The Toyger is a comparatively new breed of home cat that’s been bred to resemble a mini tiger with the temperament of a family-friendly pet.
As their look suggests, the breed’s genome comprises a contact of heritage from wild cats, though no new wild cat outcrossing was immediately used of their improvement. Instead, this charismatic cat is primarily the product of selective breeding of Bengals, striped home shorthairs, and a good-looking road cat from Kashmir.
While “tiger stripes” are their defining characteristic, Toygers are notable for his or her lengthy low-slung muscular physique and athletic look, in addition to their lengthy and broad head with rounded ears, in keeping with the Governing Council of the Cat Fancy.
They are typically thought of to be a wholesome cat breed, with few recognized genetic ailments discovered of their bloodline. However, since their sort has solely been round for a number of generations, there’s restricted data available on their predisposition to inherited well being situations.
Toyger Vs Bengal
The backstory of the Toyger is appropriately wild. The inception of the breed occurred within the US across the late Nineteen Eighties by the hands of Judy Sugden, the daughter of famed cat breeder Jean S Mill who’s credited with founding the Bengal breed.
She shaped the bottom of the Toyger breed utilizing two cats: a striped home shorthair named Scrapmetal and a Bengal named Millwood Rumpled Spotskin. The Bengal cat is a breed of hybrid cat created by crossing home cats with an Asian leopard cat, which can clarify components of the “wild” look of Toygers.
You wanna know the way I obtained these stripes?
Image credit score: Kutikova Ekaterina/Shutterstock.com
To tweak and refine the breed’s look, Sugden ventured to northern India in 1993 to discover a stray home cat with distinctive markings that might be used to develop the tiger-like stripes. With the assistance of native Kashmiri children, she discovered a stray cat with all the precise markings – a constellation of spots on high of its head – that she named Jammu Blu. He was introduced again to the US and launched to a prize Bengal.
The relaxation, as they are saying, is historical past. After efficiently crafting their distinctive look, Sugden then labored on the breed’s temperament, making a cat that’s clever, sociable, and pleasant.
Because of their obvious intelligence, Toygers require plenty of mental stimulation by toys and puzzles. Their sociality additionally means they don’t sometimes like being left alone for too lengthy. While they don’t have too many particular wants, particularly in comparison with different specialist cat breeds, most breeders suggest that solely skilled cat house owners tackle a Toyger.
Off the again of Sugden’s arduous work, the breed was acknowledged by the International Cat Association (TICA) in 1993 and was ultimately granted full championship standing in February 2007.
Around this time, media consideration and hype began to build up across the intriguing new breed. A Toyger even made it onto the duvet of LIFE Magazine in February 2007, dubbed “America’s Next Superpet.”
How a lot is a Toyger cat?
Despite public curiosity, Toygers are arduous to return throughout – an attribute that little question provides to their attract. Sugden instructed the New York Times in 2020 that there are simply 150 or so breeders on the earth that target Toygers.
Given their rarity, the breed is pretty costly. Toyger kittens can reportedly cost between $1,500 to $5,000 within the US.
