Ocicats: An Interview with Fancy Cat

Fancy is our resident product tester and feline interviewer extraordinaire. She's been taking a long nap, but she recently roused herself for an hour to talk with Spots the Ocicat about his breed. Here's a transcript from the fun and informative interview.

Fancy: Hello, Spots! Thanks for coming into the office to talk with us today.

Spots: Wow, it's really cool here! And you're super nice. I'm so happy to get to see something new. Thanks for having me.

Fancy: Oh! Thank you for the head butts. You're majorly affectionate.

Spots: I love everyone. What's not to love? People, other cats, dogs, strangers. Ocicats are usually up for hanging out with all of them.

Fancy: That's a lovely trait. I bet the humans really like that about your breed. I noticed that you have a beautiful coat, too. You look very graceful and stunning, like a wild cat.

Spots: Haha! You've stumbled onto my breed's not-so-well-kept secret, you clever interviewer. We actually only look like wild Ocelots. We come from mixes between Abyssinians, Siamese, and American shorthairs.

Fancy: Well, you're gorgeous. And I noticed how soft you were when you rubbed on me. Oh, thanks for the second cuddle! Is your coat easy for humans to care for?

Spots: Oh, easy peasy, absolutely. Just a brush once a week or so, really. Of course, we need our claws trimmed and teeth brushed routinely like all other cats.

Fancy: Do you guys cooperate pretty well for that stuff? I know I have to be in just the right mood to tolerate it.

Spots: We just see it as more attention, so yes, most of us tolerate it pretty well. I will say that an Ocicat is probably not the right breed for someone who isn't home much. We're active, talkative, and love attention and playing, so if someone leaves us home alone the majority of the time, we might get ourselves into trouble. We like to have something to do, and we're brilliant, so puzzle toys are fantastic when our humans are gone for a bit.

Fancy: It sounds like you might be good at learning tricks. Oh! You shake hands. How fun.

Spots: Yep, training time is great bonding for our humans and us, and we love to play fetch and do other tricks. We can even learn to do feline agility courses.

Fancy: We've come to my least favorite part of the interview, dear Spots. Are there any particular health problems that are common in Ocicats?

Spots: If our humans give us proper preventative care and dental care, we are a pretty healthy breed. But some illnesses are common in our parent breeds that we also get more often than other cats. Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, amyloidosis that can cause kidney or liver failure, and pyruvate kinase deficiency that causes severe anemia are the main ones. They can be bred out of our lines eventually with good, reputable breeding practices. People should specifically ask about those things if they're talking to an Ocicat breeder about adopting a kitten.

Fancy: I want to thank you for visiting us today. I'm going to take a nap now, but our canine product tester, Max, is always ready for a romp if you feel like playing.

Spots: Ooh, a romp sounds excellent. Where is he?

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