Want to own a leopard? That probably wouldn't be legal, but for $22,000 you can have the next best thing. A company called
Lifestyle Pets is selling what it claims is a cross between an African Serval, an Asian Leopard Cat and a domestic cat. So it's like a smaller, tamer version of a leopard. They call this cat an Ashera. Their product page says, "Fully socialized, the Ashera gets along well with children and other pets and unusually for cats, the Ashera takes well to being walked on a leash."
At first when I saw the Lifestyle Pets website, I thought it was some kind of elaborate hoax in the vein of
GenPets. But the Ashera seems to be real. At least, it's being widely reported
in the news. And these cats look big! (Well, big for cats.) I don't think any other cats in the neighborhood would mess with them. Not many dogs would either, I would bet. It would look pretty cool walking one of these cats around the neighborhood, but for $22,000 they're a bit out of my price range.
Comments
adj. loos
http://www.savannahcatbreed.com/habari.shtml
The Ashera, in my opinion, is a Savannah, it could be registered as one with the The International Cat Assn. with a BIG price tag.
Nothing new or innovative about crossing the Serval to a cat with Asian Leopard background, I have a houseful of them. They use the litterbox, eat cat food like any other cat.
Yes, but it'll also be a very wild cat. But I think DNA tests prove that Brodie wasn't breeding cats but just buying savannahs from a breeder and reselling them.
Incidentally, I read that TICA doesn't allow bengals as outcrosses any more and the reason is that it's feared that asian leopard cat blood will mess up savannah personality. A serval is very loyal to humans it's brought up with, but Asian Leopard Cat isn't. Asian Leopard Cat blood would really mess up savannahs.
Oh, and without papers and pedigree, the cat shouldn't be sold for more than a shelter cat.