The news media have been all over the stories and pictures of the Ashera, a fairly new breed of housecat that can grow up to 30 pounds and resembles a leopard. One will cost you $22,000 if you wait a year for it, but you can get one sooner for an extra $6,000. And delivery will cost you another $1,500. It was developed from the African Serval, the Asian Leopard cat and domestic cats, and offered by Lifestyle Pets.

This article from last October cast doubts on exactly how rare and valuable the Ashera type of mixture is, even at the then-projected price of $6,000.

Lifestyle Pets is connected to, or is the same company as Allerca, the company that announced last year it would breed non-allergenic cats. The company said it would publish its research findings in the spring of 2007, but I can’t find it. However, I did find that some customers have been rejected for hypoallergenic cat ownership because they are “too allergic”.

Allerca founder Simon Brodie is no stranger to shady business dealings. He is no longer CEO of Allerca, but is still a consultant. All in all, I wouldn’t want to be the first person to shell out such money for a cat. You can get one at your local shelter for about $50, which includes shots and spaying/neutering.