History of occurrence
You aren’t going dotty when you see an Ocicat. You are indeed seeing a small spotted cat, but he’s not wild. Far from it. The Ocicat was created through crosses between Siamese, Abyssinian and American Shorthair cats. He might be named after the ocelot, a small South American wild felid, but he’s all domestic cat.
The Ocicat is one of those happy accidents that sometimes occur in cat breeding. In an attempt to achieve Abyssinian points in her Siamese cats, breeder Virginia Daly crossed a sealpoint Siamese and a ruddy Abyssinian in 1964. The resulting kittens looked like Abys, and when she crossed one of them with a Siamese, she got not only Aby-pointed Siamese but also one kitten who had an ivory-colored coat dotted with gold spots. She named him Tonga and sold him as a pet, but when repeat breedings produced more spotted kittens, they became the foundation of a new breed. American Shorthairs were also used in their development, to add greater size and bring in the silver color.
Ocicats were recognized by the Cat Fanciers Association and The International Cat Association in 1987. They are also recognized by all other cat registries.
General form
The Ocicat is a medium to large, well-spotted agouti cat of moderate type. It displays the look of an athletic animal: well-muscled and solid, graceful and lithe, yet with a fullness of body and chest. It is alert to its surroundings and shows great vitality. There are twelve accepted Ocicat colors divided into eight color classes with all specimens possessing darker spots which appear in deep contrast to a lighter background. The determining factor in answering any and all questions as to the correct color of an Ocicat will be the color of the tail tip without any comparison to the color of other body markings (see Ocicat colors). Each hair (except on the tip of tail) has several bands of color. It is where these bands fall together that a thumbprint shaped spot is formed. This powerful, athletic, yet graceful spotted cat is particularly noted for its “wild” appearance.
Отличительная особенность породы Ocicat
Head: the skull is a modified wedge showing a slight curve from muzzle to cheek, with a visible, but gentle, rise from the bridge of the nose to the brow. The muzzle is broad and well defined with a suggestion of squareness and in profile shows good length. The chin is strong and the jaw firm with a proper bite. The moderate whisker pinch is not too severe. The head is carried gracefully on an arching neck. An allowance is made for jowls on mature males.
Ears: alert, moderately large, and set so as to corner the upper, outside dimensions of the head. If an imaginary horizontal line is drawn across the brow, the ears should be set at a 45 degree angle, i.e., neither too high nor too low. When they occur, ear tufts extending vertically from the tips of the ears are a bonus.
Eyes: large, almond shaped, and angling slightly upwards toward the ears with more than the length of an eye between the eyes.
Torso: solid, hard, rather long-bodied with depth and fullness but never coarse. The Ocicat is a medium to large cat with substantial bone and muscle development, yet with an athletic appearance, and should have surprising weight for its size. There should be some depth of chest with ribs slightly sprung, the back is level to slightly higher in the rear, and the flank reasonably level. Preference is given to the athletic, powerful, and lithe, and objection taken to the bulky or coarse. It should be noted that females are generally smaller than males. The overall structure and quality of this cat should be of greater consideration than mere size alone.
Legs and feet: legs should be of good substance and wellmuscled, medium-long, powerful and in good proportion to the body. Feet should be oval and compact with five toes in front and four in back, with size in proportion to legs.
Tail: fairly long, medium-slim with only a slight taper and with a dark tip.
Coat texture: short, smooth and satiny in texture with a lustrous sheen. Tight, close-lying and sleek, yet long enough to accommodate the necessary bands of color. There should be no suggestion of woolliness.
Ticking: all hairs except the tip of the tail are banded. Within the markings, hairs are tipped with a darker color, while hairs in the ground color are tipped with a lighter color.
Coat colour: all colors should be clear and pleasing. The lightest color is usually found on the face around the eyes, and on the chin and lower jaw. The darkest color is found on the tip of the tail. Contrast is scored separately.
Contrast: distinctive markings should be clearly seen from any orientation. Those on the face, legs, and tail may be darker than those on the torso. Ground color may be darker on the saddle and lighter on the underside, chin, and lower jaw. Penalties should be given if spotting is faint or blurred, though it must be remembered that pale colors will show less contrast than darker ones.
Eye colour: all eye colors except blue are allowed. There is no correspondence between eye color and coat color. Depth of color is preferred.
Pattern: there is an intricate tabby “M” on the forehead, with markings extending up over the head between the ears and breaking into small spots on the lower neck and shoulders. Mascara markings are found around the eyes and on cheeks. Rows of round spots run along the spine from shoulder blades to tail. The tail has horizontal brush strokes down the top, ideally alternating with spots, and a dark tip. Spots are scattered across the shoulders and hindquarters, extending as far as possible down the legs. There are broken bracelets on the lower legs and broken necklaces at the throat – the more broken the better. Large well-scattered, thumbprint-shaped spots appear on the sides of the torso, with a subtle suggestion of a classic tabby pattern – a spot circled by spots in place of the bull’s eye. The belly is also well spotted. The eyes are rimmed with the darkest coat color and surrounded by the lightest color.
Character
The devoted and playful Ocicat loves people and will trail their footsteps through the house or ride on a shoulder. Guests are welcomed by this generally social cat as new opportunities for petting or lap sitting. Ocicats don’t even mind being carried around as long as they are with you. As with any animal, they come in a range of personalities, so some are more shy than others.
Favorite activities include retrieving toys and learning to walk on a leash. Ocicats are highly intelligent and learn tricks easily. Puzzle toys are a good way to keep them occupied and entertained. Carefully put away anything you don’t want him to have. He is perfectly capable of figuring out how to open doors or undo latches.
His Siamese ancestors bequeathed the Ocicat a tendency to be vocal, but he is not as loud or as demanding. He is sensitive and will respond to nothing more than a verbal correction.
Although the Ocicat is adaptable, he doesn’t like being left alone. Be sure he has another cat or dog as a companion if you aren’t home during the day.
Maintenance care
The Ocicat’s short, smooth coat is simple to groom with weekly brushing or combing to remove dead hairs. A bath is rarely necessary.
Brush the teeth to prevent periodontal disease. Daily dental hygiene is best, but weekly brushing is better than nothing. Trim the nails weekly. Wipe the corners of the eyes with a soft, damp cloth to remove any discharge. Use a separate area of the cloth for each eye so you don’t run the risk of spreading any infection.
Check the ears weekly. If they look dirty, wipe them out with a cotton ball or soft damp cloth moistened with a 50-50 mixture of cider vinegar and warm water. Avoid using cotton swabs, which can damage the interior of the ear.
Keep the litter box spotlessly clean. Cats are very particular about bathroom hygiene.
It’s a good idea to keep an Ocicat as an indoor-only cat to protect him from diseases spread by other cats, attacks by dogs or coyotes, and the other dangers that face cats who go outdoors, such as being hit by a car. Ocicats who go outdoors also run the risk of being stolen by someone who would like to have such an unusual cat without paying for it.
Lifespan — 10-17 years.
Dignity
Good with children, good with household cats and dogs, medium shedding, high sociability with strangers.
Difficulty keeping
The breed is easy going and may be kept and bred without any problems.
Diseases
Both pedigreed cats and mixed-breed cats have varying incidences of health problems that may be genetic in nature. Ocicats are generally healthy, but they have the potential to develop certain health problems.
Progressive retinal atrophy, which leads to blindness, has been seen in a few cats in the breed, but it is not thought to be a major problem. Some Ocicats have also been diagnosed with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, the most common form of heart disease in cats. Their Siamese and Abyssinian heritage may also predispose them to renal or liver amyloidosis and early periodontal disease.
