The genetic difference between the Domestic Cat and their Wild Cat ancestor is very small. Only 7 genes if I recall correctly.
Among the changes is a meow that sounds more baby human like. A longer intestine to accommodate eating more human food. Legs are a bit shorter and coats much more varied in color. Dogs changed from Wolves far more. I think the article said 25 genes.
Dogs have been around 30,000 years and cats only 10,000. Additionally we heavily bred dogs for thousands of years and only started selective breeding of cats less than 200 years ago. Dogs are partners in a tribes. Cats are companions that just hung out with us.
I knew someone who kept Servals. They were friendly to their owners, and one let me pet it, but I would never have one as a pet. If one got pissed off at you, it could rip you to shreds.
PKBites, How do you know all this negative shit about caracals and the people who keep some of them? I think you’re just being a cop, and echoing the common American prejudice about keeping unusual and exotic animals as pets.
where somebody rescues a cat from the zoo or other bad situation but it cannot be rehabilitated to survive on its own. I think it’s OK as long as we are talking about a genuine rescue situation involving people who are equipped to take care of them (e.g. you can’t just keep a wild cat cooped up in an apartment; they need proper nutrition and exercise etc)
It’s hardly a prejudice. Very few people are prepared to do such a thing properly; and it’s cruel to the animals when they aren’t.
There are occasional exceptions, nearly always involving people trained in wildlife care for the particular species they’re housing, and animals who are unable to be released into the wild. But as a general rule, it’s neither an intelligent nor a kind thing to do.
I remember a couple of cases in which people kept a chimpanzee at home until the animal violently attacked someone. This is the Wikipedia article on one such case from 2009 in Connecticut. The human victim lost “9 fingers, nose, eyes, lips, and mid-face bone structure and received significant brain tissue injuries.”
Perhaps not every domesticated chimp or caracal ends up attacking someone, but I still think that you’re better off with a dog. Or a domestic cat, if you’re into that sort of thing.
The problem is that there are a lot of selfish, irresponsible Americans who purchase an animal without doing proper research on the animal’s needs. This can end badly for all.
I don’t have a problem with people who are qualified, able, and willing to give an animal a suitable home and fulfill the animal’s needs. Unfortunately, not everyone meets that standard.
They are crossed heavily for multiple generations with domestic cats. The idea is to get wild cat looks (and some slightly wild-type behavior), with more domestic cat behavior. The results are…mixed.
I know we have had or currently have people who own bengals and/or savanah cats (the same process only with multi-generation serval/domestic cat hybrids), so I don’t want to shit on them too heavily as pets .
But I wouldn’t own one. They’re absolutely beautiful and have some interesting behavioral features. But aside from the fact that they ten to be ridiculously expensive, they on average still have more behavioral issues than regular old domestics. Yes, yes - yours (generic yours) are perfect little angels. But many are not and one of the hardest genetic predilections to break is inappropriate scent-marking via urination.
That can be an issue even with domestic cats. It is worse with hybrids and often intractable and insolvable with wild cats of any sort.
Everybody knows about the negative shit with caracals and some of the people who own them. Anecdotes abound. Non-domestic animals make piss-poor pets. Though to be fair that’s a misnomer - as above the predatory ones that naturally scent mark will piss pretty much everywhere. Pet foxes for example will happily piss on your furniture, your rugs, your clothes, their toys, your head and each other - it’s an expression of possessive ownership.
Frankly caracals are probably worse than many exotic cats. Not only are they purportedly rather more aggressive than many other wild cats, but they are just a little more genuinely nocturnal than many as well.
Yes. we had one. And he was an f3, so closer to the wild. And he was one of the most laid back affectionate cats we have ever had, with the exception of our Maine coon mix. He also wasnt expensive. Basically the breeder didnt like the fact that his markings were muted, so he wasnt going to be bred. So we got him cheap with a promise not to breed him. He did have some throwback features, like a pelt, the occipital ridge, etc.
In general bengals, other than being very active- are not known to have any more behavior issues that any other breed of cats, so you are quite wrong. In fact the Siamese is the one breed people complain about.
Eh, dueling anecdotes. That one was plucked at random, but I trust shelters/sanctuaries that have to actually deal with surrenders on a regular basis over the sunny pronouncements of breeders and breed enthusiasts.
Which is not to doubt your own experience or that many bengals (and other hybrids) can’t make good pets. My old boss’s son had an apparently very well-behaved bengal as well. They’re certainly out there. It’s just that it’s a bit more of a genetic crapshoot than usual and you can be taking a risk of getting…well, not a dud. But a more-difficult-than-usual pet cat to manage.
This is why I don’t think cats domesticated humans by killing rodents for them. Humans already had rat terriers and those guys are relentless and untiring. I think they came because humans made tasty garbage and being all cute and sweet and purring caused tasty treats to happen. They just killed rodents for fun.
Foxes stink. Even when they haven’t pissed on anything they have a very strong odor. They are also cute as hell. They are the only wild animal I’m tempted to keep as a pet. As an outdoor pet. Because they stink.
When you learn how to read go back to the OP. There are dozens of videos out there of these things growling and hissing at their humans. The so-called humans don’t help matters by fucking with them. But the cats growl and hiss no matter what either way.
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