HISTORY:
The Ocicat was the result of the crossing of an Abbysinian, Siamese
and American Shorthair. in 1964 Virginia Daly, who lived in Michigan,
was trying to produce an Aby-point Siamese. To her surprise she produce
an ivory kitten with golden spots, the first ocicat. The kitten named
Tonga, was neutered and sold as a pet. Mrs. Daly's daughter named the
breed ocicat, do to the resemblance to an ocelot.
The ocicat is a medium to large cat with surprising weight for their
size. They are solid and well muscled with a fullness of body and chest.
The ocicat is agile, alert, athletic, graceful, and full of vitality.
They should have a short, tight coat with a satiny sheen. The ocicat
should be well spotted with spots that run from the shoulder blades to
the tail and as far down the legs as possible. Ocicats are available in
twelve different colors. The colors are, tawny, chocolate, cinnamon,
silver, chocolate silver, cinnamon silver, blue, lavender, fawn, blue
silver, lavender silver and fawn silver.
CHARACTERISTICS and TEMPERAMENT:
The ocicat may look wild but they are anything but fierce. They are
like a dog in that they are totally devoted to their owners. They are
very intelligent and easy to train.
Ocicats have been known to play
fetch, walk on a leash and even respond to voice commands. Ocicats also
easily adapt to traveling. Because of an ocicats social nature they are
not suited to being left alone, however, they do well with other animals
as companions. Ocicats are also easy to keep. They require only
occasional grooming and even though they look wild, they are not, and
require no special diet.
American Cat Fanciers Association