Today I received a message from Daily Candy about a new exotic pet I could buy, called the Ashera. I clicked on the link to Lifestyle Pets, a company that may or may not be a fraud.
The Ashera cat is described as a genetically engineered cross between an African Serval, an Asian Leopard Cat and a domestic cat that has been bred to be “fully socialized,” great with kids, etc. You can order one for $22,000.
There seems to be some controversy over this cat, which many breeders insist is actually a Savannah….a hybrid breed that hasn’t been fully domesticated yet and sells for around $500 each.
What’s wrong with the people who want these poor animals? Is it just the status of owning a $22,000 pet (in the case of the Ashera) or the thrill of knowing your cat might suddenly turn on your neighbor’s children and eat them?
Are Bridgette Bardot and Tippy Hedren down with this shit?
The picture picture on the left, above, is the Ashera. The one on the right is a Savannah. Either one would make a nice hat or bolero, in my opionion, but not a pet.
Last week we took in a cat that’s been living in our backyard for a year. A real snaggle-puss: his body covered in scratches, a broken tooth, a slight limp, a big fat tomcat head. It’s doubtful anyone will ever want to turn him into a hat, but he’s so grateful to have a roof over his head and to be done with dining in garbage cans that he’s the best pet ever! For free!
I hate people.
Me, too. And cats.
These are indeed savannahs – DNA tests prove it. Though, anybody who has ever heard anything about bengals and savannahs would immediately shout “savannah” just based on the description. I used to subscribe to “Cats” magazine that went out of business sometime after internet bust and had articles about both, savannahs have been around for 10 years, bengals – for 20. Serval+domestic = savannah even if domestic cat is a bengal. Asian Leopard Cat+domestic = bengal, breed existed for over 20 years. Mix Serval and bengal and what would you get? Same cat as above and savannah by definition.
The cat on the picture is an F2 meaning it’s only a couple of generations from serval which means it’s still quite wild and needs people who actually know how to handle it. But an F5 savannah is a normal domestic cat, smaller than the one in the picture but with the similar coloring, and only about 3-7% of wild blood.
Who buys them? People who buy an F1 or an F2 are those who’d otherwise would’ve gotten a serval. Those who buy later generation are everyone who likes these cats’ coloring and personality that I heard was quite unique and more dog-like.
Oh, and the guy who markets Ashera has since changed his name to Simon Carradan and is now selling skis for $19,000.
BTW – “Mashutka” is the name of my regular shelter cat who is cute and loyal and wonderful.
I guess I must qualify as the Idiot in someone’s life as I am honored to be the caregiver of three Savannahs and one half-Bengal cat.
The Savannahs are F5s but, because of their breeding and that of their parents they are actually about 11% Serval…
They are different than regular (if there is such a thing) domestic cats… They seen to have a NEED to be up off the floor so they will travel on ALL
Eof your furniture… Especially dressers and bookcases!
They LOVE to drink (actually have better hydration) running water