the origins of the Pixie-Bob: a cat of legend

"I am proud to be a founding member of the European Pixie Bob Club. We include and work with lines which we believe trace back to bobcat/domestic matings. These are rare and no genetic proof exists. They are our inspiration. We breed to keep alive that bobcat look, whilst selecting for temperament, health and size. Being many generations removed from what we believe to be semi-wild origins, our cats are fully domestic with high intelligence and very stable, dog-like temperaments.We are in full support of the TICA requirement to breed any outcrossed cats of unverified origin to a full SBT or SBV Pixie-Bob for 3 or more generations before the offspring is eligible to be shown. This allows us to select for the characteristics we value, to exclude unexpected traits and to hopefully move closer to a consistent look for our long-hair and short-haired Pixie Bobs." Nathalie Bent & The European Pixie-Bob Club, October 24, 2009 the bobcat: a native true wild cat in the U.S.(photo: Back to the wild, wildlife rehabiliatation & nature education center, Castalia, Ohio, with our very special thanks to Mona Rutger)

 

The legend: the coastal red bobcat.

The bobcat lives in a relatively varied habitat, frequenting the woods but also the swamps, the rocky hills and fields. In winter, it prefers places where the accumulation of snow is not too abundant. (Source: Société de la faune et des parcs du Quebec 2002, with our thanks for its authorisation to use this document)

The Pixie-Bob comes from the Northwestern United States, where the bobcat lives in the mountains... and the legend says that the bobcat mated with the cats of isolated farms who gave birth to kittens that had the characteristics of this dual heritage: the look of the bobcat and the character of the domestic cat. This has been happening for several centuries since the arrival of the first domestic cats brought by European emigrants.

The bobcat is not domesticated in anyway and cannot successfully be kept as a pet. In fact, it is illegal for any to be removed from the wild and kept in captivity. However, some are legally propagaed from captive generation and sold for private ownership. They, too, change their disposition with age and are pre-programmed to be wild. Unfortunately, the animal loses out, because it is suddenly a problem, dangerous and unwanted, yet it can no longer be returned to the wild because it has been declawed or imprinted on humans. 

bobcat photo: Sierra Safari Zoo, with our thanks for their kindness The bobcat is an animal of average size differentiated from the Canadian Lynx by its shorter paws, black rings on the tail and shorter hairs on the tips of its ears. Its fur is fawn brown with black spots especially on its belly and the paws have black stripes

More recently it is the work of several breeders of Washington State to work with this breed to give it a standard and stabilize it's fabulously wild look and beautiful gentle character.

It was in 1985 that Carol Ann Brewer started the program of the Pixie-Bobs. She acquired a kitten supposed to have such a heritage: born of a polydactyl mother (having a number of toes above normal: 6 or 7 instead of 5 on the front, 5 or 6 instead of 4 on the back) and a father supposed to be a bobcat, Sasha, also a polydactyl. She acquired other kittens supposed to have such a heritage. Keba of StoneIsland and Maggie of StoneIsland were two of these legendary cats. They gave birth to Pixie, a female with an incredibly wild look. From these lines was created the Pixie-Bob. Certain Pixie-Bobs kept the polydactyl characteristic of Sasha.

	PIXIEPixie was one of the first cats to be used in the program for the developpement of Pixie-Bobs. Pixie was the progeny of two very special Cats. The appearance of that cat was simply ethereal. She gave her name to the breed. Carol Ann Brewer lost Pixie in 1991. Pixie looked like the Coastal Red bobcat. Carol Ann Brewer says that she left for a few hours her cats and her dogs. When she came back, she found the door wide open. All her cats were in the entry, siting in a circle, silent. Pixie had left. She never came back. Pixie had a long tail.
pictured: PIXIE - photos: © Carol Ann Brewer

So, the Pixie-Bob originate in Bellingham, Washington, and the standard was written to the colony Carol Ann Brewer had, which had Pixie as the matriarch of the group. The standard was written for a unique set a traits that Pixie and her children, and grandchildren and great-grandchildren had/have.... So, without some Pixie lines, a cat cannot look just like the standards intends...

In 1994, the Pixie-Bob entered the category V of TICA (The International Cat Association). In 1995, it entered the NBC (New Breed and Color Category). On May 1, 1998, a new breed was born in the United States: The Pixie-Bob could compete in Championship.

The question of the hybrid genetic character of the Pixie-Bob. Since the legend mentions the mating between a feral feline, the bobcat, and the domestic cat, there is the question of the genetic character of the Pixie-Bob. Do they have in their genes a trace of their bobcat ancestors? Blood tests on the Pixie-Bob do not bring any proof of a hybrid character.

Though TICA (The International Cat Association) has registred about 2000 Pixie-Bobs in the world in 2002, in France, it was in 1997, that for the first time, Pixie-Bobs were presented at a show: The "Cat Festival" in Pontoise organised by the French Connection December 6th and 7th welcomed Carol Ann Brewer, the Founder of the breed, and other american breeders, who had come with some of their most beautiful cats, amongst which the very famous NATIVE SON'S EL GATO DE ORO, and his litter mate NATIVE SON'S CHARMINE, and a few kittens. It was there that I (Nathalie Bent) met the breed, and have decided to get one pixie-bob.

In 2001, Nathalie Bent in France was the firs to purchase a breeding pair of Pixie Bobs. The next unrelated pair was purchased by Gertrud Mayer in early 2004, based in Britain. Shortly after, Donna Cox and another British breeder, Michael Harper introduced several more breeding pairs to the UK. Since 2007 further unrelated lines have been imported into Scandinavia, Central Europe and the British Isles, but the breed remains rare in the region with no more than an estimated 1,000 Pixie Bobs in all of Europe at the end of 2008[5]. Pixie-Bob cats in Europe are registered with TICA or specific registration bodies recognised by TICA in any of the European countries. For example, in France, Pixie-Bob cats will be registered through LOOF.

The Pixie-Bob is now recognised by the LOOF.This has as a result:

• The possibility to show, non-polydactyle Pixie-Bobs in "traditional shows. Polydactyle Pixie-Bobs can still be shown in TICA show.
• The possibility to obtain LOOF pedigrees for all Pixie-Bobs born in France, including polydactyles.
• Attention: matings between polydactyles are not accepted. Are tolerated matings between polydactyle and non-polydactyle, so as not to install the dominant polydactyle gene.
• The necessary creation of a breed club with the objective to promote the breed and to keep track of reproduction.

last updated: 08/28/2010