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The first Ocicat was bred in the 1960's by a lady named Virginia Daly of Dalai Cattery, Michigan. Virginia Daly was doing an experimental mating with a Siamese and an Abyssinian in the hopes of producing an Abyssinian pointed cat. Amongst the pointed Aby kittens there was a little spotted kitten. Mrs Daly's daughter thought the kitten looked like an Ocelot, hence the name for the breed which has stuck to this day 'The Ocicat'. The first ever Ocicat was named Tonga, and was sold as a pet and neutered. Tonga was shown in a 'Special Exhibit Class' for rare breeds which did not yet have Championship status. Tonga attracted much attention, which thankfully lead to the repeat mating of his father a Siamese named Champion Whitehead Elegant Sun, with Dalai, and more little Ocicat kittens resulted and the breed was established. Later the American Shorthair (ASH) was allowed to be brought into the breeding programme which introduced the 'silver' colour into the breed.

Unlike the Bengal or various other 'wild patterned' breeds there is no wild blood in the Ocicat, which shows in their loving nature, which makes them very desirable pets.

Temperament: Ocicats are very active and playful. Less vocal than the Siamese, but can still be chatty on occasion. Ocicats like to be high up, whether on a bookcase, door frame or your shoulder, so high activity centres/scratch posts are highly desirable to them. They like people, and like to join in chores like sorting the laundry and making the bed. They learn to retrieve very easily, and can walk well on a harness if begun from a young age. Because the Ocicat is a highly intelligent cat, playful, and well...a bit of a show off, company is also preferred. If you are home most of the day they will be happy in your company, however if you are out at work your Ocicat would be much happier with a companion to play with.

Type: The Ocicat is a medium to large cat, well muscled. Males are often notably larger than the females. Ocicats are mostly spotted, but can also come in the classic tabby pattern (marble effect) which is quite stunning, and these are registered as Ocicat 'variants', which means they are still registered Ocicats but cannot be shown. There can also be 'smoke' Ocicats where the spots are visible under the coat, which again are registered as Ocicat variants, but cannot be shown.

Ocicats come in 12 colours. Tawny, Black Silver, Chocolate, Blue, Lilac, Cinnamon & Fawn - and the latter 5 colours in silver also.

My perspective on breeding Ocicats:

Whilst the Ocicat is still a relatively new breed, there are few studs available, and even fewer that do not already appear in most Ocicat pedigrees. To this end, it is vital (and permitted) to 'Outcross' to one of the parent breeds - the Abyssinian, to produce a larger gene pool and prevent inbreeding. This means we can mate our Ocicats to suitable Abyssinian's, which will be registered with the GCCF as Ocicat Variants (which can be bred from but not shown). These kittens will be called F1 Ocicats - first generation. In an F1 litter, because the Abyssinian coat pattern (ticked tabby) is dominant, the resulting kittens even though registered as Ocicats, will be 'look-alike' Abyssinians. In theory when an F1 is mated with an Ocicat, producing F2 kittens (second generation Ocicat), 50% of the kittens will be spotted and the other 50% ticked tabby. In light of this, in the future, I do plan to outcross to an Abyssinian.

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