Ocicats
International

An October 1976 letter from Virginia Daly
Thoughts on the origin of genome for Ocicats and Somali’s and “unexplained” traits.
This article is also available on the breed club info page of the Ocicats International Web Site.

Note: Mrs. Virginia Daly (Dalai Cattery, registered CFA 1944) was the creator of the Ocicat. Unlike Evelyn Mague who early on was able to recruit enthusiastic young fanciers to her cause, Virginia struggled almost single handedly in her quest for recognition of the Ocicat.  It took almost thirty years to gain CFA recognition of Virginia’s beloved Ocicats.

 Dear Mr. Pellegrino,

I thought you’d never ask!

For years I have held some vitally interesting information, that I thought someone would sometime like to have, but so long as I no longer raising my true love Abys and I have almost no contact with Aby breeders other than my dear friend Alma Cowell (Du-Ro-Al), I surely thought I would pass on (now 67) and carry my thoughts on LH Abys away with me.

We are pretty careful giving out information that could offend others as so many breeders take any remarks as a personal affront, but I will try ot give you what I feel about Somalis as no offense on any Amwerican breeders, as I think all the invasion of the Aby strain came from English breeders where it seems that the feeling is that any practice that could better a breed should be allowed and aired truthfully. Whether the Aby discretions were aired or not, I do not know, but in some cases such as in the effort for multi-colored Burmese (perish the thought) information has been open.

No doubt my dear Deta Tim could have been the ancestor to Somalis. Deta Tim’s sire, Raby Chuffa (import) is known to have sired a longhaired tortie in an Aby litter. I saw the cat and her owner, the cat being shown in the HHP classes in a Buffalo show.

Experimental breeder friends have told me of finding fantastic brown tabbies in some of their work with Abys.  I now have one such in a litter of Ocicats, also a gorgeous chestnut classic tabby.  Both parents are dotted Ocicats. The chestnut is chocolate brown markings on the lightest cream.

I feel that there was some work done in England to improve the ruddiness of the Aby undercoat. It is too bad that the English did not in the past give the two generations in the background of those cat imported from there as they do now in our stud books.  I wouldn’t want to be without my stud books. I have #’s 5, 10, 22, 24, then complete 27 up.  By studying that pedigree you can see that by being aware of some of the cat sired by Raby Chuffa and Disston’s Bengal Boy that it looks as though there was some hanky panky going on with the Raby cats as Raby Ashanto was in both lines. Be sure to not confuse any of these doings with the great Wohl-Rabe cats in this country.

Some of you may feel that I am a dog in the manger with my own breed and down talking others who do likewise but I have only worked on producing cats that are unique. We do not need other black shorthairs nor blue shorthairs. A solid brown in pale tan with gold eyes would be different as in the longhair. My Abyssinian Point has not a bar or a mark on her anywhere. Otherwise she resembles a Lynxpoint. I hope my thinking on Somali’s beginnings has been of some help and thanks for asking.

=^.".^=    =^.".^=    =^.".^= 


Ocicat Breed Booth will be on display at the upcoming CFA Sanctioned Shows

The CFA Ocicat Breed Council will proudly display our breed booth sponsored in part by Dr Elsey’s at the following shows:   * CFA National Show in Indianapolis IN. November 19 and 20 2011. * Dixieland Silver and Goldens Show in Concord NC. December 10-11 2011 * Absolutely Abyssinians in Jacksonville FL. January 2012

CFA Ocicat Breed Council News – Ballot Item Approved by Breeds and Standards
CFA’s breeds and standards committee reviewed and approved the breed councils request for a ballot item inclusion. To be voted on by the breed council is the removal of the time limitation on the availability of the Abyssinian outcross from the standard. Many thanks to the breed council who discussed the issue and to Ocicats International Dian Darr for her hard work on the final wording of the ballot item. The approved ballot item language is as follows:

Ballot item # 1
RESOLVED: amend the ocicat breed standard as follows:
Ocicat allowable outcross breeds:
Abyssinian for litters born before 1/1/2015.
RATIONALE: The Ocicat, like many other breeds, has a small gene pool. This limited diversity can cause significant issues in immune system development/disease resistance, increased likelihood of genetic inherited diseases, and reproductive failure. As with all breeds, the Ocicat is threatened by the loss of numbers affecting genetic diversity.
Since the last extension of our allowable outcross, many of the current breed council members have availed themselves of the available outcross with others obtaining the genetic diversity through 2nd and 3rd generation offspring. The loss of this source of genetic diversity could be a serious threat to the overall health and genetic diversity of the Ocicat breed.
Per Joan Miller (NAIA 2008 Conference) "Many breeds have such small gene pools that removal of breeding cats would be devastating to the genetic health of the breeds. The loss of a
few bloodlines caused by intrusive breeder permits or mandated sterilization can mean the extinction of rare breeds."
Allowing unrestricted access to the Abyssinian would be the best way to ensure the Ocicats survival.
Precedent for open ended outcrosses currently exists in many CFA breeds such as such as the American Wire Hair, Balinese – Javanese, Bombay and Scottish Fold.
 

=^.".^=    =^.".^=    =^.".^= 

Ocicats International is now on Facebook!!!
Did you know you could follow Ocicats International on Facebook?

Do you know someone who might enjoy joining our club?
Use this link to fill out a membership application!


Ocicats International is a CFA affiliated breed club dedicated to the Ocicat breed. We strive to increase public awareness of our breed and promote the responsible ownership, breeding, registration and exhibition of the Ocicat.

 

OI Home