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What to consider before purchasing a serval cat.  Should you own a serval cat?

Is it legal to own a serval cat where you live?  A few states, including are own state of Arizona, do not allow individuals to own serval cats as pets.  Also, the county and possibly the city you live in may not permit this.  You may think you can keep it a secret that you own a serval, but you can't!  If you live in a state not allowing you to own a serval, chances are the states fish and game authority, likely the enforcer of the states laws, will come and take your cat.  This may not be very good for you and can be a disaster for the cat.  States very widely in what individuals may own as far as cats are concerned.  Some states are completely open and completely leave it up to their residents as to what kind of cats they may own including the large cats.

Are you prepared to take care of the cat for the 20 years of its life?  This cat makes an extraordinary pet when bottle fed by humans from an early age and first acquired by its owner between an age of 6 to 8 weeks but will not easily accept a new owner.  The new owner will need to work with the cat to acquire what trust the cat may give, but the cat will never give the new owner the high level of trust that it gave to the first purchaser of the kitten.

Do you have a separate room in your house for the serval?  The cat is very playful and you may find that the serval will not let you alone.  These cats are smart and will watch what you are doing and be watching for anything they can grab that you are using.  They love to grab something from you and run with it hoping you will chase them for it.  Also, you may be in for a surprise if the cat goes on a hunting expedition in your bedroom at 3:00 am in the morning!  These cats are great jumpers and can you imagine an unexpected 40 pound cat landing on you.  Yes, the African serval cats are a lot of fun and can be most loving, but you may find they just sometimes need their own space.  As the serval cat approaches maturity, its instincts will tell him it is time to leave you and go off on its own.  The cat will not do this if its world is contained, but if your door or window is open, you can expect the cat to leave.  This makes the African serval different then a domestic cat,  your domestic cat knows his home, and under normal circumstances will not leave without coming back.  Your serval can be starving on his own, but will not have the inclination to return to you.  Some individuals with a serval pet have double doors to their homes.

If you are a young person and later have a baby will you trust the baby crawling on the floor in the presence a cat that possibly suddenly see the small child as game?  Well, chances are the serval cat would never see it that way, but would you take the chance?    I don't know of any instance where this has ever happened but I would never risk this with a small child.  If you have children of five years or younger, we do not recommend that you buy a serval cat.

A serval cat should never meet new people by letting the people chase after the cat, but by allowing the cat to go to them when it is ready.  If you let friends visiting your home to chase your serval cat, then you will be conditioning the serval to hide whenever strangers are in your house.  Tell anyone coming to your home not to follow or chase after the serval.  Chances are the cat may be comfortable in the presence of strangers in your presence, but visitors should be cautioned not to take liberties with the serval as they may frighten the cat.  These cats are not aggressive but are concerned about people they don't know and are afraid they may be hurt by them.

Have you serval proofed the parts of your home where the serval can roam.  A personal computer landed on by a domestic cat is no problem, but may be knocked to the floor when landed on by a serval cat.  A ceiling fan may become pulled out of the ceiling if the serval cat decides it might be fun to hang from it.  Most pet servals are declawed.  Actually, the serval is smart and is not likely to hurt you with his claws, and like a domestic cat,  knows when to keep them in.  But what a job these claws will be able to do on your house and furnishings!

Do you like to take long vacations?  If you don't see your serval cat for a month, possibly the cat may never fully forgive you for abandoning him for this long.

Many of the considerations of owning a serval have to do with the size of the cat and you would have the same problems with any domestic cat if it were a 40 pound cat.  That being said, servals can make fantastic pets!  They can be as loving as any domestic cat.  In this way, the serval is not like some of the other so called exotic cats.  The serval cat is the foundation cat for the domestic savannah cat, a hybrid cat, now under development. The serval cat can adopt to humans.  The Asian Leopard Cat that the domestic bengal cat is a hybrid  does not adopt to humans and in fact wants no part of being around humans.  The ancient Egyptians are believed to have used serval cats as pets and Europeans have had serval cats as pets for hundreds of years.  The serval cat loves to play and will fetch a ball just like a dog.  The serval cat likely will be like no other cat you have ever owned, and you are likely to very fondly remember him all of your life!

Why are serval kittens somewhat expensive?  The serval takes more time to care for then domestic cats.  The kittens need to be removed from their mother before they are a week old and bottle feed by humans.  The bottle feeding helps the serval bond to humans.  A kitten that was bottle fed will seem just like a domestic kitten at eight weeks of age, the age it can be shipped.  The facility that sells a serval kitten must be USDA licensed.  Very few catteries are USDA licensed and it is this absolute requirement that has stopped widespread breeding of serval cats.  The breeder of serval cats will make a greater investment for the facilities of these cats as well as a greater price to obtain the breeding stock.  The serval breeder makes a greater time investment in the serval kittens.