[3][4] Felis ornata was the scientific name used by John Edward Gray in the early 1830s as a caption to an illustration of an Indian wildcat from Thomas Hardwicke's collection.

[12] The Asiatic wildcat's fur is light sandy coloured with small rounded spots on its upper body.

Throughout its range the Asian wildcat's coat is usually short, but the length of the fur can vary depending on the age of the animal and the season of the year.

[1] In Pakistan and India, wildcats have pale sandy yellow coats, marked with small spots that tend to lie in vertical lines down the trunk and flanks.

[14][15] The wildcats of Central Asia have a more greyish-yellow or reddish background color, marked distinctly with small black or red-brown spots.

[13] In Iran, the Asiatic wildcat has been recorded in arid plains, lush forests, coastal areas and mountains, but not in extremely high elevations and deserts.

[17] In Afghanistan, the Asiatic wildcat has been recorded prior to 1973 in the central Hazarajat mountains and the steppe region, near Shibar Pass and Herat, and in Bamyan Province.

[13] In Turkmenistan, the Asiatic wildcat feed on great gerbils, Libyan jirds, Afghan voles, long-clawed ground squirrels, tolai hares, small birds like larks, lizards, beetles, and grasshoppers.

In the Qarshi steppes of Uzbekistan, the wildcat's prey, in descending order of preference, includes great gerbils, Libyan jirds, jerboas, other rodents and passerine birds, reptiles, and insects.

Wildcats in eastern Kyzyl Kum have similar prey preferences, with the addition of tolai hares, Midday jirds, small five-toed jerboas, and steppe agamas.

In Kyrgyzstan, the wildcat's primary prey varies from Tolai hares near Issyk Kul, pheasants in the Chu and Talas River valleys, and mouse-like rodents and gray partridges in the foothills.

[13] In the scrub habitat of western Rajasthan, they live largely on desert gerbils, but also hunt hares, rats, doves, gray partridges, sandgrouses, peafowl, bulbuls, Old World sparrows and eat eggs of ground birds.

[19] Results of a feed item analysis of Asiatic wildcats in the Tarim Basin revealed that their primary prey was the Yarkand hare followed by Midday jird, long-eared jerboa, poultry and small bird, fish, five-toed pygmy jerboa, Agamid lizards and sand lizard.

Some wildcats in Georgia carry the helminth species Hydatigera taeniaeformis, Diphyllobothrium mansoni, Toxocara mystax, Capillaria feliscati and Ancylostoma caninum.