Ocicet

History of the Ociket breed

Despite the strong resemblance to an ocelot, ocicets are not related to wild cats. The breed was born in the US state of Michigan in 1964, and absolutely unplanned. It all started with the fact that felinologist Virginia Dale wanted to withdraw siamese cat with tabby fur. To implement her plan , the breeder crossed siam c abyssinian , and then performed the reverse operation and tied the half - breed born from this couple with another siamese cat . However, something went wrong in the genetic code of the embryos, and, along with the tabby-colored babies, the fluffy ward of the breeder brought an unusual cream kitten strewn with contrasting spots.

The newborn kotofei was named Tonga, castrated in due time and put up for sale for a symbolic ten dollars. Dale herself temporarily said goodbye to the dream of tabby Siamese, fully concentrating on breeding a new breed of spotted cats. A few months later, Tonga's parents gave birth to another baby with ocelot color – Dalai Dotson, to whom the felinologist treated more carefully. As a result, the cat was registered with the CFA and managed to participate in the breeder's breeding experiments.

Between 1966 and 1980, a little less than a hundred spotted kittens were born in the USA, and this happened already with other owners – Mrs. Dale herself temporarily retired. At first , the process of creating the breed involved exclusively Abyssinians and siam , but later connected to the case American shorthair cats , who brought silver tones to the color of the ocicets. In 1986, the "Michigans" were officially recognized by the CFA, issuing a ban on their further interbreeding with genetic relatives – siamese , abyssinian and american shorthair cats .

Note: not all modern ocicets are born spotted. From time to time, the so–called variettes of the breed appear - individuals with a constitution corresponding to the standard, but with a coat of unusual color, in which contrasting marks are either completely absent or merge with the background.

Video: Ocicet

Ociket breed standard

The breed owes its bright, wild charisma to its exotic color and athletic complexion, thanks to which all ocicets successfully "mimic" the distant relatives of the leopard. Cats are almost always smaller than males, but at the same time their grace is purely external. Any ociket, be it a cat or a cat, is far from an ascetic pet, as it may seem at first. Spotted "girls" weigh from 4 to 5 kg, "boys" can "pump up" muscle mass up to 7 kg. At the same time, both visually give the impression of very light, graceful creatures.

Head

Ocicets have wide wedge-shaped muzzles with a weakly marked stop, a slight curve line between the cheeks and chin and a noticeable whisker break. If you look at the animal in profile, its head seems slightly elongated, while in the full-face position, the muzzle has a square format. The chins of the ocicetes are well developed, the jaws are strong, the necks are elongated and flexible.

Ears

A medium-sized ear cloth in a permanently "alert" position. The correct fit of cartilage is considered to be the one in which an imaginary line drawn along the cat's forehead intersects with the ear at an angle of 45 °. An additional nuance: if two ocicets with the same exterior are exhibited in the ring, but one of them has lynx tassels growing on the tips of his ears, preference will be given to him.

Eyes

The breed is characterized by large, almond-shaped eyes with the outer corners raised to the temples. The second mandatory requirement of the standard is the distance between the organs of vision exceeding the length of one eye. The color of the iris is not tied to the suit and can be any, except for a blue shade.

Housing

CFA describes ocicets as cats with a stretched but dense and athletic body. At the same time, any hint of the roughness of the constitution and the clumsiness of movements is excluded and considered as a vice. The chest should be spacious and wide, the back should be straight or barely raised in the area between the croup and the lower back. The ideal representatives of the breed are considered to be muscular and flexible individuals with smooth lateral lines.

Limbs

The legs of the ociket are distinguished by muscularity, power and moderate length. The feet of the cat are compact, tending to the shape of an oval and having five toes on the front paws and four on the hind ones.

Tail

All representatives of the breed have long tails of moderate thickness with a slightly pointed tip covered with dark hairs.

Wool

Ocicets are dressed in smooth shiny "fur coats" consisting of short and thick hair. The wool should fit snugly to the body, but at the same time not to fluff and not to bristle.

Color

Even experienced breeders are not always able to immediately characterize the spotted suit of the ocicet as "conforming to the standard" or "defective". In total, felinological associations distinguish 12 "correct" colors of the breed, differing from each other by contrast of the background and markings. Among them:

• brown;
• chocolate;
• reddish brown;
• purple;
• blue;
• yellow-brown;
• chocolate silver;
• black and silver;
• beige-silver;
• blue-silver;
• brown-silver;
• purple-silver.

According to the standard, each hair must have a ticked (zonal) color. As for the pseudoleopard marks, they appear where part of the tips of the hairs are tinted in a dark color, and part is light. On the body of the ociket, both relatively light areas (the lower jaw, the area around the eyelids, the chin part) and darkened (the end of the tail) are also noticeable.

The brightness of the marks themselves on the body also varies. For example, the spots on the muzzle, paws and tail are darker than the marks on the body. The smudginess of the wool pattern and its fading are positioned as exterior flaws, therefore, at exhibitions, cats with such defects are rated lower.

How are the dark spots located on the body of the ociket

Each pedigreed ociket has stripes in the form of the letter "M" on the muzzle. Oval spots begin to appear in the area between the ears, turning into a small "scattering" in the lower part of the neck and shoulders. In the vertebral zone running from the shoulder blades to the tail, the marks are arranged in horizontal rows, with large smears of spots alternating with contrasting dots. On the hips, abdomen and shoulder blades of the ocicets, the markings are scattered randomly. There are dark finger-shaped "traces" on the sides. In the lower part of the legs and on the throat, the spotted pattern is replaced by a "bracelet", and the larger the gaps between the ends of the "bracelets", the better.

Ociket's eyes have a black border surrounded by a light background color coat. Special attention should be paid to the tone of the tail, which in controversial cases is the defining breed trait. In purebred individuals, the tails have contrasting transverse stripes, but the tips are colored in a uniform dark tone.

Disqualifying vices

• The presence of a white medallion or a spot (does not apply to the white fur around the eyes, on the throat, chin, nostrils, as well as to the white background in individuals of silver colors).
• Deformed tail with creases.
• Blue iris.
• The number of fingers is more or less than stipulated by the standard.
• Wool of red, cream and thorby colors.
• Long fluffy hair.

Character of ocicet

Ociket is a breed for those who need an affectionate and contact pet with the appearance of a wild native of the savannah. Despite their somewhat bestial appearance, Michigan kittens are quite good-natured, and their desire for communication resembles dogs at all. If a noisy party is thundering in the master's house, you can be sure that Kotofey will have time to get over with each of its participants, and he will also gain confidence in individual comrades.

Usually, the process of establishing contacts with strangers at ocikets takes place in this mode: hiding behind the sofa (for a very short time), careful sniffing and licking of human palms and, finally, a sudden jump on his hands. By the way, the latter may not happen – cats subtly feel someone else's mood and will never climb to cuddle with emotionally unstable people, as well as those who are cool to animals. So if the knees of one of your friends and buddies kotofey defiantly bypasses, it's worth thinking about. Branded unexpected "kus" from an overabundance of emotions can also take place, and it is worth taking it condescendingly – in this regard, ocicets do not differ from their mongrel relatives.

As already noted, the habits of the Michigan cat resembles a dog, and a very nimble one, who cares about everything. Each purr satisfies its own curiosity in different ways, but usually no cat will pass by an unlocked kitchen cabinet or a half-open dresser door. Moreover, it makes absolutely no difference to the ociket whether the owner hides the dream of all mustachioed-striped – valerian in these vaults or simply stores waste paper. To open the door and make any secret public is the order of things for the breed.

If an ociket wants something, he will get it, and if a person does not give what he wants, the cat will take it himself. This behavior applies not only to treats hidden in the far corner, but also to absolutely inedible objects. By the way, the ociket is a breed, in the case of which it is better not to delay lunches and dinners. A hungry pet will not languish in anticipation, but he will find and open the bags with "drying", not forgetting to inspect the pots standing on the stove.

Real ocicets are travelers at heart. Unlike most representatives of the feline family, they do not differ in fanatical attachment to a particular house, so they easily tolerate moving. However, it is better to transport a purring tourist in your own car – carrying, and in general, the breed quietly hates any space limiters.

Education and training

It is customary to write about the abilities of ocikets to learn only that they are smart and quick-witted pets, who are easily given aportirovka objects and simple acrobatic tricks. At the same time, it is extremely rare to find information that, like any cats, descendants siam and Abyssinians they are not eager to obey a person and train simply because the owner requires it.

If you decide to come to grips with ociket training, accept the need for compromises, which you will have to make often. Some breeders generally recommend relying on the inclinations of the breed, because by stimulating the cat to do what he obviously likes, you dramatically increase your chances of success. For example, ocicets like to jump, which means that it will not be difficult to teach a pet to take small barriers and fly into the hoop ring.

Ociket has a good memory and excellent self-learning abilities, inherited from Abyssinians , so the cat learns the list of basic commands quickly. In order for the pet to learn to fulfill the requirements of "To me!", "Sit!", "Stand!", a classic training program is enough. Special literature, for example, the book "Training a cat in 10 minutes" by Miriam Fields-Bambino or "How to Raise your Cat" by Ellis Bradshaw, will help to broaden your horizons and learn new techniques of effective influence on an animal.

It is easier to raise a small kitten when a trained adult cat already lives in the house. Obeying the animal hierarchy, the baby mirrors the behavior of an adult companion and makes fewer mistakes. If the ociket is the only pet in the apartment, the owner will have to take on the role of mentor. As for teaching a pet to the toilet, there are no difficulties here. Michigan cats are clean by nature. If there is no usual tray nearby (for example, on the road), they prefer to be patient or persistently remind about their needs. Ociket kittens brought to a new home also quickly get used to the bath with filler and willingly scratch in it, hiding traces of "wet cases".

Maintenance and care

A curious and restless ociket must be provided with enough toys so that he does not adapt your favorite souvenirs instead of them. Moreover, the shopping list should include not only balls and clockwork mice, but also complex cat puzzles that the breed loves. A high gaming complex will also not be superfluous – at leisure, a spotted extrovert likes to transform into a conqueror of peaks and a spy who suddenly emerges from a plush "apartment".

In addition to toys and bowls for food, the ociket will need to be provided with a scratching post and a tray. Some breeders recommend putting two trays for one individual at once, since the breed is extremely clean and does not like to go to the filler, from which it even smells slightly. At the same time, plastic baths should be placed as far as possible from the feeding place: for cats, "dining room" and "toilet" are incompatible concepts.

Locking an ociket in four walls out of fear that a rare kotofey will be stolen or he himself will be lost is wrong. It is possible and necessary to walk a pet, but it is better to control its movement outside the house with a harness. The purr won't run away on its own, but if it notices a dog nearby, it can get nervous and start looking for salvation in the trees.

Hygiene

As for hygiene procedures, everything is elementary here – the ociket does not need to be combed endlessly, watering with liters of conditioners and other cat cosmetics. Once a week, it is recommended to walk around the pet's body with a brush or a rubber mitten, and then rather to collect dead hairs and massage the skin, rather than for the sake of a full-fledged combing.

Cleaning the ears of the ociket is carried out as necessary, but it is necessary to look inside the ear funnel every few days. For the hygiene of the hearing organs, ordinary pharmacy formulations like Cliny, Hartz and a soft piece of textile or a cotton swab are suitable. The teeth of ocicetes are problematic, with a predisposition to the formation of tartar, so they need to be cleaned daily. To do this, you will have to buy a cat toothbrush with massage spikes and paste.

If in the process of cleaning the oral cavity kotofey arranges a "concert", try to replace the traditional paste with a tool called a liquid toothbrush. This veterinary composition to eliminate deposits on the teeth is added to a bowl of drinking water and works when the animal comes to drink. At the same time, owners of individuals with sensitive immunity, suffering from allergies, it is better not to get carried away with such products and consult with a veterinarian before using them.

Feeding

A healthy ociket with the same appetite absorbs both high-quality "drying" of super premium and holistic classes, and natural food. The latter concept does not mean dishes from the master's table, but a standard set of products useful for any domestic predator. These are, first of all, lean meat and offal (up to 70% of the total portion), low-fat dairy products and boiled sea fish without seeds (no more than twice a week). Rice is the most harmless of cereals for cats. From vegetables – carrots and pumpkin. Once a week, kotofey is allowed to treat with a chicken yolk or a whole quail egg.

Since ocicetes have problems with teeth and gums, from time to time the animal should be given something rough to chew, for example, poultry and beef cartilage or veins. In addition, purchased vitamin complexes with taurine will have to be introduced into the natural diet, the lack of which negatively affects the eyesight and the general immunity of the breed. They eat ocicets willingly, they do not refuse supplements, while they do not suffer from a tendency to obesity. Nevertheless, it is harmful to feed animals, especially neutered and sterilized ones. Ociket will never look like a spherical fluffy, like, for example, a Briton. His lean constitution is the result of a complex game of genes, to go against which is at least pointless.

Health and diseases of ocicets

Despite the fact that the ociket is an artificially bred breed, the health of its representatives is not bad. With appropriate care, Michigan cats live up to 15-18 years, although felinologists assure that such age limits are far from the limit. As for genetic ailments, the probability of their inheritance is not one hundred percent. Some pathologies siamese and Abyssinians switch to digitizes unchanged, and some – in an autosomal recessive (when the pet is a carrier of a defective gene, but does not suffer from the disease itself).

The most unpleasant diseases that an ociket can get from its ancestors are renal amyloidosis and erythrocyte pyruvate kinase deficiency. In the first case, the symptoms are a sharp weight loss, constant thirst, problems with urination, in the second – a decrease in appetite and an increase in abdominal volume. Often ailments occur without visible symptoms, so keep your finger on the pulse and look to the veterinarian should be at the slightest change in the behavior of the pet.

Siam awarded ocicetes with a tendency to hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. In addition, representatives of the breed are carriers of a recessive retinal atrophy gene transmitted from producers to offspring. So, when buying a kitten in American nurseries, feel free to ask the seller for the results of a litter examination for predisposition to this disease – testing for the detection of genetic retinal atrophy in the United States has been carried out for a long time and successfully.

How to choose a kitten

• Make sure that the color of the animal corresponds to the shades prescribed in the standard. If the seller offers a spotted kitten of any untyped suit, it's anyone, but not an ociket.
• The shade "champagne", as well as the colors silver-blue, silver-purple and pale-silver are considered the rarest, so you will have to pay more for an ociket of this suit.
• The most common colors of the breed are all shades of chocolate. So, buying a brown cat, you can count on a small saving – the price tag for blue and purple cats is much higher.
• If the character of the ocicet is important, and not its exhibition career and breeding characteristics, you can opt for breed variations – cats with ticked fur without tags, individuals with solid colors whose spots merge with the background, and beauties in marble "fur coats" (the same Aztec cats).
• Pay attention to the behavior of kittens when you appear in the kennel. If the babies hiss, run away and do not get out of hiding for a long time – this indicates the instability of the psyche of the offspring, which is most likely inherited from their parents.

Price of the ocicet

In Germany and the rest of Europe, the cost of a pedigree ocicet varies from 800 to 1500 euros (buy a kitten in his homeland, in the USA, you will have to spend about 500-800 dollars on this case, if an individual with a successful exterior, and about 150 dollars if an animal it has minor defects in appearance and one of the most common coat colors. In Russia, ocicets should be sought from breeders engaged in breeding rare and exotic cats – monopred kennels in the country are still in great short supply. The approximate cost of a pet-class kitten with documents and a clean pedigree from domestic sellers is $350 and above.