According to Charles Darwin in "The Variation Of Animals And Plants Under Domestication" (1860s), "Several naturalists, as Pallas, Temminck, Blyth, believe that domestic cats are the descendants of several species commingled: it is certain that cats cross readily with various wild species, and it would appear that the character of the domestic breeds has, at least in some cases, been thus affected.

Roger Tabor suggested the Asian Golden Cat (F. temmincki) may have had some input into Oriental breeds e.g. the Siamese hence the distinct "Oriental" type ("The Wildlife of the Domestic Cat", Roger Tabor). However, the link between the Siamese and Temmick's cat may be due to naming confusion in the early 1900s. In Ceylon, the Siamese cat was known as "Gould's Cat", having been introduced there by a Mr Gould. The Burmese Sacred Cat (the Burmese, not the Birman) was known to early British cat fanciers as the "Gold Cat". A wild cat of the region was known as the "Golden Cat" (Temminck's Golden Cat) or "Bay Cat". HC Brooke, writing in 1927, believed these similarities of name to be the reason that Temminck's Golden Cat (or Bay Cat) was claimed to be an ancestor of the Siamese.

Lilian J Veley, in 1926/7, claimed to have seen Civet/cat hybrids and at the same time, some authorities were claiming the Siamese to be the product of a mating between a viverrine Civet and the Bay Cat. Cat-fancier, breeder and writer HC Brooke doubted that the two could interbreed, being from different families. He added that even if they could interbreed, they were unlikely to "fix" a new type. Dr P Chalmers Mitchell, Secretary of the Zoological Society disabused fanciers of the conceit that the Siamese cat was a hybrid between domestic cat and the wild Bay Cat. Capt J G Dollman, Assistant Curator of the Natural History Museum, South Kensington (London) added that the Siamese cat and the Bay Cat were unlikely to interbreed and produce fertile offspring and that the Siamese was most unlikely to have been the product of a cross between a viverrine (identified as the Indian (or Yellow-throated) Marten) and a Bay Cat.

There have been no attempts to hybridize domestic cats with the Asian Golden Cat (F. temmincki), despite claims for their interfertility with domestic cats.

There are unconfirmed reports that the Rusty-Spotted cat (F rubiginosa or Prionailurus rubiginosus), a close relative of the Asian Leopard Cat, interbreeds freely with domestic cats, but too little is known about this species to be certain. It weighs just over 2 lbs and is half the size of an average domestic cat. Its range overlaps with the domestic cat and it may interbreed naturally.

To date, there have been no attempts to deliberately hybridise the Rusty Spotted cat, but their affectionate nature means they are self-domesticating and can become pets. As pets, they may breed with the larger domestic cat and at least one possible hybrid between the Rusty-Spotted Cat and domestic cat has been reported. Outside Sri Lanka s Yala National Park, Kittle and Watson (2004) observed a rusty-spotted cat mating with a domestic cat and also saw a potential hybrid ("being slightly larger in size, with long legs and exhibiting unusual markings on a paler background").

THE RUBIGINOUS CAT. (The Field, 1st October 1881) The habits of the rubiginous [rusty spotted] cat are well described by Dr. jerdon in his work on The Mammals of India. He writes: [. . .] Mr W. Elliot notices that he has seen several undoubted hybrids between this and the domestic cat, and I have also observed the same."

Mr Bartlett is confident that the beautiful specimen in the gardens will become quite tame, and he proposes to rear some hybrids with the domestic species. I would suggest a spotted red tabby. That these hybrids will be perfectly fertile I regard as a foregone conclusion. Our domestic cat has hybridised with the smaller Felidae of all parts of the world, and is now a wonderful example of miscegenation, the tame cats of every country partaking more or less of the character of the wild species of the district. - W. B. TEGETMEIER

According to Charles Darwin in "The Variation Of Animals And Plants Under Domestication" (1860s), "Several naturalists, as Pallas, Temminck, Blyth, believe that domestic cats are the descendants of several species commingled: it is certain that cats cross readily with various wild species, and it would appear that the character of the domestic breeds has, at least in some cases, been thus affected. [...] Whether domestic cats have descended from several distinct species, or have only been modified by occasional crosses, their fertility, as far as is known, is unimpaired. The large Angora or Persian cat is the most distinct in structure and habits of all the domestic breeds; and is believed by Pallas, but on no distinct evidence, to be descended from the F. manul of middle Asia; and I am assured by Mr. Blyth that the Angora cat breeds freely with Indian cats, which, as we have already seen, have apparently been much crossed with F. chaus. In England half-bred Angora cats are perfectly fertile with one another." The Manul has been disproven as an ancestor of modern longhairs, but it is still not proven whether it can form hybrids with domestic cats.

Swanson, William & Stoops, Monica & M Magarey, G & Herrick, Jason. (2014). "Sperm cryopreservation in endangered felids Sperm cryopreservation in endangered felids: developing linkage of in situ-ex situ populations" contains an image of Pallas cat-domestic cat hybrid embryos at the 48 hour stage (5-8 cell stage) produced using IVF of domestic cat oocytes and frozen-thawed sperm from wild Mongolian Pallas cats. However this was just to investigate whether Pallas cat sperm remains viable after freezing and the embryos were not implanted.

MESSYBEAST SMALL CAT HYBRIDS