This is a pic I drew for a contest hosted on DA. It's a subspecies I created of a catlike species that the other artist created called manxes. Here's a short description:

And btw, the two manxes in the picture are from the same litter and are about to leave on their spirit walk, when they return the will be put through a number of tests and if sucessful, will be considered adult members of their tribe. (Read more below.)
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The Highland/Sabre Manxes

These critters live in the high mountains where it snows year-round. They are descendants of three families who were outcast long before the ancient Manxes fell into different tribes. The families were banished into the mountains for being overtly violent amongst each other, due to a family fued held so long they no longer remembered why they were feuding. It was assumed that if they were all banished together, they would simply kill each other off. However, contrarily, they soon began to get along and breed, creating their own tribe.

After living in the mountains for centuries, they have adapted to the climate well and continue to survive and thrive.

Appearance
The Sabre Manxes are short and stout; they have very heavy builds and are heavily muscled. This is because they spend so much time climbing on sheer rock faces hunting small prey that moves quickly. Their coats are very thick with short but shaggy hair. They are mostly grey or brown and can have almost any kind of markings — from spots, to stripes to calico. They have long claws that are retractable on their forelegs only, and long fangs. Their ears are overly large to compensate for their almost complete lack of vision. These Manxes spend most over their lives underground or in very strong wind, which in the end caused too much damage to their eyes to last. They use sonar much like dolphin or bats, and have very long whiskers all over their bodies.

Culture
Highlanders live in a very harsh community. Survival is almost impossible in the caves, so it is absolutely necessary for each member of the community to not only pull their own weight, but to work together without having to be asked. From a young age, the cubs, no matter their gender, are made to work with their elders, learning the jobs that they will eventually take over — and most of the time they do much more than just watch. They are also made to sleep closest to the cave entrances so that they will grow “tough” skin as soon as they pass out of infancy.

Despite the gruff nature of the tribe, their sense of community, belonging and purpose is strong. They grow up knowing exactly who they are, what their purpose is and how to accomplish it. As long as they do what they need to, Sabres tend to form strong bonds with each member of their pack.

They are deathly loyal to the pack and will do whatever it takes to ensure the tribes survival.

Rites and Traditions
The biggest rite that these Manxes observe is a sort of spirit walk. When a cub reaches the age at which the tribe will consider it an adult, the cub is cast out from the tribe for a period of one week to survive on its own. This tradition serves a double purpose — one is to reinforce the necessity of working together as a tribe, but also to test the cub’s strength, determination and will to survive. For many cubs this is a strong spiritual experience as well as a physical one. The only way to survive beyond what they have learned growing up is to have some sort of faith that they will make it through. When the cub returns it is put through many tests including capturing a rat in an ice cave, properly dressing a wound (often a large gash on the cubs hind leg put there by the alpha male, the proper dressing being to freeze the wound while applying pressure until it stops bleeding) and finding water for the cubs. Only after the cub successfully passes all of these tests is it considered a full adult member of the tribe.

Other rites include a naming ceremony that happens yearly, a role assignment ceremony (where each cub is told what it’s job in the tribe for the rest of it’s life will be, this does not include assigning an alpha or beta male and female), and the passage of elders (when an adult is officially considered and elder of the tribe.).

Traditions include a once yearly week long hibernation, the mating ritual and of course one holiday where the whole tribe celebrates the blessings of the snow and mountain gods, who have helped them to survive another year.