Toyger

The Toyger is a new breed in the UK. It was developed in the USA by Judy Sugden, whose mother Jean S Mill is the founder of the Bengal breed. People often refer to mackerel tabby cats as tigers or tiger stripes and yet their pattern is a far cry from the bold braided patterns of the real tiger. In the late 1980s, Judy was working to improve the clarity of the markings in mackerel tabbies descended from Bengals and a few other breeds including domestic shorthair. She noticed that her cat, Millwood Sharp Shooter, had two spots of tabby markings on the temple and realized that this could be a key to developing a cat with the true circular pattern on a tiger’s head. The temples of domestic tabbies do not usually have such markings. Two cats that formed the cornerstone for the young Toyger breed were a striped domestic shorthair named Scrapmetal and a big-boned Bengal named Millwood Rumpled Spotskin. In 1993, Judy also imported Jammu Blu, a street cat from Kashmir, India, who had all spots between his ears rather than the regular tabby lines.

Judy embarked on her program to develop these cats with a strong vision of the characteristics that would be needed to produce a cat resembling a small version of the Tiger  ie a large, long body to display the bold vertical patterns; which showed stretching, branching and interweaving (braiding) of the original mackerel tabby pattern.  The cats would also exhibit the circular head markings found in no other domestic cat; the vivid glittering colors; and most importantly a laid-back domestic temperament to make the Toyger a delight to live with. Others joined Judy early on in this pioneering work and in 1993, TICA accepted the Toyger for Registration and in 2000 advanced them to the new breed exhibition classes, finally granting them full recognition as a championship cat in February 2007.  The GCCF recognised Toygers in October 2015 and they progressed to preliminary status in June 2016.

The Toyger is a medium sized cat, reminiscent of a big cat in pattern, type, confidence, stately movement and athletic ability. The impression is of a sleek, muscular long bodied, large boned cat with a long thick tail. The head should be long, broad and deep and medium sized in proportion to the body. The ears should be rounded and small in size, set as much on the side as on the top of the head. The eyes are small to medium in size and slanted towards the base of the ear; the eye colour is dependent on the coat colour.

The muzzle should be broad with rounded contours and pronounced whisker pads created by widely set canine teeth, with a wide, deep chin. The neck should be long and muscular and in proportion to the body which is medium sized, long, sleek and muscular. Strong, large boned and robust, the overall impression should be muscular and athletic. The legs are medium length strong, straight and muscular with paws that are proportionally large and well-rounded with prominent knuckles and long toes. The tail should be very long, thick and muscular (rope like) with a rounded tip. The soft, dense coat should feel luxurious and unusually soft to the touch and very plush. The coat pattern is a modified mackerel tabby, with the body stripes vertically aligned with encircling markings on the neck, legs and tail. Bold, braided, non-uniform stripes including stretched rosettes are the preferred pattern. The underside of the chest, belly and tail, and the inside of the limbs are lighter in colour. Circular alignment of facial markings is preferable to traditional tabby markings; the back of the ears should be dark with a virtually white thumb print; black “mascara”, “lipstick” and whisker spot markings and white spectacles are desirable.

GCCF recognises the Toyger in three colours:
Brown (Black) Mackerel Tabby
A yellow, buff, golden or orange ground colour is preferred. The markings may be black or various shades of brown, and the eye colour gold, green or hazel.
Blue Eyed Snow Mackerel Tabby (Siamese restriction of coat pattern)
The ground colour should be ivory to cream, and the pattern may vary in colour from charcoal to dark or light brown, and the eye colour blue, with deep shades preferred.
AOC-Eyed Snow Mackerel Tabby (Burmese/Tonkinese restriction of coat colour)
The ground colour should be ivory to tan, and the pattern may be charcoal or shades of brown. The eye colour may be gold, green or blue-green.

Variety is the spice of life for a Toyger. They are active, intelligent and companionable. A Toyger will not be happy if left alone for long periods, and will feel separation anxiety. They will get along with other felines, especially if integrated when young, cat friendly dogs and children. They are intelligent, affectionate and playful, and that includes wanting to interact and play with their human family, so be prepared to devote some time each day to the amusement of your Toyger. They are easy to train and can be taught to fetch, and play other games, but will also let you know when they want some quiet time alone. They can also be taught to walk on a harness. A cozy lap is also appreciated once playtime is over.

Toygers are active cats but will live happily as house cats given adequate space and mental stimulation. They enjoy going outdoors too but secure outdoor housing or garden enclosure systems are recommended to keep your Toyger safe.

Toygers are similar to any domestic short haired cat in their care requirements. They are not fussy eaters and require minimal grooming. A light brush and combing once a week will keep your Toyger’s coat in top condition and remove loose hair. They are very clean cats and kittens very quickly learn to use a litter tray as soon as they are weaned. A well brought up kitten will be perfectly litter trained by the time it is ready for rehoming at 13 weeks. Vaccination, worming and parasite prevention treatments are the same as for other breeds.

Females weigh less than males with a range of 8-12lbs (3.6-5.4kg) for females and 10-15lbs (4.5-6.8kg) for males and life expectancy is the same as any domestic short hair cat.

The Toyger is generally a healthy cat. There are no diseases specific to the breed and they have no health problems related to their conformation. Breeders should take care to select against cow hocks which crop up occasionally.

Their susceptibility to infectious diseases is comparable to other domestic breeds. Some breeders claim that some cats show an adverse reaction to feline leukaemia vaccine but this has not been substantiated. The Bengal is the main breed used to develop the Toyger and hence breeders should do the same health screening ie HCM echocardiography screening and DNA testing for PKDef and Bengal PRA is recommended. However anecdotal reports indicate that the incidence of all these conditions is significantly lower than in the Bengal due to the influence of domestic shorthair outcrosses. There are reports of reduced milk production (*Agalactia)in some lines.