Toyger cat infographic

This is a compact infographic on the rather rare Toyger cat breed. This is a non-mainstream cat breed. Some of the books that I have on the breeds make no mention of it. 

Infographic by MikeB at PoC.

The Toyger cat breed was created by a woman in America, Judy Sugden, in the 1980s to try and put a miniature tiger into the homes of American citizens! She wanted to try and bring a bit of a the wild into their home and therefore she set about creating through selective breeding a domestic cat which looked, as near as possible, like a tiger and also walked like a tiger. This was a very tall order. Impossible actually to get a domestic cat to replicate that tiger swaggering walk.

She selected some foundation cats which she thought were useful in that purpose one of which came from Kashmir and the other was a Bengal cat with a pattern that she thought was suitable. A third domestic shorthaired cat called Scrapmetal was also used.

Judy Sugden is (or was) the daughter of Jean Mill, the woman who created the Bengal cat breed. Clearly within this family they have a fascination for domestic cats with a wild cat appearance.

The Toyger is not that dissimilar from the Bengal cat as it happens. But of course, the Toyger only has stripes while the Bengal cat has alternative tabby coat patterns.

Clearly, Judy Sugden had to focus on the mackerel pattern of tabby cats and make those as high contrast as possible and as dark as possible. And the background colour needed to be as near to the colour orange as it could be. It is very hard to create a miniature clone of the Bengal tiger which is what she set out to do, I guess with optimism.

However, this is still work in progress 43 years later. I personally doubt the objective. The breed never really caught on. It is not one of the most popular cat breeds. Although the breed was recognised by The International Cat Association at full championship status in February 2007. 

I don't think the CFA recognises it. I've just looked that up and the Cat Fanciers' Association do not recognise this breed which supports my point that it is unsuccessful as a newish cat breed created through selective breeding i.e. artificial selection.

The days of creating breeds like this are over. There was a flurry of new cat breeds during the middle of the 20th century. The cat breeds are no saturated! No more space for them I feel.

Picture of a Toyger cat is actually a photo-edited photograph

This interesting photograph could, to the uninitiated, be of a Toyger purebred cat but it is not. It is far too much like a tiger to be a Toyger. You may have heard about this rare cat breed called a Toyger. If you haven't you might like to click here to read about it. Essentially, it is a breed of cat which is meant to look like a miniature tiger in your home. The idea is to bring the tiger into your home. However, it's proved very difficult to replicate the anatomy of a tiger in a domestic cats through selective breeding as you can imagine.

Toyger purebred cat? No, photo-editing of tiger cub + domestic cat. Photo in public domain.

You can only go so far with selective breeding but, that said, some cat breeders go too far and breed cats to extreme. Perhaps the Toyger breeders could have done a better job. Perhaps they gave up because the breed cannot, in honesty, be described as a success.

There was a discussion on the Internet about whether this photograph is of a Toyger. It is a very nice piece of photo-editing which has merged the face of a domestic cat with the face and body of what appears to me to be a young tiger or tiger cub. Photo-editing can do wonders in the right hands.

The photograph was first used to illustrate a cat food, Newman's Own Organic. I think it is part of Paul Newman's business of making salad dressings and cookies et cetera. With the picture went the slogan "They Once Ate Organic". This must be a reference to the fact that tigers eat natural foods and this company is hinting that most pet food is unnatural and they are correct. It is a shame then that the picture is unnatural!

However, the picture may have been added to Newman's Own Organic logo by somebody else other than the company. We don't know the history.

Toyger cat breeders would give their right arm to produce a cat like this. The picture first emerged on a social media network used by artists to showcase their work called Behance. It was posted to Silev's page.

This little story is interesting in terms of cat breeding. The Toyger was started in the 1980s, a time when there were a lot more new breeds. It was a time, too, when there was a big interest in creating cats that hinted at being wild cats. I'm referring to the wildcat hybrids mainly. But there are some domestic cats without any wild cat blood in them which were selectively bred to look like wild cats too. The intention was to encourage cat owners to think about wild cat conservation. To transport those beautiful wild cats in far-flung countries into their urban houses.

This may be a week justification rather than an idealised high moral ground attempt at conservation. The mid-1950s was a time when the most cat breeds were developed in the cat fancy.

Toyger cat. Photo: copyright Helmi Flick

Above is a photograph of a genuine Toyger. You can see the far more angelic and delicate appearance of this breed. There's one thing you can't replicate of the Tiger in a domestic cat and that is the way the tiger walks. It is an arrogant gait, imbued with confidence and cockiness. The domestic cat gait is far more fragile and delicate.

Domestic cats that look like tigers

There is one particular cat breed which is wholly designed, and which has been bred, to look like a tiger and that breed is the Toyger. This is an amalgamation of the word "toy" and "tiger". Below is a picture of the Toyger. As far as I'm aware, there are no known cat breeds other than the Toyger which are specifically designed to look like the tiger. I expect many people have heard of this breed. It remains relatively rare.

Photo copyright Helmi Flick.

 

I suppose you have to ask the philosophical question as to whether it is foolhardy to try and replicate the tiger in miniaturised form through selective breeding of the domestic cat. From my perspective it is a ridiculous idea but there are many people who would disagree with me. It seems that the policy behind the project is the same the lofty ideal behind the wild cat hybrids: to bring the wild into the living room. The big defect with the Toyger is that they'll walk like tigers because that is dictated by size. And the tiger gait is very much part of the cat.

It is still work in progress many years after beginning. The breeders are even trying to recreate the way the tiger walks. It is far better to adopt a rescue cat and in any case within all domestic cats whether they look like a tiger or not there is a tiger because the behaviour of the domestic cat is a whisker away from that of the wild cat.

Beautiful Toygers

Two pictures of beautiful Toygers by the celebrated cat photographer, Helmi Flick. The Toyger is a "toy tiger". A designer cat. I don't think that it has really succeeded in that goal though. I think it was meant to be for well off people living the modern quick, expensive lifestyle. Things have changed (2011). We are in the middle of world economic problems that seem to be impossible to resolve. This must dent the market for designer cats.

Toyger - Photograph copyright Helmi Flick

This individual cat must be one of the best examples of the Toyger. The mackerel stripes are very nice and the whole appearance is golden and glowing. Is this just a nice version of a striped tabby in brown/orange colors?

Toyger cat - Photograph copyright Helmi Flick

What about Toyger breeders? You can see a full list on the founder's website.

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The photo on this page is protected by copyright ©. Violations of copyright are reported to Google.com (DMCA).

What domestic cats look like tigers?

The toyger purebred cat is a designer domestic cat that is designed to look like a tiger. The cat is work in progress. Mackerel tabby cats have stripes that are similar to tiger stripes but no where near as bold or as high contrast. Mackerel tabby cats can be random bred or purebred.

Another purebred cat that looks a bit tiger-like and which is large is the Mokave Jag Cat (pronounced mo ka vee).

It is not just about the coat. It is about the way the cat walks! And the facial appearance etc.. Personally, I don't like the idea of trying to create a miniature tiger through selective breeding. It somehow seems wrong to me. But I respect the views of others.

Bengal Cat Toyger Eyes

Tiger photo copyright "Twin Peaks" under creative commons


Bengal Cat Toyger Eyes - unusually with "headlights" - white fur around the eyes. I have not seen a Bengal Cat with this feature before (but see the update at base of page). Photograph copyright Svetlana Ponomareva


Toyger Cat - photo of Ishah - copyright Helmi Flick

The Bengal Cat appearance is well known to people generally and particularly those in the cat fancy. The Toyger cat is perhaps less well known. They have a similarity however, both being exotic domestic cats for cat lovers who like to be the companion of a small but domesticated wild animal.

Toyger breeders look to mimic the tiger's appearance as near as possible. The development program is ongoing and long. In this program, Toyger cat breeders are looking for what they call "headlights". These are patches of white fur around the eyes like the Tiger (see above) . Ishah (the Toyger cat featured above) doesn't have these but they are in development.

However, what is surprising is that a Russian Bengal Cat breeder, Svetlana Ponomareva, has developed "headlights" for her Bengal Cats (but see below). These are very pronounced. In fact they are even more striking than the white fur around the eyes of a Tiger. The cat is a Bengal Cat with Toyger Eyes.

This raises two questions to me. Is this feature an extension of or a breach of the Bengal Breed Standard? How would this gorgeous looking cat fare in competition (please tell me by leaving a comment). And it would seem a good idea if the Toyger breeders got in touch with Svetlana (maybe they have already - tell me if this is the case, please), to help develop those precious "headlights".

Update June 2009: this post is a bit of a spoof as the cat with the headlights in almost certainly an Asian Leopard Cat. It has all the attributes and there is no doubt in mind that it is the wild cat ancestor of the Bengal cat!