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Toyger

Toyger

At a Glance

Known for their striking tiger-like appearance, the Toyger is a friendly, outgoing cat that delights in being with people. They are highly intelligent and get along with other pets. With their looks and athleticism, they offer a sense of having truly tamed the wild. Grooming the Toyger is simple, and much safer than grooming a tiger. Note that this is an all domestic cat – there is no tiger blood in the Toyger. Find out more about this breed and if the Toyger is right for you and your family.

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All About Cats

Printable Breed Introduction
Breed Standard
Pet Buyer’s Guide
Toyger-Full-Body
Temperament

Affectionate

Breed Seminar
Height/Weight Range

Medium-sized cat

Adult females
Adult males
Life Expectancy

13+ years

Colors

Brown Mackerel tabby

Similar Breeds

Opposite Breeds

About The Breed

Toyger is a rare breed that combines the look of a tiger with the easygoing nature of a domestic cat. The Toyger has a sweet, calm personality and generally gets along with everyone. Their laid-back but interested personalities make them easy to live with beloved members of their households.

The Toyger is a designer cat: a loving, glittered, medium sized domestic shorthair companion cat reminiscent of the big cats in pattern, type, confidence and movement. Designed with the experience of active cat ownership in the modern urban setting foremost in mind, this cat must be a uniquely beautiful and engaging companion, willing and able to thrive in a human centered life. Thus, companionability traits, such as, but not limited to, dependable, quiet temperament; laid-back personality, intelligent and easily trained and handled; good athletic ability; stately movement; excellent health and longevity are all important and desirable and must be considered an integral part of the breed profile, breeding program and genetic makeup of the Toyger.

View Full Breed Standard

Toygers are highly intelligent and easy to train to walk on a leash, play fetch, or run an agility course. They are active enough to entertain children and adults alike, but not so energetic that he’ll run you ragged. Challenge their brain with interaction, tricks, and puzzle toys that reward with treats. Exercise for active cats is highly desirable and most Toygers teach themselves to run on a cat exercise wheel. If not a wheel, then plenty of toys or children can exercise them.

One of the most important aspects of caring for a Toyger is a desire on the part of family members to interact with this willing companion animal in a consistent, dependable, and caring manner. As with many cats, if ignored the Toyger will by necessity become independent and aloof. With attention, eye contact, and a bit of empathy, a Toyger can be the best of companions.

These quiet-tempered felines are a good fit for most households and families.

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Breed Information & Characteristics

The call of the wild right in your living room: that’s the Toyger with its dramatic striped and glittered pelt. The Toyger is being bred to resemble the tigers of the wild but in a package that fits easily into the modern urban lifestyle with the same nature as the domestic cat. The medium-sized cat has the rolling gait and vivid striped patterns of the wild cats without a single drop of real tiger blood. These miniature tigers are friendly outgoing cats that delight in being with their human companions. A young breed, the Toyger is in development as breeders work to replicate the pattern and colors of the tiger with ever-increasing accuracy. Tigers are an endangered species in the wild and many of the Toyger breeders are also very concerned about conserving the beautiful wild species that cats are created to resemble.

People often refer to mackerel tabby cats as tigers or tiger stripes and yet their pattern is a far cry from the bold braided patterns of the real tiger. In the late 1980s, Judy Sugden was working to improve the clarity of the mackerel markings in these tiger cats. She noticed that her cat Millwood Sharp Shooter had two spots of tabby markings on the temple and realized that this could be a key to developing a cat with the true circular pattern on a tiger’s head. The temples of domestic tabbies do not usually have such markings on the head. Two cats that formed the cornerstone for the young Toyger breed were a striped domestic shorthair named Scrapmetal and a big-boned Bengal named Millwood Rumpled Spotskin. In 1993, Judy also imported Jammu Blu, a street cat from Kashmir, India, who had all spots between his ears rather than the regular tabby lines.

Judy embarked on her program to develop these toy tigers with a firm picture in her mind of the characteristics that would be needed to replicate the tiger in this miniature form: a large, long body to display the bold vertical patterns; a stretching and branching of the tabby patterns and rosettes found in other cats that would break up and elongate those patterns; the circular head markings found in no other domestic cat; the vivid glittering colors; and most importantly a laid-back temperament to make the Toyger a delight to live with. Joining Judy early on in this pioneering work were Anthony Hutcherson (JungleTrax) and Alice McKee (Windridge). In 1993, TICA accepted the Toyger for Registration and in 2000 advanced them to the new breed exhibition classes, finally granting them full recognition as a championship cat in February 2007.

The Toyger is a friendly outgoing cat that delights in being with people. They are highly intelligent and interactive cats that also get on well with other pets. Their intelligence means that are easy to train and can be taught to go for walks on a leash and to play fetch. Their laid-back personalities make them easy to live with and mean they fit easily into the household bringing you a sense of having truly tamed the wild.

The Toyger coat pattern is unique in the domestic cat. Instead of the vertical stripes of the mackerel tabby or the rounded rosettes of some spotted tabbies, the Toyger has broken, or branched, bold vertical stripes in a random pattern. Some of the stripes resemble rosettes that have been stretched vertically. The goal of the facial markings is to have a circular pattern. As with the tiger, the colors being sort are dark markings on a vividly bright orange background on the outer to top portions of the cat with a whited ground color on the undersides and insides. These beautiful dramatic patterns, each of which is unique to the individual like a fingerprint, are enhanced by the scatter of gold glitter over the top to enrich the coat pattern even further.

This distinctive new breed of cat has other attributes than coat that help it resemble the tigers of the wild. The long, deep rectangular body has the low slung powerful look of the tiger along with big bones and high shoulders that give the domestic Toyger the rolling gait of the large wild cats. Like the tiger, the Toyger is a very muscular cat with a long inverted heart shape to the face. These medium-sized, living room tiger replicas weigh in at 10-15 pounds for the male and 7-10 pounds for the female. The Toyger will capture your imagination as you watch it moving through your home in the urban jungle that is its native habitat.

The Toyger is considered an overall healthy breed, but heart murmurs, possibly indicative of hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, and cow hocking have occurred in the breed.

As with any companion animal, watch for any signs of behavior not usual for a specific cat — like not eating, drinking, playing, etc. — that would suggest a visit to the vet. Remember that cats often show no signs of distress until a condition is well advanced. Be aware of changes.

Grooming the Toyger is relatively simple, and much safer than grooming a tiger. Brush or comb them occasionally for most of the year, and once a day during their short shedding seasons to keep fur on the brush rather than the furniture.

As with all cats, keep their nails trimmed, ears cleaned and teeth brushed regularly with a vet-approved pet toothpaste and provide a nice tall scratching pole to help their natural scratching instinct.

Toyger’s do not have any particular nutritional needs other than making fresh water always available and a good, quality diet of both wet food and dry kibble.

Cats often drink less water than current thought suggests, so provide a fresh, clean source of water daily so cats don’t hesitate to drink. If they are fed predominately dry kibble or if you worry about your cat drinking enough water each day, here’s a tip from cat behaviorists – Place the water bowl at least three feet away from any food. Cats’ noses are sensitive and an overwhelming smell of food may cause them to drink less. Filtered drinking fountains can also be used in place of a water bowl.

Toyger Breed Committee (3)

Name Email
Chair: Sofia Larabisocatstoyger@gmail.com
Chair: Mickael Rouvertoyger.bellille@gmail.com
Elizabeth Rachfelistigriscats@gmail.com

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