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Being a cat owner I've always had a big soft spot for Scottish Wildcats. unfortunately I've never seen one in the wild though I have seen them at the Highland Wildlife Park in Kincraig.
I started getting more interested in them last year after reading an article in a newspaper suggesting that there may be as few as 400 still surviving in the wild!
We are sleepwalking towards an extinction on our very own doorstep. 
I've got one DVD and two books here, "Last of the Scottish Wildcats" DVD and the books "Wildcat Haven" by Mike Tomkies and "In Search of the Scottish Wildcat" by Morris Allan and Tim Tyler.
Sorry for the wall of text, I didn't want to start three seperate threads!
First up I've got the "Last of the Scottish Wildcats" DVD, by Coffee films.
This is a documentary featuring interviews with farmers, gamekeepers, naturalists (including Mike Tomkies) and interested members of the public on the past, present and future of the Scottish Wildcat. It goes into detail on where the wildcats live, the problems they currently face and what can be done to help them.
Much of the coverage involves an ordinary couple who set up a Wildcat refuge in their back garden, building pens and attempting to set up a breeding programme. Eventually they even took over the official wildcat studbook which had been allowed to lapse into a pretty sorry state. Their research led them to conclude there were probably fewer than half a dozen purebred wildcats in captivity anywhere.
There are also pieces on the thorny problem of Wildcat identification with the programme getting over the point that we can't legally protect wildcats until we can all agree exactly what one is. It seems they are approaching a universally acceptable definition and it gives some useful tips on IDing any cats you happen to come across - if you get so lucky!
The major part of the film is given over to talking heads though there is some wonderful footage of wildcats also. Some from the pens at the breeding centre and some which is portrayed as a more "wild" encounter out in the countryside. Unfortunately using the wildcat identification tips given in the DVD I'm pretty confident in saying this particular wildcat is actually a hybrid! Its also pretty clearly a tame cat which is posing for its picture. To be fair to the filmmakers they don't make a really serious effort to hide this and even give their model a credit at the end!
Its obviously been made on a pretty low budget but the production values are reasonably high and the footage and soundtrack are good. I'd suggest its not a dvd for kids as there are lots of talking bits in between the Wildcat shots. Its available on Amazon and from the Scottish Wildcat Association website with half the profits going to the Scottish Wildcat Association.
Next I've got a couple of books, the classic "Wildcat Haven" by Mike Tomkies and "In Search of the Scottish Wildcat" by Morris Allan and Tim Tyler.
Wildcat Haven tells the story of Mike Tomkies who through a chance encounter comes into posession of a pair of female wildcat kittens whilst living with his alsation Moobli in the Scottish Highlands. As far as he is aware he was the first person ever to attempt to bring up a pair of wildcats and reintroduce them into the wild.
The book is fabulous, full of little anecdotes and stories of the trials and joys of raising two pretty contrary yet loveable animals in a wild and remote setting - there is no vehicle access to his home and he has to travel several miles by foot and boat just to get to his car to drive to the nearest settlement.
Mike himself is a pretty fascinating character and this comes across well. He's trying to be scientific and detached from the kittens but his love for them shines through, some of the stories of his eventual parting from them are heartbreaking. He seems unable to make a clean break, several times making a 'final' release of the animals but then going back out to find them and be sure they are ok. Some of his decisions seem pretty arbitrary but then he was forging a new path here doing something that had never been done before and you can see its all done with the best intentions.
The original cats are soon joined by a wide range of friends and eventual descendents causing havoc round the cottage. The stories of the cats first trip by boat, the attempts at toilet training and the night spent sleeping in a landrover with them in London are particularly memorable. The interactions between Moobli, who soon becomes an expert cat tracker, and the cats are wonderful.
The book also includes an appendix where Mike gives a detailed scientific account of his findings on the nature, habits and distribution of Wildcats and the challenges they face in order to survive.
A fantastic read.
Lastly we've got "In search of the Scottish Wildcat".
This details the trials and tribulations of an unlikey pair of guys who met through a small ad placed in "Movie Maker" magazine in 1974 as Tim, an English naturalist, searched for help in making a film about wildcats. The book alternates in its viewpoint, some chapters written by Tim, some by Morris.
Much of the attraction of the book in my eyes comes from the pairs tales of their filming trips. Neither of them young men, they undertook trips up mountains and through glens, in all weathers in a frankly unsuitable and unreliable series of cars over the years.
They tell of being snowed in in the car on remote country roads, skidding through the ice in a winter storm, hitchhiking, pulling a homemade caravan down twisty single track roads and being stuck halfway up mountains with their radiator pouring steam.
Everything however is taken in their stride and brushed aside in their search for wildcats.
Its made even more impressive when you realise Tim was travelling all the way up from Essex for each trip. The pair prove theres no problem that can't be solved by a cup of tea or in extremes a shot of whisky!
These guys are clearly amatuers and their attempts at times seem pretty clumsy and unlikely to succeed but they have enthusiasm in spades and their love of and dedication to the subject pulls them through escapades that would have had me running for home. The book has an old world charm about it that is incredibly appealing. The stories and images of the Highlands, its comunities and people in the 1970's would be worth a book on their own.
One of the saddest things about it from my point of view is the retreat of the Wildcat that becomes apparent throughout. They were seeing wildcats in places where they just don't exist today.
A large part of the book is again given over to captive cats, first McGuffy who was found as an abandoned kitten, brought up on brandy and now living in someones spare room. Later we meet other abandoned kittens, and hear of an abortive attempt at reintroduction. On one occassion whilst filming these captive cats the pair are astonished to find that a wildcat is able to strike out with its paws so fast that the movement doesn't show up on 25fps film! There are also plenty of encounters, most of them fleeting, with real wildcats.
