ABOUT TONKINESE

TONKINESE

What fetches like a dog but doesn’t need to be walked? What cat feels surprisingly heavy? What feels like a mink coat? Why, a Tonkinese cat, of course!

History

It is believed that some of the chocolate Siamese of the 1800’s were what we currently call Tonkinese. The foundation cat of the Burmese breed, Wong Mau, had a natural mink coat pattern. Cristy Bird, a Siamese breeder, photographed feral cats on the streets of Bangkok this year, with the mink coat pattern and aqua eyes associated with Tonkinese.

Over time, the Burmese breeders have selected for the dark, almost solid coat pattern and moved the Burmese conformation away from the Siamese. As the Siamese and Burmese conformations diverged, some breeders experimented with a Siamese-to-Burmese cross. Although the cats we call Tonkinese existed for many years, the mid-1960’s saw the beginning of the movement for acceptance and registration. In the first Tonkinese breed article (CFA Almanac, May 1994), Sharon Roy wrote extensively about early breeders and their cats. Although this article touches on their early history in CFA, it focuses on the status of the breed today and answers some recurring questions.

In the mid-1960’s, Jane Barletta, a US Siamese breeder, decided she wanted to develop a more moderate, balanced breed of cat. She crossed Siamese with Burmese and called them “Tonkinese.” At about the same time in Canada, Margaret Conroy started crossing Siamese and Burmese to solve a more pragmatic problem. She had a shy English Burmese and no male Burmese to breed her to. Rather than ship the timid cat, a judge suggested that she breed her to a Siamese. The resultant kittens had tan coats with aqua eyes and she became very interested in the color. She called them “Tonkanese.” Other names where also used but eventually the name and spelling of “Tonkinese” was agreed upon.

Jane and Margaret started to communicate and then worked together to develop this moderate cat breed. What they attempted to do was difficult. Most man-made breeds merge an existing conformation of one breed with a color or coat length from another breed. Then, work is done to eliminate the conformation of the breed that was used to add the new color or coat length. Jane and Margaret wanted to develop a conformation that looked like neither parent, but rather something in between. The concept of “moderate” was the easy part. The hard parts were in the execution, deciding the detail and then getting consistency. A condition for acceptance into championship was to close the breed to out-crosses. For almost 20 years inCFA, Tonkinese have only been bred to other Tonkinese. In 2001, they were moved from hybrid classification to an established breed. Over time, the standard has been refined and selective breeding has led to consistency. Today, the standard is quite stable and most changes refine the color description.

Personality

For most Tonk owners, the real defining trait of the Tonkinese breed is not in the standard; it’s the Tonkinese personality. Their personality owes a debt to the parent breeds but has its own distinct mix. A Tonk is two types of cat in one body. One mode is active, but not hyper, with a muscular body. They play fetch, climb cat trees and fly through the house at warp speed. The second mode is cuddly and loving. They are not an aloof, independent cat; they are best for someone who wants a lap cat. They are dog-like in that they require and demand attention. They love riding on shoulders and may head-butt to get your attention. Kisses are also common, and no, they are not trained to kiss the judges – they figured this out on their own. They are very gregarious, social and tolerant and they live well with other cats, dogs and children. If there are no other pets, most people choose to have two Tonks; many Tonks prefer at least one playmate.

Although not chatty, they talk in sentences and paragraphs when they want to express themselves. It is not wise to ignore a Tonk when he or she is talking to you. An ignored Tonk will find another method to gain your attention. Their intelligence helps them find a different way to make you listen, which may be less desirable than if you had just listened in the first place.