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Updated Sunday, February 17, 2008 0:00 am TWN, By Denise Flaim, Newsday

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Cat lovers want to legalize hybrids

Even McCormick concedes that banning F-1s is at least understandable from a political standpoint, given that they are only one generation removed from the wild, though, she says, hers are pussycats. Also, legalizing F-1s could encourage the breeding of hybrids, which is a moral sticky wicket for some animal lovers — the DNA that dares not speak it name.

“They are cats,” says McCormick of her desire to repeal the prohibition against early-generation cats, in particular F-2s through F-5s. “They use a litter box, eat regular cat food, live indoors with their owners, coexist with regular’ cats and go to a regular vet.”

Certified cat behavior consultant Marilyn Krieger of Redwood City, Calif., who is the coordinator for California Bengal Cat Rescue, and who owns both Bengals and Savannahs, agrees.

“If the cat is socialized, even the early generations can be quite wonderful cats,” she says. “And I don’t think it takes any more socialization than with any other cat.”

Misunderstandings can arise, Krieger notes, because of the cats’ “wild look” and vocalness. F-1 Bengals can inherit quirks from their leopard-cat parent: Some will defecate in water, and their voices are huskier, akin to a smoker’s cough.

If there is one serious caveat to owning early-generation hybrid cats, it has nothing to do with any damage they could do to humans, but rather the converse: Bonding closely with their owners, they react poorly to variations in their environment.

“I get a lot of the early generations in,” says Cowell, referring to her rescue work, “and it’s very sad, because sometimes when I find a great home, they will crash — they don’t do well with a lot of change.

“You want to make sure it’s a very stable home, and that it’s a lifetime commitment,” she concludes. “As any cat should be.”

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