Brief History
Feral bobcats, Lynx rufus, inhabit
most of North America, from as far
south as the Florida Everglades and
northern Mexico north into Canada.
The bobcat is somewhat larger than
domestic cat breeds. It is a powerful
animal with long legs and a muscular
body and is noted for its short tail.
Bobcats are typically bronze in color,
although in some locations they tend
to have more of a charcoal tone to
their coats. Some northern bobcats
seem to have more of a blue or even
silver cast to the leopard patterns on
their coats.
In the Turtle Mountains of North Dakota near the border of Manitoba, there have been sightings of what appeared to be a pure white bobcat. A local resident reported that their silver and white free-roaming domestic barn cat gave birth to larger than normal and wilder than normal white kittens. There had been no sightings of any white domestic cats in the area, and, in fact, few free-roaming male domestic cats period since they did not fare well when they came up against the bobcats which were plentiful in the area.
Timberline Cattery was able to acquire two kittens which indeed appeared to be descendants of such a cross. These kittens were bred to existing Timberline Highland Lynx to develop the first white Alpine Lynx cats, which have the same great personalities as the Highland Lynx and Desert Lynx.
Colors and Patterns
Alpine Lynx will come in one color only - solid white. From early breedings, it appears that the white color is a dominant gene just as the non-albino solid white color is in domestic cats. Alpine Lynx may be curled eared or straight eared, but curled ears are preferred. They may be long or short haired, but long hair is preferred. Polydactyl feet are preferred.
In white cats, hearing impairment sometimes occurs in cats with blue eyes. This can be partial or complete hearing loss. Odd-eyed cats may sometimes have hearing impairment on the side of the blue eye.
Dietary Requirements
An Alpine Lynx does not require a specialized diet. They thrive on high quality cat chow such as Iams or Hills Science Diet. Our cats' diets consist primarily of dry chow, but we do give kittens a good quality canned food as a treat in the evenings. Dietary supplements or vitamins used with any other domestic cat may also be used with Alpine Lynx.
Size
Bobcats range in size from fifteen to thirty-five pounds. Twenty to
twenty-five pounds is the average size. Alpine Lynx are not that
large. Most Alpine Lynx males will regularly weigh in at about
seventeen pounds. Females are generally smaller, averaging ten or
eleven pounds.
The average "alley cat" male probably weighs around ten pounds.
Alpine Lynx males are considerably larger, although they are slow to mature. They frequently take up to three years to reach their full weight.
Registration
Alpine Lynx are registered with the Rare & Exotic Feline Registry,
P. O. Box 543, Walnut Cove, NC 27052.
Breed Grouping
Alpine Lynx, , Highland Lynx, Desert Lynx, and Mohave Bobs are part of the Desert Lynx breed group in the Rare & Exotic Feline Registry. In other words, Mohave Bobs, Highland Lynx, Desert Lynx, and Alpine Lynx may be bred together, with offspring registered as follows:
All white kittens (including straight and curled coats and straight or curled ears) are registered as Alpine Lynx.
All non-white kittens with curled coats are registered as Mohave Bobs.
All non-white kittens with straight coats and straight ears are registered as Desert Lynx.
All non-white kittens with straight coats and curled ears are registered as Highland Lynx.
The curled ears of the Highland Lynx are caused by a dominant gene which both curls the ears and somewhat reduces the size of the ears. When these breeds are bred together, the straight-eared kittens resulting from the breeding do not carry any genes for curled ears.
Non-white kittens do not carry the gene for white color. Therefore, breeders wishing to work with Desert Lynx only would not have to worry about getting curled-eared recessive genes in Desert Lynx who have Highland Lynx in their ancestry. Breeders not wishing to work with the Alpine Lynx would not have to worry about white kittens as long as neither parent is an Alpine Lynx.
The curled coat is caused by a dominant gene. Breederes not wishing to work with Mohave Bobs do not have to worry about this as long as neither of the parents have curled coats.
These breeds are identical in body type.
