Desert Lynx

Desert Lynx cat
photo copyright www.hybridexotics.com see base of post for details

Introduction

The Desert Lynx is a wild looking but mild acting domestic cat. So what is this cat breed, what are the parent cats that go to make up this hybrid? This is one of the wildcat hybrids the best known of which is the Bengal cat (Asian Leopard cat X Domestic cat) and the Savannah (Serval X Domestic). The Desert Lynx is an American Bobcat X Domestic cat hybrid (and see American Bobcat hybrids ). The International Desert Lynx Cat Association (IDLCA) allows the following domestic cats to be outcrossed to the wild Bobcat: Manx, American Bobtail, American Lynx, Maine Coon, or Pixie-Bob. The Manx and Pixie-bob are short tailed cats. The Manx can suffer from a genetically inherited condition called Manx Syndrome (see Manx Cats). You might want to see Genetic Diseases in Purebred Cats as well. Breeders are nearly always responsible people and do all they can to minimize/eliminate health issues related to the breed of cat that concerns them. Some cat breeds, on the face of it, are healthier than others in terms of genetically linked diseases. It seems that at one time the Abyssinian cat was an acceptable outcross to the American Bobcat.

Desert Lynx cats of the third generation (F3) and beyond (from the initial wildcat/domestic cat mating) are mated to Desert Lynx cats only under IDLCA rules. This seems to imply that F2 cats can be bred to the original Bobcat (correct me if I am incorrect by leaving a short comment).

IDLCA is a "Chartered Breed Association" to the Progressive Cat Breeders Alliance, which is a cat registry that recognizes the Desert Lynx cat. IDLCA is the only Chartered Breed Association in relation to this breed of cat. The Rare & Exotic Feline Registry (REFR) also recognizes the Desert Lynx, which they say is bred to resemble the American Bobcat. They also say that there has been selective breeding of the Desert Lynx with many other breeds of domestic cat. This seems to slightly contradict IDLCA policy on the breeding of this cat.

Update: The information provided is from the breeders etc. Apparently DNA testing does not support that there is bobcat blood in this cat breed.

Appearance

This cat breed will of course have a short tail that can vary in length from half a tail to no tail at all (see tail lengths in relation to the Manx). The coat patterns are leopard (spotted tabby - rosettes or spots in ebony, blue, bronze, chocolate, sorrel, lilac and fawn), tawny (ticked - see Abyssinian for classic ticked coat), and clouded leopard. There are also marble patterned coats (see marbled Bengal cats as an example of this pattern). And silver (see above), sepia and snows. Coat length is shorthair (slight ruff and ear tufts) to medium-long haired.

The Desert Lynx is a stocky and muscular cat. Interestingly a well known website says that DNA testing has not established that this cat has a wildcat ancestor.

Please note: Desert Lynx - Photo header: Despite emailing the breeder without response, I have taken the extreme liberty of publishing this photograph of Stich, a male Desert Lynx Breeder from the Hybrid Exotics website without express permission. I have only done this once before when building the Miniature cats page. The breeder of Miniature cats eventually responded to my email and agreed. I believe that she has benefited greatly from the arrangement as the page ranks first on Google searches and has done for a considerable time as at the date of this post and I provided a large link to the cattery in return. If the breeder wants me to remove the photo I will immediately. I have provided a link to the cattery at the top of this page in return for the use of the picture.

From Desert Lynx to Bengal cat