African cat can stay with Regina family, for now

[AdamSavage]

I stumbled across this a week or so back. I was happy to find out that, the Government changed there mind and said the cat stay for now.

What do you guys think about the ownership of Serval Cats as a pet ?

This gives you a pretty good idea of how large these cats are: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sdbSnmetciU


http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/saskatche ... 21107.html

[Makoes]

The more humans and animals that can learn to live together, the better. I think that having any animal as a pet is fine provided that the owner completely understands the requirements for having the particular animal and acts responsibly.

[Ana]

I want a serval sooo badly... but they are not allowed in Denmark nd i agree with Makoes that any owner should completely understands the requirements for having the particular animal and acts responsible

[AdamSavage]

Some people try to say the animal is abused because it's a wild animal, kept indoors. I don't believe that for a minute.

[Aleu]

If I saw that on my dresser in the morning, I think I'd be both happy and freaked. If it's given proper living requirements, I don't see the problem. Granted I don't suggest people run out and try to get these pets. XD Only if you absolutely know what you're doing. I mean hell, I want a wolf-dog (Or a fox), but I don't think I have the means to handle it. XP

[Lotusii]

I'm all for the ownership of these animals provided the person in question is responsible and not just going to try and get rid of the poor thing once it stops being "fun to have". I've always wanted one because I adore their mannerisms, colouration and most of all the size of them. So yes, if responsible, caring people want to care for animals like these, they should be allowed to do so.

Adam, I agree. More often it's people who think it's cruel who are just trying to ruin things for others because they just happen to disagree with it or are envious of the person who has something they don't. After all, most unfortunately I've read news articles of people who object to others owning these animals trying to feed them poison or shooting them when they are in their outside enclosures.

[Miyon]

I'd love to have one of these, they are gorgeous. But if I were to, I'd want to own a house first, one that would be big enough to house such a creature.

[Nachtwulf]

I haven't heard of any problems regarding servals, although they're unsurprisingly kind of high strung and arboreal. As long as the family is willing and able to deal with the cat's personality (which is true of ANY cat, really), then good on them.

For all that there are those who whine about such animals being "abused" simply by being held captive, personally I would rather see them spoiled as pets instead of dead in a poacher's trap. Domestication is quite probably the only real hope for many small cats in the long run.

As a semi-related note, historically, cheetahs, caracals, sand lynxes, and other desert cats have often been kept as pets (and hunting animals, in many cases) by ancient peoples such as the Egyptians and Assyrians. Cheetahs especially are one of (if not the only) great cats that seems able to understand that humans aren't food or chew-toys, and as long as well cared for, prove to be loyal companions. But they are -big- and need phenomenal amounts of exercise, so if you aren't taking them out to hunt gazelle all the time, I'm pretty sure they get neurotic and would probably wreck your house out of frustration.

Edit: One thing I don't approve of though is the declawing. Declawing maims the poor cat's paws, and can create additional psychological scarring (and can even make the cat bite far more often). Simply keeping the claws well-trimmed is safer for the animal while keeping clawing damage down, and is not a cruel procedure.

[AdamSavage]

I haven't heard of any problems regarding servals, although they're unsurprisingly kind of high strung and arboreal. As long as the family is willing and able to deal with the cat's personality (which is true of ANY cat, really), then good on them.

For all that there are those who whine about such animals being "abused" simply by being held captive, personally I would rather see them spoiled as pets instead of dead in a poacher's trap. Domestication is quite probably the only real hope for many small cats in the long run.

As a semi-related note, historically, cheetahs, caracals, sand lynxes, and other desert cats have often been kept as pets (and hunting animals, in many cases) by ancient peoples such as the Egyptians and Assyrians. Cheetahs especially are one of (if not the only) great cats that seems able to understand that humans aren't food or chew-toys, and as long as well cared for, prove to be loyal companions. But they are -big- and need phenomenal amounts of exercise, so if you aren't taking them out to hunt gazelle all the time, I'm pretty sure they get neurotic and would probably wreck your house out of frustration.

Edit: One thing I don't approve of though is the declawing. Declawing maims the poor cat's paws, and can create additional psychological scarring (and can even make the cat bite far more often). Simply keeping the claws well-trimmed is safer for the animal while keeping clawing damage down, and is not a cruel procedure.

There has only been one "attack" on a Human that I'm aware of. http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/headlines/2 ... -is-angry/

[cowmuflage]

I think it depends on where you live too. I mean if you had one here and it escaped....well it would be worse than any of the non native animals we have running loose around here and there is always that chance of it escapeing no matter how well you look after it etc

EDIT: But I think that goes for any pet wild or not. Man living on a Island has it's issues.

[Lotusii]

Edit: One thing I don't approve of though is the declawing. Declawing maims the poor cat's paws, and can create additional psychological scarring (and can even make the cat bite far more often). Simply keeping the claws well-trimmed is safer for the animal while keeping clawing damage down, and is not a cruel procedure.

This. I wish declawing was illegal everywhere.

[Nachtwulf]

I think it depends on where you live too. I mean if you had one here and it escaped....well it would be worse than any of the non native animals we have running loose around here and there is always that chance of it escapeing no matter how well you look after it etc

EDIT: But I think that goes for any pet wild or not. Man living on a Island has it's issues.

Islands do have specific issues regarding escaped pets, but... to be entirely fair, REGULAR feral cats are a problem on islands, nevermind exotic breeds. As are feral dogs, feral pigs, feral rabbits, escaped snakes, and so-forth. It's more accurate to say "feral escaped pets are a problem on islands"... I don't think this one solitary (neutered!) cat would be any worse in the same situation than any other cat save perhaps it might eat a couple more birds or something. Now, if there was a large breeding population then... well... I don't know, if that happened, it'd be kind of amazing because even zoos have trouble keeping large breeding populations of servals. XD

[cowmuflage]

I think it depends on where you live too. I mean if you had one here and it escaped....well it would be worse than any of the non native animals we have running loose around here and there is always that chance of it escapeing no matter how well you look after it etc

EDIT: But I think that goes for any pet wild or not. Man living on a Island has it's issues.

Islands do have specific issues regarding escaped pets, but... to be entirely fair, REGULAR feral cats are a problem on islands, nevermind exotic breeds. As are feral dogs, feral pigs, feral rabbits, escaped snakes, and so-forth. It's more accurate to say "feral escaped pets are a problem on islands"... I don't think this one solitary (neutered!) cat would be any worse in the same situation than any other cat save perhaps it might eat a couple more birds or something. Now, if there was a large breeding population then... well... I don't know, if that happened, it'd be kind of amazing because even zoos have trouble keeping large breeding populations of servals. XD

Still it's something to think about. What I was getting at is it's different depending on where in the world you are in. I don't think here it would be fine to own exotic pets just for the reason that if it did go feral it would be worse than if a domestic animal did. It's the reason snakes are banned here not even zoos can have them.

[Sesamee]

I have Savannahs which are a domestic Serval hybrid. Because I was buying cats not rescuing them I made sure to research the breed very carefully as well as the breeders I contacted. The breeder where I bought one of my cats had a Serval in her home and it was just like any other house cat. It would carry this little kitten around in its mouth like it was his Mother. This was a male serval.

In researching the breed I found out that the skeletons of Serval cats have been found in Egyptian family burial tombs before there was ever such a thing as a domestic cats. The history of Servals as pets predates what we now know as the domestic cats. They are also "easy keepers" when it comes to exotic cats. They have awesome temperaments although most take only to their owners. So, IMO, there's a huge difference in keeping a pet Serval vs. a pet tiger. So I think if you can meet the needs of the pet then I have no problem with people owning Servals.

My Savannahs are just like any other domestic cat with a few quirks. They are much more demanding of attention and when they want it they will make damn sure you give it to them. I can't have knick knacks around because they're kind of like a bull in a china shop. Where my old domestic cat (RIP ) would gracefully tip toe around a table full of stuff after jumping up on it my Savannahs, esp my 25 lb one, will knock everything off it and probably side all the way across it onto the ground on the other side. They are like clumsy bulls in a china shop. They like water, I can't leave a glass of water anywhere, they are 100 times more curious and active than a "regular" cat. But they are the most affectionate cats I've ever owned. My big one will literally jump into my arms to be held which is actually unusual as most Savannahs don't like being held although they will follow you around, sit on your lap, and headbutt you to death. Headbutting is a trademark of this breed and I love it.

So yeah, for those who have the time and means I totally approve of Servals as pets. For the rest of us Savannahs make awesome alternatives!

Edit: One thing I don't approve of though is the declawing. Declawing maims the poor cat's paws, and can create additional psychological scarring (and can even make the cat bite far more often). Simply keeping the claws well-trimmed is safer for the animal while keeping clawing damage down, and is not a cruel procedure.

I agree with this. Declawing is a terribly inhumane procedure. If you can't deal with an animal occasionally destroying an inanimate object and care more about material things than the humane treatment of animals you shouldn't have the animal. Here in CA it's actually illegal to declaw exotic cats or first, second, and third generations hybrids of them. So my second and third generations Savannahs couldn't be declawed if I wanted them to be. I don't know why the distinction but that's the law. I think declawing should be illegal for all cats.

I provide lots of scratching posts and other than one particular window they like jump in and out of and occasionally get snagged on the curtain they haven't destroyed anything. Well, except for the time I accidentally shut my big cat up in my room, which he wasn't used to, and I came home to the molding of the door completley ripped off and the carpeting underneath my door shredded. But as for regularly scratching and tearing things up they just don't do that. I rarely even have to trim their claws as all the scratching posts seem to do the job just fine.

Still it's something to think about. What I was getting at is it's different depending on where in the world you are in. I don't think here it would be fine to own exotic pets just for the reason that if it did go feral it would be worse than if a domestic animal did. It's the reason snakes are banned here not even zoos can have them.

In the unlikely event that one did escape and go feral it wouldn't affect the environment anymore than a feral domestic cat would. Mating Servals and domestic cats is extremely difficult, thus the high price of Savannahs, and even if it did happen eventually the bloodline would be so diluted with domestic cat genes that it wouldn't be any different than feral domestic cats. And a single wild Serval wouldn't alone couldn't have any real impact on an otherwise functioning ecosystem.