Our EXOTIC furbabies

Hello all and welcome For those of you who are familiar with Amber, Boris, Nakoma and Carmelo in the "say hello to Boris" thread, this is their new home. Due to the fact that the photo hosting site where all their pictures were stored has changed, they will no longer be visible on the old thread, (the URL address to the site has changed) so I figured I would be better off just starting a new thread. Don't worry, I have all my pictures stored on CD So, let's start the show. We will start off with Carmelo. These are the latest pictures and as usual, I will take many more of Amber, Boris and Nakoma. Oh, and I haven't forgotten our domestic gang as well
Carmelo standing on the table looking out our front window.

Carmelo ready for nap time

Close up of that cute face

Carmelo sleeping in a box.

Aurora says, what the heck, where are MY pictures and is not looking very happy

Since I always show the cute pictures, I figured I would show one of what NOT to let a young cougar cub get away with. He is only grooming her head, but this is something, even though it is very adorable right now, we do not let him do. You would not want a 180 pound cougar doing this. We say NO very firm, and then move him off and walk away. This lets him know that when he does this, he will not get attention from us.

Wow, I didn't expect a reply so quick Carmelo can still put on about another 100-140 pounds. Of course at that size, we will not be sharing the bed together anymore

I liked the one in the box as well. He looks so cute in there. I have to get him a new box, because the old one was chewed up He is such a cuddler too. He will put his paws around you and just keep on purring. I am happy to see that everyone is finding the new pictures here.

You should see the size of the litter boxes here. I have one that is about 3 feet by 2 feet Carmelo would love to have you cuddle with him in the box as well
No need to apologize. Ask anything you like As for keeping exotics, it is not for everyone. Actually, with the amount of unwanted domestic animals we have in our shelters, owning any animal is not for everyone. As with all animal ownership, the first thing you have to be is responsible. You must provide for the welfare of the exotic animal and you must keep the safety of the public in mind at all times. This means never doing anything stupid and irresonsible with your exotic. Owning these animals is not to be a show off or to look cool. I have always loved cats, especially the big cats and I have a very strong bond with and love nature and our environment. Owning an exotic cat will change the way you live your life forever and you must be prepared for this. For instance, I have not gone away on a vacation since I started living with these wonderful cats. In fact, the longest I have been away from home was about 19 hours, no more. I can go on here forever about the responsibilties of owning an exotic, but I will answer your questions. Makes it easier that way Is he decalwed? The answer is yes. I have domestics, they are not declawed, but the bobcats are declawed in the front only and the cougar is on all 4. Now, this may not sit well with many people here, but this is something that should be done, especially with a cougar. Yes, you can train them not to use their claws and I was not going to declaw, but in doing the research with long time cougar owners, they gave me some strong advice. Everyone here who owns a cat, knows just how your cat will react when they get injured. Your loving friend may not be the same during an injury or if they become frightened. Even a domestic cat can do some harm with their claws, but they are not life threatening. With a cougar, should he need to go to the vet, or if he gets sick or injured, you may not be able to help him if he had his claws, especially the back claws. If he were to injure himself and then get frightened, he can kick with those back legs so hard, that he would actually prevent you from helping him. So, to provide for all his needs, I decided to declaw. As for taming him and all our exotics, the first thing you must realize is this. They were NOT taken out of the wild, they came from a breeder. This makes a huge difference. These cats have never been in the wild and neither have their parents. They are raised with humans from birth and form a very strong bond with you. In fact, Carmelo and our bobcats see us as one of them. Their diet is an all raw meat diet, bones and all. (Chicken, beef, rabbit, deer) They are also given the giblets, livers and hearts as well. All meat is supplemented with a vitamin designed for wild felines. All meat that is given to them without the bone, has a calcium supplement on it as well. Our house is not that big, but Carmelo, the cougar, will only live inside with us for a year or maybe 2 years, if we are lucky. The longer he lives inside with us, the stronger the human/cat bond will be. After 2 years though, he will live outside in a large very secure enclosure. Amber and Boris live inside with us all the time. They are bobcats and are not as large as a cougar. Amber weighs about 25-30 pounds and Boris weighs about 35-40 pounds at the moment. Nakoma is a rescue bobcat who lives outside in a secure enclosure 100% of the time. He weighs about 50-55 pounds. Nakoma was never raised indoors with humans, so he does not know what it is like. He was also abused by a very irresponsible previous owner. Amber, Boris and Carmelo all get to go outside and play in an enclosure as well for exercise. Yes, they can walk on a leash, but you must never walk them in public. You must walk them on your own property only. Carmelo can walk on a leash now, but when he gets bigger, he can reach 180+ pounds, walking him on the leash would be out of the question. This would not be very responsible. All of my enclosures have a perimeter fence as welll, that prevents any unwanted guests from coming into contact with them. Do exotics make great comapnions? Yes they do, but ONLY if you know what you are doing and are 100 % responsible. I hope I answered your questions here. If you have any more, feel free to ask

Yes, they do play together. Since the bobcats and cougar came into our home as very young kittens and cub, the domestic cats let them know who was boss around here They get along very well, but if the exotics start to get a little to crazy, the Pixie Bobs will let them know it. The only one I need to watch is our oldest, she is 16 years old. When we are not home, she goes into a room by herself so the bobcats and cougar do not get to rough with her. The domestics also have places where they can go, that the exotics can not go, because they are to big. For the most part, the bobcats and cougar tend to play together more than they will play with the pixie bobs.
Here are 2 pictures of their tails


Yes, I live in a rural part of Ohio. Down one end of my street there are wetlands and in another area, corn fields. At the moment, we only have 1/3 acre, which is fine for the bobcats, but we have been looking at other areas to buy more land. I want at least 5 acres to as much as 20 acres if possible. I did find 40 acres of land, but I was too late. A farmer got that. As for the laws on exotic animal ownership. Every state is different. Some states have bans, others have regulations and some have no regulations. Aurora says Thank You I need to take more Pixie bob photos too.

Here are a few pictures of our Pixie Bobs (the domestics) I may have posted these before.
Aurora enjoying some outdoor time in the perimeter area of the bobcat enclosure.

This is Lil Roar, Aurora's daughter, taking a stroll out in the enclosure as well.

This is our little girl Cinnamon.

This is Tommy Boy. He weighs about 19 pounds.