The Toyger is a designer cat. It is designed and bred with the demands of modern apartment life as a human companion foremost in mind. Glittered, pelted, dramatic pattern appeals to both the high-tech glamour and nature-loving, wild dreams of city-caught people while the laid back, easily trained character of these cats make them a joy to live with.

Breed Description

Head: Medium-sized, long broad and deep, dominant cylindrical muzzle flowing into an oval head.
Eyes: Small to medium, circular with gentle hooding of upper inside quadrant.
Ears: Small and round, set as much on the side as on the top.
Neck: Long and muscular, set high but horizontally as a continuation of the back line.
Body: Medium to deep, long and muscular with rolling contours, strong and robust but not blocky.
Paw: Long toed, well knuckled feet.
Tail: Very long and muscular with rounded tip.
Coat: Uniformly short, except markings which may be slightly but uniformly longer than the ground colored fur on the body.

History

Already working on trying to improve the clarity of mackerel markings in domestic "tiger cats", the idea for a domestic tiger look-alike became a real possibility to Bengal cat breeder Judy Sugden in the late 1980s, when she noticed two small spots of tabby markings on the temple of one of her cats, Millwood Sharp Shooter. Since this area is always devoid of markings in domestics, Judy recognized the implications for someday developing a circular tiger face pattern. The problem of the usual linear tabby lines running back over the top of the head was answered in a street cat that she imported from Kashmir, India in 1993. Jammu Blu had all spots between his ears. The trick then would be to glue those spots back together in a never before tiger type pattern. Thus began the hair by hair construction of a tiger-like pattern that is still in progress. 

Behavior

They are very good companions and are dependable with a quite temperament and a laid back personality. They are intelligent and easily trained. They have good athletic ability and movements are stately.