The Pixie Bob
This rare and beautiful breed at last has landed on the British shores. The Pixie Bob is so unique to any other cat breed that I am aware of. It is bred to resemble the North American Bobcat, with its robust stature, huge feet, wild looking face and Bobtail. Although the Pixie Bob has an amazing wild look, it has the temperament of a domestic cat. They are great fun, make wonderful companions, are dog like in character, love to walk on a lead, and ride in the car. They are highly intelligent, social, active (but not hyper-active) bold, courageous and enjoy playing with other animals. They are very loving and bond very strongly.
Carol Ann Brewer, the founder of the breed, began the Pixie Bob breed in the mid 1980s. She bred two different Legend Cats™, believed to be a natural breeding between a Bobcat and a Domestic cat, and bred them to create the first Pixie Bob cat. The first cat was called Pixie, hence the name Pixie Bob. Having been DNA tested it has failed to show that the Pixie Bob had wild blood therefore making the Pixie Bob legally a domestic cat. However, many are still unsure if this is entirely true.
Pixie-Bob cats share many of the physical and personality characteristics of bobcats, except they are approximately half the size, and do not have some of the wild characteristics. They look and act very much like Bobcats. For a cat to be considered a Certified TICA Pixie-Bob cat, one of their parents must be traced back to Pixie the cat.
Pixie Bobs are medium to large cats and can grow approximately 50% bigger than
most domestic cats. This is a heavily muscled breed with heavy boning. Males are
generally 15-20 pounds, (some males can reach 25 pounds) Females are smaller
being 8-12 pounds.
The head is the most important in showing as this counts for up to 50 points. Pixie Bobs have a pear shaped head, prominent, heavy boning and bushy hair above the eyes, creating a hooded appearance giving that wild look. Eye colour is gold with gooseberry green accepted.
Ears are large at base, lightly rounded. Large leathery nose, a broad and long muzzle, the forehead, slightly rounded, cheeks well developed with full facial hair. Chin large, rounded and fleshy with great depth. Legs long and heavy boned, tail may vary in length from a rumpy (1 inch) to Bobtail (2-4 inches) to a long tail.
For show standard the tail must not descend below the hock. Feet long and wide being almost round having big knuckles and fleshy toes. Feet are straight and often polydactyl, (more than the normal amount of toes) one of the wonderful traits of the Pixie Bob is their poly feet, acceptable in Championship class, only 5 to 7 toes being acceptable.
The Pixie Bob comes in shorthair and longhair varieties and the colour varies from brown to golden tones through to russet tones with grey, with white and black ticking. They are only accepted for show as Brown Spotted Tabby. The breed standard looks for a random spotted or broken mackerel pattern. A Pixie-Bob's markings should resemble those of a bobcat, with spots, stripes and swirls.
Our aim is to present this rare and beautiful Pixie Bob breed in shows, to breed superior specimens at all times, coming closer to that wild look whilst having a wonderful temperament and a well socialised cat. We would like to introduce this exquisite breed to other cat lovers in the UK, for pets, show and breeding. Our ambition is to create wonderfully healthy cats in every way: physically, mentally and emotionally. We are particularly hoping in 2006/2007 to breed some outstanding future champions and are also looking forward to our new arrivals and watch their development as they grow. Anyone who may be interested in this unique breed or who may have any questions, please feel free to contact us at anytime.
Donna Cox