What is a JUNGLEBOB?

Click on thumbnails to view larger images: Scroll to bottom to read a story written by a Junglebob owner.

Our Pixiebob Stud

Creating the "Junglebob"...

Lynxotics Neo Pictured here at various ages. Neo is a nice large, muscular, bobcatty looking boy with some Jungle Cat in his background. He is polydactyl on the front feet, has nice eartips, great spotting, and a perfect bobcat tail. Neo is siring some BIG, gorgeous Junglebob kittens. To see some of his previous kittens, see the photo album page.

Sunshine (Jungle Hybrid, pictured below) ahh sweet girl!! She is a F1 Jungle/Bengal cross (50% African Jungle Cat, 50% Bengal) While Sunshine is genetically the same as many Chausies (also a Jungle hybird breed), I do not breed Chausies, as I do not breed for the Chausie standard. I breed for a bobcat or lynx type look, with large feet, bobtails, spots, eartips and heavy musculature. She is now very large, gorgeous, with excellent spotting and ticking, and super long ear tips. Sunshine is quite the lover as well, always purring and showing affection. Sunshine is a protective mother as are most jungle hybrid females. When she is pregnant or nursing kittens, she will run towards the door growling like a dog when the doorbell rings. She produces wonderful kittens! Sunshine produces our F2 "Junglebob" kittens. Her Junglebob kittens have been growing into huge adults and some have been mistaken for bobcats.

Solana (Sunshine in Spanish) is a future queen for the Junglebob program. She is very similar in looks to Sunshine, and is also half African Jungle Cat and half Bengal. She too, will be bred to Neo to create Junglebobs. She is pictured below at four months old.

Together these wild domestic crosses create "F2" (two generations away from the pure African Jungle Cat) "Junglebobs". Kittens below are from Sunshine and Neo's previous litters and only shown as examples of what these two produce. All males will be sterile but will still need to be neutered to prevent spraying.

Are Junglebobs smarter than domestics? Yes, see below. Chakira helps teenager with homework.

This is mighty Oen, owned by the Morris family. He is a KITTEN in this photo (7months old). Here is what his owner had to say about his size.

"When he is laying down and is stretched out he is well over 2 feet long. Big boy. I bet once his frame is done growing and he fills out, he will be around 25 pounds. He eats like a horse. He can stand on his back legs and look down into our bathroom sink. The cabinet is 30 inches high so hope that gives you some perspective."

Above is a 13 week old F2 Junglebob female. She is huge and stunning!! She looks very "bobcatty" and is poly on all four feet. The color and contrast of her coat and spots are enough to make my Savannahs jealous. Hard to tell in this photo, but she's a light buff color with jet black spots spaced far apart.

This is Raja, owned by the Rooney family. He is only 2months old in this photo. Look how long his legs are already and what a wonderful tail and awesome spots he has. I'm sure he'll keep the Rooneys busy for a long time to come.

Can Junglebobs actually be trained to walk on a leash? Yes! This is Odin (full tail Junglebob) taking a walk with one of his owners and one of his dogs (his other dog is a huge Irish Wolf Hound). Rachel and Tim taught Odin to walk on a leash (or convinced him that he would actually enjoy it) and he has taught them many things as well...like don't turn your back on your plate, because all food is free game when unattended. LOL

This is Budda. His owner says he wakes her up at night with his loud purrs and is a big love bucket, but on his own terms. He weighs 15lbs at 8months old and loves to eat.

To see some pictures of F2 Junglebob kittens go to the Photo Album page and to learn more about them, please visit the Background Information page.

This (above) is Julius at nearly a year old. You can see a picture of Julius as a kitten on the photo album page. Read what his owners had to say about life with him.

The first year with our Junglebob

We got Julius when he was about 2 months old. Fortunately for us, his first owner didn’t want him because he didn’t have the time to properly introduce him to the other cats in his home. This was one of the luckiest things that could’ve happened to our family.

When we picked Julius up from the airport, he was clearly frightened but still amazingly affectionate. During the car ride home he started squirming in my mom’s arms so we put him back in the carrier. As it turned out, he just needed to go to the bathroom. We were happy to see that he was clearly well trained.

At home, we started him off in Mom’s bathroom and then very slowly introduced him to the rest of the house. We had a 17 year old cat at that time and we were nervous about letting Julius around him. Even though you could tell that Julius wanted to play with him, he was very gentle and would groom him when he could. Two weeks later we had to put the older cat to sleep and Julius spent the next week or so looking for him.

For the first 3 months, Julius slept in Mom’s room at night…..usually on her head. He would wake her a few times a night by pulling on her hair because he decided it was time to play. You just couldn’t refuse him….no mater how tired you were. After that, he was allowed free run of our home (his home). He would make rounds….sleeping with someone different each night. He would usually take up at least half your pillow and sleep on his back just like a person. These days he usually sleeps with Mom for most the night…..he must think she’s his mom too.

We’ve learned a lot of things from Julius. This list is in no particular order:

Never leave a cup of water on the counter, never leave your food unattended, unless you want your hair to be thoroughly groomed – don’t lay on the floor, always pay attention to where you’re walking especially in the dark, the best toy in the world is the plastic off the gallon of milk, don’t ever think you’ve put something up “high enough” to keep from your cat, don’t leave your clothes in any type of plastic bag (like a bag of clothes for good will or for a sleepover) as your cat will always shred the bag and drag the clothes all over the floor, only cold water from the cooler is acceptable, don’t ever substitute your cat’s food – do it very, very gradually, if your cat should happen to catch a mouse – lock him in the bathroom for a while as he WILL eat it….and it WILL come back up…all over, do not ever….under any circumstances – ever place any feminine products in your bathroom garbage can (use the kitchen garbage that hopefully has a cover), expect to always be greeted at the door…your guests too, remember that your cat is part wild and can get a little carried away when playing with you….time out is a great way of dealing with this, don’t expect to find your cat anywhere where it’s too warm as they seem to enjoy cooler temperatures, don’t expect your cat to stay a “lap cat” – just accept that being a “next to your lap” will have to be good enough, toes were made for chewing on (and yes we mean YOUR toes), anything small enough will be carried away to a secret hiding place (we have yet to find all of them), your arms ( and ponytails ) make great “branches” for swinging off of when you are trying to prepare dinner - or to dust, electrical cords – flip flops – and anything rubbery make great teething toys (although you may disagree), when your cat wants to play – expect to be stalked and jumped at or on when you least expect it, your cat has an awesome memory and doesn’t understand why we don’t wake the children at 6:50 on Saturday and Sunday….so he’ll do it anyway, if you move your feet a lot when you sleep – expect to be pounced on, if you happen to have a cold and maybe snore a bit – expect to be pounced on, if you are scratching your back or someone else’s – expect to be pounced on, and last but certainly not least – expect to be loved by this animal in a way you couldn’t ever have imagined and expect to feel the same in return.

Julius loves to be carried but isn’t much for sitting in our laps anymore. He loves to be petted and kissed but only when he wants to…otherwise he will just keep moving away from you. He is most affectionate when he first wakes up so we take advantage of that. He will always be in the room where all the people are – even if he chooses to sit across the room. He follows Mom all around the house and will even pull the bathroom door open if she shuts him out. He has figured out how to turn the lights on and off and does so with no regard to time of night…..but you just can’t be mad at him. If you raise your voice at him because he was on the counter for the 16^th time in the last hour…he will roll on the floor and turn on his back as if to say “see how cute I am”….and then you just can’t stay mad. He is very vocal and will “talk” back when spoken to.

These are just the things we can think of at the moment. We will let you know how our second year goes as he matures from kitten to cat. Julius lives with 4 children, ages 16, 10, 8, and 3. Every one of us has a scar or two from playing with him so keep that in mind. He’s not your average kitten. At one year old Julius is a solid, lean 20 lbs with the softest, and cleanest, fur you can imagine.

So, if you were considering which breed of cat will be right for you, consider all of the above. We have always had a domestic cat so some things took a little getting used to but we have NEVER regretted having Julius. We still actually say out loud “I am so glad we got Julius” on a fairly regular basis. We’re hoping to add a female to our home as soon as Mom can afford one (we hope it’s really soon).

junglebob is a big commitment so if you are considering one and have questions, we will gladly answer them for you if we can. Suzie is a phenomenal person and has been so great by answering all our questions, but she is busy raising kittens and taking care of her family.

Sincerely,

The Bianco’s

kaesyem4@yahoo.com”