Videos Pixie Bob Breed Information
Country of origin -
United States
Breed standards -
CCA, TICA
The Pixie-Bob is a breed of cat. According
to legend, it is a hybrid offspring of a
domestic cat and a bobcat, but DNA testing has failed to show that Pixie-Bobs are
directly related to bobcats. Directly related would indicate
identical Y-Chromosomes or limited Marker match testing. Therefore,
Pixie-Bob are legally designated as domestic cats, even if they
might have Bobcat heritage. The Pixie-Bob has a large body with big
feet, and usually a short, bobbed tail and a gentle personality.
Most Pixie-Bobs are short-haired. There is also a less common
long-hair Pixie-Bob. Often the long- haired Pixie-Bob has a face
that look more like a Bobcat's, but the long hair can also
obscure the cat's spots. A Pixie-Bob's markings should
resemble those of a bobcat, with spots, stripes and swirls. This
breed is currently the only one accepted by any major club to allow
polydactyls, cats having more than
the usual number of toes on each foot (five for the front paws,
four for the back). Adult males weigh 16-22 lbs (7-10 kg), and females weigh 8-12 lb (3.5-5.5 kg).
1. Breed Description
1. 1. Physical characteristics
Pixie-Bobs are approximately 50% larger than most domestic cats
(which weigh 5.5-16 lb or 2.5-7 kg). Most Pixie-Bobs have black fur
and skin on the bottom of their paws, tipped ears, heavy ear hair,
black lips, and white fur around the eyes but with black eye skin.
Their chins have white fur, but often have black skin under the
white fur. Some of their whiskers change from Black (root - about
25%) to White (to the tip - about 75% of the whisker).Tiger-like
fur pattern, but often have reddish tones mixed in. Stomach is
often reddish-gold in color with some ticking (broken stripes).
Most are short-haired, but some are long-haired. Eyes are almond
shaped and tilted. Eyes are blue when kittens, then change to
green, and finally to gold when several months old (some don't
change completely to Gold, but have a Gold with a green tint).
Tails can be non-existent (rumpy), or 2-4 inches (desired - TICA
required), or long tails (Pixie was a long tail). The head is
usually-pear shaped. The head and tail are considered the important
characteristics. They grow for 3 years instead of 1 year like most
domestic cats.
More information on the published Pixie-Bobs characteristics can
be found at the TICA website.
1. 2. Temperament
Pixie-bobs are highly intelligent, social, active (but not
hyper-active), bold, courageous, and enjoy playing with other
animals.
They are also known for their "chirps", chatters, and
growls; most don't meow often, and some don't meow at all.
Chirping is essentially their "language", and some of
their chirping actually sounds like purring.
Some Pixie-Bobs can be highly sociable around their owners and
strangers, while others are highly social around their owners, but
shy around strangers. Almost all Pixie-Bobs like to be in the same
room as their owners, and will follow their owners around the
house.
Other personality characteristics include the following:
* Head bunting
* Ball fetching and playing
* Leash walking (for the most part)
* Highly intelligent (To use a dog analogy, their intelligence
would be similar to a Golden Retriever's)
* Capable of understanding some human words and phrases
2. Breed history
Carol Ann Brewer, of Bellingham, Washington, is
credited with the creation of the Pixie-Bob breed in the mid 1980s.
She took two different "Legend cats", believed to be the
result of natural breeding between bobcats
and domestic cats, and bred them to create
the first Pixie-Bob domestic cat. This first cat was named Pixie,
hence the name Pixie-Bob. DNA testing shows
that Pixie-Bob cats are domestic, and not wild or an exotic hybrid,
as the early advertisements had alleged, but many are still unsure
if this is entirely true. Pixie-Bob cats share many of the physical
and personality characteristics of bobcats, except they are
approximately half the size, and do not have some of the wild
characteristics. Pixie-Bobs are a paradox. They look and act very
much like Bobcats, but are legally defined as domestic cats. For a
cat to be considered a Certified TICA Pixie-Bob cats,
they cannot be bred with bobcats, and one of their parents must be
traced back to Pixie the cat.
3. Other information
Pixie-Bobs are legal in all 50 states without a license, and are
legally considered domestic cats, despite their legend.
Copyright (c) 2008 Kitt Killion Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.2 or any later version published by the Free Software Foundation; with no Invariant Sections, no Front-Cover Texts, and no Back-Cover Texts. A copy of the license is included in the section entitled "GNU Free Documentation License".
Taken or modified, in whole or part, from Wikipedia.org
