New furry addition- Shere Khan, the Toyger

Will0W783 · 03-26-12, 07:03 AM

Yesterday, I adopted another kitty. My fiance and I had seen a few "Toygers" at the Reading Super Pet Expo. They had a cat show within the expo, and we saw these gorgeous, super soft exotic-looking striped cats. I own three Bengals, but we fell in love with the idea of adding a Toyger. So yesterday we went to a local breeder and looked at his available kitties, and found a 4-year-old male that never sold. He is big and muscular and sweet. He's quite shy (can't blame him, being in a cattery for 4 years), but he's a lover boy and I think he will be quite the hambone once he settles in. For now, he's living in our master bathroom so he can get used to the new smells and relax before he meets our dogs and other cats.

Here are a few pictures of Khan on the way home and in his new temporary lodgings:

Will0W783 · 03-26-12, 07:08 AM

And, here are a few shots of my Bengals, for comparison. Toygers were developed from Bengals, Egyptian mau, tabbies, and a few other breeds to bring them as tiger-like as possible:

Raja, 6 year old silver x brown Bengal:

Trip My Trigger (Trigger)- retired breeder 6 year old red Bengal, and Raja:

Flower- retired breeder 8 year old grey Bengal:

alessia55 · 03-26-12, 07:09 AM

He is so cute

Will0W783 · 03-26-12, 07:57 AM

Thanks, Alessia...he's a sweetie so far. I can't believe no one bought him as a kitten- I was drawn to him the instant I saw him.

MoreliAddict · 03-26-12, 08:05 AM

cute cat! sometimes i think of getting one, but life is so easy just being responsible for a couple snakes

reptile65 · 03-26-12, 08:41 AM

He's adorable! I just recently came across toygers when I was browsing the internet and was instantly fascinated by them. What's it like having 3 bengals in the house? Lol

Will0W783 · 03-26-12, 09:33 AM

Having 3 Bengals is...interesting. Honestly, I adore them and wouldn't want to be without them, but they can be a handful. Bengals are more active than most housecats, so they run around a lot, and jump up on top of cabinets and the fridge and such. We can't store anything on top of cabinets because it will be on the floor the next day...
Also, Bengals can be more prone to marking with urine if they are stressed or unhappy or feel threatened. We had a problem with Raja spraying all over for a few months. It turned out she had a slight UTI, so antibiotics cleared it up and she's fine now.

Now the good: Bengals are not like most cats- in fact, I think they are more like dogs in cats' bodies. My Bengals will greet me at the door, follow me around the house, and sit next to me or on me on the couch. They sleep curled up against me every night. The male, Trigger, is my "furry nurse." Whenever I am sick, he shadows me, and snuggles purring up with me. If I am sad, he can tell, and jumps on my lap and mewls and licks my face until I laugh. If I cry, he licks my tears away. I had a stomach ache last night and I laid down on the bed. Trigger jumped up and curled up on my stomach purring....he made the best heating pad!

So basically you have to keep a VERY clean house, avoid piles of rubble, and keep breakable things locked away from curious paws. Other than that, Bengals are absolutely wonderful animals and I adore them!

The Toyger is supposed to have a lot of the Bengal wildness removed, as they are farther from wild cousins. ALL Toygers should have a very soft, plush pelt- it used to be that all Bengals were plush as well, but a lot of that softness has been bred out in favor of higher clarity and contrast. Toygers should have muscular proportions and wide faces with a large, wide snout. The really neat thing with all the cats at WildFx (where I got Khan) is that they all had this thing called "glitter." It's a gold/copper metallic sheen to the individual hairs in the coat. It shimmers under light, and gives the coat a really neat depth to it. Khan has a lot of really coppery glitter in his body, and gold in his face...it gives him a rich, exotic look.

Will0W783 · 03-28-12, 08:12 AM

Khan is calming down and settling in well. Last night he ventured out of the bathroom and checked out the upstairs and downstairs...he saw the other cats and the dogs and didn't seem particularly upset, just curious. After about half an hour, he went back up to the bathroom.

Progress!!

Here are some new pictures of him: