Highlander

About the breed

The Highlander started as the Highland Lynx, a cross between two experimental American breeds: the Desert Lynx, a bobtailed cat with a wild look, and the Jungle Curl, which carries a loose ear curl. Breeders added the curl to the bobtail and ended up with a cat that reads as a small bobcat — long sloping forehead, blunt muzzle, very wide nose, short tail and ears that tip backwards. The name Highlander was adopted in late 2005, TICA accepted the breed in 2008 and moved it to championship status in 2025.

Size is real: females 4.5–6.4 kg, males 6.8–9.1 kg, on a substantial, very muscular frame with large feet. Extra toes are common and permitted, so many Highlanders are polydactyls, and a healthy poly is not a defect. Coats come in tabby, lynx point and pointed colours; bicolours are excluded from the standard.

Despite the wild-cat face, the temperament is domestic and rather dog-like: confident, outgoing, playful well into adulthood, and oriented to people rather than to hiding. They greet strangers, play fetch, and get on with children and cat-tolerant dogs. They are athletic enough to clear a bookshelf and curious enough to try.

Care essentials

Health

• Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy — reported in the breed; echo screening for breeding cats
• Patellar luxation — occasional in heavy, athletic cats; watch for skipping on a hind leg
• Ear infections — the curl reduces airflow into the canal; check and clean weekly
• Obesity — a large frame hides weight gain until the joints complain

The breed is young and its health record is thin, so there is no long list of documented diseases — which is not the same as being problem-free. Ask about heart echoes, confirm that any extra toes are evenly formed, and have the tail and spine checked, since short-tailed cats can carry vertebral anomalies.

Frequently asked