Ocicat ~ Silver Spotted
Ocicat ~ Silver Spotted
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Ocicat ~ Silver Spotted
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Ocicat ~ Silver Spotted
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| A spotted athlete with mascara markings around her eyes "Ocicat" is a combination of the words "ocelot" (a spotted wild cat of the Americas) and "cat." Indeed, this breed has a spotted coat that makes it resemble a small wild cat. In 1964, Virginia Daly, a breeder in Berkeley, Michigan, crossed a Siamese - Abyssinian mix with a chocolate point Siamese in an effort to obtain tabby point Siamese cats. A male in the litter named Tonga and wearing an ivory coat with gold spots was unfortunately neutered. Daly continued her work while other breeders, including Tom Brown, crossed Abyssinians, Siamese, spotted Oriental Shorthairs, Egyptian Maus, and American Shorthairs in order to obtain the Ocicat's current morphology. The breed was officially recognized by the C.F.A. in 1986, and T.I.C.A. published a standard in 1988. Outcrosses with Abyssinians are now forbidden. In 1989, the first Ocicats were sent to France. Though popular in the United States, the Ocicat is still very rare in Europe. |
| Friendly, sweet temperament. Gentle. Sunny disposition. Moderately vocal. Despite its resemblance to a cat, quite tame and subdued. |
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Head
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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. Eyes : Large almond shaped. Angled slightly upward toward the ears with more than the length of an eye apart. All eye colors except blue allowed. No relationship between coat and eye color. |
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Ears
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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. |
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Neck
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Arched. |
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Body
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Large, fairly long, semi-foreign, powerful, but never massive. Fairly deep chest. Well-developed bone and muscle structure. |
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Paw
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Moderately long, powerful, and muscular. Compact, oval paws. |
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Tail
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Fairly long, medium-slim with only a slight taper and with a dark tip. |
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Coat
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Hair is short but long enough to have several bands of color. Fine, smooth, satiny coat with shiny highlights. Spotted and agouti coat (spotted tabby coat). Each hair, except those at the tip of the tail, has several bands of color. The recognized colors are: - brown (or tawny) - chocolate - lilac - blue - cinnamon - fawn These six colors also exist in silver varieties. All colors must be clear and pleasant. The lightest coloration is normally found on the face, chin, and lower jaw. Markings consist of hairs with darker tipping. They should be clear and distinct. They are darker on the face, legs, and tail than on the body. Dark tail tip. Tabby "M" on the forehead. Mascara markings around the eyes and cheeks. |
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Fault
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Massive or stocky body. Blue eyes. Weak and indistinct markings. White spotting or white locket. |
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Disqualify
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White locket or spotting, or white anywhere other than around eyes, nostrils, chin, and upper throat (except white agouti ground in silvered colors). Kinked or otherwise deformed tail. Blue eyes. Incorrect number of toes. Long hair. Due to the spotted patched tabby (torbie) cats resulting from the sex-linked O gene, no reds, creams, or torbies are allowed. Very rufous cinnamons and fawns may resemble red or cream, but never produce female torbies. |
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Character
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The Ocicat is very lively, highly active, curious, and playful. Despite his similarity to a small wild cat, he is very friendly, gentle, and affectionate. In fact, he will not tolerate solitude. Ocicats are loyal and exclusive like the Siamese, but they have a softer voice. They are very accepting of children but fairly dominant toward other cats. They adapt easily to new living conditions. They are easy to groom, as they simply require regular brushing. |
| No known health problems. Basically hardy. |
Ocicat