The Exotic Cat Breeds of the World
Exotic cat breeds are becoming more in demand and more readily available due to their unique look. This is a form of "designer cat" - a type of cat that is designed by humans, purely for the look.
These types of cats are sometimes domestic cat/wild cat hybrids which can include cats such as the Savannah and the Chausie.
With exotic cats and hybrid cat breeds, there are basically only two lines of thought: those against these types of cats and those that are in favour of these new breeds of cats.
People who are opposed to this kind of cross-breeding believe that it is not in the best interest of the cats to try and mix wild cats with domestic cats as issues do arise where personalities and genetics are concerned. After all, a wild cat will always retain some of its wildness.
The other line of thought is that with natural habitats and species becoming more threatend every day, we should try anything to preserve the wild genes of the magnificent wild cats.
The most exotic cats such as the Safari and the Serval fall into the category of tamed wild cats. This means that these cats were not cross-bred with other wild cats, they are essentially a wild cat species on their own.
Other cats that fall into the category of exotic cat breeds are:
The Safari
The Safari is a cross between a domestic cat and Geoffroy's cat.
The Sokoke
The Sokoke is a natural breed of cat, occuring natively in Kenya.
The Toyger
The foundation cats for the Toyger cat breed was a big-boned Bengal cat and a striped domestic shorthair cat.
The Serengeti
The Serengeti cat was created by Karen Sausman, owner of Kingsmark Cattery.
The Ocicat
The Ocicat is a large cat breed with a sleek semi-foreign body type and was created by accident by Virginia Daly in 1964.
Whatever your point of view is on exotic cat breeds, the fact remains that these types of cats require special handling.
They need space and you will have to be willing to spend the time and the money to ensure that the cat gets the special care that it needs and deserves.
