Pronounced "Chow-see" this breed came about by the breeding of a domestic cat with a Jungle Cat in the late 1960's and early 1970's. The Chausie breed gets its name from Felis Chaus the Latin for Jungle Cat which appear widely from the Nile Valley north to Turkey and the Caspian Sea eastward through South Asia all the way to Vietnam.

The Chausie breed was developed to give those with an interest in exotic cats a more practical and safer alternative. The Chausie breed strongly resembles its wild ancestors. The first time they were bred they turned out to be half domestic and half wild blooded cats. The males that come out of the first round of breeding are all sterile and most of the females from the second round of breeding are all sterile.

The Chausie breed appears to have no fear but they are not aggressive although they are assertive. Highly intelligent they can be leash trained if you begin when they are very young and are most active toward the evening hours of the day.

The Chausie breed is currently only registered through the International Cat Association (TICA) since 1995. In February 2001 the Chausie breed was moved up to Evaluation status to be effective May first of 2002. By May of 2003 they had move up to New Breed Status; The Chausie breed now competes in the Advanced New Breed (ANB) rings in the TICA shows. The Chausie must be three generations away from their wild ancestors to be in the show ring.

Regal in their stance they strongly resemble their wild ancestors having a medium to large frame with a full chest and muscular look coming in three recognized colors. The colors are brown ticked tabby, solid black and silver-tip which is exclusive to the Chausie breed. The coat of the Chausie breed is short to medium and can be dense and relatively coarse. The tail of the Chausie breed is to full length; they have large mobile ears that can be lynx shaped.

The Chausie breed loves companionship and treats and will readily let you know what they want. They can get into trouble if they get bored so it is necessary to have a lot of toys on hand to keep them occupied.

If you want to have a cat belonging to the Chausie breed it is necessary to check your states laws as they are considered to be hybrids and the laws for hybrid breed vary from state to state. When choosing a kitten it should be clean, friendly and interested in the goings on around it to ensure it is healthy. Whether or not the Chausie breed will do well with children will depend on the age and understanding of the child.

Sources:
http://cats.about.com/cs/breedprofiles/p/chausie.h tm
http://cats.about.com/od/chausieprofile/Chausie_Ca t_Profile_and_Standards.htm

http://www.chausiebreedcommittee.com/history.htm
http://www.chausiebreedcommittee.com/faq.htm
http://www.chausiebreed.com/public/index.php?page= about&PHPSESSID=52a9b706e13c8bee233ece98fe3a8ef4

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