Edit: Apparently, Lifestyle Pets no longer sells cats or dogs.
It’s no secret that people love cats. In the United States, the cat has surpassed the dog as most popular pet. Out of every ten homes in America, at least three of them will have cats, according to the American Pet Products Manufacturers Association. Cat products pump out a lot of money. Unfortunately, some cat breeders have figured out that if people are going spend money on cat products, why not cats?
The five most expensive cat breeds in the world are the Ashera, the Bengal, the Savannah, the Canadian Sphynx (also called the Sphynx) and the Peterbald. One Ashera will set you back around $25,000 while a Peterbald will only cost anywhere from $250 to $3000 – a bargain by comparison. The other cat breeds cost anywhere in between these extremes.
What’s So Special About These Cats?
These five breeds are only slightly different than other cats in physical appearance and, in the cases of the Ashera, the Savannah and the Bengal, genetics. These three cat breeds are hybrids – crossed between domestic cats and wild cat species like the African serval or the Asian leopard cat. The Savannah is even banned from some cities and states because of fears that if they escaped into the wild they would eat all of the native wildlife.
The Peterbald and the Canadian Sphynx are expensive because they are mostly hairless. They appear so weird that sometimes they are known as “Alien Cats.” This was a mutation from bald domestic cats crossed with purebreds such as the Siamese. Demand for the Canadian Sphynx soared when one male was featured in the Austin Powers movie franchise.
Why Are They So Expensive?
Cat breeders claim that their cats are so expensive because they are rare, they are expensive to breed and the cats fit a certain rare physical standard. But in truth, breeders charge this amount of money and have discovered people will fork it out. If people didn’t pay, they wouldn’t cost so much. Whenever people get together, they like to boast that “my thing is better is your thing.” The rarer and more expensive the “thing” is, the more it is held in regard by others.
A large price tag does not mean that a cat is going to be any better of a pet than a kitten rescued from a garbage can in the back alley. Bald cats need more baths, need to live in a heated home are more prone to skin problems than a hirsute cat, so a bald cat may need more vet visits than a “normal” cat. According to the Humane Society of the United States, 3 to 4 million cats are euthanized every year in America. Many of them would have made equally fine pets as a cat that cost $20,000.
Additional Resources
- · ASPCA Complete Guide to Cats. James R. Richards, DVM. Chronicle Books; 1999.
- · Animal Planet Videos. “Cats 101: The Savannah.” http://animal.discovery.com/videos/cats-101-savannah.html
Pet University. “Adoption Options for Finding Your Dream Cat.” http://www.petuniversity.com/cats/becoming-a-cat-parent/finding-your-dream-cat.htm
