Highlander Cats

Highlanders were created in the late 1990s by Joe Childers. He had been trying to develop a medium to large domestic cat with naturally short tails to resemble a lynx which he was calling a Desert Lynx. He was then offered a black domestic cat with curled ears that he named “Jungle Curl” to create the illusion that his cats were somehow wild. He bred with his Desert Lynx and called these cats Highland lynx. In 2004 a group brought the breed to TICA but shorten the name to Highlander to prevent any confusion that the breed was a wild species cross. In 2005, Highlanders began competing in The International Cat Association (TICA) in Preliminary New Breed category. The only allowed crosses were other domestic cats and no cat of a recognized breed was used in their development.

The breed developed into a medium size cat that is very confident and outgoing and is often compared to dogs in their friendly nature. In 2016 the breed entered Advanced New Breed category. In 2020 the breed was accepted by the American Cat Fanciers Association (ACFA) and became a recognized championship breed the following year.

In May 2025 the breed will be accepted by TICA as a recognized championship breed. These popular cats should have loosely curled ears and naturally short tails that range from 2 inches to hock in length. Sometimes the tails will have kinks or curls and occasionally even full length tails are found in their litters.

You may see people trying to say that Highlanders also have extra toes, but polydactl is not a trait of the breed and is an undesired trait because it can be associated with health conditions later in life.