Tag: tabby

Breed Profiles

Toyger: Tiny Toy Tigers

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Meredith Hemphill

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Toyger is a portmanteau of “toy” and “tiger” [6, 7, 10]. If there were such a thing as a toy tiger like there are toy poodles, this is probably what they would look like. Toygers are a new and very rare designer cat breed meant to have the exotic appearance of a tiger with the disposition of a domestic cat [2, 7-9].

History of the Toyger

Photo by Matteus Silva on Pexels

To be clear, Toygers are not at all related to actual tigers [1, 4, 7-10]. That would be impossible. They are related to Asian Leopard Cats, however, because they are a combination of Bengals, which are hybrid cats, and mackerel tabby Domestic Shorthairs [1, 2, 5-11].

The breed was created in the 1980s in California by Judy Sugden, whose mother, Jean Mill, created Bengals [2, 4, 6-8]. A local exotic animal sanctuary with wild cats among its rescues got her thinking how incredible it would be to have a housecat that looked like one of those [5]. Then, Sugden noticed that one of her Bengals, Milwood Sharp Shooter, had spotted tabby markings on the sides of his head [1, 2, 6-9]. Domestic tabby cats don’t usually have stripes there, but tigers do, and this got Sugden thinking–what if she could breed a housecat that looked like a tiger [1, 2, 7-9]?

Sugden began a breeding program with a hefty Bengal named Milwood Rumpled Spotskin and a tabby Domestic Shorthair named Scrapmetal [2, 6, 7, 9]. She also traveled to India and brought home a stray tabby cat from Kashmir with just the right spotted markings between his ears [2, 4, 6-9]. She named him Jammu Blu and added him to the nascent breeding program [2, 4, 6, 7, 9].

With very careful selective breeding, Sugden and a small number of other breeders have developed a breed with tiger-like traits. Sugden calls the slow process “squinch-by-squinch development” [4]. Over thirty years in, they still aren’t finished perfecting the Toyger [2, 5, 10]. Nonetheless, The International Cat Association (TICA) recognized Toygers as a breed in 1993 and accepted them for championship status in 2007 [1, 2, 6-10]. TICA remains the only registry that fully recognizes Toygers as championship-eligible [4], but the Governing Council of the Cat Fancy (GCCF), a U.K. registry, gave Toygers preliminary status in 2016 [2].

Breed Characteristics

Appearance

Toygers are medium-to-large cats with long, low, muscular bodies [1, 2, 6-9]. Combined with their long toes, their body shape gives them a rolling gait like a tiger [1, 5, 6, 8]. They carry their long tails low like a big cat, too [2]. Toygers have a broad head with small, rounded ears and small-to-medium eyes [2, 4, 7]. Their signature trait, of course, is their tiger-like pelt.

Toyger fur is dense and plush. All Toygers are tabbies, with bold, vertical stripes that have broken and braided patterns just like tiger stripes [1, 4-8]. TICA and GCCF only recognize the “brown mackerel tabby” Toyger, which is the black-on-orange type that looks like your typical tiger [2, 9]. They also have some white on their undersides and gold “glitter” [1, 4, 6-9]. Glitter is a genetic trait that gives a cat’s coat a, well, glittery appearance. A few breeders do have Toygers in other colors, including silver/white Toygers meant to resemble white tigers [10].

Personality

Photo by danilobiancalana

The Toyger is an active, outgoing, and intelligent cat [1, 2, 5-9]. They need a lot of playtime and cognitive stimulation to make sure they don’t get bored [1, 5-7]. Happily, they are quite sociable and trainable, so there are plenty of ways you can entertain each other [1, 6, 8, 9]. Toygers are even recommended for running agility courses [1]! Toygers often enjoy learning tricks like fetch and going on walks on a leash [1, 6-8]. They can usually make friends with anybody, including children and other pets, so a Toyger can make a good family pet [1, 2, 5-7].

Keeping Company with Tigers

A Toyger’s short coat can pretty much take care of itself, but these kitties do shed quite a bit, so occasional brushing might be good just to keep the free-floating fluff to a minimum [2, 5, 7-9]. These cats need something to do when you’re out of the house, so make sure they have plenty of toys and maybe another pet to play with [8]. These smart kitties particularly enjoy the challenge of puzzle toys [6]. And Toygers are affectionate cats that love to spend time with their families, so make sure that you have that time to spend with them every day [1, 8]!

Special Health Concerns?

Because Toygers are such a new breed, and there are still very few of them, no one knows for sure what sort of breed-specific health problems they might turn out to have [1, 2, 7, 8]. So far, they seem to be generally healthy cats. Some breeders have reported adverse reactions to the feline leukemia vaccine in their cats, but this hasn’t been substantiated [2]. Toygers may have an increased risk for heart murmurs [7-9]. A 2016 study in the Journal of Veterinary Medicine discovered a serious developmental brain disorder in a family of Toygers [3].

Affected Toygers had underdeveloped or absent brain structures as well as enlarged ventricles (the fluid-filled cavities in the brain) and cysts in their brains [3]. They behaved surprisingly normally for all that, only seeming to be “clumsy” [3]. The disorder is a recessive genetic disorder, which means kittens must inherit it from both parents, and it is was tied to the trait of short, round ears that breeders select for in Toygers [3]. The researchers didn’t figure out why the brain problems and the ear shape were connected [3], and other Toygers with similar ears have not been shown to have the same problem. It remains to be seen if this condition was unique to this family of Toygers or if it is a more widespread problem that has not become obvious yet.

Adopting a Toyger

There are very few Toygers in the world because this is such a new breed, and there still are not many breeders. Add to that the fact that the breed is still under development, and you have a recipe for some very expensive cats. $5,000 for one Toyger kitten is pretty typical [4, 10]. The even rarer silver/white Toyger kittens are more expensive than that, up to $10,000 [10].

Because Toygers are descended from Bengals (albeit somewhat distantly) which are hybrids of domestic cats and Asian Leopard Cats, some locations consider Toygers wild animals [4]. Toygers may be banned outright or require a permit in your location, so be sure to check the local laws at all levels before you bring one home [4].

Remember, it’s always better to adopt than shop. Check out breed-specific rescues like Great Lakes Bengal Rescue to see if they have any Toygers that need a home! Also, responsible breeders will adopt out adult cats that don’t quite fit the breed standard or have been retired from breeding.

Fun Facts

  1. Toygers love water! They might sneak into the shower with you. [6]
  2. Every Toyger’s stripes are totally unique. [6, 7]
  3. Some Toyger breeders donate a portion of profits from kitten sales to tiger conservation. [5]
Toyger kittens on Animal Planet’s Too Cute!

Works Cited

  1. El’Sprite Toygers. (n.d.). Toyger information. OzToyger. https://oztoyger.com.au/toyger-info
  2. Governing Council of the Cat Fancy. (n.d.). Toyger. https://www.gccfcats.org/getting-a-cat/choosing/cat-breeds/toyger/
  3. Keating, M. K., Sturges, B. K., Siso, S., Wisner, E. R., et al. (2016). Characterization of an inherited neurological syndrome in Toyger cats with forebrain commissural malformations, ventriculomegaly and interhemispheric cysts. Journal of Veterinary Internal Medicine, 30, 617-626. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/jvim.13836
  4. Marvar, A. (2020, May 27). You thought your cat was fancy? She wanted a cat that looked like the tiger. Meet the Toyger. The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/27/style/toyger-fever.html
  5. Scherr, A. (Producer). (2011, April 9). Tonkinese, Nebelung, Serengeti, Korat, Cats Gone Wild, RagaMuffin, Toyger (Season 3, Episode 3) [TV series episode]. In Cats 101, Powderhouse Productions.
  6. Sorocco, E. (2020, July 2). Toyger. Catster. https://www.catster.com/cat-breeds/toyger
  7. Syufy, F. (2022, June 30). Toyger cat: Cat breed profile, characteristics & care. The Spruce Pets. https://www.thesprucepets.com/toyger-cat-profile-554213
  8. Taylor, C. and Guthrie, C. (2021, March 24). Toyger. Daily Paws. https://www.dailypaws.com/cats-kittens/cat-breeds/toyger
  9. The International Cat Association. (2020, April 13). Toyger breed. https://tica.org/breeds/browse-all-breeds?view=article&id=1868
  10. Urban Exotic Cats. (n.d.). The Toyger cat. https://urbanexoticcats.com/the-toyger-cat/

Published May 14th, 2023

Culture

Cats in Media: Milo and Otis

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Meredith Hemphill

mehshadoweye

Encyclopaedia Felidae now has a Patreon! Go to www.patreon.com/EncyclopaediaFelidae if you want to help support this content!

Milo and Otis movie poster
The Adventure of Milo and Otis movie poster – Image from IMDb

Once upon a time, there was a ginger tabby kitten. He was born under our front porch, the summer before I started kindergarten. He looked just like the kitten in one of my favorite movies, so I named him Milo. And just like the cat in the movie, “Milo was trouble from the very beginning” [9]. Milo was one of the kittens we kept. All three of his littermates were girls, so there was no Otis, but he and his sister Cara were equally inseparable for their entire lives.

I grew up with those cats. The Adventures of Milo and Otis took on new meaning as I spent 15+ years with a Milo of my own, just as ginger and mischievous as the Milo in the film. The two or three VHS tapes and two DVDs people gave us of the movie over the years never let us forget it. “Look, there’s an orange cat named Milo in it, just like yours!” Sometimes you have to wonder about people.

When I thought about doing some articles on cats in movies, books, etc., Milo and Otis sprang immediately to mind. I don’t even remember the first time I saw it. It sort of seems like it was always there. I suspect this movie played a big part in my desire for a cat as a young child. I’m sure I’m not the only one. Of course, no beloved childhood memory goes unruined–The Adventures of Milo and Otis has faced some controversy. This simple and extremely cute movie has a surprisingly complicated story.

Summary

Koneko Monogatari movie poster
Koneko Monogatari movie poster – Image from Yahoo Movies

First, let’s make sure everybody’s on the same page. The Adventures of Milo and Otis is a children’s movie about a ginger tabby tomcat named Milo and a tan-and-black pug named Otis. Milo is fun-loving and danger-prone while Otis is serious and responsible, but the two are best friends. The story begins on the farm where both were born. They have all sorts of adventures, even hatching a chicken egg together, but things take a turn when Milo decides to play hide and seek at the dock.

He hides in a box floating in the water, and the box comes unmoored and floats downriver. Otis takes off in pursuit, and so begins the real adventure as the two friends try to find each other and return home. Along the way, they meet animals both friendly and dangerous, grow up, find love, and finally return home together with new families in tow.

The Making Of Milo and Otis

Milo and Otis didn’t start out as Milo and Otis, but as Chatran and Poosky. The Adventures of Milo and Otis was first a Japanese film called Koneko Monogatari, or “A Kitten’s Story” [5, 8, 13]. The director, Masanori Hata, is an author and zoologist [3, 7]. He owns a private island where he had collected over 300 animals of a wide variety of species [3]. He called it Mutsugoro’s Animal Kingdom, and he wanted to show it all off in a film about his animals [3].

It was no small undertaking. Koneko Monogatari was filmed over the course of four years [3, 6, 8, 13, 14]. Hata wrote and directed the movie himself [3, 5, 6, 13]. It was made sort of documentary-style [3, 7, 13, 14]. To some extent, the animals were filmed just doing their thing. But there are scenes that could only have been staged. After the film was edited together to form a story, music, narration, and poetry recitation were added [13, 14]. Koneko Monogatari was released to Japanese audiences in 1986 [3, 5, 12, 13].

Journey to America

Koneko Monogatari did very well in Japan, and Hollywood took notice. Columbia Pictures took on the project of adapting the film for a North American audience [8, 9, 13, 14]. They didn’t simply translate it into English, however. Screenwriter Mark Saltzman, known for his work on Sesame Street, wrote a new script that is less whimsical and devoid of poetry interludes [5, 7, 9, 13]. Fifteen minutes of footage were cut [6, 10, 11, 13]. Much of the rest was reordered to make the story more appealing for Westerners [6]. The result is a sort of rambling coming-of-age tale.

Obviously, the characters were given new, English-language names, and Milo and Otis were born. Otis also received an expanded role in the Columbia Pictures adaptation [13]. Add a new narrator and a new soundtrack, and there you have it: The Adventures of Milo and Otis. It was released in the United States in 1989 [5, 8, 9, 12, 13].

“Walk Outside,” the theme song from The Adventures of Milo and Otis

Reception

Koneko Monogatari was the number one film at the box office in Japan in 1986 [8, 13]. It was the third highest-grossing film ever in Japan at the time [13]. A video game tie-in was released on the Famicon at the same time as the movie [13], but I don’t think it was as enthusiastically embraced. Koneko Monogatari‘s star would continue to rise, however. In 1987, it won Most Popular Film at the Japanese Academy Awards and received a nomination for Best Music Score [5, 13]. And of course, the money continued to pour in [5, 13].

The Adventures of Milo and Otis wasn’t quite as overwhelmingly successful, but the film still did very well. It received a Young Artist Awards nomination for Best Family Motion Picture – Adventure or Cartoon in 1990 [5, 13]. Critical reception was generally positive. According to The Washington Post’s Rita Kempley in 1990, “It’s totally awwwwww-some” [7]. The $13.3 million The Adventures of Milo and Otis grossed in the United States suggests that audiences agreed [5, 13].

Animal Abuse Allegations

Since the release of Koneko Monogatari, rumors of animal abuse have haunted the film. Australian animal rights groups raised the alarm and called for a boycott [8, 13]. Animal Liberation Queensland alleged that more than 20 kittens died during production [8, 12, 13]. Japanese activists also voiced concerns [14]. A 1986 article from The Economist read, “It’s hard to see how [Chatran] survived. Indeed, according to Japan’s biggest animal-rights group, he did not. Or, to be accurate, a third of the Chatrans used did not” [14].

Pug sitting on frosty grass
Image by devlopenet0 from Pixabay

Activists also alleged that a producer deliberately broke a kitten’s paw so that it would limp for a particular shot [8, 12, 13]. Then there were complaints about what could clearly be seen in the movie itself, such as Chatran/Milo plummeting from a 100-foot (30.5-meter) cliff and trying to climb back up, Poosky/Otis fighting a bear, and Milo being attacked by seagulls. Interestingly, most of the footage that was cut from the North American version consisted of controversial scenes and shots such as these, including the scene in which the kitten’s paw was allegedly broken [5, 10, 11, 14]. Whether this was more about avoiding the wrath of American and Canadian animal activists or making the movie more palatable for Western kiddos is hard to say.

The American Humane Association investigated the rumors of animal abuse through contacts in Europe and Japan [3, 8]. In their own words, “everything has led to a dead end” [3]. In their report, they did note that five Japanese humane societies “allowed their names to be used in connection with the picture” [3]. However, the fact that American Humane themselves did not sign off on the production and were not present during filming is kind of a big deal. In fact, it has often been cited as further evidence that animal abuse may have occurred.

You know the “no animals were harmed” statement you see at the end of a lot of movies? That’s the stamp of approval of American Humane’s film program [1, 2, 4, 8, 12, 14]. The program has been in place since 1940 and is extremely rigorous in ensuring the welfare of all animals in film at every stage of the process [4]. Only United States, Screen Actors Guild productions are required to work with American Humane [2]. Other filmmakers, including international ones, can choose to do so, but they are under no such obligation [2]. Many do, however, for the weight that the American Humane name carries.

So it’s not that surprising that neither Koneko Monogatari nor The Adventures of Milo and Otis contains the “no animals were harmed” statement in the end credits. Instead, they run this odd bit: “The animals used were filmed under strict supervision with the utmost care for their safety and well-being” [8, 9, 12, 14]. Admittedly, that’s not quite as reassuring.

Paw Rating

So, all that being said, where do I stand on Milo and Otis? It really depends. If the rumors of animal abuse are true, then obviously it gets 0 out of 5 paws. Or, like, -1000 out of 5 paws. But there is really no solid evidence that the allegations are true, or that they aren’t. It’s a thorny situation, to say the least. And now that’s it’s been over thirty years, we’ll probably never know the truth.

If I regard The Adventures of Milo and Otis apart from the abuse allegations, I feel like it still has the same charm it did when I was five years old. There’s not a strong plot. It doesn’t try to teach big life lessons–except that seagulls are jerks, which is a good one to live by. But it’s full of cute animals and has always just made me happy to watch. This is definitely intended to be a kids’ movie; however, a word of warning about that. When the kittens and puppies are born, the birthing process is shown in great detail. That never disturbed me as a child. Actually, I think knowing that baby cats come out of cats made it easier for me to later comprehend that baby humans come out of humans. But all children are different, so just bear that in mind.

As much as I love Milo and Otis, and as important as it was in my childhood, I don’t think I can fairly give it the full compliment of paws. It probably won’t be catalogued among the greatest movies of the 20th century, but that’s not why. Even if the rumors were all false, I can’t help thinking that some animal endangerment was part of this production.

I remember several other all-animal movies from around that time, but that hasn’t been a lasting trend. I’m sure there’s multiple reasons for that, but one of them must be that you can’t make a movie that way without some stress and risk to the animals. And I think Masanori Hata et al. subjected their cast to even more risks than strictly necessary. Maybe I just haven’t seen Napoleon or Homeward Bound in a while, but I don’t remember those animals looking genuinely distressed onscreen. However, I did notice a couple times Milo or Otis was clearly not happy. I’m going to give it 3 out of 5 paws. Adorable movie, but it would have been cuter if they hadn’t tried so hard to make the animals act.

Bound and leap, then bound, and perhaps, also leap.

Works Cited

  1. American Humane. (n.d.). About us. Humane Hollywood. https://humanehollywood.org/about-us/
  2. American Humane. (2016, August 26). “No animals were harmed” frequently asked questions. https://www.americanhumane.org/fact-sheet/no-animals-were-harmed/
  3. American Humane Association. (2001, May 31). Movie review: The Adventures of Milo and Otis. Retrieved from https://web.archive.org/web/20010531234131/http://www.ahafilm.org/oldmovies1/theadventures/
  4. American Humane Association. (2015). Guidelines for the safe use of animals in filmed media. https://www.americanhumane.org/app/uploads/2016/08/Guidelines2015-WEB-Revised-110315-1.pdf
  5. IMDb. (n.d.). The Adventures of Milo and Otis. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0097050/
  6. Kamal, N. (2011, October 16). Childhood revisited: The Adventures of Milo and Otis. Spectrum Culture. https://spectrumculture.com/2011/10/16/childhood-revisited-the-adventures-of-milo-otis/
  7. Kempley, R. (1990, June 16). The Adventures of Milo and Otis. The Washington Post. https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/style/longterm/movies/videos/theadventuresofmiloandotisgkempley_a0a019.htm
  8. Long, C. (2021, January). The animal abuse rumors of ‘The Adventures of Milo and Otis.’ Wide Open Pets. https://www.wideopenpets.com/milo-and-otis-deaths/
  9. Masanori, H. (Director). (1989). The Adventures of Milo and Otis [Film]. Columbia Pictures.
  10. [Retcon Media]. (2008, March 22). The Adventures of Milo and Otis deleted scenes 1 of 2 [Video]. Youtube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=goix8a6xMok&ab_channel=RetconMedia
  11. [Retcon Media]. (2008, March 22). The Adventures of Milo and Otis deleted scenes 2 of 2 [Video]. Youtube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z2W_UbTAaw8&ab_channel=RetconMedia
  12. Rizov, V., Robinson, T., Rabin, N., Tobias, S., et al. (2012, April 9). Yes, animals were harmed: 21 films and TV shows that killed or hurt animals. The A.V. Club. https://film.avclub.com/yes-animals-were-harmed-21-films-and-tv-shows-that-ki-1798230791
  13. The Adventures of Milo and Otis. (2021, June 16). In Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=The_Adventures_of_Milo_and_Otis&oldid=1016106539
  14. The Adventures of Milo and Otis. (n.d.). Channel Awesome. https://thatguywiththeglasses.fandom.com/wiki/The_Adventures_of_Milo_and_Otis

Published September 12, 2021

Updated July 9, 2022

Breed Profiles

Abyssinian: Pharaoh’s Treasure

mehshadoweye

Meredith Hemphill

mehshadoweye

Encyclopaedia Felidae now has a Patreon! Go to www.patreon.com/EncyclopaediaFelidae if you want to help support this content!

Two brown Abyssinian cats on kitchen chair
Royalty in the kitchen – Image by Dmitry Tsapenko from Pixabay

Ancient Egyptian art is full of regal cats with lithe, muscular bodies, arched necks, large, wildcat ears, and almond-shaped eyes. It is no surprise that the Abyssinian breed is widely believed to be the descendants of the cats of the ancient Egyptians, held in such high regard thousands of years ago. The resemblance is uncanny. Although it is a myth that Abyssinians are the cats of the Pharaohs, this breed has no problem commanding your attention in its own right.

Abyssinian Imports

The first record of an Abyssinian cat comes from the January 27th, 1872 issue of Harper’s Weekly in a report on the 1871 Crystal Palace Cat Show [1]. A she-cat named either Zulu or Zula took third place. She was described as an Abyssinian, “captured in the late Abyssinian war” [1]. An illustration is provided, which shows a cat with tabby facial markings but the ticked coat typical of Abyssinians [1]. Otherwise, however, Zulu does not look like the Abyssinian as we know it today, having rather small ears and a rounder face [1, 2].

Abyssinia is an old name for Ethiopia. The story goes that a British Captain brought Zulu home from Abyssinia in the 1860s and began to breed her when her unusual ticked coat was so well-received in Britain. Because of her cat show win, we know that Zulu existed, but whether she is the mother of the breed is contested. She may have been to begin with. There is a theory that Zulu was used to begin the breed, but her line died out, and other cats with ticked coats, perhaps the British “Bunny cats” with similar markings, were bred to re-establish the breed [2]. Genetic evidence links Abyssinians to Southeast Asian and Western European cat populations [3]. This had led to the idea that British and Dutch traders may have brought the breed’s progenitors from Indian or Indonesian ports [4].

Breed Characteristics

Appearance

Mother Abyssinian cat with kitten on sofa
Image by Dmitry Tsapenko from Pixabay

The Abyssinian today is notable for the ticked coat that has distinguished it all along. Ticked or agouti fur is related to the tabby pattern (see my article on coat pattern genetics). There are no tabby stripes, only the tabby M on the forehead, but each individual hair is striped with alternating bands of color. Abyssinians have a darker band of fur along their spine and a lighter underside. They are best known in their ruddy (reddish-brown) coloration, but can also be red, blue, or fawn. Their fur is short, dense, and silky. Long-haired Abyssinians do crop up, but they are considered a separate breed, the Somali.

Their patterning reminds some people of a wildcat, an idea reinforced by the Abyssinian’s shape. The breed looks a lot like the ancestor of domestic cats, Felis lybica. They have a muscular body, wedge-shaped head, and large, alert ears that give them a very attentive appearance. The legs are slim and the tail long and tapering. Their almond-shaped eyes are often surrounded by dark lines and may be green or gold. Despite an aspect of wildness, Abyssinian cats are 100% domestic cat. They are not, however, likely to be a lap cat.

Personality

Abyssinians are playful, social, and very athletic. They are known for a love of climbing and a high degree of intelligence that can get them into mischief if they’re bored. They are very loyal to their people and perform all sorts of antics to get their attention. Because they are so energetic, they don’t usually like to be cuddly, but they do like to be around and involved in whatever is going on. They are usually good with other pets and with children. They can get bored and distressed if left alone for long periods of time, so in a house where everyone needs to leave for work and school they will probably need an animal companion and plenty of toys to keep them busy. Puzzle toys are fantastic for challenging their active brains as well as their active bodies.

These cats are fast learners. This makes them great at learning tricks, but it also makes them good at learning how to get into trouble. And they have a knack for training their people to do what they want. Abyssinians are delightful companions, but they do need lots of stimulation and a watchful eye to keep them out of mischief!

Abyssinian antics

Health

As with any breed, there are some health concerns with Abyssinians. Their athletic nature typically fends off obesity and keeps them fit, but there are some inherited disorders in the breed that even their great athleticism cannot counter. Progressive retinal atrophy, an eye disease which causes blindness, is associated with the breed [5]. Abyssinian cats have known risks of developing early periodontal disease; hypertrophic cardiomyopathy; patellar luxation, a hereditary dislocation of the kneecap, which may be surgically corrected; renal amyloidosis, a hereditary disease that leads to kidney failure; and hyperesthesia syndrome, a neurological disorder that causes excessive grooming [4, 6].

Abyssinians are particularly known for having the mutation for pyruvate kinase deficiency in their gene pool. Pyruvate kinase is an enzyme required for the normal functioning of red blood cells [7]. Cats with the deficiency develop intermittent anemia, which may begin anywhere from the age of six months to twelve years [7]. Fortunately, a test is available for the mutation that causes pyruvate kinase deficiency, so the disease can be removed from gene pools [7]. However, there is no definitive treatment for the disease, so even if the breeder says that their bloodline is free of the disorder, it is safest to have your cat tested [7].

Abyssinian cats may not have sunned themselves beside the Nile thousands of years ago, but they are no less regal for having more recent and probably rather mundane origins. As the Egyptians well understood, there is nothing prosaic about a cat. Should you choose to bring an Abyssinian into your family, they will be sure to teach you that themself.

Fun Facts

  • The first cat genome to be sequenced came from an Abyssinian named Cinnamon [6, 8].
  • Two Abyssinians named Amber and Rumpler co-starred as Jake, the alien cat in the 1978 film The Cat from Outer Space [9].
  • In 2019, the Cat Fanciers’ Association ranked Abyssinians their #8 most popular cat. The breed was one of their six founders in 1906 [10].

Works Cited

  1. Macquoid, P. (1872, January 27). An afternoon with the cats. Harper’s Weekly, 89-90.
  2. Abyssinian. (n.d.). Petfinder. https://www.petfinder.com/cat-breeds/abyssinian/
  3. Lipinski, M.J., Froenicke, L., Baysac, K.C., et al. (2008). The ascent of cat breeds: Genetic evaluations of breeds and worldwide random-bred populations. Genomics, 91(1), 12-21. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ygeno.2007.10.009
  4. Cat Time. (n.d.). Abyssinian. https://cattime.com/cat-breeds/abyssinian-cats
  5. Narfstrōm, K. (1983). Hereditary progressive retinal atrophy in the Abyssinian cat. Journal of Heredity, 74(4), 273-276. https://doi.org/10.1093/oxfordjournals.jhered.a109782
  6. Basepaws. (2019, March 5). Abyssinian – Meet the miniature cougar. https://www.basepaws.com/blog/abyssinian-cat-breed/
  7. Vetstreet. (n.d.). Abyssinian. http://www.vetstreet.com/cats/abyssinian#health
  8. Pontius, J.U., Mullikin, J.C., Smith, D.R., et al. (2007). Initial sequence and comparative analysis of the cat genome. Genome Research, 17, 1675-1689. https://genome.cshlp.org/content/17/11/1675.short
  9. VCA Hospitals (n.d.). Abyssinian. https://vcahospitals.com/know-your-pet/cat-breeds/abyssinian
  10. Cat Fanciers’ Association. (2020, February 9) The Cat Fanciers’ Association announces most popular breeds for 2019. https://cfa.org/cfa-news-releases/top-breeds-2019/

Published June 28th, 2020

Updated July 20, 2022

Science

Coat Pattern Genetics

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Meredith Hemphill

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A few weeks ago I wrote about the genetics of coat color in domestic cats. Now, to follow up, I am going to dive into the wild world of pattern genetics. If you would like a review of basic genetic principles, click the link to the previous article. There is a quick rundown in the beginning.

In genetics, the “wild type” is the genetic profile of an organism that is most common under natural conditions. The wild type ancestral cat was a mackerel tabby with black stripes, short fur, and no white spots [1]. Today, of course, cats come in a wide variety of patterns, even those who live feral and are subject to natural selection. Both human intervention and spontaneous mutations are to credit for this diversity.

Tabby

Let’s start with tabbies, the original cat pattern. Many other cat species share the tabby pattern with domestic cats, usually in the form of rows of spots–spots and stripes are closely related genetically in cats [2, 3]. In order to have a tabby pattern, a cat must first have at least one dominant allele at the agouti locus. The dominant agouti allele causes each individual hair to have bands of darker and lighter pigmentation. This is required for tabby coats and several other patterns which we will come to later.

The wild type mackerel tabby pattern is characterized by thin, parallel stripes darker than the background color. Mackerel tabby is the dominant allele at the Tabby, or Ta, locus, so only one TaM allele is required for the mackerel tabby pattern. The “blotched” or “classic” tabby has large, marbled stripes. This pattern occurs at the same Ta locus. The blotched allele is recessive to the mackerel.

Spotted tabby kitten with toys
Spotted tabby kitten – Photo by Kim Davies on Unsplash

At least two other alleles are involved in tabby patterning, although it was previously thought that there was only one [4]. The Ticked locus has been definitively identified as influencing the type of tabby pattern a cat’s coat has, but another unknown locus or loci may effect how the patterns present [4].

The Ticked locus is epistatic to the Tabby locus, meaning that the genotype at the Ticked locus has an impact on the phenotype coded for by the Tabby locus. If a TiA allele is present at the Ticked locus, the cat will have ticked/agouti fur all over the body, as the TiA allele masks the effect of the Tabby locus. This is usually called an Abyssinian Tabby because the ticked coat is characteristic of the Abyssinian breed. If there are two Ti+ alleles, the cat will not be an Abyssinian tabby, and whatever genotype is at the Tabby locus will show through. Cats with one TiA and one Ti+ allele tend to have some striping on their faces, legs, and tails despite being Abyssinian tabbies.

Tired of talking about tabbies? I hope not, because we still have to go over the special cases! Spotted tabbies have stripes that are broken into spots of varying size. An unknown modifier gene or genes are believed to alter the expression of mackerel tabby stripes to create spotted tabbies [4]. The charcoal Bengal/Savannah patterns are a variety of tabby caused by an agouti gene inherited from the Asian Leopard Cat. Charcoal tabbies have decreased red tones in their coats, giving them a cooler, grayer appearance. They also have a dark nose and “Zorro” mask on the face and a dark cape down the back. There are a shocking number of other types of modified tabby, but the genetics behind them are hazy. I will leave you with a handy infographic showing you what they look like and move on to the next pattern.

Table of tabby patterns
Chart of Tabby Patterns – Image from messybeast.com

Silver and Gold

Agouti hairs would normally have alternating bands of light and dark pigment corresponding to the cat’s coloring, but there are a couple genes, or possibly gene families, which can change the way pigment is deposited on agouti fur. A dominant mutation of the Silver/Inhibitor gene inhibits production of phaeomelanin, the yellow or red pigment in cat hair. This causes the light portions of agouti bands to be very pale or colorless rather than yellow. This mutation, by itself, causes tabbies to be silvery and solid-colored cats to have a pattern known as smoke, where there is a pale/colorless band at the bottom of their hair shafts. Their white undercoats give them a “smoky” appearance when their fur is ruffled.

On the other hand is the Wide-Banding trait, only present in agouti cats. It is thought to be caused by a group of related genes, but this is still unclear, and no one quite knows how they work. Whatever the root cause, wide-banding causes the agouti bands on the hair shaft to be larger and/or more numerous. There is a high degree of variation in the way this can present, lending credence to the idea that there is more than one gene involved.

Silver Persian and kitten in cat tree
Silver shaded Persian (top) – Image by RomeoEbaloo from Pixabay

When Wide-Banding occurs alone, the cats are sometimes referred to as “golden” due to the higher degree of yellow pigment in their coats. However, the Silver and Wide-Banding traits can occur together to create other patterns. In either case, cats with Wide-Banding that leaves only the very tip of the hair shaft to show their normal pigmentation are said to be tipped. Those with more of the darker pigment on the end of the shaft are called shaded. There are even more names among cat fanciers for the many different combinations of these phenotypes, but we have more to cover.

Color-point

We touched on color-pointing in the Siamese breed profile, and we will probably circle back to it with other breeds. It is a popular pattern which has been deliberately bred into quite a few breeds. Color-pointing is a kind of partial albinism. These cats have a mutation in tyrosinase, an enzyme required for the production of melanin. The mutated enzyme will only activate below 33 degrees Celsius. As such, the mutation causes temperature-sensitive pigmentation, with the most color deposited on the coolest extremities of the body. There are actually two color-point alleles that result in three somewhat different phenotypes. Both alleles are recessive to the wild type allele but are codominant to each other.

Brown and cream cat with blue eyes
Tabby Himalayan color-point – Photo by Nathz Guardia on Unsplash

The Himalayan phenotype has the strongest color restriction. It is seen in cats with two cs alleles. These cats have blue eyes and a very light-colored torso, typically cream or ivory. The color-pointing is very high-contrast. The intermediate phenotype is known as Mink and is typical of the Tonkinese breed. They have one cs allele and one cb allele. The eyes are aqua and the torso color is more similar to the points.

The Sepia color-points are not all sepia but are named for the brown Burmese cats wherein the pattern was first identified. This phenotype has copper eyes and is quite low-contrast, with the points and the torso being fairly similar in color. Sepia color-points have two cb alleles. All color-point cats can have points of any color, and the points can also be patterned. Sometimes color-point and white spot patterns can be combined to form new patterns, such as white mittens (characteristic of Birmans) or bicolor. For more on white spots, see the coat color article.

There are a LOT of miscellaneous mutations that I could talk about which are not so widespread or well-documented as the ones I have covered here today. If you would like me to go over them in the future, please let me know. I would be glad to do so. You can also tell me if you never want me to do this again. Feedback is always welcome. :3

Works Cited

  1. Hampton, N. (1998, March 4). Coat color and pattern genetics of the domestic cat (Felis catus) [PowerPoint slides]. The University of Texas at Austin. https://facultystaff.richmond.edu/~lrunyenj/bio554/cat/index.htm.
  2. Thomas, E.M. (1994). The tribe of tiger: Cats and their culture. Simon and Schuster.
  3. Zielinksi, S. (2012, September 20). Same gene guides cheetah and tabby cat coat patterns. Smithsonian Magazine. Link here.
  4. Eizirik, E., et al. (2010). Defining and mapping mammalian coat pattern genes: Multiple genomic regions implicated in domestic cat stripes and spots. Genetics, 184(1), 267-75. DOI: 10.1534/genetics.109.109629

Published April 10th, 2020

Updated June 14th, 2023

Breed Profiles

Maine Coon: Big Fluffy Mystery in New England

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Meredith Hemphill

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Encyclopaedia Felidae now has a Patreon! Go to www.patreon.com/EncyclopaediaFelidae if you want to help support this content!

What do you get when you cross a raccoon with a domestic cat? Absolutely nothing, because that’s impossible. However, this is perhaps the wildest of the origin stories told about the State Cat of Maine, the Maine Coon. Maine Coons are an American breed of cat that evolved naturally in the harsh environment of the Northeast. How their forebears came to be in the New England wilderness is anybody’s guess, and theories abound about this big, friendly cat.

The raccoon hybrid idea is ridiculous, but in a less enlightened age it may have made sense. Most Maine Coons are brown tabbies, often with dark circles or marks around their eyes. Add in the breed’s fluffy tail and it’s not so hard to see how someone might think they look like raccoons. This is how they got their names, after all. The early nineteenth century farmers and sailors who first recognized the superb mousing ability of these cats would have known there were raccoons and other cats in the area. So there’s some 1800s logic for you.

A slightly less absurd suggestion is that Maine Coons are hybrids of domestic cats and bobcats. I tried to find any evidence that this is possible, and it appears not to be [1]. Again, I can see where the concept came from, as Maine Coons can be MASSIVE cats, the larger males sometimes reaching over 25 lbs or 11.3 kg (with an average weight of 16 lbs for males and 12 lbs for females). With tufted ears and paws like bobcats as well, and bobcats at least being a kind of cat, it seems reasonable. But still not possible.

Other stories told about Maine Coons suggest that they arose from the more regionally common short-haired cats intermingling with long-haired breeds brought from overseas. This seems much more likely. In a more scandalous version of this tale, a sea captain loyal to the French crown brought a shipload of Marie Antoinette’s valuables over to the new world, including six of her favorite cats. The plan was to return for the queen and rescue her from the over-boiling French Revolution, but the captain was too late to save her, and the cats were loosed in New England. I have my doubts that the queen would have sent her valuables ahead and stayed where the danger was, but who’s to say?

The most likely scenarios, if the traits did not arise spontaneously, would still have us thanking sailors for this immensely popular breed of cat. Some theorize that an English captain named Samuel Coon kept cats on board his ship, as many seafarers did. He specifically favored Persians and Angoras, two long-haired breeds that were popular in England during the American colonial period. As he sailed up and down the New England coast, his cats would disembark from time to time, and long-haired kittens began to crop up in the litters of the short-haired cats on shore. People would say that the mother had met up with “one of Coon’s cats.”

Alternatively, it’s thought that Vikings who visited the New World in the eleventh century may have brought long-haired Norwegian Skogkatts, known today as Norwegian Forest Cats, a breed which has a lot of similarities to Maine Coons. In either case, the long-haired trait was beneficial to wild and semi-feral barn cats surviving outside through the bitterly cold winters, so it began to take hold in the population.

Three Maine Coon cats
Photo by skeeze via pixabay

It isn’t only the length of their fur that makes Maine Coons well-suited to their natural environment. Their pelt is thick and water resistant, further insulating them from the weather. The tufts of fur on their ears prevent heat from escaping. Their big, tufted paws serve as snowshoes, allowing them to walk over snow despite their size. Those big paws are also part of what makes them such good mousers!

Maine Coons can take a while to get comfortable with new people, but once they’re sure about you they are very friendly and love to spend time with their humans. They are known for following people around and enjoy attention, although they aren’t usually lap cats. They just want to be where you are. Main Coons are one of the few breeds of cats that like water, so they may want to be with you even in the shower. Close the door if that doesn’t appeal to you. Get out the camera if you think it’s hilarious.

That long, silky fur requires some grooming, but the Maine Coon isn’t as high-maintenance as some long-haired breeds. Occasional grooming to take care of tangles is sufficient for most cats. Since Maine Coons are so affectionate, they usually enjoy grooming.

Brown Maine Coon cat looking out the window
Alfred the Maine Coon – Photo by Benjamin Balázs

Maine Coons are said to make great family pets because they get along well with children and other animals. They keep a kitten-like playfulness into old age but are also very easy-going, so they don’t mind the antics of human children. Maine Coons are very intelligent and like to learn tricks, solve puzzles, and play fetch, things that children often enjoy doing with their pets but some dogs can’t even be bothered to do. Not the dog I had growing up, anyways. RIP, Dolly. You were so loyal and so very lazy.

As with any breed, there is an increased risk of certain health concerns. Maine Coons can be prone to hip dysplasia, particularly those of larger size. They also have a genetic propensity for a form of heart disease called hypertrophic cardiomyopathy and for spinal muscular atrophy, which usually develops early in kittenhood. There are genetic tests available for both of these conditions.

The Cat Fanciers’ Association named the Maine Coon the 5th most popular breed of 2018. They are such beautiful cats, and full of personality, it’s easy to see why people love them. They fit into a wide variety of homes as well. Not to mention that anyone who owns one will never have a rodent problem. In all the time since being removed from the New England wilderness, they haven’t lost that edge. Soft and fluffy yet built tough as nails, these unique cats are truly the stuff of legend.

Fun Facts

  • The Best Cat at the first major United States cat show (1895 in NYC) was a Maine Coon. She was a brown tabby named Cosey.
  • There was so little demand for the Maine Coon that it was declared extinct in the 1950s! They might have spoken too soon.
  • Unlike most domestic cats, Maine Coons do not finish growing until they are 3-5 years old.
  • The most common color of Maine Coon is brown tabby, but they come in 75 different color combinations and many different patterns.
  • Their eyes may be green, gold, green-gold, or copper. White or bi-color Maine Coons sometimes have blue or odd eyes.
  • The longest cat on record was a Maine Coon. Mymains Steward Gilligan, or Stewie, was 4 ft 0.42 in or 123 cm long!

Works Cited

  1. Hartwell, S. (1993). Domestic Hybrids with Bobcat and Lynx. Messy Beast. http://messybeast.com/small-hybrids/rufus-lynx-hybrids.htm

Published December 30th, 2019

Updated June 14th, 2023