Tonkinese - Golden Cats in Mink Coats
The Origins of the Tonkinese
Burmese and Siamese cats are sometimes referred to as the ‘parent’ breeds of the modern Tonkinese; but the history and breeding of these three glamorous cats have been so intricately woven through the ages that to ask “which was the original?” is rather like asking “Which came first, the chicken or the egg?”
The three breeds are genetic cousins, the differences between them are the colour of the eyes and how the colour appears on the coat, they were even similar in shape until the 1970s. The Tonkinese is unique because although the mink coat-pattern exists there is not actually a gene for it. It is a combination of the 'solid' coat-pattern and the 'pointed' coat-pattern. This unique genetic behaviour also results in blue-green eyes instead of yellow/green or clear blue eyes.
The coat-pattern genes for the ‘solid’ Burmese colour restriction (Cb Cb) and the ‘pointed’ Siamese colour restriction (Cs Cs) are co-dominant. This means that when mated together one will never dominate the other and will always produce the combination of the two coat-patterns – Tonkinese (Cb Cs). Then, when you mate Tonkinese together the kittens will inherit one of three variations of the parents’ genes,
25% may inherit the solid pattern (Cb Cb)
50% may inherit the mink pattern (Cb Cs)
25% may inherit the pointed pattern (Cs Cs)
Tonkinese kittens with the solid or pointed coat-patterns are not Burmese or Siamese, as it incorrectly says in so many books, they are Tonkinese - they have two Tonkinese parents!
The mink pattern has a rich body colour, toning darker points and the cats’ eyes are normally clear greenish-blue. The solid variation is evenly coloured over the body and the points, this cat will have greenish-gold eyes. The pointed variation is very pale bodied with sharply contrasting darker points (the typical ‘Himalayan’ pattern); a cat with this coat-pattern will have clear blue eyes. Tonkinese are forward by nature but their colouring may take many months to mature, so don't be surprised if a Tonkinese breeder tells you they are not yet sure of their young kitten's coat-pattern or eye-colour.
In the East, cats were revered because they were believed to carry a pious person's soul before it ascended to Paradise. Distinct breeds of cat were first recorded in South East Asia and are known to have been present in Siam (Thailand) around 400 CE. Ancient Thai manuscripts in the Bangkok Museum show many cats, including very pale cats with distinctly darker points like the Siamese and cats with bright copper coats - the Tonkinese.
… and Their History in the West
When cats were brought to England from Thailand, in the late 1880’s, they were called Siamese because of the area they came from, but they included cats with the coat-patterns and eye colours of Tonkinese, Burmese and Siamese. The Tonkinese has been seen in the West for over a hundred years now. In 1889, Harrison Weir (known as the 'Father of the Cat Fancy') wrote about a cat belonging to Mr Young's, which had come from Singapore, he described it as a "chocolate variety of the royal Siamese cat", and said that it was very beautiful and scarce. Mr Young described his own cat as having a dun coloured body with nose, ears, face, feet and tail of a very dark chocolate brown, and it had eyes of beautiful blue. Mr Young's other prize cat was a very rich seal with darker face, ears and tail, the legs darker toward the feet and eyes of rich amber colour (today's Burmese). He mated his 'Chocolate Siamese’ (not chocolate-point Siamese) with a 'Royal Siamese', three of the kittens had the Royal coat-pattern and the fourth kitten had the Chocolate coat-pattern.
In her Book of the Cat (1903), Frances Simpson mentions both the Chocolate and the Royal Siamese. The Royal is described as "cream coloured in body with sharply defined seal brown markings on head, ears, legs, feet and tail; eyes a decided blue"; the Chocolate is described as "deep brown in colour showing hardly any markings and have blue eyes". There are certainly plenty of references to the Chocolates by early cat fanciers who described it as having less contrast between point and body colour than the Royal Siamese and having eye colour of varying shades of blue. Although the Royal Siamese was the preferred variety, the Chocolate did have its followers including Mrs Sutherland who bred them from her Chocolate stud, Prince of Siam. Unfortunately, the Chocolates were not as popular with the public as the Royal Siamese so very few breeders were interested in breeding them. Selective breeding with only the Royal coat-pattern gradually resulted in the apparent disappearance of the Chocolates.
Wong Mau, the ancestress of the modern Burmese cats, was the first cat genetically proven to be Tonkinese. She was imported to the USA in 1930 and was described as a brown hybrid with darker points on her face, legs, feet and tail. Her owner, Dr Joseph C Thompson, was interested in finding out what the genetic difference was between Wong Mau and his Siamese. In 1932 he mated Wong Mau with a Siamese stud called Tai Mau; he then bred her back to one of her sons. The resulting kittens had two different coat-patterns, a uniformly brown coat and a medium brown coat with darker points. After a number of test matings Dr Thompson and his geneticist colleagues were satisfied that Wong Mau was genetically a Burmese/Siamese cross.
So, selective breeding for the solid or pointed coat-patterns ensured that Burmese and Siamese emerged as distinct breeds. Even so, it cannot be doubted that Burmese and Siamese were being bred from cats that were regarded as having less typical coat-patterns for their breed – in fact they were genetically Tonkinese. The Chocolates kept appearing over the over the years in litters of kittens supposedly bred from pure Siamese or pure Burmese.
The Tonkinese has had a significant role in the foundation of the Burmese breed and the pedigree of many imported Burmese would look very different if those cats were registered today. USA Champion Chango of the Farm, a direct descendant of Wong Mau, is seen in nearly all of the Burmese foundation pedigrees; he was born in 1941 and was described as “a dark Siamese with aquamarine eyes”. One of the UK's most famous Burmese was Mrs Lillian France's Casa Gatos Da Foong (imported from the USA in 1949) had a pedigree that was a complex mixture of cats with Burmese, Siamese and Tonkinese coat-patterns. In the UK, the first registered Burmese/Siamese cross was Chira Tan Tockseng, imported from the USA in 1958 by Mrs RJ Grove-White to use as a foundation for her Burmese breeding programme. In 1964, a tortoiseshell Tonkinese (Kudos Farrago) was born from a mating of Southview Havoc (red-point Siamese, sire) x Arboreal Fenella (brown Burmese, dam); her line produced the first cream Burmese, Kudos Gold Guinea.
Revival of an Ancient Cat
Today’s Tonkinese is a regeneration of the cat painted in the ancient Thai manuscripts, and was once known in England as the 'Chocolate Siamese'. The Tonkinese is not a hybrid but it may be called a cross-breed in terms of its deliberate revival. Breeders of several new cat breeds today have sought to take characteristics from two completely different breeds to create a third; Tonkinese breeders are crossing genetic cousins to re-create an ancient intermediate coat-pattern.
In the mid 1950’s a New York pet shop owner, Milan Greer, began to breed Siamese with Burmese to produce the cats with the intermediate coat-pattern. He bred them as pets for several generations. He called them 'Golden Siamese', but he eventually gave up his project to breed Burmese for competition. Then in the mid-1960's, Jane Barletta in New Jersey, and Margaret Conroy in Canada, independently began to breed the Burmese with Siamese. Each breeder produced a line of brown cats, with darker brown points and aquamarine-coloured eyes. The coat was labelled "natural mink" because the fur resembled a natural brown mink with its darker tipped face, ears and tail. Margaret Conroy bred her English female Burmese (Khosoom) to a seal-point Siamese; she dubbed the breed 'Tonkanese'. Jane Barletta placed an advertisement in 'Cat Fancy' magazine, which led to contact with Margaret Conroy and with Mary Swanson in California. Jane worked with Margaret on the first standard for the Tonkinese breed. The breed was accepted for registration by Canadian Cat Association (CCA) in 1965, and granted championship status by the same association in 1971. The breed name was officially changed from 'Tonkanese' to 'Tonkinese'. By 1970, there were several West Coast Tonkinese breeders and by 1975, the Tonkinese had been accepted in the USA by the Independent Cat Federation and the Cat Fanciers Federation.
Mary Swanson was told that 'Tonkinese' was just a name and it was extremely unlikely that USA’s largest registration body, the Cat Fanciers Association (CFA), would ever recognise it as a breed but in 1978 the CFA did approve Tonkinese registration. Jane Barletta, perhaps more than any of the early breeders, deserves credit for championing the breed, her work led to the founding of the Tonkinese Breed Club (USA) which marked the beginning of the Tonkinese community to advance the breed and to achieve show status in all associations. When Jane Barletta appeared on the daytime show, "Jeopardy", she told the television audience that she bred Tonkinese cats. Tonkinese breeder, Joan Bernstein, should also be acknowledged as the driving force that eventually led to the CFA accepting the Tonkinese.
In the UK in 1990, a group of breeders, who had previously registered their Tonkinese with the Cat Association of Great Britain, formed the Tonkinese Breed Club (UK). Their objective was to have the Tonkinese accepted by the Governing Council of the Cat Fancy (GCCF), the world's oldest body for the registration of cats. After much hard work the Tonkinese were recognised by the GCCF in 1991. The work continued to promote the Tonkinese in the UK. And eventually, in June 2001, the Tonkinese became a championship breed. The Tonkinese Breed Club (www.tonkinese.info) was the first Tonkinese club in the world to hold show for only Tonkinese.
The Tonkinese is growing in popularity all over the world – USA, UK, South Africa, Australia, Japan, most of Europe etc. Although there are many organisations in Europe that accept Tonkinese, FIFe still doesn’t recognise the breed so breeders are showing their Tonks with organisations such as TICA, and breeders are working together to extended the breeding population.
Charisma Personified
Why are they known as 'Golden Cats'? The simple answer is because 'Tong' (Thong) is the Thai word for gold; but those of us who are owned by a 'Tonk' know that it is really because the soft, glowing warmth of this precious substance is the only fitting comparison for these divine creatures.
These are cat shaped cats, with a firm strong body on long slender legs that taper to oval paws and they have a long, elegant tail. Shapely ears are perfectly balanced on a subtly sculptured head that is lit by gentle, almond shaped eyes in sparkling aquamarine, sapphire or topaz. The males are large and noble, the females are smaller and exquisitely feminine - and all are dressed in shimmering short coats of soft silken fur. The accepted colours vary from one organisation to another, but internationally the Tonkinese colours are – Brown/Natural, Blue, Chocolate/Champagne, Lilac/Platinum, Caramel, Cinnamon/Honey, Red, Cream, Fawn and Apricot; there are also Tabbies and Tortoiseshells in all of these possible colour variations.
The only way you could possibly understand the charm of a Tonkinese is to meet one face to face. They share their attention with the whole family, and they must be treated as an equal member of the family. They have a sense of fun and to get your attention they'll touch you and talk to you; they'll bring you presents or teach you to throw toys for them. They are welcoming creatures who love to keep you company. They are very mobile, and like to find the highest point in the room to sit and look down upon you. They are strong, intelligent and very determined cats! Effortlessly they charm you, while training you to serve them properly.
Tonkinese are good companions for children who are prepared to respect and care for them. They are easy to groom and are not fussy eaters; a proper balanced diet with occasional treats will suit them very well. These intelligent, generous spirited cats should never be taken for granted. They love to be with people, but they need the company of other cats too. A Tonkinese in a single-cat home is likely to be discontented but they get on well with most types of cat; ideally, their companion should be similar to themselves - bright and active.
Although the Tonkinese is still fairly scarce, it’s confident, individual and intelligent nature draws people to it. A Tonkinese is not a cat to be ignored so be sure that you want a feline companion, not just a pet. If you can provide a caring, interesting home you will be repaid with a lifetime of constant and faithful companionship; and you will never regret forming a pact with this exquisite enchanter!
© Linda Vousden
Tonkinese Breed Club Uk