The Ocicat was developed in 1964 in the United States by a breeder, Mrs Virginia Daly who sought to breed a Siamese tabby point and decided to use cross breed Siamese-Abyssinian with a Siamese chocolate. The litter of kittens produced included a male with a unique pelt reminiscent of an ocelot which was quite unique but she decided no to breed with the tom and had him neutered.
Meanwhile, other breeders were crossing Abyssinians, Siamese, Oriental, Egyptian Mau and American Shorthair to develop a cat that looks like the current Ocicat.
The race was called “Ocicat” deriving from the names of the “ocelot” and the “cat” and merging them together. The TICA and CFA recognized the breed in 1986 and the first Ocicat arrived in France in 1989, but it was rare and not as popular as in their country of origin.
Standards
The Ocicat is a medium sized cat, with a fairly balanced form type of medium proportions. The body is long with a straight back and hind legs that are slightly longer than the front. The powerful muscles give the appearance of an athlete. The legs are of medium length and are well muscled, oval feet and proportionate to the body. The tail is medium long, fairly thick at its base and tapers towards the end.
The Ocicat points to notice
The head shape is triangular and the face is softened, with pronounced cheekbones and a square muzzle and if one looks at the cat in profile you notice a slight hollow between the forehead and nose, but it should not be a clean break.
The eyes are oval, well spaced from each other and placed at an angle and only blue is unacceptable as an eye colour. The ears are of medium size preferably with preferably plumes at the end. The fur is short and close to the body with thin dense hair and the only ground colour permitted is the spotted tabby.
The race has seven accepted colours: brown, blue, chocolate, lilac, cinnamon and fawn. Each variety has dark spots in line with the rest of the coat and a “clearer” which is a hair marked as ticking or a sandwiched colour strip on a single hair that makes lighter and darker bands.
Standing apart in colours are the silver that has the six colour varieties previously mentioned above and particular notice must be taken of the silver Ocicat’s coat as it is very light background, almost white, which enhances the contrast with the colour stains characteristic of the breed.
Character
The Ocicat is described as a sociable cat with humans and other animals, loving and very active, the cat does not like to be alone and is considered the closet cat to a dog mentality as a pet, being as affectionate as the Siamese but not as expressive. These traits are still relate to an individual and are not considered primarily actions to the entire breed yet.
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