Hybrid Cats – Problematic Exotic Breeds

Hybrid cats are the result of a mating between a (domesticated) female cat / tomcat (less common) and a wild cat species. Mating with a wild cat gives the offspring an unusual appearance, similar to that of a wild animal. Well-known exotic breeds include Savannah cats: Crossbreed serval (Leptailurus serval) and domestic cat (Felis catus); Caracat: caracal (Caracal caracal) and domestic cat; Bengal cat: Asian leopard cat (Prionailurus bengalensis) and domestic cat; Chausie: Jungle cat (Felis chaus) and domestic cat.

The first offspring from a mating are labelled F1 (F= Filial generation). These animals still have a high proportion of their wild parent in them. The offspring from an F1 and domestic cat mating then form the F2 generation, and so on. With each subsequent generation, the proportion of wild cat genes diminishes. From F5 generation onwards cats, for example, such as those mentioned above, are no longer considered a hybrid cats and may then be legally kept by private persons (depending on local regulations and restrictions).

Important: Before you buy or adopt a hybrid cat, it is essential that you find out what the national or local legislation is in your country. It specifies from which generation, and under which conditions you are allowed to keep such an exotic breed.

It is important to realise that wild and domestic cats are not natural breeding partners and they only mate when forced to do so. For the female domestic cat, mating – depending on the wild mating partner – can cause significant stress, pain, suffering and in some cases even death through a powerful neck bite.

The mating act of cats can be harmful to the domestic female cat. Normally, the male waits for the right moment and then pounces on the female from behind, bites her on the neck and pushes her to the ground while inserting his barbed penis. When the male subsequently withdraws, the backward-pointing spines of his penis injure the female's vagina, a process that is anything but pleasant for the cat. When a male caracal mates with a domestic cat, for example, the female is clearly inferior to the male in terms of body size and weight (male caracal up to 125 cm long / shoulder height up to 50 cm / up to 19 kg in weight to domestic cat 51 cm long / shoulder height up to 25 cm / up to 5 kg in weight) therefore this can cause significant pain and damage as a result.

Domestic and wild cats each have a different number of chromosomes, which further complicates live births from both and can lead to infertility in male hybrids up to the F3 generation, which is why female domestic cats are usually used for exotic breeding. To make matters worse, the gestation periods of the two species are different, for example, the domestic cat 52 - 74 days and the caracal is 68 - 81 days. As a result, kittens can be born prematurely or stillborn. As the hybrid kittens are significantly larger than normal kittens, this can lead to very difficult births where the mother often does not survive. Wild cat mothers can also ultimately reject their kittens of they are too small.

Hybrid cats are vulnerable to health problems. The most frequently observed diseases include chronic inflammatory bowel disease, diarrhoea, persistent infections with an intestinal parasite (Tritrichomonas foetus), hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, which is a heart muscle disease as well as progressive retinal atrophy and luxating patellae. Although these health restrictions can also affect domestic cats, a higher incidence can be observed in hybrid cats.

It is not without reason that the keeping of first-generation hybrid cats is either prohibited or subject to strict conditions. The dominance of wild animal genes makes harmonious cohabitation with them almost impossible. Even the keeping of animals from later generations, which in some countries are legal to keep privately, can be problematic. For example, a survey of Bengal cat owners found that the most common problem behaviours were destructive behaviours often exhibited when they are bored and unable to hunt, followed by ‘pica’, an eating disorder where the cats eat non-food items, an increased aggression towards other animals, and urinating outside the litter tray (similar to ‘marking their territory’). They are also notorious for their loud yowling at night, which is similar to behaviours seen of their wild counterparts.