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Originally known as the "Golden Siamese" the Tonkinese cat breed was developed by crossing the Siamese and Burmese cat breeds. An American hybrid, the Tonkinese holds the nickname "Tonks" by American owners and is known as the "Tonkinois" in France and the "Tonkinesen" in Germany. The name derives from the Gulf of Tonkin which borders Vietnam and China.

History

During the 1950s, American breeder and cat expert Milan Greer began a breeding program to create a breed that he referred to as the "Golden Siamese". The original breeding started with a male Burmese and a female Chocolate-point Siamese cat. At his center known as "Fabulous Felines", Greer continued with this program through five generations. After Greer was comfortable with the results and felt assured that the breed was stable, he passed the breeding onto other professional breeders.

Cat breeder Edith Lux was one of those who took over breeding of the Golden Siamese and was also responsible for the name change to "Tonkinese". Milan Greer has stated about this breed, "After developing this breed I discovered that I had created a prodigy in fur". Canadian breeder Margaret Conroy took great interest in the Tonkinese and helped gain acknowledgement for the breed. In 1965, the Tonkinese was registered with the Canadian Cat Association by Conroy which has led to the breed being mistakenly referred to as a Canadian breed.

America would soon follow suit and the Tonkinese was slowly being accepted by American cat clubs and societies. It wouldn't be until the 1990s before this breed would be accepted by all American societies. In 1991, the Tonkinese was accepted in Britain by The Governing Council of the Cat Fancy (GCCF).

Acceptance of this breed was refused by many feline experts because of the breeding program. When a Burmese is bred with a Siamese, the result is a Tonkinese. However, when a Tonkinese is bred with another Tonkinese, the result is half the kittens being Tonkinese, one quarter are Burmese and the other one quarter are Siamese. Interestingly though, the original Burmese cat that arrived in the United States during the early 30s (named Wong Mau) was not a pure-bred Burmese but was in fact part Siamese. Breeders argue that because of this, the original Burmese cat that founded the Burmese breed in America was what is referred to today as the Tonkinese.

Appearance

The Tonkinese has a medium sized build that is not as elongated as the Siamese. The body has well defined muscular development but the overall

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