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Can sand cats or caracals be pets? Are they wild or domesticated?

Updated On September 23rd, 2025

Pet's info: Cat | Himalayan | Female | unspayed | 1 year and 7 months old

General Can Sandcats be domesticated ? What to watch for? Can Caracals be domesticated ? What to watch for ? Being endangered species should we or should we not castrate them ?

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Answered By Andrea M. Brodie, DVM

Veterinarian

Published on November 16th, 2018

No, neither sand cats nor caracals can be domesticated. They are wild cats, and will always exhibit wild cat behavior, even if tamed. As they are endangered species you should not try to keep them in captivity and certainly not have them castrated.

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