Tonkinese cat

For people who check facts

Tonkinese are a medium-sized short-haired cat breed distinguished by points as with Siamese and Himalayans. They are commonly referred to as 'Tonks'. As with many cat breeds, the exact history of the Tonkinese varies to some degree depending on the historian.

Tonkinese cats are a recent cross between the Siamese and Burmese cat breeds, although some assert that Tonkinese-like cats have existed since at least the early 1800s. Some claim that the appearance of the breed is closer to the original appearance of the Siamese, before Siamese breeders developed today's triangular head and very leggy body. The name is not related to the Tonkin region of Indochina, being a 'back formation' from the names of the ancestral breeds.

Tonkinese cats are commonly trim and muscular cats. They are usually intelligent, curious, affectionate with people, and interested in them. Unlike most varieties of cat, they are reported to sometimes, or even often, engage in fetching. In one case, the fetched item was a burst rubber party balloon (?), and the game went on for more than a half hour, with the human involved giving up before the Tonk did.

They are more like Burmese in temperament than Siamese, that is, less high-strung and demanding. Their voices are also less piercing (or raucous, depending on taste) in most cases than the Siamese. Most observers feel they combine the more attractive features of both ancestor breeds.

Tonks exhibit a wide variety of coat colors and patterns, all of which are more subdued and less starkly contrasting than with Siamese. The 'natural mink' coloration has been described as 'smoke in shadows'. Eyes are often a striking shade (or shades, depending on the light) of aquamarine. Not all of the color patterns can be registered or shown with every national and international cat associations.

Breeding two Tonkinese cats does not necessarily yield a full litter of Tonkinese kittens - the colorations do not breed true to type in about half of all otherwise purebred kittens. The genetics of the coat coloring and its interaction with eye coloring is complex and fascinating, though perhaps not the main attraction for Tonk fans.

This article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.

External Links

References

Susie Page; The Complete Cat Owner's Manual; Fog City Press; ISBN 1-875137-84X (hardback, 1997)