History of the origin of the Savannah breed
The breed was first introduced in 2006 and caused an unprecedented stir. The Asherah cat is a controversial product of American breeding, named after the supreme Semitic goddess Asherah.
Felinology still does not recognize the Asher as a separate breed, considering it a variety of Savannah. This opinion is confirmed by studying Ashera DNA, despite the fact that the breeders claimed that the breed was independent. The ancestors of the breed are the same representatives of cats as the Savannah: the Serval and the domestic Bengal cat in combination with an ordinary cat. Therefore, it is believed that it is more correct to call exclusive cats with a double title - Savannah Asher.
The history of the Savannah breed goes back more than 30 years. Breeders sought to create a large animal with a kind and easy-going disposition, an excellent companion for children, who could easily get along with other animals. At the same time, it was desirable to preserve the predatory appearance of the serval and Asian leopard in the bred pet, ridding it of the habits of a wild cat. Big cats of the Asher breed have all these qualities no less than Savannahs.
The breed distinguishes four types of cats:
- royal Asherah;
- snowy;
- classical;
- hypoallergenic.
Features of the character of the caracat
The character of cats is partly inherited from their mother and father. Papa Caracal represents calm, caution and cunning, an example of a natural flexible mind. Children get all this splendor from it, while becoming a pet.
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The Caraquet kitten is obedient and curious, there is no aggression in it, so playing with it is a pleasure for any family member. But cats are wary of strangers, although there have been no cases of attacks.
Domestic rodents and birds make you want not to communicate, but to dine, which complicates their coexistence in the same territory. Caraquet kittens get along well with children, but if the children are overly active, the cat will simply go to a secluded place.
The love of cats for domestic cats is expressed vigorously, in this the breed resembles dogs with their devotion and desire to follow the owner everywhere.
Raising and training a pet
The Caraquet cat has inherited a lively mind, so it is easy to train and educate. The nickname is remembered from the first days. The cat will bring abandoned toys to the person and follow simple commands.
Training takes place in stages, as with any other cat. It’s also easy to accustom your baby to a scratching post, a latrine, or walking on a leash or harness.
Breed standards
The large domestic cat Asher has certain qualities of the breed that regulate the appearance and proportions of the animal. Almost identical requirements apply to her relative Savannah.
The Asher breed is distinguished by its height - an adult cat can reach a meter in height. Moreover, the animal has a narrow, elongated, somewhat disproportionate body with long legs and a tail. Cats are very elegant and graceful. The maximum weight of a cat is 12 kg, a cat is 14 kg.
The animals have a small, elongated head. The ears are wide at the base, narrowing and rounding towards the tips. Eyes are most often of two colors - olive and yellow.
The coat is short, smooth, and lies close to the body.
The color depends on the type of cat:
- The Royal Asherah is the most rare. The variety is distinguished by a small number of bright golden spots on the skin.
- The hypoallergenic variety implies a fairly variegated color on a sandy or light brown background. Ashera's wool contains a minimal amount of protein that causes allergic reactions.
- Snow Ashera is very similar to a snow leopard. The silver coat and numerous dark spots make the cat unique.
- The usual type of breed provides the classic leopard color (sparse stripes instead of spots are acceptable).
Savannah cat character
The Ashera cat breed is distinguished by its amazing friendliness and sociability. They are able to get along with any other animals, including rodents and birds. Cats into old age retain the playful disposition of a kitten and the devotion of a dog.
Cats can be trained: they quickly remember commands and happily carry them out.
You can walk the streets with the cat; he loves water and can play with a ball in the company of his owner.
However, this type of character also has its drawbacks - pets of the Asher breed need to be given a lot of time. Without attention, the animal quickly becomes restless and reacts worse to its owner.
Asherah kittens may react inappropriately to various stimuli, such as loud music, touching, and intrusive attention from strangers.
Health and life expectancy
The cat of the Ashera breed has excellent health. However, its digestive tract is quite delicate. Therefore, you will have to choose your diet very carefully and prepare food for your cat correctly. In addition, the pet needs a lot of space to play; limited space can harm the cat’s cardiovascular and musculoskeletal systems.
If all maintenance rules are followed (proper cat nutrition, care, regular medical procedures), cats can live up to 20 years. However, any violation significantly shortens the pet’s life.
Care and hygiene
Ashera is an unpretentious breed in care and maintenance. The cats are short-haired, shed very lightly and do not develop tangles. They should be brushed once a week with a gentle brush. You can bathe cats no more than once a month (less often is better), only after obvious contamination that causes discomfort.
Many owners suffer from their pets’ love of sharpening their claws on walls and furniture, but this animal’s claws should be trimmed only in extreme cases using a special nail clipper. It is better to accustom the animal to the scratching post and walk it more often.
Asher's diet
Dry food, even the highest quality, is strictly prohibited for cats of this breed. Ashers have special digestive abilities and can eat ready-made food only as an addition to the main diet.
It is important to feed a luxurious animal with natural meat and fish, for example, veal, turkey, and marine fish. You can also add stewed vegetables and bird eggs to your diet.
To prevent damage to the animal’s delicate digestive tract, it is necessary to give meat after removing the bones. Before serving to the animal, purchased products must be frozen for three days, and then thawed and treated with boiling water. It is better to feed your cat food cut into small pieces.
Description and standard
The Anatolian breed is recognized by the ANA standard under classification 3 – Shorthair by the World Cat Federation. In other words, it is a short-haired variation of the Turkish Van.
This type can be characterized as follows:
- The body size starts from average, bones and muscles are quite developed. The cervical and thoracic regions are massive. Paws are round in shape. The tail is long and fluffy.
- The head has the shape of a triangle with a cut corner. Muzzle profile without strong projections. Massive chin.
- Huge oval-shaped eyes with an oblique set. The color of the pupils corresponds to the color of the fur.
- The ears are rounded at the tips and widen towards the head. They are erect.
- Thin, short hair.
- Recognized coat colors in various variations: black, white, blue, cream, red, tortoiseshell, van, harlequin, two-tone.
Photo gallery of Anatolian cats:
What to look for when choosing a kitten
Ashera is the most expensive cat. Even a fifth-generation mixed breed costs much more than a purebred (for example, British) kitten with a pedigree. The high cost is associated not only with the exclusivity of the breed, but also with the peculiarities of breeding. Today, you will have to pay at least one and a half million for a pet, fortunately, in rubles. However, every year the price of kittens only increases.
Before buying a pet, you should make sure of its physical and mental health. Active, playful and social, Asher kittens should not show displeasure when interacting with their future owner. Also, babies should not be too thin or overfed. A rounded tummy, in which you can easily feel the ribs, is an indicator of the cat’s normal nutrition.
You should inspect the living conditions in the nursery. Cats of this breed need a lot of space to live and play, large toys and scratching posts. Often a tree is placed for pets, along which they happily climb to the ceiling.
You should buy an animal only after installing a chip and receiving a veterinary passport with all the necessary vaccinations.
Breeders often require early booking as a condition of purchase. Long before the cat gives birth, you can make an advance payment for your future pet, and then wait several months until it is born and gets stronger. Only after this you can choose a kitten for yourself. Another sign of a quality breeder is the sale of a cat at the age of 12 months after castration. Sterilization is necessary to prevent wild genes from waking up.
Ashera is rightfully considered one of the best cat breeds. A graceful, intelligent and delicate cat will be an ideal companion for walks, active games, and relaxation. The beauty and perfection of a pet will not leave anyone around you indifferent and will make a lasting impression.
Rating of the most expensive cats
When compiling this rating, we were aware that we were initially solving a thankless task. The cost of kittens within the same breed can vary significantly depending on the purity of the lines (title status of the ancestors). In addition, the price of one breed may start at a lower level than others, but be higher at maximum levels; therefore, it is quite difficult to compare the cost of such cats. Therefore, the author asks in advance to treat the above list not as financially verified information, but only as an interesting excursion into the wonderful world of domestic cats, allowing you to get an idea of how much people are willing to shell out their “hard earned money” to purchase an animal of their favorite breed.
Russian blue cat
The cost of a kitten is from $400 to 2,000.
An original Russian breed that conquered the world, the standard of which was approved in 1935
Although no one disputes the Russian roots of this breed, it was bred by the British, who were always sensitive to this color. It is believed that the first breeding material was brought to Britain from Arkhangelsk by enterprising sailors, and active breeding work began there. The breed standard was approved in 1935, but due to the limited number of “original” representatives, the British were forced to cross Russian Blues with Siamese and Oriental cats. Interestingly, in the middle of the last century, this process took place in parallel in the UK and the USA, and therefore the American and European versions of the Russian Blue are slightly different. There are five breed standards: WCF, CFA, TICA, FIFe and GCCF.
The Russian Blue cat is a medium-sized animal (height approximately 25 cm at the withers, weight from 3 to 7 kg) with short but very thick “plush” hair. The main difference from the British of the same color is bright green eyes and a long, graceful body (the British are stockier and heavier).
The British are similar to Russian blues only in color
The character of the Russian Blue cat is lively and light. The animal gladly participates in active games, however, like most representatives of the cat family, it does not tolerate familiarity: you can stroke and caress your pet only when he wants it.
Photo gallery: Russian blue cats
Russian Blues are curious and sociable
Russian Blues usually have 4-5 babies in a litter
Russian gays have no less developed self-esteem than the British
The calling card of the Russian Blue is green eyes.
Serengeti
The cost of a kitten is from $500 to 2,000.
Serengeti - a mini copy of the serval
The breed appeared in 1994 as a result of crossing Bengal, Oriental and Abyssinian cats. It is interesting that the goal of creating a new breed was to obtain maximum resemblance to the serval, but at the same time the wild bush cat itself was prudently excluded from the selection.
Photo gallery: Serengeti ancestors
The resemblance to the serval was provided by the Bengal cat
The Oriental cat added grace to the breed
The Abyssinian cat is an excellent breeding material
The word “Serengeti,” which is strange to our ears, comes from the name of a huge national park in the region of the same name in Tanzania (East Africa). In the language of the local Maasai tribe, "siringet" means "endless plain".
The name of the breed is taken from the language of the African Maasai tribe.
The Serengeti is a short-haired, medium-sized animal with long legs and very large ears.
The owners note an interesting feature of the character of this cat - amazing talkativeness and sociability. Purring and meowing in various variations accompanies all actions performed by the Serengeti. In general, this is a friendly, playful and courageous cat, not without the makings of a leader.
Toyger
The cost of a Toyger kitten ranges from $500 to $5,000.
Toyger - toy tiger up to 40 cm tall
The name of the breed is the result of adding two English words: “toy” (toy) and “tiger” (tiger), thus we are talking about a small domestic tiger. The Americans (namely, they are the authors of this miracle) managed to consolidate the characteristic tiger color by crossing the Bengal with a variety of variations of ordinary domestic short-haired cats.
Video: everything you need to know about the toyger
The toyger is a small cat, height up to 40 cm, weight 3-6 kg. Despite the tiger color, she does not look at all menacing, and besides, she has a friendly and flexible character. Toygers get along well with all household members, including both people and animals, they are not jealous and, true to their name, are quite suitable for families with small children.
American Curl
The cost of a kitten is from $1,000 to $3,000.
American Curl - a cat with inverted ears
The breed was bred in California by fixing a phenomenon accidentally discovered in an ordinary cat - strangely inverted ears. Curls can have both long and short hair of any color, because their main “highlight” is their ears. Their rotation angle should be from 90 to 180 degrees.
These are not very large cats, their weight usually does not exceed 2.5 kg, and their distinctive features are intelligence and neatness, as well as an excellent balance between tender affection for the owner, the willingness to nestle comfortably on his lap, purring happily, and the playfulness that these animals retain it even into adulthood.
Photo gallery: American Curl coat types and colors
Short curl hair is allowed by the standard
With long hair, an animal of the same color looks completely different
Colorpoint is one of the most beautiful colors
An ordinary black and white cat turns into an exclusive one thanks to the unusual shape of its ears.
Cream curl looks very elegant
Bengal
The cost of a kitten is from $1,000 to 4,000.
The Bengal cat is a distant relative of the leopard
If Russian Blue cats have been dealing with people for many generations, then Bengals are one of the successful attempts to domesticate a wild animal. The breed was bred in America by crossing an ordinary domestic purr with an Asian leopard cat, hence the name (Bengal is a historical territory, divided today between India and Bangladesh, the homeland of the leopard cat). The implementation of the idea took a long time and painfully: the kittens were very little like domestic animals in character, in addition, as a result of crossing, mostly infertile males were born, which made it impossible to consolidate the breed. We had to somewhat expand the list of participants in hybridization, including Burmese cats and Egyptian Mau. In the end, the efforts of the Americans were rewarded, and in the early 90s of the twentieth century, a cat with a leopard color and a gentle character received official status.
Photo gallery: ancestors of the Bengal cat
The wild ancestor of the Bengal cat is the Asian leopard cat.
Bengals also received their leopard print color from the Egyptian Mau.
When breeding the breed, we couldn’t do without an ordinary domestic cat.
Oddly enough, this animal also participated in the creation of Bengals
It must be said that the hybrid turned out to be so successful that the breed very quickly began to conquer the world. Bengals first came to Russia in 2005 and since then they have been widely and successfully bred, so today these cats can be purchased much cheaper than the price indicated above. However, show-class kittens with elite ancestors in their pedigree are still expensive, so we considered it possible to base our ratings on these prices.
What a Bengal cat is is clearly shown in the next episode. Once the owner of a show-class Bengal cat ordered me an Abyssinian kitten. The buyer explained that she really likes graceful and long-legged cats (and Abyssinians and Bengals are similar in build), but she wants an affectionate animal, and her pet is an independent animal; in general, it doesn’t need anyone. The only thing that worried the woman a little was that a slightly wild cat might offend her young competitor. The first impression of the new owner’s meeting with the Abyssinian was complete delight from the fact that the kitten instantly climbed into her arms and purred happily - as the customer said, she almost never sees such tenderness from her ward. At first, the cats maintained a wary neutrality towards each other, but when, a couple of months after the Abyssinian appeared in the house, the Bengal cat brought kittens, she not only did not defend her offspring from an incomprehensible competitor, but unexpectedly accepted her as her eldest daughter and even let her come to her enjoy mother's milk!
Bengal cats are excellent mothers
Bengals are active and playful, not aggressive, but not too affectionate. This cat is more likely for independent and self-sufficient people; it is not worth getting for those who want to have a purring pillow on their lap. Bengals are also not suitable for families with small children: this cat is able to very quickly and clearly explain that it is not a toy that can be grabbed and squeezed, but such science can be somewhat traumatic.
Safari
The cost of a kitten is from $4,000 to $8,000.
Safari - another domestic cat with “wild” blood
Safari is another hybrid of a wild and domestic cat, bred in the USA. Its creation involved: Geoffroy (South American wild cat) and two short-haired breeds - American and European.
Long crossbreeding experiments were generally completed by 1980. Their result was a rather large and powerful animal (its weight ranges from 8 to 13 kg) with an independent disposition, but quite tame and suitable for keeping as a pet.
Photo gallery: ancestors of the Safari cat
Geoffroy - South American wild cat - wild ancestor of safari
This color of the American Shorthair came in handy when creating a new breed.
The “cocktail” was successfully complemented by the European Shorthair
Safari today is not recognized by any of the international felinological organizations (only TICA considers it as an experimental breed), which does not prevent it from being one of the ten, if not the top five, most expensive cats in the world. Perhaps the problem lies in the suspicious similarity between Safari and the Bengal cat, the standard of which is approved by TICA, CFA, and WCF.
Khao mani
The cost of a khao mani kitten is from $7,000 to $10,000.
Khao-mani - Thai cat with multi-colored eyes
Anyone who has already become tired of semi-wild leopard-colored cats can admire this amazingly gentle creature. Snow-white miniature cats (height at the withers no more than 30 cm, weight only 3-4 kg), unlike the hybrids described above, are naturalness itself. In 1999, they were first imported into the United States from Thailand, where for a long time they were considered the property of the state, moreover, they could only belong to members of the royal family.
They say that Chulalongkorn, the fifth king of Siam (the old name of Thailand), in 1884 gave the British consulate official Suen Good as a valuable gift (or, more simply, a bribe) a cat of the same royal breed, which, upon the official’s arrival in his homeland, acquired a huge popularity first in England and then in America, receiving the name Siamese.
In fact, Siamese cats, unlike Kao-mani, were not considered of particular value, but, being true gentlemen, the British were too far from suspecting the king of blatant deception.
Rama V Chulalongkorn - the Siamese king who deceived half the world
Despite their angelic appearance, Kao-mani have a lively and active disposition and need constant communication, therefore, when deciding to have such a pet, be prepared to pay attention to it, otherwise the animal will feel deeply unhappy.
Allerka
The cost of a kitten is from $7,000 to 10,000.
Allerka is a cat that, according to the creator of the breed, does not cause allergies
The author of this “unique” breed is a certain Simon Brody, an American fraudster known in narrow circles, who has several quite successfully implemented projects on “relatively honest taking of money from the population.” Allerka is just one of them. There is no doubt that the animal is quite beautiful, but, let’s agree, this is not enough to pay ten thousand “greenbacks” for such a miracle. The modern Ostap Bender thought so too, declaring that he managed to breed a cat that did not cause allergies at all. It’s easy to understand how happy American allergy sufferers were to finally have the opportunity to have such a desired pet.
People who are allergic to cats cannot afford to have a favorite animal.
Alas, the scam was revealed quite quickly, but it’s an amazing thing! — despite the huge number of lawsuits brought against the “author,” the company of the same name continues to successfully sell Allerka as an exclusive hypoallergenic cat. Truly, human gullibility knows no bounds!
Chausie
The cost of a kitten is from $8,000 to $10,000.
Chausie - a hybrid of a swamp lynx and an Abyssinian cat
The two highest levels of our rating are occupied by animals bred by crossing wild and domestic cats. So, chausie is the result of the “great and pure love” of a jungle cat, or a marsh lynx (in the Turkic language this animal is called “felis chaus”), and a domestic cat, Abyssinians are usually used in this capacity.
Chausie translated from Turkic is a reed cat.
Unlike the cats described above, which have the usual dimensions for pets, this animal has 40 cm at the withers and weighs from 10 to 15 kg, and this is at least twice as much as a “normal cat”.
The Chausie is at least twice the size of a typical domestic cat.
The breed owes its appearance to the Americans (who, as we can see, love experiments with the unusual domestication of wild cats). Animals inherited from their ancestors an active character and passion for hunting. A special feature of this breed is also its complete lack of fear of water.
Jungle cats are excellent swimmers
Jungle cats are not only excellent swimmers, they are even capable of diving for their prey, so the owner of a chausie has every chance of causing a real stir on the city beach by showing up there with a small lynx on a leash and allowing everyone to see for themselves how beautifully it can swim “this group in striped swimsuits.”
Savannah
The cost of a kitten is from $10,000 to 22,000.
Savannah is the most expensive cat in the world
Savannah is considered the most expensive cat breed in the world. Like the Chausie, it was bred in America, but this time the domestic cat was bred with the African Serval.
The serval is a wild cat, but it is increasingly kept in the house as a pet
Comparing the sizes of the Savannah and the Chausie, we can say that the former looks much larger, its height at the withers reaches 60 cm, but the weight of both breeds is approximately the same. The serval, as can be clearly seen in the photo, is a long-legged animal; the swamp lynx has a more proportional physique.
Asherah
To be objective, the most expensive cat in the world is the Asherah, its cost starts from $25,000, and sometimes they even quote an absolutely fantastic price of $100,000! But the fact is that such a breed does not actually exist.
Ashera - a mythical cat breed
We are talking about another scam, amazing in its impudence, of the above-mentioned Simon Brody, who announced the creation of a unique hybrid of a serval and an Egyptian Mau, but this “hybrid” turned out to be... that same savannah. The identity of the animals was officially confirmed by the results of tests carried out by the State Forensic Laboratory of the Netherlands as part of an investigation launched following a complaint from Savannah breeder Chris Shirk, who accidentally identified his brainchild in an animal of the “new” breed.
According to the statement of the Savannah breeder, an investigation was organized that exposed the “owner” of the Ashera
We must pay tribute to Brody's criminal talent! Not only did he manage to pass off someone else’s creation as his own and, thanks to brilliantly thought-out advertising, sell it much more expensive than the already expensive original. But, the funny thing is, while the fraudster himself is wanted today, his cats (namely the Asher, not the Savannah, that is, at a higher price) are still willingly bought by wealthy people all over the world. And you don’t need to think that they are all naive, like children, and have no idea about the forgery. It’s just that the most expensive cat in the world is cool, but the most expensive cat is doubly cool! Well, as they say, the rich have their own quirks.
