Chausie Care Calendar: Weight, Gut and Heart Month by Month

A Chausie is a jungle cat hybrid with a domestic gut, and that mismatch sets the whole calendar. It runs 4.5-11.3 kg, needs close to an hour of real hunting every day, and processes fat far better than starch. Get weight, play and stool right and the breed is robust.

The year at a glance

Window	Coat, ears and claws	Health, weight and play
January-February	Rubber curry weekly; ears every 7 days	Monthly weigh-in; 60 minutes play indoors
March-May	Twice weekly during the shed; claws every 3 weeks	Spring weigh-in; book the annual echo and stool check
June-August	Weekly; check paw pads after catio time	Catio before 10 am or after 6 pm; water bowls in three rooms
September-October	Twice weekly through the autumn shed	Autumn weigh-in; second faecal check if stool has been soft
November	Weekly; ear wax often increases as heating comes on	Indoor play moves up to 90 minutes on wet weeks
December	Weekly; nails every 3 weeks	Year-end weight, vaccine dates, parasite dose

Coat and ears: ten minutes a week

The short coat has almost no undercoat and cleans itself, so a rubber curry once a week is enough for the body. Work it in slow circles from shoulders to hips. In the two shed windows, March to May and September to October, go to twice a week.

The ears need more attention than the coat. Large ears with open canals collect wax fast, and a Chausie that shakes its head or tilts it to one side for 24 hours has more than dirt. Wipe the visible folds weekly with a dry pad on a finger, never a cotton bud down the canal, and have a vet look if there is discharge, a smell, or redness that lasts three days. Bathing is rarely needed: once every 3-4 months, or when the coat feels tacky.

Weight bands from 3 months to adult

They grow to about 3 years. Weigh monthly until 24 months, then every 3 months.

• 3 months: 2.0-2.8 kg
• 6 months: 3.5-5.0 kg
• 12 months: 5.0-7.5 kg
• 24 months: female 4.5-7.5 kg; male 7.0-10.5 kg
• Adult male: up to 11.3 kg, with a long, lean frame
• Daily food: 1/2 to 3/4 cup dry (60-90 g) or 6-8 oz wet (170-225 g)

Ribs should be felt under a light palm and the belly should tuck up behind the ribcage. An 11 kg Chausie is not automatically fat; the shape decides, not the number. Indoor confinement is where the weight goes on, so measure the food and put the rest away instead of leaving a bowl down.

One hour of hunting, every day

Plan for at least 60 minutes of active play in two or three blocks: 20 minutes of wand work before breakfast, 15 minutes of fetch or chase in the evening, and 10 minutes of clicker training that counts as exercise because the cat is thinking. Add a climbing route that reaches the ceiling, with shelves at 40 cm intervals so the cat can go up without a jump it cannot judge.

A catio or a secured balcony gives 30-60 minutes outside without the road risk. Skip it on days above 30 C. A bored Chausie opens cupboards and learns latches, so enrichment is cheaper than repairs.

The short gut: stool is the daily readout

The hybrid intestinal tract is shorter than a domestic cat's, which is why rich food and high-starch kibble come out as soft stool within 48 hours. Feed a high-meat diet in two measured meals, keep fat moderate and carbohydrate low, and change foods over 10-14 days rather than overnight. A stool score of 3 on a 1-7 scale, firm and shaped, is the target; anything at 5 or above for more than 48 hours is a signal.

Inflammatory bowel disease shows as recurring soft stool, gradual weight loss and a cat that eats well but stays thin. Ask for a faecal panel, B12 and folate, and a TLI before assuming intolerance; then run an 8-week single-protein trial with nothing else in the bowl. Steroids or a hydrolysed diet come next if the trial fails.

Heart screening and the annual bloodwork

Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) is the main cardiac concern in hybrid lines. Book an echocardiogram at 12 months and repeat every 12-18 months; ask the breeder for the parents' scans, not a verbal assurance. Between scans, count sleeping breaths: under 30 a minute is normal, 35-40 that persists for three days needs a call, and open-mouth breathing or blue gums means the car keys come out now.

Once a year, add a full blood panel with creatinine, SDMA and thyroid. From age 7, repeat it every 6-12 months. Bloodwork within 30 days before any anaesthetic.

Heat, catio and household safety

This breed is heat-sensitive. Keep the room at 24-26 C, put water in three places, and freeze a bottle wrapped in a towel for the cat to lie against in July. On the catio, check for gaps over 4 cm, because a Chausie tests every edge, and use a roof: a 2 m fence is a suggestion, not a barrier.

Check local rules before you buy. Some countries and several US states restrict hybrid ownership by filial generation, and a cat that is legal in one state may need a permit 200 km away.

Five mistakes that cost the most

• Free-feeding dry food to a cat built to hunt
• Switching to a "premium" high-carb kibble and blaming the cat for the diarrhoea
• Keeping it in a flat with no vertical route and no catio
• Cleaning the ears with cotton buds and pushing wax deeper
• Skipping the 12-month echo because the cat looks athletic

The food mistake is the expensive one: chronic soft stool in a 9 kg cat means repeated visits and diet trials.

When to call the vet

Within 24 hours: soft stool for 48 hours, vomiting more than three times in a day, refusing food for 24 hours, or 5 percent weight loss in a month. Same day for blood in the stool, a distended belly, or a cat that hides and stops grooming. Immediately for open-mouth breathing, pale gums, a seizure, or a cat straining in the litter box with nothing coming out.

Twelve months, five habits

1. Weigh monthly to 2 years, then every 3 months and log it.
2. Two measured meals of high-meat food, no bowl left down.
3. 60 minutes of play a day, with a climbing route to the ceiling.
4. Curry weekly, ears weekly, claws every 3 weeks.
5. Echo at 12 months, then every 12-18 months, plus annual bloodwork.

Frequently asked