Ocicats originated as a cross between Siamese and Abyssinians, in the 1960s. Most registries still allow outcrossing to Abyssinians, to improve the breed, and TICA allows outcrossing to Abyssinians or Siamese. Genetically speaking, it helps keep the gene pool as broad as possible to allow outcrossing to the parent breeds, especially in the rarer breeds like Ocicats. (The Australian Mist, for example, allows outcrossing to the primary parent breeds – Burmese, Abyssinian, and Domestic Shorthair.)
Our little Eris is a first generation Ocicat, the result of an outcross mating between Sunchaser Danaerys (a chocolate marbled Ocicat) and Shayba Finn McCool (a cinnamon silver Abyssian). She is cinnamon, heterozygous for the ticked Abyssinian pattern, and – most significantly – only distantly related to the Ocicat lines in Australia (through her mother).
Eris’ first litter – now 10 weeks old – is to Ozspots Golden Eagle, aka Monkey, a gorgeous chocolate spotted Ocicat boy. There were only 2 kittens born, but as expected, we saw 50% spotted and 50% ticked and wildcat-striped like their mother. We are not retaining any kittens from this litter for breeding, but we are hoping to keep one from Eris’ next litter.