In Egypt, more than three thousand years ago, two species of wild cat found their way into Egyptian homes. One was Felis lybica, and the other was Felis chaus, also known as the Jungle Cat, was relatively tame in temperament from the start, with more than usual potential domestication, but so was Felis lybica. Whether it was chance or there were other reasons the Egyptians ultimately developed their domestic cat from Felis lybica.

Nonetheless, they loved the Jungle Cat enough to honor them occasionally with formal funeral rites, such as mummification - enough to take them hunting and paint them into scene after scene in murals. Some say that the statues of the goddess Bastet were modeled after the Jungle Cats and we can certainly see the resemblence in her long slender body and large ears!

Occasionally, members of Felis chaus mated with domestic cats. From North Afica to Southeast Asia, there were reports dating back centuries of cats that seem to have been Felis chaus hybrids.

However, the first recorded breeding of a Jungle Cat and a domestic was recorded in 1960. After breeders began working together, in the '90s, the Chausie was awarded Foundation Registry Status in 1995 with The International Cat Association ( TICA).

There were several breeds and domestics used in the very early development stage of the Chausie (Bengal, Abysinnian and Oriental Shorthair were thee breeds found in early pedigrees).

In 1997 the Abysinnian was recognized as the permissable breed outcross along with the "moggy" or domestic shorthair of no determned breed.

Due to the effort of breeders and their hard work, the Chausie was given Championship status starting May 1, 2013.

As a fully domestic Championship breed, the Chausie no longer has an allowable outcross and must be SBT to compete in the show ring. SBT or Studbook designation means that there are no other breeds but Chausie in 3 generations of the pedigree behind the cat.