Asian Leopard Cat Information

The Asian Leopard Cat has the deep set very dark brown eyes.  They are more round than almond shaped.  They have a whited underside and white ocelli (spots on the back of their ears).  They share some traits with the remainder of the Asian Wild Cat populations.  Some have a rosette to the coat, although many are covered with small to medium spots.  Their pattern is very much a horizontal or angular pattern of spots or rosettes as opposed to a vertical pattern in the typical domestic cat.  Their coat is very tight to the body and Extremely soft as opposed to the Amur Leopard Cat which has a longer soft coat.  A VERY short THICK tail as exhibited by the cat in the middle pictures.

They have the small ears set as much on the side as the top of the head and very rounded at the tips and characterized as bell shaped..   They also are strongly identified by the specific profile demonstrated by most of the pictures above.  From the side you notice a very slight curve from up over the back of the neck over the back skull, flowing gently into the forehead with no break between forehead and nose bridge.  This nose bridge extends well above the eye from the side and continues to the nose leather.  There should be a deep side profile from the nose level down to the point of the chin denoting a strong  mouth and jaw and the ability to catch and kill prey effectively.

It can be found across India, China, Korea, and on islands such as Sumatra, Philippines, Taiwan, Borneo, Bali and Java.  The fur trade caused this cat to be placed on the Endangered Species list.    It is primarily nocturnal in behavior and prefer brush and forested habitats.  They are excellent swimmers and tree climbers.  They are solitary and reclusive.  They weight between 7 to 15 pounds with males being substantially larger than females.  With around 10 subspecies, there is great variety in subspecies coloration and pattern depending on habitat, climate and elevation.  The Asian Leopard Cats continue to be introduced into the Bengal Breed.  The most famous Asian Leopard Cats to be part of the Bengal Breed genetic pool are: Taro, Phantom, Centerwall, Rajah Singh and a number of others.  All Bengals can trace their origins back to one of these Asian Leopard Cats.  With the introduction of other Asian Leopard Cats into the gene pool, we will continue to see some diversity in type in the early generation cats.  Due to this, there is not a worry at this time of a small gene pool for our Bengals.

Toyger Information

The name 'Toyger' comes from the the words Toy and Tiger.

The Toyger is the result of a cross between a striped Domestic Short Hair and a Standard Bengal Tabby This resulted in a striped Cat which after many years of hard work resembles a 'mini Tiger'.

The Toyger is a designer breed and currently still being developed. Breeder's are striving to give this stunning breed the true look of a mini tiger over the coming years. Many of the features proposed have never been seen in a domestic cat. Progress is slow but steady and it could be several years before the Toyger truly resembles the wild tiger although the founder is aiming at 2010. Judy Sugden says that with a few more years of breeding, her Toygers will look even more like the real thing, with ears that are shorter, smaller eyes, a bigger chin and a wider nose tip.

Toyger's are of medium size with a strong and robust torso. The tail is long and muscular and set and carried low. Toyger's coats are short, thick, plush, soft and feel extremely luxurious.

The ideal colouring for a Toyger is an orange/tan background with dark stripes like that of a Tiger. The stripes are actually long rosettes and should not be uniform like a mackerel pattern but more like long random individual stripes. The coat must be striped with no spotting. The ears small and rounded, good solid bone structure and overall balance.

The Toyger is an ongoing venture with each generation improving on the last to obtain the objective of a beautiful domestic cat with the look of the majestic wild Tiger.

The Toyger has no tiger blood in it but does possess genes passed on from the Asian Leopard cat.

PuppyKat Information

The Puppykat  is a medium to large sized domestic cat  which has a long, well-proportioned body.  It characterized by three different mutations in the ideal cat.  It has floppy (folded) ears, extra toes on the feet (polydactyl), and it has a short tail. These cats are intelligent, calm, and playful.  They adjust well to new situations and enjoy people. They can be easily trained to the leash and to fetch.

The head is medium to wide, with a strong muzzle.  Eyes are round in shape. The ears are medium in size with a light flop.  The gene for the ears comes from the Scottish Fold.  It is a well-documented fact that a folded ear cat bred to a folded ear cat will produce some kittens homozygous for the folded ear gene, which causes a painful and life-threatening condition in these kittens. Therefore, flop eared to flop eared breeding is prohibited.  Some kittens in the litter may have straight ears.  These may be registered as Puppykats.

Legs are medium in length, with no deformity in the legs.  The ideal specimen is polydactyl, with mitten feet preferred.  All types of paws are acceptable with five to seven toes in the front and four to seven toes in the back.  No double paws are allowed.  The polydactyl gene is a dominant gene, so some "normal" footed kittens will be produced in litters.  These are still registered as Puppykats.

The tail in the ideal specimen is a short tail, preferably between 1 1/2 inches and 2 1/2 inches in length.  The short tail comes from the Manx gene, which is an incompletely dominant gene.  Therefore, full-tailed kittens may be born in litters.  These are still registered as Puppykats.

Puppykats come in both long and short hair.  The coat is dense, thick, and soft.  Puppykats come in all colors and patterns, but solids, smokes, torties, calicoes, and bicolors in the tux pattern are preferred.

Even though the ideal Puppykat has flop ears, extra toes, and a short tail, kittens may be born lacking some of these characteristics.  Therefore, genetic codes will be used in the official registration numbers of Puppykats.  For example, below is the registration number for a long haired, short tailed, flop eared, polydactyl Puppycat born on Feb. 18, 2005. Note that it is the first cat born on this date to be registered.

PPK SB 02182005 001 LH ST FE PD

The registration number is broken down as follows:

PPK - the three letter breed code for Puppykat
SB - stud book registered, which means the cat meets all registration guidelines
02182005 - the birth date of the cat
001 - the first cat with that birth date to be registered
LH - long haired, as opposed to short haired (SH)
ST - short tailed, as opposed to  long tailed (LT)
FE - folded or flop eared, as opposed to straight eared (SE)
PD - polydactyl.  A cat with normal feet receives no designation.

Using the codes above, another Puppykat born on the same date might be short haired, long tailed, flop eared, and have normal feet.  It's registration number would be:

PPK SB 02182005 002 SH LT FE

Elf Cat

The Elf cat was established by a group of people trying to create a unique cat that was both hairless and had curled ears. The Elf is a visually striking cat due to both of these features. The Elf was started as a cross between a Sphynx and an American Curl. Both the Sphynx and the American Curl are allowed to be bred to domestic cats of an unrecognized breed (registered or otherwise) as are the Elf cats.

Each of the parent breeds contribute something unique to the Elf cat.  The American Curl contributes the gene for the curled ears, which is a dominant genetic mutation.  In order to have a cat born with curled ears one parent must have curled ears.  The Sphynx gives the appearance of hairlessness with its recessive hairless gene.  It is entirely possible for two coated parents to produce a hairless kitten provided they each carry one copy of the hairless gene.

The head of the Elf cat should ideally be slightly longer than it is wide with prominent cheekbones and a noticeable whisker break that shows prominent whisker pads. The skull should be slightly rounded with a flat plane in front of the ears.  The eyes of the Elf are a very distinct walnut shape, round on the bottom and oval on the top.   The eyes should be set a minimum of one eye width apart and they should be placed at a slight angle between the base of the ear and the tip of the nose.   Elf cats can have any color eyes ranging from gold to green and eyes should be blue in pointed cats.

The desired curl in an Elf is one that is at least 90 degrees and no more than 180 degrees.  The ears should be wide at the base and open.  The ears curve backwards in a smooth arc when viewed from any direction.  The ears should not have such an extreme arch that the tip of the curl touches the back of the ear. The curl is a very important characteristic in this breed as it is one of the two things that differentiate these cats from any other  recognized breed.

Elf cats can come in any color or pattern that is genetically possible, a wide range of colors can occur in the same litter.  Some Elf cats will even be coated although the desire is to breed towards producing only hairless kittens.  The texture of the coat in an elf can range from the feeling of a soft chamois to the feel of baby smooth skin.  It is entirely acceptable for the Elf to have hair on its feet, ears, nose, tail, and scrotum.  Smooth down like fur is also acceptable on the body of the Elf as long as it does not detract from the appearance of hairlessness.  Coated Elf cats will be referred to as non-standard Elf’s.

The Elf is a medium to large size cat that has sturdy musculature and boning.  The Elf should also appear as though it just finished a meal, which comes from the Sphynx ancestry.  The Elf cat is a cat that has an impeccable personality and adores attention.  This is a cat that thrives on being the center of one’s life and in the middle of everything.  They are not suited to the outdoors and are very rare at this time.  Since Elf cats inherit two separate genetic mutations it can sometimes be two or even more generations before a hairless Elf will be born.