With all the cat posts lately…
Anybody have any knowledge/experience with big cats?
When I had cats, they would listen and behave BETTER than most dogs I’ve known. I believe I could handle a bobcat.
What do you know about it?
I think wild animals should stay in the wild. Even though they seem tame when they are young, they can kill and will always remain wild. They should be for experienced handlers only. Look at all the big cat rescue groups that are full of abused and neglected animals that come from owners who thought they could handle them.
If you want a bobcat, get a pixie bob. It’s a domesticated breed of cat that is part bobcat and looks and acts like a bobcat. They even have short tails, the same markings, and jump/bound when they walk!
I think cats should have tails and that bobcats would look better with a long tail but would not consider - say a mountain lion. Just 35#'s - like a bobcat. Are pixie bob’s in that size range?
I also believe that a so called domestic house type cat that is not treated right will act “wild.” If a house cat has kittens outside and away from humans, those kittens will be crazy and wild.
A friend of mine has several wolf hybirds. I went with him to at least five breeders and played with many full wolves. These animals were just like any big dog I’ve met.
There are also mass quantities of domestic dogs and cats in the pounds because people could not properly care/handle them.
I still do not think it is out of the question.
Wolves and wolf hybrids aren’t necessarily germane to the discussion. Wolves and dogs are pack animals. Most big cats (certainly bobcats) are solitary, territorial hunters. Felines don’t interact with humans and each other in the same way canines do.
I have family in the wild animal business. (Importing, buying and selling for large zoos.) I’ve been around bobcats, lynx and lions since I was a small child. Most of my family’s cats have been bottle-raised and have never known life in the wild. Despite their constant proximity to humans, these animals are very dangerous and must be kept in pens at all times and be tranquilized for handling.
Big cats are not house cats. blink is 100% correct–bobcats will always be wild animals and they are not safe to keep as pets. No way, no how, nuh-uh. If no one ever listens to anything else I say on these boards, listen to this: exotic animals are not pets.
And I’m not even getting into the permit and licensing nightmare involved in owning big cats legally. Just trust me, you don’t want a bobcat and you shouldn’t have one.
A bangladeshi friend of mine told me that earlier this century, social status in his country was tied to what size “big cat” you had, if you were aristocratic. IIRC his great grandfather had a jaguar or puma or something. I guess the creme de la creme would be a Bengal Tiger, but possibly harder to look after (and considerably less cuddly to find curled up on your bed in the morning).
True that exotic animals should not be pets though. The problem is when this - god it’s sooo cute I SO want one!! - turns into THIS…
…and yeah yeah I know it’s not actually the same species, but still…
Never have a pet or an kitchen appliance that can casually dismember you.
I love cats, including big cats, but I’d never have a pet I couldn’t restrain with one hand while dialing 911 with the other.
Some people keep African Servals as pets. I think their really cool.
http://animal-world.com/encyclo/featured_pets/Dog_Cat/SaraServal/Serval.htm
http://centralpets.com/pages/critterpages/mammals/exotic_cats/ECT2898.shtml
http://www.valleystables-exotics.com/serval.htm
I asked about it in GQ, and the response was, well, less than encouraging.
That is, I think they’re really cool.
Go ahead - get a bobcat - the world needs more Darwins…
Um, no. Trust me on this, as I spent a weekend staying at a house that maintains a veritable stable of exotic cats on the premises.
Exotic cats are not pets. They are wild animals, and even if raised from birth by humans still have that “wild” gene, no matter how much you love them. My old roommate’s parents raise wildcats: servals, bobcats, lynxes, caricles, bobcats, and ocelots. They are beautiful, but still dangerous.
Their back yard looks like our local mini-zoo. The runs for the animals are huge, and take up most of the hillside. There is a lot of barbed wire at the top of each run, and double-lock doors are the only entrance/exit to the pens. They also have to keep an electrified fence, which will zap the crap out of your electricity bill. (They also have to have a generator in case the power goes out, and a genny that will run a fence that big is not cheap.) These animals eat a LOT of food. Her parents feed them a specialized balanced diet, but they also feed them raw chicken, which even in bulk is expensive.
This is all cheap, considering how much you would have to pay to maintain a decent habitat for the cats, and get proper licensing just to even own a cat. Plus, you have to be ready for random inspections at all times. Add in vet bills (which you need a vet who specializes in wildcats) and you’ve spent a small fortune for an animal that isn’t a pet.
The cats are absolutely gorgeous; I went in the cages and got to pet a few of the more friendly ones. I even got licked by a Canadian Lynx. (That was really cool, until he tried to take my hand off.)
Here is a link to their website, which has some great pictures.
http://www.premierbrass.com/cats/cats.html The Canadian Lynx near the bottom of the page is the one that licked me. (He’s a cutie!)
I recommend you get a Maine Coon cat, which is domesticated, and stick with that. (Much easier on your wallet in the long run!)
Damn it!!!
Not what I wanted to hear. Guess I’ll have to settle for another Maine Coon.
Thanks for the links.
Happyheathen Go ahead - get a bobcat - the world needs more Darwins… - Yeah right and how the hell do you know?
Every time I walk outside, I am surrounded by Darwin-oughtta-be’s…
Or did you mean that even small cats will turn on their keepers? I used know a caretaker at the zoo - they never handle a cat unless it’s unconcious or well restrained.
Me? I would never get within claw range (adding in potential leap).
p.s. - bobcats are closer to 25-30# - go for the cougar! 
>>Every time I walk outside, I am surrounded by Darwin-oughtta-be’s…
What are you trying to say? Do you mean that I am stupid and should be dead? If so than you are violating the SDMB’s rule about being a jerk
>>Or did you mean that even small cats will turn on their keepers?
WTH are you talking about?
>>I used know a caretaker at the zoo - they never handle a cat unless it’s unconcious or well restrained.
Not the same as a pet.
>>Me? I would never get within claw range (adding in potential leap).
p.s. - bobcats are closer to 25-30# - go for the cougar!
Gee thanks - don’t know what I would do without you.
I recommend Ragdolls with all my heart. I am owned by two of them, and they are huge! My widdle boy Merci is now 22 pounds, and still growing. His puny brother, Shoogie, is a mere 16 pounds. They will continue to grow for the next year, albeit at a slow rate until maturity.
If you want a large housecat, you can’t go wrong with MaineCoons or Ragdolls. But exotics give me the willies. You have this large predator that may one day consider you to be prey. You’re better off with a domesticated breed, IMHO. Domesticated cats remember The Great One that opens the cans, and scoops the litter! No such guarantee with exotics. An exotic may look at you one day and think “That’s the tasiest looking Gazelle I’ve seen all day!”
Juniper200:
Good point about the wolves. I inserted that point because it seems to dispel the notion that “wild” animals are permanently and always wild and dangerous.
Would you guys say that a wolf is to dangerous to keep as a pet?
Truthbot: I was thinking about one of each - they are some cool cats.
You might consider a Bengal Cat; they seem to be the best of both worlds, but I’m doubting they’d get up to 35 pounds.
Thanks Dijon those are indeed very cool cats.
bookmarked for the next time I need a new kitten
There are a few Dopers who own Bengals; and Ian Anderson of Jethro Tull fame raises them, as well (Here’s a link to his cat page). They’d be my choice if I lived somewhere that allowed cats.
Some do Bengals do. Mr. Ben and I have two Bengals, one of whom has a 37 pound father. Our cat isn’t that big – only about 20/22 pounds (and god help us if he ever fills his bony little self out), but you might be able to find a giant one. You’d have to shop around for breeders I guess. The breeder from whom we got ours wasn’t breeding for size, but for pattern and color and Bart takes after his mother physically.
Some do Bengals do. Mr. Ben and I have two Bengals, one of >>whom has a 37 pound father
Far out!
they have that exotic look too.
Thanks