Oh, those wonderful accidents! The originator of the breed, Virginia Daly, didn't start out to create an Ocicat, but rather an Abyssinian - pointed Siamese. As fate would have it, some time later Mrs. Daly was in correspondence with Dr. Clyde Keeler of Georgia University who at that time had an interest in recreating a similar cat to the now extinct Egyptian spotted fishing cat. This "new breed" possibility rekindled Mrs. Daly's desire to breed Ocicats as a unique and distinct breed.  The Ocicat was put on exhibition in cat shows in Detroit and soon after, in the Minutes of a CFA annual appeared the words (paraphrased): "The Ocicat is a breed to be recognized for registration and is made up of Abyssinian and American Shorthair." which was not the correct combination so, when advised of the error, CFA simply added "Siamese." The results of this "error" was to add the beautiful silver color, prominent in American Shorthairs, to the gene pool. In 1966 on the verge of provisional status with CFA the drive imperative to such a task was rerouted. Mrs. Daly became the sole supporter of her Aunt who was in poor health, and by necessity the Ocicat had to take a back seat. There were only 99 Ocicats registered with CFA between the years 1966 and 1980.  In 1984 a new Ocicat breed club, Ocicats International, formed and due to its members efforts Provisional status with CFA was granted in 1986 and Championship status followed a year later. With Provisional status granted in 1986, the registry closed to Siamese and American Shorthair out-crosses, although Abyssinians are an allowable out-cross until 2005.