Since the Tonkinese is a cross between a Siamese cat and a Burmese cat, Tonkineses also have accent colors like Siamese cats, but their accent colors are not as obvious as those of Siamese cats, and this can clearly distinguish Tonkineses from Siamese cats. Also, because they are descendants of Burmese cats, they have short, soft, smooth, and shiny coats like Burmese cats.
If you have an Tonkinese, you don’t have to worry about bored guests, because Tonkineses are very friendly and even hospitable to guests. When the owner is busy preparing food for the guests or doing other things, you can let the cat help you to “receive” the guests. The Tonkinese is currently the most popular cat in the Americas and is not often found elsewhere.
- Tonkinese morphological characteristics
Although born as early as the 1930s, the Tonkinese was really recognized and widely accepted in the 1970s. After continuous breeding, the Tonkinese has its own unique morphology, and together with its kinship and affectionate personality, they quickly became popular in the United States and Canada.
Detailed morphological description of the Tonkinese
Head: Medium sized, slightly longer than wide, looks like an equilateral triangle with rounded edges from the front; high cheekbones; square muzzle.
Ears: Large, pointed and rounded.
Eyes: almond eyes, blue-green.
Nose: long, straight.
Jaw: inconspicuous.
Limbs: slender and favorable, well-muscled.
Pedipalps: small, oval-shaped.
Tail: wide at the base, tapering toward the tip.
Coat type: short, dense, soft with shiny hair.
Coat color: five colors – the body coat is warm brown, with dark chocolate accent color; the body coat is slightly blue-gray, with light blue or dark blue accent color; the body coat is reddish brown, with chocolate accent color; the body coat is beige, with light brown accent color; the body coat is light gray, with dark gray accent color .
From the above, you can see that although the Tonkinese cat inherits some of the characteristics of the Siamese and Burmese cats, some changes have taken place on top of them and formed its own unique character. It is important to note that people usually cannot tell what the Tonkinese will look like when they are small, and their coat color and other character traits are usually not determined until the cat is about one and a half years old, so it is important to pay attention to this when buying an Tonkinese. Many people ask if cats will not get close to their owners when they are picked up after they are over a year old. On this issue, you don’t have to worry at all, because Tonkinese cats don’t take the high road, they are very dear cats.
- Tonkinese character traits
Tonkineses are very affectionate cats, which is their biggest advantage, but this advantage can also bring them troubles, because their overly affectionate personality causes Tonkineses to easily encounter danger. Therefore, in the process of breeding, owners must take good care of their cats and do not let them come into contact with strangers, otherwise, if any accident occurs, the owner will regret it too late.
A healthy Tonkinese cat should still be energetic, they will not lazily stay in one place and do not move. If you have an Tonkinese cat, you will find that they like to walk around and explore the world by the way. So a few days after a cat is brought home, they will know every corner of the home like the back of their hand. Of course there are some places that are best left untouched by cats, so owners should not let them set foot on that land just to satisfy their curiosity.
The owner can play games with the cat in the daily care, which not only can meet the cat’s daily exercise needs and enhance the cat’s physical fitness, but also can cultivate the relationship between the owner and the cat. Owners can also prepare a cat climbing frame and some toys at home, so that even if the owner is not at home, the cat can find its own fun to pass the time.
In addition to getting along with their owners, Tonkineses can also warm up quickly with dogs or other cats in the house. If there are multiple pets in the house, owners do not need to worry about the pets getting along. However, if the owner is very busy at work and cannot find time to spend with the Tonkinese every day, then this is not beneficial to the cat’s physical and mental health at all. Tonkineses are afraid of being alone, so they are not suitable to be kept by people who are busy at work.
In addition, compared to their ancestor, the Siamese, the Tonkinese is not as possessive. For example, while Siamese cats may hog food and toys and not let their owners touch them, Tonkineses are rarely in this situation and are still willing to share anything with you as long as they are properly trained.
- Tonkinese cat care knowledge
Since certain character traits of the Tonkinese do not stabilize until the cat is 16 months old, many cats do not enter their owners’ homes until they are over a year old. By this time, the cat is no longer a toddler and is past the socialization learning stage, plus cats sold in regular pet stores have undergone certain training (e.g. they know to defecate in the litter box, the owner will not extend sharp claws when playing with them, etc.), so the owner can skip the kitten rearing stage directly.
When the owner brings the cat home, the first step is to let the cat adapt to the new environment. Although the cat has an outgoing and lively personality, the sudden change of environment may catch the cat off guard, but the owner should not worry, because in general the cat can adapt to living in a new home within a short period of time, and if abnormal behavior occurs, the owner can consult a veterinarian.
Once the cat has started its life in a new home, the owner should start to regularly arrange their daily activities. In addition to regular feeding, proper exercise and grooming, the owner can also arrange additional activities such as playing games to bond and training the cat to learn some small skills. Tonkineses are intelligent cats, and general life skills training is not difficult for them, but it depends on the owner’s development status if they want to master more skills.
Usually, owners also have to vaccinate and deworm their cats once a year, which are related to their health. Some owners think that their cats will not be infested with parasites or viruses if they live at home all the time, but this is not the case, as the owner may come back from outside with bacteria and viruses on the soles of his shoes, and curious cats may get sick through direct contact.
- Tonkinese cat feeding essentials
The feeding of young Tonkineses requires a lot of time and effort from the owner, because young cats have a small stomach capacity and the food they eat at one time can only meet their needs for a short period of time, so the owner has to feed the young cats every 5-6 hours. Unweaned cats need to be fed milk. If there is no mother cat, or if the mother cat does not have enough milk, the owner needs to buy special milk powder for cats to brew them, avoid feeding milk, otherwise cats are more likely to vomit and have diarrhea.
After the cat is weaned, the owner needs to help them slowly adapt to eating dry food. At first, the owner can feed the cat with milk softened cat food. If the ratio of dry food is too large, the cat may have diarrhea because the intestines cannot adapt, and the owner needs to adjust the ratio in time. In addition, some owners may feed their cats soft food such as Wonder Bread, but some soft food does not contain all the nutrition required by cats like the main food, and cannot be fed to cats for a long time, otherwise cats may suffer from malnutrition, with the main symptoms being wasting, loss of appetite and delayed development.
When the cat is able to eat dry food as the main food, the owner’s feeding work is not so heavy, but needs to pay attention to regular and quantitative feeding, which not only allows the cat to develop good dining habits, but also ensures that the cat does not suffer from gastrointestinal disorders and other problems, which is conducive to the healthy growth of cats. Of course, in addition to the main food, the owner can also give the cat some snacks in moderation, and there are many types of snacks on the market now, so the owner can select according to the cat’s preference.
In addition to commercially available food, homemade cat food also accounts for a large proportion of cat food. With the popularization of pet food safety and pet food nutrition knowledge, many parents have a good grasp of ingredient selection. In addition to the choice of ingredients, owners must pay attention to preparing special utensils for their cats when preparing homemade food. If more food is made, it should be stored in the refrigerator in time, but before taking it out of the refrigerator for the cat to eat, it should be brought to room temperature before giving it to the cat to prevent it from causing gastrointestinal discomfort. In fact, cats prefer to eat warm food, as long as the conditions allow, the owner had better give the cat to eat plus overheated food!
