Toyger care: health screening, feeding and daily play

The Toyger was built from Bengal and domestic cat lines, and its health checks come largely from the Bengal side. The Governing Council of the Cat Fancy (GCCF) asks Toyger breeders to screen for hypertrophic cardiomyopathy by echocardiography and to DNA test for pyruvate kinase deficiency and the Bengal form of progressive retinal atrophy. Beyond those three, the breed has little published health data. A buyer should ask to see all three results for both parents.

Where the breed came from

Judy Sugden developed the Toyger in the United States. Her mother, Jean Mill, founded the Bengal breed. The GCCF names the key founders as a striped domestic shorthair called Scrapmetal, a big-boned Bengal called Millwood Rumpled Spotskin and Jammu Blu, a street cat from Kashmir. The aim was a domestic cat with the look of a small tiger: bold stripes on a warm, orange-toned coat. TICA accepted the breed for registration in 1993 and gave it championship status in 2007, and the GCCF recognized it in 2015.

The Toyger is a domestic cat, and the GCCF notes that no new wild cat outcross was used in its development. Its Bengal ancestors do carry some wild ancestry: Bengals descend from crosses with the Asian leopard cat, and a genetic study of 947 Bengals found an average of 3.48% leopard cat DNA in the breed. Toygers with Bengal ancestors may carry small traces of it as well. No one has measured it in Toygers, and it has no known effect on their care.

Health screening

Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy

Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) thickens the muscular walls of the heart and makes it pump less efficiently. The Cornell Feline Health Center lists the Bengal among the breeds in which HCM is more common. There are no published figures for Toygers, so the Bengal link is the reason for screening, not proof that Toygers are affected at a similar rate.

HCM is diagnosed by echocardiography, an ultrasound scan of the heart, after high blood pressure and an overactive thyroid have been ruled out, since both cause similar thickening. Cornell notes that many cats with HCM do not appear ill. Signs that need a vet at once:

• Rapid or labored breathing at rest, or breathing with the mouth open
• Sudden pain or paralysis in the back legs, which can mean a blood clot
• Unusual lethargy or collapse

We found no evidence that any food or supplement prevents HCM. Every complete and balanced cat food contains enough taurine for normal heart function; extra taurine is not a treatment for HCM. A cat with a diagnosis follows its vet's medication and diet plan.

Pyruvate kinase deficiency

Pyruvate kinase (PK) deficiency is an inherited anemia: red blood cells break down early. Signs include severe lethargy, weakness, weight loss, jaundice and a swollen abdomen, and they vary widely in when they start and how severe they are. A study that tested more than 14,000 cats recommended PK testing for Bengals and for any new breed developed from Bengals, which includes the Toyger. The disease is recessive, so carriers are healthy and testing lets breeders avoid mating two carriers.

Bengal progressive retinal atrophy

A form of early-onset, inherited retinal degeneration was described in Bengal cats. Changes in the retina were visible by 9 weeks of age, and vision loss was evident in the kittens' behavior by one year, progressing rapidly to blindness. It is also recessive. The GCCF's call to test Toygers for it follows from the shared ancestry. A young cat that bumps into things in dim light, hesitates on stairs or has unusually large, reflective pupils should have its eyes examined.

Feeding a muscular, active cat

The GCCF gives adult weights of 3.6 to 5.4 kg (8 to 12 lb) for females and 4.5 to 6.8 kg (10 to 15 lb) for males. The Merck Veterinary Manual estimates resting energy requirement (RER) as 70 multiplied by body weight in kilograms raised to the power 0.75. A neutered adult cat is fed about 1.2 times RER, an intact adult 1.4 times and an adult prone to obesity 1.0 times. Rounded to the nearest 5 kcal:

Merck adds that animals of the same weight can differ by up to 30% in what they need, so the table is a first estimate. What the cat looks and feels like decides the portion from there. A muscular cat can weigh more than its frame suggests without being fat. The ribs should be easy to feel under a thin layer of fat, there should be a waist behind them when viewed from above, and the belly should not hang.

Any complete and balanced food labeled for adult maintenance meets a cat's protein, fat and taurine needs, whether wet, dry or mixed. The practical choices are about portions and habits:

• Weigh the food and split it into two or more meals rather than leaving a bowl down all day.
• Use puzzle feeders for part of the ration. They slow eating and give a hunting outlet.
• Keep treats to about 10% of the day's calories, and use them for training.
• Weigh the cat monthly and adjust by 5 to 10% when the trend changes.

Play, training and company

The GCCF describes Toygers as active, intelligent and companionable. They can be taught to fetch and to walk on a leash, and they will not be happy if left alone for long periods. An under-occupied active cat tends to find its own projects, so the environment needs to do some of the work:

• Two or more short play sessions a day with a wand or chase toy, ending with something the cat can catch
• Cat trees and wall shelves for climbing and watching
• Clicker training for simple tricks or leash walking, using small treats counted in the day's food
• A cat exercise wheel for some confident, energetic cats, introduced slowly
• A second cat or regular company for a household that is out most of the day

Leash training takes weeks of short, positive sessions indoors before any outdoor walk, and not every cat accepts it.

Coat care

The coat is short, dense and plush. A light brush and comb once a week keeps it in condition, and baths are rarely needed. Some Toygers have a glitter coat, in which the hairs catch the light. In Bengals, the same genetic study traced glitter to reduced activity of a gene called Fgfr2, which changes hair texture and how the hair reflects light. It is a cosmetic trait and needs no special diet or product.

Sources

1. Toyger. The Governing Council of the Cat Fancy.
2. Ancestry dynamics and trait selection in a designer cat breed. Current Biology, 2024.
3. Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy. Cornell Feline Health Center, Cornell University College of Veterinary Medicine.
4. Erythrocyte pyruvate kinase deficiency mutation identified in multiple breeds of domestic cats. BMC Veterinary Research, 2012.
5. Characterization of an Early-Onset, Autosomal Recessive, Progressive Retinal Degeneration in Bengal Cats. Investigative Ophthalmology and Visual Science, 2015.
6. Nutritional Requirements of Small Animals. Merck Veterinary Manual.