Why a legend is important for the Pixiebob breed origination

The founder of the Pixiebob breed and all breeders since have had a dilemma: since virtually no other breeds of cats have been used (with the exception of one Manx in the beginning) and other breeds are not acceptable for outcross, then from WHERE did the wild look of the Pixiebob come?

The answer “We don't know” seemed a bit lame and almost dishonest, as if there was something to hide. But one cannot embellish nor create something that isn't there. So, we found ourselves embroiled in a controversy.

People always call asking if there really is bobcat in the breed….and the answer is always “No, we do not keep captive bobcats for breeding” (but there is always another part to that answer)…

“We have taken all our foundation cats out of the foothills and mountainous regions of the Cascade Mountains so we do not know what is in the background of the breed, but we do know that they tested negative for wild DNA”.

Since the Pixiebob resembles the bobcat in many ways , the founder and the breeders ARE caught in the middle between a mystery and a controversy:

As everyone knows, the first cats came into the possession of Carol Ann Brewer having a legend of a bobcat mating with a domestic, which she wholeheartedly believed in the beginning of her program, and yet while the cats had a very wild appearance, they eventually all tested negative for bobcat, jungle cat or Asian leopard DNA. Because she hadn't kept captive bobcats, all she had to hold onto for the origination of her breed, was the story or legend that bobcats mate with domestics, and so she coined the term “Legend Cat” in an effort to explain the unexplainable . When the test results turned out quite different than what Carol Ann had expected, she realized that there would never be any proof that bobcats mate with domestics….and so the legend was all she had.

The real issue was the physical characteristics being produced in the Pixiebob since she had not used spotted cats from recognized breeds in her program, she was left without an explanation as to why she was producing buckshot spotted kitten, and more: kittens with bobcat length tails, and large bones, and wild compressed faces, and lynx tipping on the ears….she just had no explanation. And without an explanation, the worst is imagined.

The truth is that she found all but one cat from the foothills of the Cascade Mountains . So, the truth would have to be discussed openly and honestly, and that is that cats having a feral bobcat appearance were chosen from feral colonies for the foundation of this breed, and yet, were tested as being without bobcat DNA. Not much to hold onto, but this was all she had.

The legend, while not based in science, was/is the only thing Carol could promote as being the foundation of her wonderful breed but in this way, she has actually taken the focus off the issue of keeping and trying to breed a real bobcat , as she absolutely despises the practice of breeders keeping captive wild cats for breeding, (as has been on her website for years). Rather, she has put it on a legend, one that has been written about for hundreds of years, but has never been proven. This “explains” the wild look and the domestic DNA comfortably for the public who calls for kittens, after listening to WHY people should never want a real wild cat nor a hybrid. Carol Ann has always made it quite clear that wild cats belong in the wild. Her favorite statement is “You can take the cat out of the wild, but you can never take the wild out of the cat”. She hasn't had personal experience with wild cats, but knows many people who bought bobcats from furrier farms, stating that they would “make better Pixiebobs” than she did. NONE ever accomplished the goal of which they bragged.

So, while the Pixiebob has a wonderfully wild bobcat look, all we have to explain this appearance IS “the legend”. To say anything else, especially giving an “I don't know” answer, would be lame. The public and the breeders need to know that NO other breeds are acceptable for outcross and that only cats that fit the standard, found in rural and even wild areas of the country are brought into the program.

That all the early lines, even the most wildest in appearance, were tested and proven to possess only domestic DNA does put the breed into the category of being a mystery. The truth is that no one knows anything. That means, unless anyone can prove through DNA that the Pixiebob truly has a bobcat in its ancestry, at this time science absolutely says it does not. The legend states that the appearance could have come from such a mating…..but it never says it did.

One further note: the legend is important also, in that it helps the breeders to understand that the Pixiebob is NOT a “recipe breed”, (comprised of many different recognized breeds), and it is also helpful for the public to understand that the incredible wild look was originated with simple domestic cats found in rural areas; that an entire breed has come out of these cats, through selective breeding of the best and wildest looking traits. This has not been an easy breed to work with. Should we have used various breeds to achieve our cats' appearance, it would have been an easier road.

Therefore, since the legend is shrouded in mystery, and the origination of the Pixiebob breed has been founded on cats having a legend, we have nothing other than a beautiful DOMESTIC breed having a wild bobcat-like appearance. We hope that the Board of Directors understands that our open-ness to discuss this doesn't cause a focus on “the wild blood” issue, but rather that you see that we have no where to turn, but to explain the Pixiebob as a mysterious legend having nothing to substantiate it except the appearance of the cats.

Carol Ann has always stated (regarding whether there was really bobcat in the ancestry of the Pixiebob…), “The proof is in the pudding”. So, we have nothing but “pudding” but unfortunately no ingredients to explain how it was made! And DNA testing says it's not the “pudding” we thought it was!

 

The Advancement Board