I reported already earlier about the Lykoi cats. I did introduce the Lykoi cats and the breeders and I talked about the big chance that the Lykoi cats might become very popular. But as I mentioned in this article, I am not the only one who reported about the Lykoi kitties and I mentioned that they recently got a lot of media attention. They were features on Yahoo Shine to name just one example.
As I think it is an interesting subject, I didn´t only read most of the articles about the Lykoi cats, I also did read many comments on Yahoo Shine for example. But there is one thing I noticed,… even if the Lykoi cats are a natural occurring mutation, not all people do agree that this is a reason to make efforts to step in with the goal to establish them as a breed. This is what I take from many comments on the Yahoo Shine article. I must admit that some comments make me thoughtful and while I really like the Lykoi cats, I must say that some commentators make some good points. The question should be allowed. Is it ethically meaningful to selectively breed animals with a natural occurring mutation to make them purebred?
Some users say that even if the mutation natural occurred, you selectively need to find another cat with the same mutation to make them purebred and this is what the breeder have done. They found cats with the same mutation and were able to their breeding program. Some people argue that this is not a natural occurred breed then as there was still human intervention.
Then some argue that there already enough homeless cats and that breeding even more or creating even a new breed is therefore careless. Some people go so far and say that they think the breeders decided to profit from a chance mutation and that there can´t be any other logical reason to start this breeding program.
Some call this new cat breed “designer cats” and see nothing else than yet another business model to the disadvantage of the cats.
I must say that are some strong arguments and after reading a lot of comments, I guess that I did even leave some of the arguments of the people out here. On the other side I wrote about the efforts of the breeders in my other article. It really looks like they did make a lot of efforts to rule out that there aren´t any diseases or disorders that might have caused the unusual appearance of the cats. Visiting their website it seems that the breeders have a lot of experience and that they are excited about this new breed and that they do everything with care.
I must say I have a problem to forge my own opinion here. The detractors of this breeding program make some good points but I wouldn´t imply that the breeders do all this just because of the money. Breeding is their interest and I can imagine how excited it can be to discover a new breed which even appears to be healthy. I do understand the excitement and the plan to establish these kitties but as said, I do also understand the other side that says we have already enough homeless cats and that it isn´t meaningful to breed more of them or to establish even a new breed.
What do you think about this subject? Do you think it is ethically meaningful to find a breeding pair with the same mutation to establish this kind of breed? Could this really be considered as a natural occurring breed? Or do you think that the human intervention is unethical? Or do you have another opinion why this is ok or not ok? What do you think about the werewolf cats?
Diary of Dennis 
eeee gawd, they are creepy-looking
Yes, looks like many people say this 😀
I am a breeder of the rare lykoi. People have a right to breed animals (with proper health and temperament) as they wish. The look of this mutation is ugly to some, but to people like me it is amazing. I do not owe society anything just because other people have made irresponsible decisions and created homeless cats. Our breeders currently hold to one of the strictest codes of ethics and plans of genetics in the entire t.i.c.a. registry. thirty thousand dollars have been spent on indepth research to insure these cats were healthy before we ever bred the first litter. We were actually told that it is one of the healthiest breeds ever seen. All of the 17 worldwide breeders are compassionate cat lovers first, and lykoi breeders second. We don’t HAVE to be involved in rescue and shelter work, but we CHOOSE to be. We don’t have to spay or neuter every single kitten before it goes to it’s new home so that it doesn’t breed and further burden society, but we CHOOSE to. I myself am active with my local shelter and I even give a discount on my lykoi kittens if the purchaser will adopt a shelter cat at the same time to be a playmate for our lykoi. ALL OF US ADORE CATS AND WOULD END OUR BREEDING IMMEDIATELY IF WE HAD ANY SCIENTIFIC EVIDENCE OF WEAKNESS OR ILLNESS IN THE BREED, BUT THERE IS NO SUCH PROBLEM. Even at the high prices our kittens sell for we make tiny profits (if any) due to the overwhelming cost we have incurred developing this breed with honor, integrity, compassion, and volumes of scientific testing. IT IS VIRTUALLY IMPOSSIBLE TO CREATE A MEANINGFUL INCOME BASE RAISING PEDIGREE CATS IF YOU DO IT THE RESPONSIBLE WAY, AND WE DO. We breed them for future generations to admire them and have their lives enriched by these unusual creatures. If all the naysayers could sit down and meet with any of us breeders they would see that our heart is in the right place. They would also see that most of us use a portion of the moneys from each kitten to donate to our local shelters and rescues. Thank you.
I am not even sure why some think that Lykois are ugly. I for my self find them pretty cute but with everything this might be a matter of taste. I can imagine that it is amazing to you. I just can understand all your points and back then when I wrote my Lykoi articles, I researched about them and was able to find out that there is indeed a lot of care from the breeders before they even started out. So, you have me on your site. In fact I am so interested in the subject that I probably will write about it again as my blog is also about cats apart from other subjects.
By the way, are there already breeders in Germany? Do you know something as an involved person? I am from Germany and wonder if breeders are already active here too.
We do have breeders in Europe. Our website and facebook have French translation pages available because we have a breeder in France. I think we have one in Belgium too. Google it and you will find a couple of them in Europe, not Germany yet though. Johnny and Brittney Gobble would be the ones to email to find which breeder is closest to you. At present we have 17 breeders strategically placed all around the globe so that eventually our cats will be available in most regions. Peace.
Thank you very much for the additional informations.