Toyger

"Churp"

"Tiger Tiger burning bright in the house at the middle of the night, can you cuddle and can you play can you sit beside me and stay..."

You must be wondering what I'm talking about right? well what if I told you that there is a new breed of cat that looks like a little tiger wouldnt you want to see one?Better yet wouldnt you want one?Well there is such a breed called the Toyger "Toy Tiger" the result of a mix between the best stripped Tabby cat "Scrap Metal" and a Bengal cat "Rumple Spotskin"This was the vision of one Judy Sugden during the latter part of the 1980's, she wanted to breed a cat that looked like a tiger but the temperment of a sweet house cat.

The first few attempts of the breed created what is called a braided tabby, the marking came out to be stripes over a dark mahogany background. The first of these was EEYAA's Tres Ves, the cat had the color and pattern that made it look like a miniature tiger but not the good temperment that Judy wanted.

"War Whoop"

The next and up until now the unsurpassed "War Whoop" of Judy is the first real Toyger, the best looking toyger you have ever seen, with stripes and color that will make you think that this tiger has shrunk!Today the breeders of this new breed are still developing the Toyger, it has already been recognized by the Cat Association. The little Toygers even move like the tiger with its signature gait and walk.

"Apache"

Next she wanted to achieve the tiger markings in the face of her toygers, tiger markings around the eyes since it was devoid on the areas of a domestic cat. This problem was answered by a cat that was imported from india Jammu Blu, he had these unusual markings between his ears and so begun the next step which is incorporating the pattern to the breed. It was a painstaking effor for Judy but she was a woman of vision.

"FineThing"

Now inorder to become a breed she needed people to help her, breeders who are as dedicated as her for the long journey ahead for recognition. Anthony Hutcherson of Jungletrax and Alice McKee of Windridge lend their hands for this great effort of judy and a lot of other friends willing to house the less perfect kittens.

Now the toygers of today has become what it is now through these people and through the aide of computers, so you might say that one of its parent's is not a cat but a bucket of bolts. Judy made sketches and drawings of her proposed breed before they were even born taking into consideration what she wanted to see on the cats of the future. Even more so is the current efforts of the breeders, communicating cross country for the matings and match ups to broaden the choices and to help each other in the continuous development of the breed so with out emails and websites the development of the Toygers would have been much slower.

"Raja"

At long last it was Recognized by TICA for Registration early in the 1990's, Preliminary New Breed in 2000. The goals for the breed are long term and the prospects look more to the future for hope as one new kitten is born is a step nearer to Judy's visions. Several of the features proposed have never before been recognized as possible in a domestic cat. Progress is slow but steady in all areas from companionability to appearance withing taking any stress away from both. The Toyger has now shown its new TICA status of Advanced New Breed last May 2006 and hopefully will be widely loved by the public soon, Judy hopes that with this new breed people will begin to feel a greater appreciation for the tiger and help in its conservation.

For more details about the toyger visit their association website:

http://www.toygers.org/

Toyger Breeder in the UK:

http://www.queenannecats.co.uk/available.html

For the breed standards in TICA please click on this link:

http://www.ticaeo.com/Content/Publications/Pages/TG.pdf

"All photos seen here are not my own and in no way am I claiming them to be my own. Some have the knowledge of the owners of me showcasing their cats Photos.
These photos are here to give adequate and vivid representations of cat breeds and conditions and are in no means for profit."