🐾Pixie Bob: Your new pet
The Pixie Bob kitty is one of the breeds created by the men to obtain the fearless aspect of a wild feline with the quite attitude of a domestic cat.
This breed is relatively young; it was born in the ‘80s in the United States under the idea of a feline raiser that casually received a patron kitty tabby that had a genetic defect, an extra finger on one of its feet, but it was a happy and cute pet. After that, the raiser found an American red wildcat with abundant fur and lighting look and decided then to mix them and from that first generation was born the futures Pixie-Bob.
The idea was to create a domestic cute and loving feline as the kitties, with the wild look of the mountain cats, an ideal combination, perfect and balanced. Soon these kittens became very popular and from the decade of the ‘90s, it reached acceptance by the most important feline organizations.
The Pixie Bobs are medium-sized felines, with a thick body and strong musculature, and had rounded feet that are very agile to climb. The biggest particularity is that they had a short, furry and wide tale, and sometimes some exemplars may have polydactyly, which is acceptable. Its fur it’s very characteristic, because it is dense and sponged, abundantly short or semi-long, that has a uniform light brown base color, and over it has been putted a series of lines and brown dark marks, with tones from yellow to reddish, that gives them a very outstanding look to these pets.
About its character or behavior, this kitty its very lookalike to a dog, because it is quiet, kind, loving and obedient, and also likes to go walking with a belt and play outside. The Pixie-Bob is sociable with the whole family, but it could be a little shy with strangers but it isn’t aggressive at all, it is a very faithful kitty with its owner and always search for attention and love. Besides, it is a very smart pet, it learns tricks quickly, follows orders and it is very educated.
Its feed must be rich in high nutritional value proteins to keep its strong complex, so make sure you offer to it the best quality dry feed to keep it always healthy and strong. About this health topic, the Pixie-Bob is a healthy breed in general, because besides of the polydactyly, none other genetic defect or inherited sickness or congenic it’s known. Try to always take it to the veterinary for him to check its health and to provide the right vaccines and necessary deworming to keep it in a good health state.
Take care of the Pixie Bob is as easy as to take care of any other domestic feline. The hygiene is one of the central aspects, so brush its fur once or twice a week to keep it shinning, clean its little ears, and change the sand of its box every day. With these simple advices you would enjoy for a very long time of your Pixie Bob.
🐾History and origin
The information about the exact origin of the pixie-bob breed is uncertain. There still are multiple myths and stories about its creation. The only available references about how this breed was born are the records of an American feline raiser called Ann Brewer who is considered as the pixie bobs creator.
This domestic cats’ breed is relatively new. It’s said that by the year 1985 the raiser Ann Brewer, in Washington city in the United States, got interested in the development of a domestic cat breed with characteristics of the wild mountain felines as the wildcats, but with the sweet and kind character of the domestic cats. The idea was born after a neighbor marriage gift her with a cat with tabby fur type, medium-sized with a short tail that had a genetic defect, polydactyly. The raiser fell attracted by the physical characteristics of the cat which also was very kind and sweet, and she decided to call it Pixie.
Among a year after, the raiser founded a male feline, big sized and also with a short tail, which looked at a little American red wildcat, known in the country as bobcat, obtaining the first generation of kittens that would be the base for the pixie-bobs. In general, this is the story commonly told as real, but around it are a couple of modifications. One of the versions says that the American red wildcat which was adopted by Carol mixed with a neighbor’s cat with a spots patron called Maggie. The information isn’t proved, and many of the stories are just suppositions.
The point is that the most probable origin of the pixie-bob is the mix between an American domestic cat, and a little wildcat, to obtain an attractive woods look, with a sociable character in a new domestic felines breeds. Some genetic studies have studied modern exemplars and haven’t found wildcats DNA, so the stories are still unconcluded.
However, the purpose of its creator Carol Ann Brewer was covered, she obtained a breed with the characteristics of a domestic cat whit a tabby patron in its fur, keeping and potentiating the wild cat look.
In 1989 was discovered the breed’s first standard. It appeared under the name of “pixie-bob”, which was chosen by its creator in honor of the two-parent cats of the new breed, Pixie and Bob from the bobcat. Carol introduced the breed for its approval to the TICA in 1993, being recognized as a new breed a year later. In 1998 these felines standard suffered some modifications.
Nowadays, and even when the pixie-bobs haven’t reached the universal acceptance for all the felines associations, many of them accept it and recognize it. The fame of the breed keeps getting high thanks to its docile and gentile and its outstanding and wild look, which is a perfect balance.
🐾Breed’s characteristics
You will know you are in front of a kitty of this breed when you find yourself in front of a medium to a big-sized domestic cat, which has similar body sizes in males and females and has a weight that goes from 4 to 8 kg.
Its body is compact, rounded and thick, with a strong bone and muscular structure. It’s bearing, in general, reminds a lot to the aspect of the wildcats. Its feet are rounded, long, thick and robust, back feet are longer than fronts and also stronger, and it ends in a rounded foot that sometimes shows more fingers of the normal, can have even 7 (polydactyly). Curiously, this breed standard admits this genetic defect. The pads of its feet are sponged and work as good shock absorbers.
In the back region of the trunk, you will find the tale, that has the particularity of being short, with just a couple of cm, is thick, rounded and has a lot of hair, is mobile and is usually located right up.
About its head, this is medium, proportional to the body, has the form of an inverted pear, and others describe it as a rounded cradle. It’s known by having a prominent front, with a long and small muzzle, and the pads where the whiskers born are prominent and remarked. A pair of ovoid eyes represents the sight of this beautiful kitty, it’s color match with its fur and maybe amber, yellow, brown, gold or even green. The eyelids are dense and thick and go off the face. In the top of the head, the Pixie Bob has a pair of width ears at the base, with the top as a triangle that can have some hair, especially in long-haired exemplars.
A very lighting characteristic of this feline breed is the fur. The Pixie Bob is covered by a dense blanket of hair that can be short or long, always woolly, soft, and very dense, also these kitties have a second layer of fur called sub-hair, which is good protection for cold climates. The length of the hair is always bigger in the abdomen and around the face, where they look like bread. The color commonly follows a patron of lines in brown tones from the lightness as yellow, to the reddish, with a silver-grey base because of the sub-hair layer. Also, it’s been seen that in the same year and depending on the climate and the season, the Pixie-Bob change hair, being shorter in summer and longer in the cold winter days.
As you can see this is a very stunning domestic kitty, with an incomparable look, with thick proportions and with a strong bearing, a good mix of a domestic cat with a wild touch.
🐾Behavior and personality
The great personality that has developed this beautiful domestic feline breed makes it an excellent pet for any home.
Live with a Pixie Bob feline is having a sociable and friendly kitty at home, it is loving and close to its family, kind with visitors, active and playful searching for fun. In general lines, we can say that its character and behavior don’t represent a problem because most of these kittens are sweet and kind, and when they aren’t, they just became just a little shy.
A particular characteristic of this breed is to be very expressive and communicative, as much that they use a variety of sound daily in their interaction with humans for example, sounds like chattering, meows, grunts, and twitter, that they make to call the attention, searching for petting or pampering, while they are playing or in other situations. Outside these close interactions with humans, the Pixie Bobs use to be very calm and quiet, it is uncommon to listen to them meowing, but they usually purr.
About its family, the Pixie Bobs are loving, kind, close, faithful and very loyal. Between people, they live with they usually have a good relationship with all of them, but they chose one particular member which became closer to them and develops an affective link that is very special. It adores the outside activities, games and frequent exercise; this is why Pixie Bob kitties are big pals of kids. They are also calm, passive and receptive, and can live with other pets without any problem, cats or dogs. It isn’t aggressive or impulsive; on the contrary, the Pixie Bob is an emphatic kitty that lives very well with others and with its environment that likes to make friends.
Even when most of the time it is a restless cat that is searching for something to do, it has its calm moments when they enjoy by just laying down next to its owner just to rest a little bit and share the love.
Some call this Pixie Bob kitty as a “dog kitty”, not just for its character and passive, kind and loving behavior with its family, also because it loves to go walking and have a belt, as well as receive a lot of attention. But the Pixie Bob still keeps the independence that characterizes all felines, it is curious, adventurous, and can go walking on his own but always go back home.
Besides, the Pixie Bob is a brilliant cat, it is easy to train, smart, looker, and attentive; its training will result very easy, also it learns very quick tricks and follows orders without problems.
The Pixie Bob’ personality is ideal for people who are searching for a kitty with behavior lookalike dogs. This cat will be a very faithful and loyal pet, and everyone at home could have a relationship with it without any problems and enjoy spending time together. It has home attitudes, calm and quiet, it’s energetic and playful, and also is a good partner for kids, grannies, and also other pets that live at home.
🐾Diet and feed
The Pixie-Bob is a feline, and as all of them, their principal feed is carnivorous, based in good quality animal proteins and with a high nutritional value. Some people use to give them home food, which is a well-recommended feed strategy for pets but to make it success, it means to make this home feed truly cover the kitty nutritional necessities its owner must choose that food which is adequate, rich in nutrients, and also regularize the food portions they will give to the kitty.
The cats’ traditional food for cats it’s the feed, which comes in dry and wet presentation. These are very popular food products, easy to buy and serve, and can be bought in any market. We recommend opting for this kind of feed because it’s easier to regularize the portions, serve and feed your kitty, and you must just worry about choosing a good quality feed.
Also, you must be sure that the product is the best quality as possible and this doesn’t mean it has to be expensive, it means it has to be one which has the biggest amount of nutrients.
The Pixie-Bob kitties have a muscular complex very thick and strong, they need food rich in high-value nutritional proteins, which you can find in meet products derivate from animals, and in less proportion, you can complement the diet with carbohydrates and vegetable proteins.
So get sure to verify in the products’ package the nutritional information table that the principal component is beef, chicken or fish proteins, and that contains in a low quantity vegetable carbohydrates and polyunsaturated fat.
Ask to your veterinary which are the best dry feed to feed your Pixie-Bob kitty, and also ask him if you want to enrich its diet with nutritional supplements.
If your cat gets bore or rejects the food you regularly give it, you can give it some wet feed to give it a flavor touch and to add some variety to its diet. These products are rich in multiple flavors, attractive for cats, but they have a high amount of fat and don’t have to be used routinely in the diet because it may cause overweight, but are a great help to stimulate the feed when you cat got bored of its regular food.
The Pixie-Bob also needs a fresh and clean water plate where it could drink regularly to keep hydrated. Drink water is a healthy habit for pets, it prevents renal affections and helps with the digestive tube functioning.
The size of every food portion goes about the cat weight and with the physic activity grade, it regularly does. It is important to keep this balance to avoid overweight in the kitty. When comes to an adult Pixie-Bob, every food portion must be from 35 to 80 gr per day, and it’s commonly offered in two principal foods.
🐾Health
The Pixie-Bob is a feline that comes from a strong and resistant breed, with a good health state in general; the stories about illness are few and aren’t known breed’ deep specific problems.
The most common thing that could present some of these Pixie-Bob kittens is the defect in the number of fingers, which is known as polydactyly. This is a physical characteristic that is acceptable in the breed, which makes reference to its ancients that gave origin to the creation of the Pixie-Bob breed, and are allowed until seven fingers. However, it isn’t recommendable that raisers search for its Pixie-Bob kitties to have polydactyly because after all it is a genetic defect and could associate with other congeneric anomalies for health.
The diseases that could affect this domestic felines’ breed aren’t different from those that commonly affect other cats. Some of them are the digestive complications as a consequence of the creation of fur balls called trichobezoar, in the cat’s bowel light.
This trichobezoar appears while they grooming because cats eat the hair that isn’t digestible and keep on the digestive TUBO and can agglomerate in furballs that obstruct the bowel light and could cause severe intestinal obstructions, for example. To help them with the expulsion of these hairs you can give them some vegetal oil infusions.
The Pixie-Bobs have a strong and thick complex even when they have regular physical activities because they are very playful, so an unbalanced diet and bad habits just as being sedentary may result in having an overweight cat, this is why is very important to keep it stimulated with games and activities, and guarantee a balanced feed to prevent these metabolic problems.
In the same way, the kitties may be affected by some pathology as cutaneous allergies, and gastrointestinal parasitosis and also ectoparasites. This is why you must take your Pixie-Bob to the veterinary at least once each six months and always you suspect it is sick. In each visit the doctor will check its health state and give you the best advice to the care of your cat, especially to keep updated the vaccines calendar and deworming that is important to prevent illness in your pet.
On the side of the variety of vaccines, your Pixie-Bob cat can receive there is one that is the more remarkable to keep attention with and it is the feline leukemia vaccine. It isn’t recommendable to administrate this vaccine in Pixie-Bob cats because it’s been seen some situations where has happened an adverse immunologic reaction to this one in this breed cats, being so severe in some cases that caused the animal death.
Besides these observations, the Pixie-Bob cats’ health is very good. With the cares of a loving owner and a warm home, this kitty could live happily for many years; the hope of life for the Pixie-Bobs is 12 years.
🐾General cares
The Pixie-Bob is cats that belong from a strong, healthy breed that has a long living hope always their owners guarantee the proper care for its life. Basically it is about care about them the same way you would care about any other feline pet, pay attention to its feed, being healthy and balanced, promote they make physical exercises regularly, take it to the veterinary to check its health state, check its cleanliness and hygiene, and of course give it a good emotional support. All these things will make your Pixie-Bob a happy cat at home.
To start with the hygiene, the Pixie-Bob has a dense and abundant fur blanket, with hair that goes from short to semi-long, so you have to brush it regularly, and you can do it once or twice a week. The objective is to remove death hairs, avoid the knots in fur and give a massage to the skin to stimulate the cutaneous circulation to keep a bright and soft fur. You can use a firm bristle and blunt tip instrument. Also, remember that you must brush its fur more frequently in the change of hair months because of the loss of hair.
Generally, this cat doesn’t need frequents bath, at least it is dirt and need it; it would depend on the feline habits. If you need to bath it make sure you use a special cat shampoo, so you will be caring for its fur and the natural pH of its skin, and this will avoid your Pixie-Bob from suffering post allergies.
The ears hygiene is something you have to check regularly. Cats may accumulate dirtiness in its ears that could help with the appearance of infections, this is why it is recommendable to clean it at least once a week and to do this you can use sterile saline solution and wet a clean cloth or a sterile dressing, then clean and dry. Consult with your veterinary if it’s necessary to apply drops or some medicine.
Likewise, to make your kitty feel comfortable in its home, you must find a sandbox for it, which has to be cleaned daily, so your kitty will have a place to make its necessities. As well, you can prepare it a place where it can sleep, can be a cat bed or a padded basket with some cushions for it to rest.
The Pixie-Bobs prefer big homes, with enough space to explore and make their physic activities; they enjoy playing in the backyard or outside the home. Nevertheless, they adapt very well to apartments, as long as it has the freedom to move, and if you take it for a walk once or then.
The emotional stimulation is important for the Pixie-Bob and all pets, so always you can invite it to play, keep it active, and give it love and attention. These activities reaffirm the link owner-pet and make the life at home happier and harmonized.