NebraskaServal.com supports the re-legalzation of small exotic cats, but they are not for everyone...
NebraskaServal.com's efforts to legalize small exotic cats and their hybrids does not mean that we think every Tom, Dick, and Harry should necessarily have a serval, caracal, bobcat, or Geoffroy's cat-hence our support of well-thought-out regulations. Exotic cats and their early-generation hybrids are special critters: they do have special needs and husbandry requirements. Later-generation hybrids become more and more like other domestic cats in their needs and behaviors, so this discussion only applies to the purebred exotics, their very early generation hybrids, and their high percentage hybrids.
Getting an exotic cat for a pet is not a trivial thing to be done without doing some serious thought first.
The small exotic cats (and to a variable extent, their early-generation hybrids with domestic cats) require special diets and there are some differences in their veterinary that can be significant. They also tend to bond very strongly to a single person, making re-homing them a very difficult ordeal for both the cat and their new owner.
But is the fact that these cats are not "for" everyone a reason to ban them?
No.
There are many people who shouldn't even have a domestic cat, dog, mouse, rat, guinea pig, ferret, horse, or goldfish, but none of those animals are banned.
Nutrition
Exotic cats have different dietary requirements from those of domestic cats, and cannot just be fed ordinary cat food. Some kind of raw meat diet is needed. There are several ways to feed exotics the correct diet:
- prepared food that is made specifically for them
- raw-meat meals prepared at home with the proper nutritional supplements added, or
- a "whole prey" diet
The prepared-food diet uses one of several factory-prepared foods. They can be purchased in tubes or in the form of dry kibble. Some of these foods must be purchased in large quantities, because the manufacturers do business primarily with zoos and other big-volume users. And they all need to be ordered special: you will not be able to go into your local pet-supply store and pick some up whenever you need it.
Making the food yourself is another possible way to feed an exotic cat. This involves buying the meat at the grocery store, and then mixing it with nutritional supplements before you feed it to the cat. This requires selecting the right kind of meat (e.g., chicken, turkey, rabbit, etc.) as well as the right cuts of the meat for the cat. Supplements are also needed, because in the wild they would not just eat muscle meat (which is mostly what is sold in stores)-they eat some fur, feathers, internal organs, etc.. To feed a raw meat diet without proper supplements is to guarantee a sick cat-and dietary deficiencies can require very fast diagnosis and medical treatment, or they can be fatal very quickly by the time the first symptoms start to show.
The final way to feed an exotic cat or its hybrid is what is called "whole-prey." This is feeding the cat complete animals-it's very much like they'd get in the wild (mice, birds, rats, rabbits, etc.). This is the most natural way to feed the cat, and it's pretty-much assured to provide balanced nutrition. Already-killed animals can be purchased (they usually need to be shipped-they're often not locally available) from a number of sources. Or live animals can be purchased or raised to feed to the cat. The animals can be killed in a humane (and drug-free) way before giving them to the cat. Of course, this is only an option once the cat is old-enough to eat solid food.
Veterinary Care
Veterinary care for exotic cats and their early-generation hybrids with domestics is somewhat different from that of domestic cats. It's different-enough that you need a vet who is either already well-versed in exotic cat medicine, or one who is willing to do a lot of learning along the way. Their reaction to drugs can be different (for example, rabies vaccinations must be of the killed-virus variety-not the live or modified types), and an exotic cat can need veterinary care more often than domestics.
Servals are notorious for swallowing indigestible objects that then cause intestinal blockages. If such a blockage is not detected and corrected in a timely manner, the cat can die. And by the time the first symptoms are observed, there is not much time to do the diagnosis and treatment if the cat is going to be saved. So expect more trips to the vet with an exotic cat, and expect the bills to be more expensive than for a domestic cat.
Exotic cats and their early-generation hybrids with domestics only bond once
Servals, Geoffroy's cats, bobcats, jungle cats, etc. usually bond only once, and usually only to one person. Even though the whole family interacts with it as it's growing up, it will bond more strongly to one person than any of the others. The same is often true of first-generation savannahs, bengals, and other hybrid breeds. This means that it's an extraordinarily difficult and upsetting thing for the cat if it's re-homed to different people later in its life.
So before you get one of these cats its critically important that you are totally committed to keeping and taking care of that cat for the rest of its life. If you are not committed, then do not get one.
There have been some servals that have been re-homed as adults and finally ended up readjusting to their new people, but it can take over a year to turn the cat back into a friendly animal again, and sometimes it just does not happen. The cat can end up never trusting another human again. If that happens, it will not be touchable again.
These cats are not pets to be casually bought and later discarded at your local animal shelter when you're tired of them-they need your complete and unending commitment if you're going to take one home.
Their behavior may not please you
Servals, caracals, bobcats, and other small exotic cats often behave in ways that many pet owners will find unacceptable. The most problematic is probably their frequent lack of litterbox habits like we've come to expect from felis silvestris catus. A few exotics do use the litterbox like you'd want them to. Some will do it for a while, and then one day their good habit either ends or becomes much less of a habit. And some never do "get" it. Is this a problem for you? If it is, do not get one of these cats. It's you who needs to adjust to fit the cat when you bring a wild cat into your home. If you expect to have it any other way, you're setting yourself up for failure.
All the small wild cats and their hybrids are both very intelligent and athletic. Cat-proofing your house for an exotic cat (or one of their early-generation hybrids) will prove to be much more difficult than child-proofing ever was. How many kids can jump 12 feet up in the air to get on top of a shelf or piece of furniture? It's not uncommon for these cats to figure out how to open doors (regular doors as well as cupboard doors), and an instance was reported where one person's bengals figured out how to turn the faucets on so they could play in the water.
Special housing requirements
Exotic cats and their hybrids do not work in apartments. They are high-energy animals that need some space to burn up calories. If a house is large enough, just keeping the cat indoors might work, but often an outdoor enclosure ("cage" if you will) is the best way to provide the cat with some of its own space to run around in, so it's not cooped-up all day. The hybrids usually don't need an enclosure, but it's a good idea for the exotics. We don't recommend keeping the cat in an outdoor enclosure all the time-it will need quality time with its people inside, too. That's what zoo keepers call "enrichment," and time with people is much better than all the big plastic balls and other toys you could put in an enclosure for the cat.
Other reasons you need to own your own place if you're going to have an exotic cat is that you'll want to make some modifications to the house that most people don't need: like double entry doors. By "double-entry doors," we mean an arrangement where each door to the outdoors opens into an entry-way of the house, which is closed-off from the rest of the house by another door. So if a cat dashes past you as you go in or out, it is still contained. This is a good idea for the hybrids, too; but it's essential if you're going to have an exotic cat living with you: it's much harder to recapture an escaped exotic cat than it is a domestic door-dashing cat. And some people install pet doors from the house into the outside enclosures for their cats to go in and out (from the house into the enclosure) whenever they want.
Your life will change forever if you get an exotic cat to live with you
People who are lucky-enough to be able to own a serval, caracal, or other exotic cat will tell you that their lives have changed. For one thing, there will probably be no more vacations.
It's very hard finding someone to take care of your exotic cat while you're away for several reasons. People unfamiliar with them can be intimidated by their behavior. Hissing is a common mode of communication for caracals and servals, and it's not just a sign of aggression like it is with domestic cats. The sheer size of a serval or caracal can be intimidating to someone unfamiliar with the individual cat. But it's not just about not finding someone willing and able to care four your cat while you're gone.
How do you know you can really trust someone to care for your cat while you're away? How do you know that you can really trust them to do what they've been told to do with the cat (like not to let it out loose, or where it might be able to get loose)? If a cat gets loose outside (any cat-domestic or exotic), what is done during the first moments and hours immediately after the escape can be critical to getting the cat back alive. Do you want to risk being hours or days away if something like that were to happen?
Another thing that usually changes when an exotic cat comes home to live is a big reduction in the nick-knacks and other random items around the house where the cat can get at them. Are you willing to put all that kind of stuff away into storage boxes for the next 20 years (or so) that the cat will be living with you?
You'll need to think in terms of contingencies if you don't already. What will you do if the cat gets loose? How will you prevent someone from coming onto your property and turning your cat loose or stealing it (that happens more often than you'd think)? What about the cat if there is a fire? Tornado? Flood? Extended power outage? What if your marital status or health changes? What if you lose or have to change jobs?
And once you have an exotic cat at home, you need to keep aware of all animal-related lawmaking activity (local, state, and federal): there are well-funded groups that endlessly keep pushing for more legislative restrictions on our ability to live with these animals. Your serval, bobcat, or even your bengal could be completely legal when you get it home, and later legislation could outlaw it. So you will need to become something of a political activist at times just to be able to keep your pet.
Getting an exotic cat for a pet is not a trivial thing to be done without doing some serious thought first.
