Ocicat

The Ocicat is an all-domestic breed of cat which resembles a wild cat but has no recent wild DNA in its gene pool. It is named for its resemblance to the ocelot. The breed was established from the Siamese and Abyssinian and later on American Shorthair would be added.

Origin
The Ocicat was created spontaneously by Virginia Daly of Berkley, Michigan, who attempted to breed an Abyssinian-pointed Siamese in 1964. Daly bred a ruddy Abyssinian male named Dalai Deta Tim of Selene to a female seal point Siamese named Dalai Tomboy Patter. The first generation of kittens appeared Abyssinian and a female named Dalai She was kept. Dalai She was later bred to a chocolate point Siamese named Whitehead Elegante Sun. The resulting litter had the desired Abyssinian point Siamese type cats. She continued breeding them but this time one of the kittens was an ivory cat with golden spots. Virginia's daughter said he looked like an ocelot and wished to name him 'ocicat', instead he was named Tonga and was sold off to a medical student for $10 with an agreement to neuter him. Virginia read an article by Dr. Clyde Keeler of Georgia State College for Women that described the extinct egyptian spotted fishing cat. Realising Tonga looked similar to the cat she wrote to him about the cat. He replied and suggested that she breed Tonga back with his mother. Given that Tonga couldn't be used she bred his parents together again and this produced a tawny-spotted male named Dalai Dotson. The Cat Fanciers' Association (CFA) made an error when registering the breed and listed it as a mix between the Abyssinian and American Shorthair. This led to the current breed standard where American Shorthair is acceptable and added in more colour variation to the Ocicat. The Ocicat would first be brought to the United Kingdom in 1988 when two cats: Catoninetail Mr Smith and Catoninetail Miss Jones were imported from the United States. Four more would be imported a year later. A total of 33 cats would be imported before 2015. Other breeders joined in and used the same recipe, Siamese to Abyssinian, and offspring to Siamese.

Breed recognition
In 1966 the breed was recognised with the CFA for registration only. It was more than 20 years later in May 1987 that the Ocicat achieved championship status with the CFA. The International Cat Association (TICA) recognised the Ocicat in 1986. The Governing Council of the Cat Fancy gave preliminary recognition in June 1997. In June 2002 it promoted the Ocicat to provisional status. Championship status followed in 2006.

Appearance
The Ocicat is a medium to large cat with agouti markings. It has the appearance of an athletic animal: well-muscled and lithe. The muzzle is broad and well defined with gentle curvature of the head. Ears are set around a 45-degree angle. The eyes are large and almond shaped with good spacing so there is more than an eye-width gap between the two. All eye colours are accepted bar blue. Legs are of medium to long length and well muscled with a good proportion to the body. The tail is long, slim with a slight taper and has a dark tip. Adult Ocicats weigh between 6-14 lbs (2.7-6.4 kg)

Coat
The colour should be darkest at the tip of the tail with the rest of the markings being lighter than the tip.

Coat pattern
Only the spotted tabby markings are permissible. There is a recognizable tabby 'M' pattern on the forehead. The markings extend all the way to the back of the neck from the forehead. Markings that resemble mascara are found around the eyes and cheeks. There are spots all throughout the body.

Coat colour
There are 12 recognised colours for the Ocicat: Tawny (black), chocolate, cinnamon, blue (dilute of black), lilac (dilute of chocolate), fawn (dilute of cinnamon), black silver, chocolate silver, cinnamon silver, blue silver, lilac silver, and fawn silver.

Health
In a review of over 5,000 cases of urate urolithiasis in the US the Ocicat had a much higher incidence rate than most other breeds with an odds ratio of 16.8. A Swedish study of pyometra in cats based on veterinary and insurance data found the Ocicat to have the third highest incidence of the condition with it being six times the rate for all cats.

Aztec
In 2013 the GCCF recognised the Aztec as a separate breed. The Aztec is a mackerel tabby coated version of the Ocicat that would often occur in litters but not meet the standard of the Ocicat as it called for spotted cats only. Aside from the coat it is otherwise identical to the Ocicat. As of 2024 the Aztec has been merged back with the Ocicat and is now the Ocicat Classic, a variant of the Ocicat.

Temperament
Their temperament is often described as that of a "dog in a cat's body". Most can be trained to fetch, walk on a leash and harness, come when called, speak, sit, lie down on command and other canine-style tricks.