[Ads-l] Ocicat

[Emily Gordon]

Have Ocicats been similarly documented? I learned about them from the
writers James Wolcott and Laura Jacobs, who have owned several of these
lithe jungle-esque cats. I imagine the first sighting of them also caused a
stir.

Surprisingly, they seem to be a relatively recent invention from a breeding
whim in the fifties and sixties. The Cat Fancier’s Association has quite a
tale to tell.

As for the name:

“In the first litter, and in subsequent litters, the much-sought-after
Aby-pointed Siamese were produced along with mackerel tabbies, a lynx
point, a solid black, and classic tabbies. In the second litter, a
‘spotted’ kitten was produced and upon seeing it Mrs. Daly’s daughter
remarked, ‘It looks like a baby ocelot, let’s call him an Ocicat.’ This
baby ocelot look-alike was named Tonga, and on that chilly day in Berkley,
Michigan, an entirely new breed of cat was born.”

https://cfa.org/ocicat-article/


On Sat, Jun 6, 2026 at 10:20 AM Jonathan Lighter <
00001aad181a2549-dmarc-request at listserv.uga.edu> wrote:

> Earlier, from Newspapers.com:
>
> 1872 _Boston Evening Transcript_ (March 30)  4: A new breed of cats -
> long furred, bushy-tailed felines - called "coon cats" are exciting
> much interest in Mane, where five dollars is paid for a good specimen.
>
> 1872 _Brooklyn Eagle_ (Apr. 21) 1:  Coon cats worth $6 a piece are the
> rage at present - in the western part of Maine.
>
> The same or similar squibs appeared nationally that year. Six bucks
> then is about $165 now.
>
> JL
>
> On Sun, Feb 22, 2026 at 7:21 PM Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at gmail.com>
> wrote:
> >
> > Amazingly absent from OED.
> >
> > 1877 _Daily Eastern Argus_ (Portland, Me.) (Oct. 31) 3: FREE EXHIBITIONS
> of Photographs, Live Birds, Coon Cats, and other "Curiosities."
> >
> > 1878 _Evening Bulletin_ (Providence, R.I.) (Jan. 29) 4: A manx cat wins
> a look, and so does a stately tiger cat...from an engine house at
> Pawtucket. Last in the row is a coon cat, a funny specimen, having the ways
> and some of the looks of both cat and raccoon.
> >
> > 1883 _Nashville Banner_ (Oct. 30) 3: The Maine wild coon cat was
> expressed from Bangor yesterday, and is expected at the show to-day.
> >
> > JL
> >
> > --
> > "If the truth is half as bad as I think it is, you can't handle the
> truth."
>
>
>
> --
> "If the truth is half as bad as I think it is, you can't handle the truth."
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>

------------------------------------------------------------
The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org