Tonkinese

Mymystic Pharoah - Blue Tabby &  Mymystic Pagan - Lilac Tabby

Brown Tonkinese - BronzeDbleGrCh Loral Fiar

The Tonkinese

Today's Tonkinese is a revival of cats that existed inextricably in history with those we have called Burmese and Siamese since the early 1900's. The three breeds are genetically related and initially were only distinguishable by their coat-patterns and eye colour. The Tonkinese is not a hybrid and may only be called a cross-breed in terms of its deliberate revival in the 1950's. There are several pictures of such cats in ancient Siamese (Thai) manuscripts. There is also evidence that many of the early Siamese or Burmese were really Tonkinese, for example Wong Mau, ancestress of the Burmese breed. Several early Siamese had greenish-blue eyes with darker bodies and were called 'Chocolate Siamese' rather than the supposed 'Royal' Siamese. Unfortunately the Chocolates were lost as an individual breed at that time.

In the 1950's in America, and a few years later in Canada, breeders mated Siamese with Burmese to produce a cat that combined the best attributes of the two breeds. The progeny all had the intermediate coat-pattern produced by the co-dominance of the Burmese (cb) and Siamese (cs) coat-pattern genes. Eventually American breeders named the cats 'Tonkinese' to give them their own identity. When Tonkinese are mated together the unique behaviour of the Tonkinese coat-pattern gene (cbcs) produces three variations of coat-pattern and eye colour 1) the Tonkinese pattern with rich body colour, darker points and clear greenish-blue eyes 2) the solid pattern, evenly coloured over the body and points and greenish-gold eyes 3) the pointed pattern, very pale bodied with dark points and clear blue eyes. Tonkinese progeny with solid or pointed coat-patterns are not Burmese or Siamese - they are Tonkinese and are valuable contributors to the Tonkinese breed programme. A Tonkinese can only have Tonkinese, Burmese or Siamese in its pedigree.

In America and Canada, the brown Tonkinese is called 'Natural Mink'. 'Mink' refers to the coat-pattern, not the colour or texture of the fur, as it resemble the coat-pattern of the wild mink. Other colours are - Blue, Champagne and Platinum and even Honey and Fawn. In the UK and Australia the Tonkinese now comes in an array of beautiful colours and patterns - Brown, Blue, Chocolate, Lilac, Caramel, Red, Cream and Apricot; in addition there are the Tabbies and Tortoiseshells in all of the possible colour variations just mentioned.

Tonkinese have a firm strong body on long slender legs that taper to oval paws. A long, elegant tail. Shapely ears perfectly balanced on a gently wedged, medium length head. The males are large and noble, the females smaller and exquisitely feminine. They have gentle, almond shaped eyes in sparkling aquamarine, topaz or sapphire and are dressed in short, silky fur coats.

Tonkinese are easy to groom and are not fussy eaters. They love to be with people, but they do need the company of other cats. A Tonkinese in a single-cat home will not be content, they get on well with all types of cat but, ideally, their companion should be similar to themselves - bright and active. If you want to be owned by a Tonkinese be sure you want a cat who expects equal terms, a cat who will talk to you and expect an answer; a cat who will demand a fair share of attention and in return will be a constant and faithful companion. If you are ready for this kind of long-term commitment then you will never regret making your contract with this elegant, mink-wrapped charmer!