Geschiedenis:

In een nestje van een moeder, die een kruising was tussen een Siamees en een Abessijn
en een chocolate Siamees vader, zat een bijzonder kitten, Tonga genaamd.
Een kitten met een spotted-tabby vacht. De dochter van de fokker vond dit kitten met zijn wilde katachtige patroon zo op een Ocelot lijken dat ze het diertje Ocicat noemde.
Dit gebeurde begin jaren 60 in Amerika, bij een bekende Siamezenfokster
mevrouw Victoria Daly.

Mevrouw Daly was echter niet geïnteresseerd een nieuw ras op poten te zetten.
Tonga werd verkocht en gecastreerd.
Na verloop van tijd echter veranderde mevrouw Daly van gedachten.
Ze vond het toch wel wat hebben. Deze katten die zo leken op hun wilde soortgenoten,
maar qua karakter het tegendeel waren.
Ze gebruikte dezelfde combinatie nog een keer en opnieuw werd een prachtig spotted katertje geboren,
Dotson. Hij is de basis geworden van dit nieuwe ras.
Inmiddels toonden een paar andere fokkers ook interesse. Langzaam maar zeker begon
de opbouw van het kattenras dat ‘Ocicat’ zou gaan heten.
Een aantal fokkers hebben de American Shorthair ingebracht.
Dit ras is verantwoordelijk voor de stevige bouw en het zilvergen.

 

History:

The Ocicat is a  beautiful spotted domestic cat which has been selectively bred to emulate and encapsulate the natural cat of the wild. It has all of their virtues and none of their drawbacks. The first Ocicat occurred by accident in the USA in 1964 when Mrs Virginia Daly attempted to obtain an "Aby pointed" Siamese. However she found, in a second generation Abyssinian - Siamese Cross, a beautiful golden spotted male kitten. Her daughter remarked on the resemblance to a baby Ocelot and asked "Why don’t we call him an Ocicat?". Tonga, as he was called, ushered in the new breed into the world.

Tonga himself was never used for breeding, but a subsequent mating produced his brother, a Tawny coloured Ocicat who started the breeding programme. The next step was the introduction of the American Short Hair which contributed body substance and the silver colour gene. It took over 20 years for official recognition of the breed in America but it came in 1986 and since then the Ocicats have become one of the most popular breeds in the States. Out crossing to the Abyssinian is still permitted, as it is in the UK, a valuable means of adding to the gene pool.

CFA breed standard

 

HEAD (25)
Skull ........................................................................................ 5
Muzzle..................................................................................... 10
Ears......................................................................................... 5
Eyes ........................................................................................ 5
BODY (25)
Torso....................................................................................... 15
Legs and Feet ......................................................................... 5
Tail .......................................................................................... 5
COAT and COLOR (25)
Texture.................................................................................... 5
Coat Color ............................................................................... 5
Contrast .................................................................................. 10
Eye Color ................................................................................ 5
PATTERN.................................................................................. 25

GENERAL:	the Ocicat is a medium to large, well-spotted agouti cat of moderate type. It displays the look of an athletic animal: well-muscled and solid, graceful and lithe, yet with a fullness of body and chest. It is alert to its surroundings and shows great vitality. There are twelve accepted Ocicat colors divided into eight color classes with all specimens possessing darker spots which appear in deep contrast to a lighter background. The determining factor in answering any and all questions as to the correct color of an Ocicat will be the color of the tail tip without any comparison to the color of other body markings (see Ocicat colors). Each hair (except on the tip of tail) has several bands of color. It is where these bands fall together that a thumbprint shaped spot is formed. This powerful, athletic, yet graceful spotted cat is particularly noted for its “wild” appearance.
HEAD:	the skull is a modified wedge showing a slight curve from muzzle to cheek, with a visible, but gentle, rise from the bridge of the nose to the brow. The muzzle is broad and well defined with a suggestion of squareness and in profile shows good length. The chin is strong and the jaw firm with a proper bite. The moderate whisker pinch is not too severe. The head is carried gracefully on an arching neck. An allowance is made for jowls on mature males.
EARS:	alert, moderately large, and set so as to corner the upper, outside dimensions of the head. If an imaginary horizontal line is drawn across the brow, the ears should be set at a 45 degree angle, i.e., neither too high nor too low. When they occur, ear tufts extending vertically from the tips of the ears are a bonus.
EYES:	large, almond shaped, and angling slightly upwards toward the ears with more than the length of an eye between the eyes.
TORSO:	solid, hard, rather long-bodied with depth and fullness but never coarse. The Ocicat is a medium to large cat with substantial bone and muscle development, yet with an athletic appearance, and should have surprising weight for its size. There should be some depth of chest with ribs slightly sprung, the back is level to slightly higher in the rear, and the flank reasonably level. Preference is given to the athletic, powerful, and lithe, and objection taken to the bulky or coarse. It should be noted that females are generally smaller than males. The overall structure and quality of this cat should be of greater consideration than mere size alone.
LEGS and FEET:	legs should be of good substance and wellmuscled, medium-long, powerful and in good proportion to the body. Feet should be oval and compact with five toes in front and four in back, with size in proportion to legs. TAIL: fairly long, medium-slim with only a slight taper and with a dark tip.
COAT TEXTURE:	short, smooth and satiny in texture with a lustrous sheen. Tight, close-lying and sleek, yet long enough to accommodate the necessary bands of color. There should be no suggestion of woolliness. TICKING: all hairs except the tip of the tail are banded. Within the markings, hairs are tipped with a darker color, while hairs in the ground color are tipped with a lighter color.
COAT COLOR:	all colors should be clear and pleasing. The lightest color is usually found on the face around the eyes, and on the chin and lower jaw. The darkest color is found on the tip of the tail. Contrast is scored separately.
CONTRAST:	distinctive markings should be clearly seen from any orientation. Those on the face, legs, and tail may be darker than those on the torso. Ground color may be darker on the saddle and lighter on the underside, chin, and lower jaw. Penalties should be given if spotting is faint or blurred, though it must be remembered that pale colors will show less contrast than darker ones.
EYE COLOR:	all eye colors except blue are allowed. There is no correspondence between eye color and coat color. Depth of color is preferred.
PATTERN:	there is an intricate tabby “M” on the forehead, with markings extending up over the head between the ears and breaking into small spots on the lower neck and shoulders. Mascara markings are found around the eyes and on cheeks. Rows of round spots run along the spine from shoulder blades to tail. The tail has horizontal brush strokes down the top, ideally alternating with spots, and a dark tip. Spots are scattered across the shoulders and hindquarters, extending as far as possible down the legs. There are broken bracelets on the lower legs and broken necklaces at the throat – the more broken the better. Large well-scattered, thumbprint-shaped spots appear on the sides of the torso, with a subtle suggestion of a classic tabby pattern – a spot circled by spots in place of the bull’s eye. The belly is also well spotted. The eyes are rimmed with the darkest coat color and surrounded by the lightest color. Penalties should be given for elongated spots following a mackerel pattern.
DISQUALIFY:	white locket or spotting, or white anywhere other than around eyes, nostrils, chin, and upper throat (except white agouti ground in silvered colors). Kinked or otherwise deformed tail. Blue eyes. Incorrect number of toes. Long hair. Due to the spotted patched tabby (torbie) cats resulting from the sex-linked O gene, no reds, creams, or torbies are allowed. Very rufous cinnamons and fawns may resemble red or cream, but never produce female torbies.

OCICAT COLORS

TAWNY:	(brown spotted tabby): black or dark brown spotting on a ruddy or bronze agouti ground. Nose leather: brick red rimmed with black. Paw pads: black or seal. Tail tip: black.
CHOCOLATE:	chocolate spotting on a warm ivory agouti ground. Nose leather: pink rimmed with chocolate. Paw pads: chocolatepink. Tail tip: chocolate.
CINNAMON:	cinnamon spotting on a warm ivory agouti ground. Nose leather: pink rimmed with cinnamon. Paw pads: pink or rose. Tail tip: cinnamon.
BLUE:	blue spotting on a pale blue or buff agouti ground. Nose leather: pink rimmed with dark blue. Paw pads: blue. Tail tip: blue.
LAVENDER:	lavender spotting on a pale buff or ivory agouti ground. Nose leather: pink rimmed with dark lavender. Paw pads: lavender-pink. Tail tip: lavender.
FAWN:	fawn spotting on a pale ivory agouti ground. Nose leather: pink rimmed in fawn. Paw pads: pink. Tail tip: fawn.
EBONY SILVER:	black spotting on a pale silver/white agouti ground. Nose leather: brick red rimmed with black. Paw pads: black. Tail tip: black.
CHOCOLATE SILVER:	chocolate spotting on a white agouti ground. Nose leather: pink rimmed with chocolate. Paw pads: chocolate-pink. Tail tip: chocolate.
CINNAMON SILVER:	cinnamon spotting on a white agouti ground. Nose leather: pink rimmed with cinnamon. Paw pads: pink or rose. Tail tip: cinnamon.
BLUE SILVER:	blue spotting on a white agouti ground. Nose leather: pink rimmed with dark blue. Paw pads: blue. Tail tip: blue.
LAVENDER SILVER:	lavender spotting on a white agouti ground. Nose leather: pink rimmed with dark lavender. Paw pads: lavender-pink. Tail tip: lavender.
FAWN SILVER:	fawn spotting on a white agouti ground. Nose leather: pink rimmed in fawn. Paw pads: pink. Tail tip: fawn.

The following information is for reference purposes only
and not an official part of the CFA Show Standard.
Ocicat Color Class Numbers
Tawny Spotted.................................................. 0208 0209
Cinnamon Spotted............................................ 0210 0211
Chocolate Spotted............................................ 0216 0217
Dilute Spotted ................................................... 0240 0241
(Blue, Fawn, Lavender)
Ebony Silver Spotted ....................................... 0212 0213
Cinnamon Silver Spotted................................. 0220 0221
Chocolate Silver Spotted................................. 0226 0227
Dilute Silver Spotted ........................................ 0232 0233
(Blue Silver, Fawn Silver, Lavender Silver)
AOV................................................................... 0248 0249
Ocicat allowable outcross breeds:
Abyssinian for litters born before 1/1/2015.