Mild-mannered moggies are increasingly being replaced by new breeds in which African or South American wildcats have been crossbred with domestic cats.
Despite price-tags of up to £6,000 for new kittens, breeders report waiting lists of up to six months.
The savannah, the most popular, is bred from a serval, a cheetah-like wildcat found in Africa. It can grow three times larger than a domestic cat and can jump 7ft vertically. ...
“They are going to do a lot more damage than a normal domestic cat. Their paws are bigger, they are stronger and they will bite deeper. Just because you can tame one, doesn’t mean you can tame all.”
Claire Bessant, from the FAB, said: “This is a scary trend. The savannah is a big cat that is close to the wild. We are introducing something that is likely to have issues and it worries me a lot."
An RSPCA spokesman said: “The savannah cat is likely to exhibit a range of temperamental characteristics from both domestic cats and the wildcat species, and as such could prove to be dangerous.”
Beth Skillings, from Cats Protection, said: “Any new wildcat hybrid is likely to retain traits related to its wildcat ancestry."
via Supercats that may still be too wild for a family home - Telegraph.
Perhaps crossbred cats will become the new attack dogs.
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