The Chausie was first recognized as a domestic breed by The International Cat Association (TICA) in 1995.

[2] The jungle cat is native to a vast region spanning Southeast Asia, India, and the Middle East.

[3] For the most part, it is an Asian species of wild cat that lives by rivers and lakes.

But the species is found in one small area of North Africa: the Nile Delta.

[4] F. chaus is not a timid species; they are known for moving into abandoned buildings and living as happily by irrigation canals as by wild rivers, provided that adequate prey and shrubbery for cover are available.

Currently, most authentic Chausies produced are late generation cats with fully domestic temperaments.

Chausies are bred to be medium to large in size, as compared to traditional domestic breeds.

Black grizzled tabbies are unique to the Chausie breed among domestic cats.

[8] The kittens are often born completely black, although occasionally they may have a bit of light colored fur on the chin or neck at birth.

In addition, alternating bands of off-white appear on individual hairs in the background color.

The off-white banding or "ticking" usually appears first on the neck, chin, and belly, as well as the insides of the ears.

Grizzling does have a wide range of expression, however, and some cats never have more than a few banded hairs in the ears or in one spot on the belly, occasionally not even that.

Every time a black ticked tabby kitten is born, breeders start guessing what the background color will be, but it cannot be known for certain until the cat ages.

Those ingredients will serve as triggers for chronic intestinal inflammation and eventually lead to chronic inflammatory bowel disease that is perpetuated by multiple allergies to low quality, incomplete proteins in commercial cat food.

To prevent this, breeders advise Chausie owners to feed only very high quality cat foods, containing as little of plant-derived ingredients as possible, or a homemade diet.

If homemade diets are fed, it should be with the guidance of someone experienced in preparing them, because meat by itself does not contain all the nutrients that Chausies require.