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History
Carol Ann Brewer (Stoneisland) purchased a polydactyl spotted male kitten with a short tail in the spring of 1985 from a couple in the foothills of the Cascade Range in Washington State. In January 1986, she rescued a classic patterned male with a short tail who stood as tall as her knees and named him Keba. He bred a neighbor's domestic female named Maggie who delivers a litter in April 1986. Carol Ann took one of the female kittens with muted spotting on a reddish-fawn coat and a wild look, naming her Pixie. By 1987, Carol Ann realized that these bobtailed cats had a distinctive appearance and began looking for more cats with this look. She was also concerned about what would happen if she lost Pixie and decided to create more cats that looked like her. In 1989 she documented a standard that represented the traits that were consistently being reproduced and named the fledgling breed Pixiebob in memory of her original cats.
In 1993, Carol Ann approached TICA to begin the recognition for these unique cats and in 1994 TICA accepted the Pixiebob for Exhibition Status and in 1995 advanced it to NBC effective May 1, 1996. In 1997 the new breed was granted championship status beginning with the 1998 show season. IW SGC Silversprings Zeus was the first Pixiebob to attain an International Award.
Personality
The active, social Pixiebob is doglike in its loyal devotion to its family and makes a great companion for children while embracing the company of other pets. They bond strongly with their families and easily learn to fetch and to walk on a harness and leash. While the Pixiebob is an active cat wanting to take part in all your activities, it is also a very laid-back relaxed cat participating calmly in the family. They are an inquisitive, companionable cat that wants to be with you and to communicate with you in their own language of chirps, chitters and the occasional growl.
Traits
Pixiebobs come in longhair and shorthair versions. They have a thick double coat with a woolly texture that stands off from the body giving it a padded feel when petted. Longhairs have a medium coat up to 2 inches in length with a softer, silky texture. Like the wild bobcat they are bred to resemble, some Pixiebobs have lynx tips on their ears. Their facial hair grows downward giving them the appearance of a man's muttonchop sideburns. The ideal Pixiebob is a brown spotted tabby ranging in shade from tawny to a reddish brown. The spots are small and are muted by heavy ticking-the ticking is heavier in the winter months and may be more silvery in tone as well. Their eye color can be golden brown or gooseberry green.
These medium to large cats have substantial boning and muscular, rangy bodies that gives them a rolling gait like a wild cat. They have long heavy legs, with the hind legs slightly longer than the front, and big paws with long thick toes. Males weigh between 12 and 17 pounds while the slightly smaller females range from 8 to 12 pounds. Their faces are similar to the wild bobcat with the shape of an inverted pear, a thick fleshy chin and puffy nose leather. They also have a heavy brow over a medium-sized soft triangular eye.
The minimum tail length of a Pixiebob is 2 inches and can be as long as the hock however some cats will have tails shorter or longer than these proportions. The tail is frequently kinked or knotted but should be completely flexible and move naturally.
Cats normally have 5 toes on their front paws and 4 on the back. Polydactyl cats have more than that number of toes. They may have more on one foot than on the others and the extra toes tend to appear on the front feet before the back feet. The Pixiebob is the only breed allowed to have polydactyly and the maximum number of toes allowed is seven.
Health Issues Common to Pixiebob
All pedigreed cats have some sort of health problem, just as all people have the potential to inherit a particular disease. Any breeder who claims that her breed has no health or genetic problems is either lying or is not knowledgeable about the breed. Run, don't walk, from any breeder who does not offer a health guarantee on kittens, who tells you that the breed is 100 percent healthy and has no known problems, or who tells you that her kittens are isolated from the main part of the household for health reasons.
The Pixiebob is generally healthy, but it is always wise to buy from a breeder who provides a written health guarantee. Pixiebobs may be fatally sensitive to certain vaccinations, so be sure to ask the breeder for her recommendations and discuss them carefully with your veterinarian.
Pet Insurance for Pixiebob
Pet insurance for purebred cats costs more than for mixed breed cats. This is because a purebred cat is more likely than a mixed breed cat to make claims for hereditary conditions that are expensive to treat.
Embrace cat insurance plans offer full coverage for all breed-specific conditions (excluding those that are pre-existing) to which purebred cats are susceptible. The best time to get pet insurance for your cat is when he's a healthy kitten. You can't predict what will happen in the future, and pet insurance is the one thing you can't get when you need it the most.