A colossal cat comes with a princely price tag

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A colossal cat comes with a princely price tag
from here http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/18965940?GT1=10056
Company's costly kitty, fax bomb scare, kidney-donor game show hoax
Ramon C. Purcell / Lifestyle Pets
One mighty mouser: The Ashera can grow up to weigh 30 pounds.

It's no great shock that cat lovers can get a little excessive when it comes to their feline friends. But one company, banking on the fact there are more than a few prospective pet owners willing to part with some serious ka-ching for a kitten, is selling a designer breed of cat that costs $22,000.

The Ashera, bred by Los Angeles-based Lifestyle Pets, "is a new ultra-exotic breed of domestic cat that already has wealthy animal devotees paying to get on the waiting list," the company press release claims.

The pricey pet is said to have been produced by cross-breeding an African Serval and an Asian Leopard Cat with a domestic feline. While Lifestyle Pets admits this type hybrid breeding has been done before, "the Ashera is unique in that genetic monitoring is used to standardize breeding and ensure that the defining features and size of the [animal] remain exceptionally consistent." And like most other super-luxury items, the company says it will sell only 100 Asheras per year worldwide, with only 50 being sold to U.S. customers

And after dropping 22 large, potential buyers should also be prepared to budget for a big supply of Fancy Feast, as the company says the Ashera can grow up to weigh 30 pounds.

Well, for all that money, at least now you can get the yappy Chihuahua next door to finally shut up.

A cross-breed between a serval and domestic cat is called a Savannah Cat. They weight up to 30 pounds, cost up to $2,000, and their breeding IS regulated.

$22,000 is way too much because this "new ultra-exotic" breed is not much different than a Savannah Cat.

*rolls eyes* And I thought that designer breed crap was bad in dogs. Why would anyone pay that much for a cat? Especially a wild cat/domestic cat hybrid. Not sure how much of a difference in temperament serval/cat crossings have, but I know that wolf/dog crosses are usually too much for the average person to handle and both breeds I know of that are attempts to combine wolf-look with canine trainability are difficult to live with and not for the inexperienced.

Yeah, I know a guy who got one in California. This is a rip off. $2K is a rip off too. Why would introduce a large domestic breed of cat?

There are some wild cats that can be domesticated already, without having to resort to crossbreeding. Cheetahs, for example, are easily tamed, and servals are almost exclusively domestic these days. Why the crossbreed, I have no idea.

$22,000?????? Why don't they just give me the money--- i'll paint spots on my body, meow constantly and pee in their plants. Then i'll go shopping and buy me some new shoes.

It's all about showing off and bragging to people. Sure it would be a kinda cool cat but that isn't what it's about to them it's about getting one better than the other guy.

I'm pretty sure it is cross bred with wild cats like the bengal.

my dogs cost like 400-600 dollars. They arent designer but they are worth every penny.

There is a big problem with cats of such size. They are more likely to kill you, that's why house cats are small so they are less likely to do that when (WHEN, not IF, WHEN!! !)they decide to attack you.

Pretty cat, but I don't agree with the concept of breeding "designer pets." There are so many stray cats out there needing homes. Why do they go through this nonsense?

Cause they are rich. Very rich. And very big arses.