Living with Wild Cat Hybrids

Living with Wild Cat Hybrids

I will briefly summarise what is on the page that you will go to if you click the link above this line of text.  There are those people who dislike the idea of breeding wild cat hybrids and they dislike the idea of people living with them.  On the other side of the coin you have people who adore wild cat hybrids. They adore exotic animals and wild cat hybrids are certainly that.  The wild cat hybrid owner has a bit of wild cat in her home.  These cats take the domestic cat out of the ordinary into the extraordinary and a lot of people love that.

F2 Savannah cats playing

But there are problems.  One of the obvious ones is that people have a desire to possess a beautiful and exotic domestic cat but are not well informed or prepared enough to know what it is like to care for such a cat. They may have misplaced expectations about caring for a wild cat hybrid.  This can be particularly the case when the hybrid is a first filial which means that the father is a wild cat and the mother is a domestic cat.  These cats have a lot of wild in them which presents extra challenges when caring for them.

More input is required from the human caretaker when looking after a hybrid.  Carole Baskin (Big Cat Rescue) strongly dislikes the idea, the whole concept, of wild cat hybrids.  She hates them, it seems to me. Her strong dislike may make her biased and unable to present a balanced view about this trend in domestic cat ownership.

Provided a person is fully educated about wild cat hybrids and knows how to care for such a cat and has the time, the patience, the money, the space and facilities etc., etc., to do a good job then it is hard to argue against wild cat hybrids.

However, you will notice a lot of examples of human carelessness, overambition and over expectation in respect of wild cat hybrid caretaking.  People tend to reach too far and believe that they can look after, for example, a first filial wild cat hybrid when they can't.  They may discover that late in the day after their cat is urinated everywhere and destroyed their home and messed up their lives, they can't cope.

I am exaggerating because I don't think it can be as bad as that but I'm sure that there are quite a few people who had high expectations of having a wonderful time with a wild cat hybrid as part of their family to only discover that the cat simply puts pressure on the family and they have to relinquish the cat.  And then where do you think the cat was taken to: a rescue centre?  Not much chance of survival there for an exotic cat that the previous owner was unable to care for adequately.  Not a good history for the cat.  Not a good recommendation.  Not a good CV.

I know a couple, in America, who looked after a first filial Chausie. They are excellent cat caretakers but they found their first filial wild cat hybrid too much of a handful.  I think the husband described the cat as if he was on crack cocaine.  I guess he meant that the cat was active perhaps hyperactive on occasions.  The first filial wild cat hybrid is demanding but incredibly loving and connected to his human caretaker.  That is beautiful but it is demanding.

There are so many issues to discuss with respect to the subject.  Briefly here is another one.  The super exotic cats put the common domestic cat into the shade which is unfair because the common domestic cat is, quite frankly and to be honest, a better domestic cat.  The ordinary domestic cat will probably make you happier even if you do hanker after something more exotic.  It may be wise to curtail your ambitions if you desire to live with an exotic wild cat hybrid.

Another issue: not uncommonly you read of escaped wild cat hybrids. Here is just one of many examples.

Another issue: legalities. Is it legal where you are to have a wild cat hybrid? If so what type is legal? 5th filial? You have to check that. There is a gradual squeeze of exotic animal ownership in America through increased legislation.

I have an obligation to state that fifth and sixth filial wild cat hybrids are very much like your standard domestic cat because there is very little wild blood in them.  It is a point that is worth making.  But then again if a person is adopting a wild cat hybrid that has very little wildcat in them you somehow remove the whole point of having a wild cat hybrid in the first place.