Do you love cats of all shapes and sizes? Then feast your eyes on the cutest of them all – baby sand cats. Sand cats, Felis margarita, are also called sand dune cats and they live in deserts. Shocker, I know.
Sand cats spend their days by sleeping in burrows or napping in a shade somewhere. The intense desert heat they’re surrounded with doesn’t let them do much by day. And we all know that a cat doesn’t need an excuse to nap anyway.
It is during the nighttime that sand cats are active the most. Because all of the resources such as
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Table of Contents
How Are Baby Sand Cats Called?
Just like regular cats, baby sand cats are also called kittens. And just as domesticated cats, they look adorable.
How Does A Baby Sand Cat Look Like?
I found this comment on the look of sand cats the best; it said: sand cats look like kittens and baby sand cats look like smaller kittens.
Baby sand cats look very similar to your house cats and if it weren’t for the oversized ears, you might not even know the difference. They’re born with spotted pale yellow or reddish fur.
They are, however, much better prepared for the desert heat. They have long fur that covers their pads to protect them when walking on the hot sand and it even allows them to leave almost no footprints, making it hard for predators to track them. Their thick fur insulates them from the cold, heat, and blowing sand.
How Does A Baby Sand Cat Sound Like?
Their vocalizations are similar to those of domestic kittens. They will meow, hiss and purr just like other cats. In fact, cats can make more than 100 vocal sounds.
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How Big Are Baby Sand Cats?
Sand cats are really hard to spot in the wild and filming them is even harder. So, the most we know about them comes from our interaction with them in captivity – the zoos.
Baby sand cats weigh approximately one ounce at birth and are born with closed eyes. They develop quickly and by week two their eyes are opening and by week four they are walking and exploring around.
Where Do Sand Cats Live?
Sand cats and their kittens live in sandy and stony deserts of North Africa, Southwest, and Central Asia. The first sand cat (known to scientists) was discovered in the Algerian Sahara in 1858. They usually reside during the day in underground burrows that oftentimes other animals dug out. Nighttime is a different story, as they will roam the desert for 3-6 miles in search of
What Does A Baby Sand Cat Eat?
When they’re two months old, they are weaned from their mother’s milk and start eating other foods. At this point, they are also independent and almost self-sufficient.
Their prey does their best to stay undetected during the night but sand cats have a great advantage – their superior ears and hearing with ear canal double the size of domestic cats.
They will hunt for rodents, small hares and birds like lark, small monitor lizards, sandfish and even venomous vipers.
What Do Sand Cats Drink?
Sand cats live in the deserts which, as you know, aren’t actually abundant with water. Well, sand cats, as many other desert animals, have adapted so that they do not have to drink water. They get all their water needs from the small animals that they eat.
That doesn’t mean that they’ll skip over a water source if they find one. On the contrary, they will drink up as much as they can.
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How Many Baby Sand Cats Are Born At A Time?
A litter of baby sand cats will contain 2-3 kittens that are born after a 59-66 day gestation period. Unfortunately, only 61% of kittens survive longer than 30 days according to global data of Zoos in 2007. The main reason of death is the neglect of babies by first time moms.
Life expectancy in captivity is up to 13 years. Due to their elusiveness, lifespan of wild sand cats is unknown.
Can Sand Cats Be Pets?
Sand cats are rare in captivity and the captive cats are almost exclusively found in zoos across the globe. What the zoos will tell you is that sand cats need special conditions to survive and are not easy to take care of. Even though they look nice and sweet, they are very skittish around people and because they’ve adapted to extreme conditions they will need them in captivity as well.