THE HISTORY

You may be asking yourself, where did these beautiful creatures come from?

Back in 1964, Tonga entered the world bearing the name and banner of a new breed. Virginia Daly of Dalai Cattery, was trying to produce an Abyssinian-pointed Siamese by breeding an Aby male to a Siamese female. One female was kept from the litter and was bred back to a Siamese. In this litter were the Aby-pointed Siamese along with a gift of nature - a beautiful golden spotted male kitten named Tonga. When Daly's daughter saw Tonga, she remarked that he looked like a baby Ocelot and suggested they call him an Ocicat.

This exotic looking cat goes one step further in fulfilling our desire to own something with the look of the wild. 

THE LOOK OF THE OCICAT

The Ocicat is physically imposing, with its wild look enhanced by a muscular stature - females weigh between seven and eleven pounds and males can weigh up to fifteen pounds. They also come in twelve different colors ranging from tawny with black spots to chocolate silver with brown spots. The most popular color is chocolate, brown spots on a lighter background (as you see pictured above). Other colors include cinnamon, cinnamon-silver, fawn, fawn-silver, lavender, lavender-silver, blue, blue-silver and silver.

THE OCICAT TEMPERAMENT

The best part is, they only look dangerous...

While the Ocicat looks wild, its temperament is anything but ferocious. It is a lot like a dog in that it is absolutely devoted to its people. The Ocicat is not a demanding, clinging-vine type, but is confident as well as dedicated to its owners. Most Ocicats are also quite extroverted around strangers, not at all bashful about checking out the possibilities for a few playmates or a lap to curl up on when visitors come to call. Ocicats are quite bright and easily trained. Many will fetch, walk on a leash, respond to voice commands and readily adapt to household rules. Because of their adaptability, they are a joy to work with and easily get used to traveling.

Though Ocicats fulfill the need for the exotic, they are easy to keep and require no special care. Their diets are the same as any domestic cat, and their short coats need only the occasional bathing and grooming. They are not prone to any particular health problems and their broad genetic background gives them vigor and vitality.