Bobcat
Felis rufus
When buying a bobcat or lynx, it's especially important to deal with a reputable breeder. Since they're often bred in captivity on fur farms, you can unknowingly get one with fur-farm lineage. That can be a problem, because fur-farm cats are sometimes inbred: they only need to have the cats live long enough to grow nice fur. They don't all necessarily care about the cats' long-term health.
With a cat that's been inbred, you can end up with expensive veterinary bills, and it could still die at a young age. Not a good outcome for you, or the cat...
This is generally not a problem with other species, because they aren't raised just for their fur (at least, not in the US). Asian leopard cats, servals, caracals, jungle cats, Goeffroy's cats, etc. aren't bred in large numbers commercially like the bobcats and lynx. You always want to deal with reputable breeders regardless of species, but for bobcats and lynx, the issue of inbreeding is rather more prevalent than it is in other species.
In the wild, bobcats' most prevalent prey animals are lagomorphs (rabbits and hares), with most of their prey weighing less than a couple kilograms. However they can take down adult deer. A few bobcats that have been killed in the wild have been 10-17 years old, but they've been known to live up to 32 years in captivity[1].
Bobcats, even as kittens, can change their demeanor very quickly, and you need to be willing to accept that if you're going to bring one home to live with you. The cat will set most of its own limits as to what you can and cannot do with it--and when. People who have them often comment on how affectionate they are, but you always need to "read" the cat from its behavior and body language, and respect it.
For information about the Bobcat:
Feline Conservation Federation
Exoticcatz.com
"Bobcat ecology" by Timothy Mallow
N.O.A.H. Feline Conservation Center
Bobcat Tagi & true "Survivor"
[1] Mel Sunquist and Fiona Sunquist. Wild Cats of the World University of Chicago Press, Chicago 2002, pp. 185-200
