Here's
a little
more
about
that all important appearance plus a bit on character and movement of the Toyger cat.
Firstly, the
founder Judy Sugden says
that for
the cat to be a Toyger she/he must give the "impression" of a being a
toy tiger. If not the cat won't be a Toyger. She refers to the body
color as
golden
to dark orange as a background to the dark stripes.
Buck, above,
certainly
has strong hints of the dark orange color of fur and
plenty of vertical stripes and the stripes are nicely delineated
against the background.
Unlike the Bengal,
this breed of cat must not have a throwback to the Asian
Leopard Cat (ALC). This is
possible, of course, as the Bengal has
ALC in him and the Bengal is crossed with the DSH to produce the
Toyger. The ALC head is too small. While the tiger's head is very solid
and large.
The coat should
have
what is called "glitter". The same term is used
for
the Bengal coat and is prized. Read about Bengal
cat coat glitter.
 It appears that these are the ideals that breeders strive for in respect of the coat:
glittered, plush, soft and sculptured.
As this breed if cat is said to be intelligent
(this is probably inherited from the Bengal as wild/domestic hybrids tend to be intelligent cats - see
cat intelligence) this cat
should also be
relatively active and alert.
Once again wild/domestic
hybrids are like this. Some, it
could be
argued,
might be too alert for some cat caretakers.
Although the Toyger should be highly domesticated and of course socialized.
This is the
first time
that I have seen a breeder refer to the movement
of a cat.
Perhaps as the goal is a toy tiger and as Tigers have a
particular kind of gait, it is not surprising that the Toyger should
move gracefully and "with purpose".
It is important to remember that Toyger Cats are very much "designer
cats"; interesting looking and modern in concept. As mentioned on other
pages, this cat's appearance has been almost mapped out in advance, and
the selective
breeding program thought through carefully. The founder of
the Toyger has
stated that a part
of the intention of creating the breed is to inspire
people to think more about the conservation of tigers in the wild. They
allow you to have the "look of the wild" in your home. Personally, I doubt that this objective has been met.
One
final point, and this is my view as it has not come from any other
source, it would seem that the concept of "designer cats" has reached a
limit. They were very fashionable about 10 to 20 years ago but
the
modern economic climate (mid 2010) has changed the mentality of people
it could be said. Toyger cats are not mainstream, still being very much
on the fringes. It was recognised for TICA registration in 1993.
See
more here:
- Toyger
-
overview - and earlier page
- Toyger -
more on appearance
From
Toyger cats to Toyger
|
