Do hybrid cats make good pets?
A hybrid cat is the result of
crossbreeding a wild cat with a
domestic cat. This combination does not
occur naturally. If you play God and
create a species that shouldn't exist,
you'd get exactly what you'd expect. Quite
like the controversial issues faced with
puppy mills, hybrid cats used for breeding
can face the same poor quality of life.
They are forced to live in a cage the
majority of their lives and they are
rarely ever socialized. These cats can
suffer from illnesses and live in filthy
conditions that are rarely detected
since they are not the subject of
inspections. During the breeding process
the domestic cats that are forced to breed
with wild cats can be killed. Many
pregnancies are aborted or even absorbed
by the mother cat's body when nature
determines that there's something wrong.
Kittens are often born prematurely due
to the variance of the gestation
periods between the wild cats and the
domestic cats that have been interbred.
Many of the first generations are
sterile, especially males. In some cases,
breeders may kill kittens born with an
undesirable appearance, or simply just
drop them off at a shelter. If your sole
purpose is money, there is no doubt that
breeding a hybrid cat will bring in
thousands of dollars. Why would you breed
a domestic purebreed cat for, let's say,
$200 when you can breed a hybrid that
can bring it in as much as $22,000. This
quest for high profits leads many
breeders to house too many cats under
poor conditions, and leads to poor
genetics, and more and more are interbred.
You want to put a wild cat in your home?
That will become its territory. A hybrid,
marking its territory, is very
instinctive whether it's a male or a
female, and most owners are unprepared
for the reality of living with the smell
of the wild constantly surrounding them.
Hybrid cats are also known to be
extremely destructive;
common complaints are ruined furniture,
clothing, and personal items. They are
still wild animals. They still need to
eat raw meat. They won't use the litter
box, and they most definitely won't let
you cuddle with them, or play with them.
Hybrids don't always get along with
other pets, and have been known to hunt
them down, even causing injury to
neighborhood dogs and cats. The elderly
and small children are seen as weak and
vulnerable to attack, as any prey would
be in the wild for these cats. They have
sharp teeth and claws, and instinctively
will use them. Many people goes as far as
declawing or removing teeth to make
these guys safe to keep in your house.
You cannot breed the wild behaviors out
of a Serval, Asian leopard cat,
jungle cats, or Jofferies cats by
interbreeding them with a domestic
cats for a couple of generations. When a
buyer spends thousands of dollars for a
wild-looking cat, they get exactly what
they are paying for: they get a cat with
wild tendencies. When the frustration
overcomes the owner,
all too often, they'll look for an easy
way out: they'll have the cat euthanized
when they can't find a rescue or a
shelter to take them in. Some have been
known to simply let them loose, forcing
them to survive on their own.
It's a sad, cruel fate for these cats
through no fault of their own. Finding a
veterinarian to take care of an exotic
animal is not easy, and when you do, it's
expensive. Hybrid cats have health
concerns that aren't normal to domestic
cats, including respiratory issues,
irritable bowel syndrome, and other
digestive issues. Vaccinations have not
been approved for hybrid animals, since
it's not known if regular vaccinations
will protect them. Many medications don't
work on these wild cats, either. With an
estimate of over 4 million pets
being killed each year in shelters, there
is no need to breed hybrid cats. These
cats rarely work out as pets and all
it's doing is adding to the
overpopulation issue that we have in our
shelters. If there's a home available for
a pet, it should be for an appropriate,
domestic pet not a wild animal. Here at
Big Cat Rescue, we have a few hybrid cats
on property where they will now live,
love, and be respected as the wild cats
that are truly meant to be. If you want
to learn more about hybrid cats,
volunteer, intern, donate or simply learn
more about us and our mission, visit
BigCatRescue.org today. EDITED-AP-DQ