Wild cats question

[Southern-Gal]

This may be a really dumb question but Im going to ask it anyway :)

Is it possible in Caithness for a pet cat to get kittens off a wild cat? Are there any around here and if so has anybody ever had their cat have kittens from them? I dont mean feral tom cats I mean the proper Scottish Wild Cat.

[annemarie482]

Not sure but there's double figures of feral cats at the farm :( sick of them coming down here shredding the bins :(

[Liz]

Not sure but there's double figures of feral cats at the farm :( sick of them coming down here shredding the bins :(

Cats Protection are in Lyth trapping and neutering feral cats.

[therealducati]

I was peripherally involved with the Cairngorms Highland Tiger project. The project itself has now ended but the website is still active here http://www.highlandtiger.com/ which has loads of info on the subject.
Scottish Wildcats can and do hybridise freely with our moggies and this is one of the reasons why pure bred SWC are becoming increasingly rare. The kittens tend to be almost impossible to tame.
I have seen two SWC up here- one just as you turn off towards Thurso at Latheron and one whilst on the Yarrows Trail.

BTW Anne Marie, Cats Protection will not remove ferals (unless kittens of tameable age, and then only if they have foster spaces available) but may be able to help with neutering if the farmer agrees. If feral cats are removed or culled and if a food source remains, more cats will just move in, so a stable, neutered population is a better option.
The local branch website can be found here http://www.cats.org.uk/caithness

[Southern-Gal]

Thanks for that ducati :)
I need to have my girl doctored but would love it if she has a wildy litter!

[annemarie482]

Are they Liz? That's good, honestly there are loads here by wester loch :(

[Fran]

My aunt near Bettyhill fed a wild cat for years. He wouldnt come into the house or let her touch him but he was friendly, a really big cat. He made my aunts cat pregnant and i had one of the kittens. A beautiful fluffy tabby cat with short legs,long body, sort of square head, long whiskers and a big fluffy tail. He turned out to be a great pet for 15 years and was very loving. People commented on how unusual he was. You can see a lot of these half wild pet cats in that area.

[Southern-Gal]

Did your one that was half bred have rings right round the tail?
I want one!

[Indian_Shadow_Moon]

Our two Blue point Berman girls bred with the wild cats too. We only realised what had happened when we were moving! -.-; but yeah, we have wild cats around ours all the time. Not coming directly to 'us' though. :)

[Dadie]

Wildcats are more endangered than tigers.To preserve the breed they have captive breeding plans but there are not very many left in the wild that are pure wildcat.I think that wildcats should breed with wildcats and not feral cats or pets.But trying to tell a wildcat that......would be impossible!A wildcat just sees another cat of opposite sex........and takes the opportunity......

[Liz]

Not sure but there's double figures of feral cats at the farm :( sick of them coming down here shredding the bins :(

Which farm are the cats staying at?