Editing Ocicat (section)

==History==
===Origin===
The Ocicat was created spontaneously by Virginia Daly of [[Berkley, Michigan]], who attempted to breed an Abyssinian-pointed Siamese in 1964. Daly bred a ruddy Abyssinian male named Dalai Deta Tim of Selene to a female seal point Siamese named Dalai Tomboy Patter. The first generation of kittens appeared Abyssinian and a female named Dalai She was kept. Dalai She was later bred to a chocolate point Siamese named Whitehead Elegante Sun. The resulting litter had the desired Abyssinian point Siamese type cats. She continued breeding them but this time one of the kittens was an ivory cat with golden spots. Virginia's daughter said he looked like an ocelot and wished to name him 'ocicat', instead he was named Tonga and was sold off to a medical student for $10 with an agreement to neuter him.<ref name="GCCF">{{cite web |title=Ocicat and Aztec |url=https://www.gccfcats.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/OcicatAztecBP.pdf |website=Governing Council of the Cat Fancy |access-date=24 January 2024}}</ref> Virginia read an article by Dr. Clyde Keeler of Georgia State College for Women that described the extinct egyptian spotted fishing cat. Realising Tonga looked similar to the cat she wrote to him about the cat. He replied and suggested that she breed Tonga back with his mother. Given that Tonga couldn't be used she bred his parents together again and this produced a tawny-spotted male named Dalai Dotson. The [[Cat Fanciers' Association]] (CFA) made an error when registering the breed and listed it as a mix between the Abyssinian and American Shorthair. This led to the current breed standard where American Shorthair is acceptable and added in more colour variation to the Ocicat. The Ocicat would first be brought to the [[United Kingdom]] in 1988 when two cats: Catoninetail Mr Smith and Catoninetail Miss Jones were imported from the [[United States]]. Four more would be imported a year later. A total of 33 cats would be imported before 2015.<ref name ="GCCF"/><ref name="tica">{{cite web |title=Ocicat |url=https://tica.org/breeds/browse-all-breeds?view=article&id=1504:the-ocicat-breed&catid=48 |website=The International Cat Association |access-date=24 January 2024}}</ref><ref name="mckee2001">{{Cite book|last=McKee |first=Bill |title=The Guide to Owning an Ocicat |publisher=TFH Publications |location=[[Neptune City, New Jersey]] |year=2001 |isbn=0-7938-2195-9 |oclc=47037281}}</ref><ref name="CFA">{{cite web |title=Ocicat Brochure |url=https://cfa.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/ocicat-brochure.pdf |website=Cat Fanciers' Association |access-date=24 January 2024}}</ref> Other breeders joined in and used the same recipe, Siamese to Abyssinian, and offspring to Siamese. <ref name="thompson1999">{{Cite book|first=Stephanie |last=Thompson |title=The Ocicat |publisher=Stephanie Thompson |location=Buenva Vista, CO |year=1999 |pages=14–15}}</ref>

===Breed recognition===
In 1966 the breed was recognised with the CFA for registration only. It was more than 20 years later in May 1987 that the Ocicat achieved championship status with the CFA.<ref name="CFA"/> [[The International Cat Association]] (TICA) recognised the Ocicat in 1986.<ref name="thompson1999"/> The [[Governing Council of the Cat Fancy]] gave preliminary recognition in June 1997. In June 2002 it promoted the Ocicat to provisional status. Championship status followed in 2006.<ref name="GCCF"/>