Bobcat and kitten. (A huge thank you to Paul Janosi © for this photo)

THE PIXIEBOB

The Pixie Bob is bred to resemble The North American Bobcat. With its wild face, bobtail, spotted coat, polydactyl feet and huge boning it is an impressive sight. The Pixie Bob’s life began in 1985.

It is alleged, that a natural mating took place between a Coastal Red Bobcat and a polydactyl barn cat. In the resulting litter a polydactyl male caught the eye of a lady. Intrigued by this wonderful kitten’s appearance and its unusual behaviour she purchased the male kitten. With the idea of a breeding program and with-in a year another cat was purchased with the same kind of heritage. A female kitten from a mating of two of the original cats was called Pixie. The foundations cat of the breed, hence the name Pixie Bob.

The Pixie Bob is registered with TICA as a domestic breed having been DNA tested for wild markings and found to be carrying none. Therefore the Pixie Bob was registered with TICA in 1995 as “A new breed and colour” and in 1997 for Championship status.

The Pixie Bob is an exquisite breed and I believe, one of a kind. It is bred to resemble the North American Bobcat. Adding to the breeds wild façade is the Lynx ear tips that some Pixie Bobs have, that wonderful inverted pear shape head, straight eye set with prominent brows created by heavy boning and bushy hair above the eye giving that hooded appearance, a large muzzle with a strong fleshy chin that gives the Pixie Bob a pout to die for and that larger leathery nose. The head and face are so important as this is responsible for 50 points out of a 100 in the show ring.

The Pixie Bob is the only cat breed that has the ploy foot accepted as part of its standard and is accepted in championship. Poly, meaning more toes. One of my studs Rain Dance has six toes on his front feet which look fabulous. I would describe them as thumbs. He uses these when picking things up or eating his rabbit. With his robust stature, Bobtail, amazing spots, wild face and those big old feet coming at you, you know you are in the presence of something very special.

The breed itself has Shorthair and longhair coats. Brown Tabby is the only acceptable colour for the Pixie Bob. Coats can be Ticked Tabby like the coat of a wild rabbit, Classic having a circular coat, Mackerel which is stripes and broken mackerel which is some stripes breaking into spots. They have Straight feet (normal toes) or poly feet (up to seven toes) the tails vary from a rumpy (1 inch) to a bobtail (2-6 inches) and a long tail. For the show ring the tail must be not longer than the hock. It must be flexible and kinks and knots are acceptable. Obviously you don’t know what length tail they will have until they are born. Breeders do use long tail Pixie Bobs in their breeding programs, as if you have a Pixie Bob with an outstanding wild face that is preferred above the tail length.

When Pixie Bobs walk they sway. They have big shoulders and prominent shoulder blades producing a rolling gait. Along the back there is a dip behind the shoulders and this inclines slightly towards the hip. The hips are slightly higher than the shoulder. The hip and shoulder angles are straighter than that of other breeds. Their legs being longer at the back. They are a muscular cat with heavy boning. Males can be between 12-20 lbs and females between 8-15 lbs. Some male Pixie Bobs have grown up to 25 lbs.

The Pixie Bobs temperament is outstanding. They are very loving and let you know when they want a cuddle, no matter what you are doing. They love to lie on your lap and purr with sheer contentment. They are playful with out being hyperactive and are very sharp, intelligent and quick to learn. They are amazing companions and seem to understand your every mood. They do get on with other animals cats and dogs alike. Are very gentle with children and seem to treat them like another sibling. They do jump up on your back when you bend down as they are very inquisitive and like to see what you are doing. They then will wrap themselves around you neck for a cuddle and expect you to be able to wrap your arm around your neck and down your back to give them a tickle.

They do have some characteristics of dogs and will follow you around chatting….they give little clicks to let you know they are there and were are you going. They greet you with such a worm welcome and wagging of the tail when you arrive home and bond very strongly with family members. They do like to go for walks on the lead and do get excited once they realise what the lead is for.

When playing they will amuse themselves for hours. Yes, we have all been there, spent a fortune on toys and they play with a piece of paper or a cardboard box. Once they have had enough they will do a thing, what I call the flop. They just stop and flop on the floor, settee, bookcase, whatever takes their fancy and just flop down and go to sleep. When talking to them you will notice that they look straight at you, straight into your eyes and hang on your every word. It‘s as if they are looking right into your soul. They also tap your face with a paw when you are talking to them and they will give you little kisses, which is very special.

The diet of a Pixie Bob is the same as any other cat and your personal choice but, very important. I personally feed my Pixie Bobs on Eagle Pack dried food. They love sardines in olive oil and minced rabbit. I keep them on kitten food until they are 12 months old and even my kittens have a little minced rabbit.

The history of the Pixie Bob is full of mystery, legends and romance. There is something very magical about them. Be it the wild look, the sway, the size or everything all rolled into one. They are unique and now in the UK causing quite a stir in households up and down the country and in the TICA show rings.


© Copyright Donna Cox 2007 All rights reserved.

No portion of this article may be reproduced without the author's permission.

PERSONALITY

Intelligent beyond belief.
Busy but never hyperactive.
Exhibit an unusually strong bond with their family. 
Excellent companions for children.
Love to travel in the car.
Will train easily to walk on a lead. 
Will train to fetch (many do this without training).
Perfect house or flat pets.
Extremely quite with an occasional chirp or chatter.
Gets along well with other animals.
Loves to play.

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