Chausie

It comes from crosses between the jungle cat (Felis chaus), a wild cat found from Egypt to South-East Asia, and domestic cats, mainly Abyssinians. TICA registered it in 1995 and gave it championship status in 2013. It is a large, tall, long-legged cat with big ears that sometimes end in a tuft. It is very active, intelligent and loyal to its family, but it gets bored easily and needs space and constant company. Like the Savannah, it is bred by generations (F1, F2…) and only the later ones, F4 onwards, make reasonable companion cats. It is not a cat for first-time owners or for a small flat where it would spend many hours alone.

Daily active play, lots of vertical space, windows with strong netting and, preferably, another cat or a dog to play with. It copes badly with being alone. Many breeders recommend a diet high in animal protein because some do not tolerate cereal-rich kibble well. For early generations, check the regulations where you live and insist on paperwork: in Spain, Law 7/2023 provides for a positive list, and the wild ancestor is listed in CITES Appendix II.

In later generations it is a robust cat with no well-described inherited diseases of its own. Males of the early generations are usually sterile. Some have a sensitive gut and delicate digestion. An echocardiogram is advisable, as for any large cat.