Most Expensive Cat Breed, Bengal cat

Is $42,000 too much to pay for a house cat? Well, various sources have reported that a London, England resident didn’t think so when she purchased her second-generation Bengal cat in 1998 for about £25,320. This expensive cat was listed in the Guiness’ number one spot for most expensive cat breed purchased. They aren’t normally that expensive, but they don’t come cheap. Bengals can cost anywhere from $970 – $4000. The International Cat Association, recognizes the Bengal as a pedigree of cat, however the Cat Fanciers’ Association, the largest and oldest registry of cats, does not. This is because they have ‘wild’ or ‘non-domestic’ blood in their recent heritage. The second-generation Bengal in question was reportedly a hybrid of a wild Asian leopard cat bred with a domestic one.

A Bengal named Asia

Another hybrid breed with Asian leopard blood, the Ashera, may be slightly more eye-catching, though. They do, after all, stand 4 feet tall on their hind legs. Further, at $22,000, they’re certainly an expensive breed of cat. The Ashera weighs around 30 lbs and lives for 25 years. Despite their hefty price, they’re actually fairly low maintenance, though they do prefer to sleep on heated beds.

The reason the Ashera is such an expensive cat breed is that each one is guaranteed to have the same coloring and appearance. These traits are bred, from the African serval, an undisclosed domestic breed and the aforementioned Asian leopard cat, by British entrepeneur Simon Brodie of Lifestyle Pets.

An Ashera GD kitten at six months of age.

Brodie also developed another expensive cat, the hypoallergenic cat. These cats notably do not possess the gene that causes them to produce the Fel d 1 glycoprotein, the major cat allergen. This allows cat lovers whose families include one or more persons with feline allergies, or who have feline allergies themselves, to still keep a feline friend around the house. Lifestyle Pets are even planning on introducing a hypoallergenic Ashera in the coming year. These cats range in expense from the Allerca GD’s $5,950 price tag to the Ashera GD’s $28,000 price tag.

Any of these cats may provide a (feline) lifetime of entertainment and companionship for their owners. However, a new Lexus convertible and a cat from the SPCA might be a better way to spend your money than $40,000+ for the most expensive cat.