A little bit of Trivia - Ocicats

So, I defend the honor of Abyssinians everywhere! But this bit of historical trivia should be told.

The Ocicat was created by mating an Aby to a Siamese and then later to the American Short Hair to give girth and color to the breed.

But, did you know that the very first litter of dotted cats was neutered? This is fact! The very first litter was neutered because it was the result of an ooops! mating - and the breeder was NOT impressed! Can you imagine the result? Two very, very agile breeds, one vocal, the other not so. Both with Oriental type bodies. Both very busybody type personalities and both breeds very loving to their own human.

So, later, a few years, it was the daughter of that first breeder who realized that the dotted cats were really something very interesting and thus created the Ocicats!!!!

Thats very cool!

And Ocicats are very cute!

Thank you so much for the Ocicat lesson. I really find all of the origins very exciting and interesting.
GK's Oci is the first I have "really" seen, and he is beautiful. I also thought it was interesting in her facts to know that they are in 12 different colors, that is really neat. Are all 12 colors permitted for show, or are some of the colors still in AOV?

According to CFA:

There are still AOV colors.

And Abyssinians are still allowable outcrosses until 2015!

The only AOV's (I think I know them all) are the "classic tabby patterned - in the 12 colors; the "pointed" or "ghost oci's", and the "aby ticked" oci's. I think there may be a smoke - I've seen one on a breeder's website, but smoke really is not even in the 12 colors - so maybe that was an accident from the American SH - as smoke is not in the aby and siamese breeds.

And yes, after all the first litter was neutered and Tonga was such a hit, they decided to repeat the breeding and got the spotted cats again. I have heard there is a good chance that siamese are carrying the spotted tabby gene as many of the siamese in that time period had ghost spotting on the belly and body as they got older.

I am always learning something new! Thank goodness someone recognized how unique and beautiful those cats were!

Originally Posted by Abymummy

So, later, a few years, it was the daughter of that first breeder who realized that the dotted cats were really something very interesting and thus created the Ocicats!!!!

Click to expand...

It's true - Virginia Daly's daughter named the breed the Ocicat, because of its resemblance to the ocelot. Tonga, the first Ocicat, was neutered and sold as a pet. When the Detroit newspaper publicized the lovely spotted cat and when noted geneticist, Dr. Clyde Keeler, expressed his desire to see a domestic cat which would mimic some of the vanishing wild species, the breeding was repeated to produce more Ocicats. Other breeders followed Mrs. Daly's recipe to develop other Ocicat lines with a broad genetic base.