The Highlander is a large, friendly cat who is a wonderful family cat. The Highlander, while quite tame looks wild, a quality that many find appealing. Fortunately they are only wild about life! They are a fascinating breed of cat! The Highlanders are very playful, loving and devoted to their humans and develop a deep and lasting bond with them. Exhibiting such dog like qualities, it is hard to imagine these little darlings are not really dogs in disguise--they will spend hours licking the back of your hand, rolling over to have their bellies rubbed and often wagging their tails to show their pleasure. Playing tag seem to consume much of their days and they are certainly better fly catchers than a fly swatter--often catching flys in mid-air between their paws. They are such a breath of fresh air and one can never tire of their antics or zest for life. The Highlander may very well be the clowns of the cat world and, if possible, never hesitate to show off their truly unique and wonderful sense of humor. The Highlander although very energetic when it comes to play time are definitely not curtain climbers. Care should be given when purchasing toys for the Highlander to make sure that the toys are sturdy and safe as The Highlanders have been known to dismantle and even consume many less sturdy toys.
Some claim that the Highlanders are slow to adjust to new environments, but I have found them to be the complete opposite....endearing them with the title of my own personal "Wal-Mart Greeters." They just love to be loved and have ooddles and ooddles of love and attention to give in return. They are a generally quiet breed of cat, however, don't be late with breakfast or they will quickly let you know they are very much around.
A fascinating feature of this breed is the ears. They are all born with straight ears and the Highlander's ears begin to curl at about 3 days old. The curl of their ears can range from a tight curl to a loose curl and these curls can constantly change back and forth in their degree of curls until they have set permanently at several weeks of age.
The Highlander has a rather distinctive look, with its tall standing, wide open curled ears and a muscular solid body. The males are around 15-17 pounds and up, with the females being smaller and ranging from ten to fourteen pounds. The Highlander cat can have either short or long fur and the coat color can vary widely, although there are three main different color patterns, which include ticked, spotted, and clouded. On the spotted pattern the spots are of a darker color and are usually on the sides of the body. All Highlanders must show bellyspots. This is often considered a camouflage pattern that resembles that of a wild bobcat. Additionally, there is often a dorsal stripe that runs the length of the cat. The second type of pattern is called a ticked tabby pattern. This pattern includes ticking on the body hair. The third pattern is the classic , which is simply the wild version of the classic tabby pattern. However, there are differences, such as a reduction in the bulls eye. Simply put, this coloring should be clouded or marbled. The legs of the Highlander are fairly muscular, with the back legs being slightly longer than the front, often with tufted toes. The head is fairly large and a modified wedge shape with large, intelligent eyes that can be found in shades of gold to green and blue eyes in the Lynx Points.
Highlanders officially come in three coat patterns in many colors; ebony, browns, including silvers, sepias, minks, and lynx points. The coat patterns are ticked, spotted, and classic.
Dietary Requirements - Being a domestic cat, the Highlander does not require any specialized diet other than any high quality food you would feed other cats and kittens. Our cats' diets consist primarily of dry chow, but we do give kittens a good quality canned food in the evenings. Dietary supplements or vitamins used with any other domestic cat may also be used with the Highlander.
