Toyger Cat Breed Description

Active: The Toyger is an active cat that enjoys playing with its human counterparts or with fun toys that are highly interactive. While they are quite active, they will not exhaust you and are more than happy to curl up in your lap so that you can admire their striking appearance and stroke their luxurious coat.

Size: Toyger cats are medium in size with a strong, robust build. Average weight is between 7 to 15 pounds.

Characteristics: Toyger sounds like "toy tiger" for a reason - the coat of the Toyger, as well as the overall physique, closely resembles that of its wild relative, the tiger. With a strong, muscular build and thick legs, the Toyger looks like it is ready to pounce at any moment. The beautiful, rectangular body of the Toyger is adorned perfectly with a lovely, long tail. The head of the Toyger is small and the face has a long, inverted heart shape with distinctive, circular motion markings that sets the Toyger apart from other breeds. The coat of the Toyger is what is highly sought after among cat-lovers because the patterning is random with broken or branched vertical stripes that cannot be seen in any other cat breed. The color of the coat is reddish-orange, or sometimes a shade of "pumpkin" with dark stripes.

Temperament: While wild tigers may be ferocious, the Toyger has all the beauty of its relative without the wild personality. Toyger cats are incredibly sweet, loving, loyal cats. These friendly felines love to play and are incredibly friendly, nicely playing with other cats, dogs and even children. Because they are highly intelligent, they love to learn new tricks and play with challenging toys that keep them interested and engaged. They make wonderful, loving companions and are very easy to train.

Care: Toyger cats are fairly low maintenance and caring for them simple. You will not even have to worry about getting a ferocious tiger bite during grooming with these domesticated felines. Occasional combing or brushing to keep their beautiful coat looking its best, along with occasional nail trimming and ear cleaning is all the Toyger cat requires for care.

Coat: The Toyger has a short, thick coat that feels soft and plush to the touch. The luxurious, velvet-like coat is a pleasure to stroke and run your fingers through.

Origin: Many cats throughout history have closely resembled tigers with their color and markings but it was not until the 1980's that there were any cats that had markings that truly replicated the distinct appearance of true tiger markings. Mackeral tabby cats have, traditionally been the closest thing to tiger cats but in the 1980's breeder Judy Sugden set out to see if she could improve upon Mackeral markings with very specific breeding. She bred a striped domestic shorthair cat with a standard Bengal tabby cat that had two unique circular markings on its temple that closely resembled the pattern often seen on a tiger's head. By breeding these two cats together, along with a cat imported from India that also had unique markings, Judy Sugden began the breed. She carefully honed the distinct characteristics that she knew she wanted until the Toyger cat breed closely resembled that of the Tiger. Along with the help of breeders Anthony Hutcherson and Alice McKee, the breed advanced until, in 1993, The International Cat Association (TICA) accepted the breed for registration but the breed was not given full recognition until 2007. While the breed is currently only recognized by TICA, it continues to grow in popularity among fanciers.