Serval, Lynx, Bobcat And Asian Leopard Cat As Pets

Here are some quick notes from a very good book called “Legacy of the Cat" edited by Gloria Stephens about wild cats as pets

Servals may be kept as pets she says but only if they have been raised as cubs.  I disagree with her but that isn't the point.  I would like to add that you have to expect a high energy cat and a serval might get into situations which harms himself.  They will almost certainly spray around your home causing mayhem.  The household should be made cat proof and any toxic chemicals removed.  This includes pesticides of course which are inherently toxic.  Gloria advocates declawing of servals.  I confess I despise that advice.  Sorry Gloria you are wrong but people always declaw their serval pets.  Gloria says:

If they have not been declawed, the claws can destroy your furniture or, worse yet, hurt a human while the cat is “at play"

Yes, I agree with the damage because this is quite a big cat but I disagree with the declawing and in which case it is not viable to keep a serval as a pet - simple....unless you have a very large outside enclosure in which the cat can express natural behavior and there is no declawing! ;)

Serena a serval living in an outside enclosure in OK, USA
having been relinquished by her owner.

As to the lynx she says that most lynx are not suitable as house cats especially if they have not been altered (neutered) or hand raised with care.  If they've not been altered they will spray or mark your house and furniture.  This is what I said about the serval.  This species of wild cat can be temperamental.  This is a medium-sized wild cat species.

As to the Bobcat it is of the same species as the lynx. She says that as with any wildcat, bobcats may not make good pets when they are adults.  The bobcat is between 2 to 3 and a half feet in length.

As to the Asian leopard cat, don't try and turn this cat into a pet because it won't work properly. This cat is solitary, nocturnal and they do not make good pets, so says Gloria.  They are known to be independent and I remember reading an article about this species of small wild cat in the Feline Conservation Federation (FCF) magazine in which the author made it quite clear that he was unable to connect with this cat.  The author had kept his leopard cats in an enclosure.  I remember quite clearly and noted this interesting fact.

I'll leave it there because if you want to read about these species of wild cats you can click on this link and go from there.

Accept and Accommodate Normal Feline Behaviour for Successful Cat Ownership

Normal Feline Behaviour – Our Response

As regards cat ownership - which is better described as cat guardianship or cat caretaking - perhaps the most important thing a person can do is to understand what normal feline behaviour is and then accept it and furthermore accommodate it, by which I mean ensure that the cat can express normal feline behaviour within the environment provided by the owner. It is pretty much as simple and as straightforward as that.

It all starts with understanding the fundamentals of cat behaviour and respecting the domestic cat.  A person respects the domestic cat by letting the cat behave normally.  It's common sense because if any sentient being including human beings are prevented from expressing their natural desires, motivations and behaviours this will inevitably lead to stresses and abnormal behaviour together with possible health problems.

If you click on the link above you will see that I have referred to two central aspects of normal cat behaviour which can irritate cat owners, namely scratching and predatory behaviour.

Cats need to scratch because it is part of natural behaviour.  Scratching is quite a complex behaviour because not only does it slough off a layer of the claw it also marks territory by leaving a scratch which is a visual signal and it also marks territory by leaving a olfactory signal because there are scent glands in the paws of a cat.  Pretty well everyone knows that by now because of the Internet.

The answer to scratching is not a quick fix namely chopping off part of the cat's toe (declaw) but to accommodate this behaviour: to respect it.

The reason why cats exhibit predatory behaviour even when they're not hungry is because they are built to respond to signals (cues) from prey items such as mice.  These signals include rapid movement and sound.  A domestic cat is programmed like a wild cat.  This means that a cat cannot wait till he or she is hungry before she hunts prey because the success rate is quite low at around 17% and if a hunting session started off when the cat was hungry and the cat has to try and try again it is quite likely that the cat will be unable to succeed because of fatigue due to a lack of nourishment.  It is simply about survival and it is a practical solution.

If people know that then they might be less critical of the domestic cat when he brings in prey even though the owner has put down first-class food in a bowl in the kitchen!

Obviously when accommodating a cat's natural behaviour which includes hunting outside a cat owner needs to not only respect their cat but also their neighbours and native wildlife species.  This entails finding a balance between these competing objectives.  That is not beyond the bounds of possibility. Like almost everything in life it comes down to compromise.  One way to do this if a cat is allowed out side is to limit outside activity to times other than dusk and dawn because those are the times when a domestic cat is liable to be most active for hunting.  The cat owner could exercise a curfew on their cat at those times.  This is just one example.

Cat Hair: White Is the Absence Of Pigment

For a cat and perhaps for other creatures white is the absence of pigmentation in the hair strands. The hair is not white because there is white pigmentation in the hair.  There is no pigmentation in the hair strands.  In short, white is the absence of colour in this instance whereas in an absolute sense white is the merging of all the colours of the visible spectrum. I think that's quite a nice contrast.

Natalie - a non-pedigree show cat. Photo copyright Helmi Flick.

You would have thought that if there is no pigmentation in each hair strand, each strand of hair would be transparent but clearly not.  Therefore, the un-pigmented hair strand must be white or opaque to a certain extent and very light in colour.

The reason why there is no pigment in the hair of white cats is because cells which are created very early on during the develop of the foetus inside the womb called melanoblasts - which turn into melanocytes (which are pigment producing cells) - do not migrate from their point of origin to the hair shaft.  The point of origin of melanoblasts is the trunk neural crest cells.

The reason why this migration does not take place is because of the white cat carries the white spotting gene or the dominant white gene.  In these cats the migration is partly or completely halted.

Because the cell in the skin in which the hair strand is embedded is unable to produce pigment (eumelanin and phaeomelanin) there is no pigment inside the hair strand; it looks white.

The white spotting gene is also called the piebald gene and it creates the bicolour cat (white and another color). These genes can cause deafness and odd-eye color.

Cat Associations Have a Household Pet Class

So-called ordinary cats, random bred cats, moggies, the sort of cat that you and I look after can be shown at cat shows.  With respect to The International Cat Association, the Household Pet Class is for cats that are not registered in the Championship Class.

Calico cat (Tortie and white) random bred show cat. Photo copyright Helmi Flick

See CURTIS a champion Household Pet  - a tabby cat.

This class is open to any cat that is registered as a Household Pet and which is altered meaning spayed or neutered.

It seems to me that this class of show cats are treated slightly differently because the rules are probably a little bit more relaxed.  It is almost as if they are amateurs while pedigree purebred cats are the professionals.  I may be wrong in making that analogy but that is the way it seems to me.

These cats may be of any colour and pattern and there is no particular appearance.  It is wide open which makes it interesting.

It should be said, however, that there are some stunning random bred cats in the Household Pet Class.  They are every bit as beautiful as the pedigree cats.  The exhibitors take great pride in exhibiting their cats in this class.

At The International Cat Association (TICA) there are 10 divisions in this class as follows:

1. Solid
2. Tabby
3. Tortie
4. Pointed
5. Shaded
6. Solid and White
7. Tabby and White
8. Tortie and White
9. Pointed and White
10. Shaded and White

The basic rule is that if a cat looks like a tabby cat it will be placed in the tabby division and so on. You can see that, as mentioned, it is quite a relaxed set up for household pets.

Household Pets are judged on beauty and condition. I don't like the title of the class, however. I don't like "pets".  What about the "Free Cat Class" reflecting the fact that the cats are not bounded by breeding rules.

Source: Me and Legacy of the Cat - Difference between "purebred" and "pedigree".

Fat Cat Art

Fat Cat Art is the creation of Russian artist Svetlana Petrova who inherited her mother's spoilt, overweight, ginger, tabby cat when she died in 2008. The cat's name is Zarathustra.

Svetlana was grief stricken on her mother's death but after 2 years she decided to be creative again and in doing so decided to use digital photography and Photoshop to embed photographs of her fat, ginger cat within well-known paintings by the masters such as Marc Chagall, Titian and Leonardo da Vinci:

I'm not sure I can make much in the way of comment about this.  It is what it is. It may be popular but it is the first time I have seen it as far as I can recall and I've been surfing the Internet searching from cat information and cat images for about 7 years, so I don't think it is that well publicised or known.

I don't think it is that good either to be perfectly honest.  It doesn't do anything to me.  It doesn't get my juices flowing or rock my boat.

The only interest I have in this artwork, which can be seen on the Fat Cat Art website is the state of the health of this enormous ginger, tabby cat.  This cat is liable to have health issues including diabetes and arthritis in older age.

I know I am a bit grumpy but I don't see anything funny in a very obese orange tabby cat shoehorned in to the Mona Lisa.  But there again, a lot of people will love it, I'm sure.  Most orange tabby cats are males.