Petzlover
The Safari Cat, hailing from the USA, is one of the rarest breeds of cats. There are only about 70 of these cats registered at the International Cat Association.
The Safari cat is a mix of a moggy and Geoffroy's cat. At first, the cat was used for research purposes by Washington State University but then cat breeders took over the development of the breed.
The name ‘Safari’ was chosen because of its wild look.
The hybrid Safari cat is a medium to large-sized cat that at first weighed in the region of 15kg, but the cat now weighs roughly 11kg.
Its body is much like that of the wild parent, the Geoffroy – muscular and compact. The ears aren’t particularly large and are smallish, rounded ears with a fairly broad head.
It has a typical wild cat look and is a spotted or rosetted cat breed. Below the spots, the coat is a silvery grey shade.
The coat which is short actually comes in a variety of colors that come from both cat breeds. The eyes of this cat are either yellow or green. The Safari cat certainly has a wild cat appearance, because of the cross-breeding. This is a rare cat and because of this, there is no breed standard for it.
They can live to be between 17 and 20 years of age.
Even though one of the parent breeds is a wild cat, the Safari cat is described as an easy-going cat that can make a good pet.
The cat is very intelligent and playful and will enjoy swimming and climbing. It is for this purpose that he needs to have quite a large outside enclosure with a pool of sorts so that he can paddle.
There isn’t much information on their interaction with children and other pets in the home. While they are quite likely to make good pets where there are children, there would have to be supervision where there are small children. During play, these cats can bit. It would be extremely important to teach children to respect any animal and to be gentle and kind to them.
As a hybrid cat, your Safari is interesting alright, but unfortunately, you can’t ever be 100% sure of a hybrid cat. It needs careful consideration before you bring one into your home.
Apart from coming into the home from time to time, hybrid cats need an outside enclosure too that is securely fenced and gated and with a roof.
You made a decision to buy a cat with a wild side. It may live up to all your expectations but it may not either.
When you do research you find that the biggest number of behavioral complaints from owners of hybrid cats are about aggression issues and the refusal to use a litter box when indoors.
There is still a raging debate going on as to whether hybrids make suitable pets, but when you bring any animal into your home, as a responsible adult it is your job to provide well for it to ensure its happiness.
The Safari cat isn’t a particularly well-known breed so there isn’t much information on their health. They can suffer from the same illnesses as non-hybrid domestic cats.
Certain hybrid breeds, such as the Safari, can sometimes have issues with reproduction as some cats are infertile. Domestic cats and wild cats have a different number of chromosomes and this results in reproductive problems, and stillbirths are quite common.
It is recommended that you brush this cat each week. He isn’t a big shedder but the brushing once a week keeps the fur in good condition, removing loose hairs and dust.
A high protein diet is imperative. Cats are carnivores and a meat diet is imperative. You can speak to your vet or a cat expert about feeding your Safari cat. Certainly, they need to be fed high-quality cat food. These foods are available in wet and dry form.
He will definitely need some raw meat. Make sure you understand the ingredients in some low- quality cat foods as corn for cats can be a problem for them, hard to digest and it could cause intestinal problems.