I had no idea what kind of cat this person was talking about, so I looked it up. I wonder if this is the Arizona breeder mentioned above. http://www.cactusrun.net/chausie.html If so, I wonder how they would feel about this situation. :neutral:
This irresponsible person deserves no money. She can take mom and the kittens to a rescue group and then make a large donation to the rescue for their medical care - FIV/FeLV test, treatment for worms, fleas, ear mites, future S/N surgery, not to mention the cost of food and litter.
Yup and those kittens aren't pure, they are a mix of whatever she mated with. If she was responsible, she'd simply place them in a shelter. Rehomeing fee. . .for a cat that lived feral for two years??? Sounds more like she wants some gas money. She says the cat is 3 so she had it for a year, she should have had her spayed. On the loose for 2 years and not being vetted, she could also have feline leukemia. Highly contageous. Rescue groups and shelters test for this.
True, but most people that purchase something that is considered a rare breed will not have the creature fixed, in the possible event that they would like to breed it in the future. Granted a responsible pet owner wouldn't have let such a rare breed of animal escape to become semi-feral in the first place. Craig
Evidently the cat's are part wild anyway...I am sure it is a very pretty (and big) cat. If I didn't have a full house I'd adopt (not pay for) her. From Wikipedia: Chausie A Chausie is a hybrid of the domestic cat Felis catus and Felis chaus, the Jungle Cat. Generations are identified by F1, F2 etc, with F1 being the offspring of the original cat and jungle cat mating. Males in the F1 to F4 generations are usually sterile. The domestic cat breed most widely used for Chausies is the Abyssinian (cat), because they have the same look and active habits as a Jungle Cat but are very much smaller. A Chausie, due to the various sizes of the parents, can weigh between 15 and 30 pounds (when full grown the males are larger than the females). They were first bred in the late 60's or 70's to provide a safer alternative to keeping full jungle cats as pets. The breed was granted registration status with the TICA in March 1995. In February 2001 it was allowed in showhalls when it was changed to evaluation status. It was changed to Advanced New Breed (ANB) status as of May 2003. Chausie males typically weigh about 25 pounds, while females tend to be smaller. Individuals considering keeping Chausies should be aware of the cats' much larger requirement for space and activity. Digestive tract problems have been occasionally associated with this breed; some cats may be gluten-intolerant, and have trouble digesting commercial catfood which contains wheat or other gluten grains.
Usually when you buy a rare/expensive breed they are fixed from the breeder, unless you pay a substantial amount more for a breeder. They have two categories: pet/breeder.
Wow, kittens of this breed go for $800 - $1500 for a well socialized cat. I like my "free" kitties, thanks. Although we know no cat is ever really free.... Links also said most F1-F4 males are sterile (like mules). Maybe she figured her girl would be sterile, too.
Hey, JMO but if I bought a rare breed of cat and intended to breed it for financial gain, I'd be showing that cat and winning points and ribbons so I could find a good stud for them (cat fanciers typically find mates for their cats at shows - and breed to other champion stock - much like dog breeders - the REAL ones, not the backyard variety) This lady never mentioned it had been a show cat, and just her acting like these kittens held any more financial value than the average kitten in a shelter is pure dillusion. ANY kitten with a pricetag of over around 200.00 NEEDS to come from champion stock, or you are just wasting your $. AND IF that rare breed of kitty ran out the door,(or any kitty I owned for that matter) you can be darned tootin' that I'd be on the horn with the local animal shelter or rescue group and borrow a trap to catch my kitty ((the person mentioned they caught glimpses of the cat from time to time over two years)) Heck, I'd even BUY a cat trap to catch it and get it back if I needed to. And like someone posted - read it a few min ago and talked on the phone since - attention span of a flea today - reputable breeders sell pet quality and breed quality - pet quality are spayed either prior to the sale OR with a written agreement to spay/neuter when the kitten is old enough - if they sell them younger than 3 months and they follow up to get documentation of that spay/neuter. Their show quality kittens go for top dollar and even then the better breeders usually are picky on who these kittens go to.
The cat they are talking about a rare breed of house cat - it isn't an exotic per say - like having a monkey or an oscelot. . .nothing you would need a permit for. They look pretty much like a run of the mill cat - nothing spectacular IMHO.
Same thoughts here. There used to be a breeder here locally that would have a booth set-up at the Exotic Animal shows that had a rare "exotic" breed of cat, which basically a cross breed between a Lynx (if I'm not mistaken) and a house cat. Had the mannerisms of the house cat while some of the markings of the Lynx and weighed in about 28-32 lbs. when fully grown. beautiful cats but not worth the $275+ prices they were asking. On a side note there is a man in the mountains who is licensed by both the state and federal governments to raise, breed, and sale big cats. All of which have a tendonectomy (sp.) performed before beng sold. And he has brought some of his big cats to the shows before and they are very calm and docile, but like any domesticated wild animal they can turn at any minute. Craig
