Guide Note

An Ashera is a hybrid or "designer" cat that is a result of breeding the wild African serval and the Asian leopard cats with a domestic house cat.

Asheras were developed by designer pet company, Lifestyle Pets beginning in 2005. Lifestyle Pets is an offshoot of Allerca, which claimed in 2006 to have produced an allergen-free cat.

Both servals and Asian leopard cats are illegal to own in the United States, but the cross with a domestic cat makes the resulting Ashera legal. A representative for the The Humane Society of the United States called hybrid cats such as the Ashera "Frankensteins" and maintained that wild animals do not make suitable pets.

Fast Facts

1. Weight: Up to 30 lbs
2. Up to four feet tall
3. Cost: $22,000-125,000
4. Only available for sale in the U.S.
5. Less than 100 Asheras are bred each year
6. Available in four varieties
7. The "Royal Ashera" is the rarest domestic cat in the world