Similar in appearance to its namesake the ocelot, the Ocicat is a designer species created by Virginia Day in Michigan in 1964. A large muscular body is shown to advantage due to a short coat with a satin sheen. The body is supported by long legs that end in oval paws. Beautiful almond shaped eyes are angled up towards ears with broad rounded tips.
The head is slightly wedge shaped as it is longer than it is wide. Contrasting spots adorn a coat which comes in a wide range of colors including: silver, blue silver, chocolate silver, lavender silver, tawny, blue, chocolate, fawn, black silver, fawn silver, and cinnamon.
Males typically reach an adult weight of 5 – 7 kg (11 to 15.5 pounds), while females are slightly smaller, weighing between 3 – 4.5 kg (7 to 10 pounds).
Personality
Despite its wild look the Ocicat has no wild blood. The Ocicat cat is a chatty animal and they love to converse with their human friends. If you appreciate the constant companionship of a pet then you will thoroughly enjoy this breed, as your ocicat will happily follow you from room to room in the house.
Ocicats have many dog like traits. They can be trained to take long walks on a leash and are even known to engage in the odd game of fetch. For households with long periods where no one is home then it is advised to get your Ocicat a companion as they don’t like to be left alone for extended periods of time. Ocicats will enjoy the company of any species – be it dog, cat, or child.
Did You Know?
The Ocicat first came about during an attempt Virginia Day took in trying to create an Abyssinian pointed Siamese by pairing an Abyssinian male to a Seal Point Siamese. When the resulting litter contained nothing but Abyssinian types she took a male from that litter and mated it with a Chocolate Point Siamese.
This next litter also produced a majority of Abyssinian points, but as luck would have it, Virginia’s daughter noticed one of the kittens had gorgeous golden spots and remarked how much it looked like an ocelot. Virginia granted her daughter’s request that the cat be called an Ocicat.
This first kitten was sold and neutered, but Virginia continued with the above pairing to produce more spotted kittens. Soon other breeders were following her example. Eventually the American Shorthair was added to the mix to create Ocicats with silver fur. This also led to an increase in body size for the Ocicat.
Caring for Your Ocicat
Kittens generally become available after 14 weeks of age. Early spaying and neutering is recommended. Once kittens have received their inoculations breeders prefer to place them early, as it enhances their social and physical stability in a new environment.
Due to a coat of close short hair the Ocicat requires very little in the way of grooming.
If you have a Ocicat in your life, please share your experiences below.
Image: Wikimedia Commons.
I love Ocicats! I think it is pawsome that their breed began in my home state of Michigan. There are a lot of cool things that come from here! Those spots get me every time. 🙂
Interesting history – we didn't know the origin!
What a beautiful breed! We've only seen an Ocicat once in person … so gorgeous. Thanks for teaching us some stuff about them. 🙂
This is a beautiful breed of cats and they seem to have great personalities also. Thanks for sharing!
Ocicats are beautiful kitties! It sounds like they have amazing personalities, too.
Like the Bengal, the Occicat is so close to his wild cousin ! Beautiful cat ! Purrs
Ocicats are really gorgeous creatures! I don’t see them often at shows, as not many alters are shown.