Toyger
Toyger is not Bengal. Several elements are specific to the Toyger, especially when you look at the head and coat (see standards described below). Naury, our female, stands out particularly in the features of her face and head. Sheldon, our male, stands out with his tawny eyes, muscular body and warm color.
The Toyger is a smart, affectionate and friendly cat with a good level of energy. He get on well with other pets and with his new family. He likes to play and his intelligence means he is easy to train. You can teach him to walk on a leash and to play fetch. He likes to receive cuddles and knows how to be heard with his thruthful meows. Each Toyger will develop his own personality and his character will be influenced by his adoptive family.
No disease is associated with the Toyger. In addition, the Toygers are easy to groom and have short hair they do not lose much.
Origins of the toyger
The Toyger is a fascinating breed to discover. It's a domestic cat with no wild blood. His name comes from a contraction between "toy" and "tiger" since it looks like a toy tiger. However, it is important to specify that no hybridization has been made with a tiger. It was developed in 1980 by the American Judy Sugden, whose goal was to find in a domestic cat all the physical characteristics of the tiger without having wild blood. Originally, she began by selecting cats with specific marking. Then she introduced domestic Bengals (far from the first generations) to have fur with warmer colors and a big muscular body.
The Toyger was recorded in 1993 by the Internation Cat Association (TICA) as in "evaluation", and was accepted into the league in 2007. It has also been recognized by the LOOF (Official Book of Feline Origins) since January 2016. We are in the process of getting it recognized by the Chats Canada Cats. The Toyger is a rare breed and there are still only a few breeders in the world.
Standards
Here are the criteria to look for:
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A round head, a wide muzzle, small and circular eyes close to each other, small ears preferably rounded.
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A long, massive and muscular body.
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A thick and unusually soft fur with a beautiful glitter.
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Beautiful stripes, generally vertically aligned, well defined and not continuous. Some stripes may also look like stretched rosettes.
The adult Toyger female can reach 10 pounds and the male up to 15 pounds.
