This African feline has an untypical constitution for a cat. Thanks to its long legs it looks more like a dog. Although it is a wild animal, it is often a pet.
Serval is an African feline with big round ears. Its tall and thin constitution make it look more like a dog with a cat’s head. It has long legs (probably the longest from all felines) adapted for movement in tall grass which allow it to jump high and move with extraordinary elegance, lightness and speed for short distances. Well, the name of its genus, Leptailurus, means “brilliantly agile”. The colour of its hair looks like cheetah's, it has cream colour and dark spots. However, also black servals exist.
They live north from Sahara, in steppes and forest steppes and mountain regions. They mainly hunt small mammals. However, they sometimes also eat amphibians and fish. Grass and fruits are also part of its diet. It usually hunts its prey in dim light or at night. It can trace them thanks to its ears and catch with a swift jump which can be as long as four metres. It also excels at jumping high, it can be up to 3 metres. On the contrary to other cats, its success rate in hunting is quite high, up to 50 %.
Even though servals are still wild animals, they often behave like “pets”. You can also see it in some Czech households. If it’s taken in young age, it becomes tame quite easily, but let’s be honest, it’s still a wild animal and can be dangerous, especially for small children.
If you decide to keep a serval, you would need a special permit from the veterinary service. It should ensure suitable living conditions for the animal and suitable security. Also be sure that taking care of a feline is very different from taking care of a domestic cat. It is an exotic cat with specific requirements and needs. Therefore it is appropriate to look up as much information as possible about keeping it.
Those of us who are satisfied with a more common furry friend can always go to a ZOO or a specialist breeding farm to see it.
Kitten Lady describes her activities as kittens’ advocacy and humane education. This all is done by young beautiful Hannah Shaw. She’s a kitten rescuer, spreads the principles of humanity and is an unwavering advocate of animal rights. She decided to...
Several kinds of hedgehog are kept as pets. The most common one is the four-toed hedgehog or an African pygmy hedgehog in other words. This pet which is not very common but is becoming more and more popular can live up to 9 years in captivity and...
More than one artist fell in love with these creatures and looked for inspiration for work in them. One of them was Ernest Hemingway. He is the author of the well-known saying “One cat just leads to another”. He really kept a large number of cats (in...
We have an active and healthy lifestyle. Or at least we try to have. In relation to that, we don’t only think about our own food but also about our dogs’ food. The trend of barfing has already come to the Czech Republic, too. It is a method of feeding...
If you go camping for the first time, it is good to prepare for all various reactions of your furry friend. Do you travel with it by car and by public transport with no problems? Is your dog okay when not sleeping at home, e.g. in a mountain cabin? It...
As the name of this breed suggests, you can’t expect much hair on an American hairless terrier. This small or medium size muscled dog has hair only on its muzzle and eyebrows. But the interesting thing is that puppies are born with an undercoat which...
Let us get this straight, what is monoprotein food? It is wet food (i.e. cans and pouches) which contains only one type of meat, muscles and bowels. And why is it better than common wet food?
A meat bomb in a form of a dog paté or can doesn’t have to be only a reward. If you are planning to go on a long hike – to the mountains or to the valley – you can make the use of a dog meat can. Dogs in move, usually when doing any sport outside, need...
The cause of diabetes is a lack of insulin (a pancreas hormone) or the inability of the body to use it effectively (i.e. the resistance of tissues towards insulin). And it doesn’t matter if you’re a person or an animal. With diabetes, the sugar is...
Runner Dion Leonard could talk for hours about the bond which is created between a man and a dog and also about how an unknown Asian crossbreed dog becomes one of the most famous dogs on planet Earth. He bumped into a dog companion at the ultra-trial...
Even when you cannot or don’t want to take your dog on your holiday with you, you still have many options what to do with it. You can take him to your relatives, accommodate it in a dog hotel, use dog-sitting and other things. It’s not that easy with...
Cats can also be heroes and put their lives at risk to save someone from risky or life-threatening situations. The first cat hero I will introduce you to is Scarlett. She showed her heroism in the most natural form – she saved her kittens. She took...
