In 1964, Virginia Daly of Berkleg, Mich., experimentally crossed a Siamese with an Abyssinian hoping to produce an Aby-point Siamese. A male kitten in the litter was ivory with golden spots and copper eyes. Daly’s daughter named the breed Ocicat because the kitten, “Tonga,” resembled the spotted wildcat. Tonga was neutered and sold as a pet. A noted geneticist at Georgia University, Dr. Clyde Keeler, wanted to see a domestic cat that mimicked wild species that were becoming extinct. At his request, the breeding of Tonga’s parents was repeated, producing another spotted male, Dalai Dotson, who became the father of the Ocicat breed.
