10 facts about the Ocicat

by Michael Broad · March 7, 2022

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Ocicat photographed by Helmi Flick. Please respect her intellectual property rights.

The Ocicat is a human-created cat breed; being a combination of the American Shorthair, Abyssinian and Siamese cats. It was originally a mixture of three-quarters Siamese and one quarter Abyssinian with later additions of American shorthairs.
The name is a combination of ‘ocelot’ and ‘cat’.
In the early days of the breed other names were used such as, “Ocelette” because the cat looks like a small ocelot (not an omelette ?). They also tried “Accicat” to reflect the fact that the first cat was a lucky accident from another breeding programme (see below).
The Ocicat is a moderate looking cat but also large and well-spotted. They look athletic and well-muscled with a solid and graceful form.
A cat breeder, Virginia Daly, was experimenting in her breeding programme as she wanted to cross the Abyssinian with the Siamese to create a lynx point Siamese with the agouti tabby pattern. Within the first litter there was a female which she bred to a chocolate point Siamese which produced a beautiful spotted kitten who she named Tonga. Her daughter said that Tonga looked like a baby ocelot. Tonga was sold as a pet and neutered although Tonga’s parents produced more spotted kittens which were the beginning of the breed.
Today the only permitted breed for outcrossing is the Abyssinian as they no longer use the Siamese or American shorthair.
The head is a classic modified wedge with gentle contours. The cat fancy often refers to head shape of the domestic cat as a “modified wedge”. What they mean is a wedge-shaped object but with the rounded edges of the living anatomy of a feline.
The eyes are large and almond shaped while the ears are moderately large. The body is described as ‘semi-foreign’. This is a cat fancy term to mean slightly on the slender side. The body should be “substantial”. This means large in cat fancy language.
The cat is shown at shows in the traditional category, tabby and silver divisions, spotted pattern and eumelanistic colours only. This means that the spotted tabby patterns are in brown, chocolate, cinnamon, blue, lilac and fawn while the silver spotted colours are silver, blue silver, chocolate silver, cinnamon silver, lilac silver and fawn silver.
As to temperament and character, this cat looks a little wild which is intentional but it’s temperament is the opposite as they are a completely normal domestic cat being friendly, loving and outgoing. It is said that they enjoy performing tricks.