. Daly bred a seal point Siamese female to a ruddy Abyssinian male; the subsequent kittens looked like Abyssinians but carried the gene for the Siamese pattern. She then bred one of the half-Abyssinian kittens to another full Siamese and achieved her goal of producing an Abyssinian-pointed Siamese kitten.
The same litter, however, also produced an ivory male kitten with golden spots and copper eyes, which Daly named Tonga. Additional matings between Tonga’s parents produced more Tonga look-alikes, and the Ocicat breed was officially launched. Daly’s daughter suggested the name Ocicat because they reminded her of the spotted wild cat called the ocelot.
In 1965 the first Ocicat cat was exhibited to the CFA and in 1966 the CFA accepted the breed for registration, but mistakenly listed the parent breeds as Abyssinian and American Shorthair. Because of the error, new Ocicat breeders added American Shorthairs into their Ocicat lines for a short time, changing the body style from Siamese svelte to a more compact type and adding additional colors not available with the original design.
Even with the early enthusiastic reception in the CFA, the Ocicat cat didn’t achieve Championship status until 1987. A combination of factors was responsible, the main reason being that Daly took an 11-year break from breeding and promoting Ocicat cats. But the word got around about the breed and soon other breeders were duplicating Daly’s results and widening the gene pool. The breed has now gained in popularity and has a strong following.
General: The Ocicat cat is a medium to large well-spotted agouti cat of moderate type. This powerful, athletic, yet graceful cat is particularly noted for its wild appearance.
Body: Solid, hard, rather long-bodied with depth and fullness; never coarse; substantial bone and muscle development yet with athletic appearance; surprisingly heavy for its size.
Head: Modified wedge showing slight curve from muzzle to cheek; visible but gentle rise from bridge of nose to brow; muzzle broad and well defined with suggestion of squareness; strong chin and firm jaw; moderate whisker pinch.
Ears: Moderately large and set at a 45 degree angle, neither too high nor too low; ear tufts desirable.
Eyes: Large, almond-shaped, angling slightly upward toward ears. All eye colors are acceptable except blue; no correspondence between eye and coat color.
Tail: Fairly long; medium slim with only slight taper; possesses dark tip.
Coat: Short, smooth, and satiny with lustrous sheen; tight, close-lying, and sleek, but long enough to accommodate agouti bands of color; all hairs except tip of tail banded.
Color: Tawny, chocolate, cinnamon, blue, lavender, fawn, silver, chocolate silver, cinnamon silver, blue silver, lavender silver and fawn silver.
Disqualify: White locket or spotting, or white anywhere other than around eyes, nostrils, chin, and upper throat; kinked or deformed tail; blue eyes.
Allowable outcrosses: Abyssinian for litters born before January 1, 2005.