With an energetic, playful, and affectionate personality, and ears quite near the size of its own head, it would be hard to mistake a Serval for an ordinary house-cat.

The Serval is known to be a wonderful and lively pet if hand-raised from infancy. The association with people and different environments must be made at a young age in order for this particular feline to mature with a sense of security amongst the unfamiliar. Once this connection is made, the Serval easily adapts to just about anything thrown its way and even tends to enjoy a few surprises. The Serval is also known for being one of the top "preying" exotic felines. Throughout their entire lifespan, Servals never cease to enjoy hunting and stalking. Allowing the cat an outlet for their massive quantities of energy, however, can curb this trait. Servals enjoy many different types of toys, water activities, and games, especially those that allow them to run, jump, and engage in forms of playful hunting. By permitting the Serval to playfully "hunt," one can easily relieve their tendencies to act as though in the wild. Also, these games will create a tighter bond between the owner and their cat, thus resulting in a more affectionate relationship. The Serval is also widely known for their "mousing" capabilities. Servals love to hunt small rodents, birds, frogs, and the like. Some owners of Servals train their cats at a very young age to walk with a collar or harness, and a leash. This is strongly recommended in order to allow the cat to experience a more abundant form of nature and to set certain boundaries in where the feline can and cannot go, as well as what they can and cannot do.

The Serval has often been mistaken as a miniature version of the Cheetah. With a coat ranging in colors from yellowish-buff to tawny-gold, an underbelly of pale to whitish color, and dark quarter-sized spots scattered about, it is not unusual for this error to occur. But, there are many features that distinguish this feline from the Cheetah. The spots on the Serval merge into horizontal striping running along the upper back and neck and along the tip of the tale. Their large, funnel-like ears are usually black in color with white centers and allow the feline to hear the movements of small rodents up to twenty feet away. The average Serval is about three feet long and 24 inches at the shoulder with their weight ranging about 18-44 pounds. They tend to have extra long legs, especially front legs, in order to chase and capture prey and provide a better reaching capacity when digging into rodent holes. The extended limbs also assist the Serval in jumping extreme heights, as much as 15 feet straight up. This cat is most commonly known for its signature call that sounds more like a yapping "how-how-how" than a "meow," though it can purr and growl like the average feline.

Once known as the Leptailurus Serval, this exotic feline's name has since been shortened to simply Serval. This cat can be found throughout the African continent, especially near marshy areas, rivers, and bushed country where they can stalk and pounce upon mice and other small rodents and amphibians. In the wild, this cat is known to be a solitary feline, though on occasion they do hunt in pairs when trying to take down larger mammals, such as antelopes. Though wild Servals tend to shy away from any human contact, they have been kept as pets for thousands of years, most particularly in Africa and Egypt. These cats were commonly used as mousers in grain shacks and farmers? fields, as well as to protect homes in Egypt from evil spirits of the night.

Although the Serval is sometimes referred to as a low maintenance exotic cat when compared to some other exotic cats such as Tigers, it is advised that anyone who is considering keeping exotic cats should fully educate themselves in the breed that they are interested in. It is also important to find a veterinarian that is familiar with the healthcare of exotic felines in case problems do occur. Additionally there are licensing requirements for owning a Serval as a household pet in many areas. For this reason it is important check with local Game & Fish departments before purchase. Furthermore there are usually special housing requirements for a Serval, (most states require a certain type of enclosure with a double entrance.) Even if there are no requirements in your area an outdoor, fully enclosed pen should be provided so that the Serval can run about and play unsupervised. It is also recommended that a pool be provided for this feline to hone its natural swimming instincts.

The Serval is a very rambunctious and energetic cat and can do a significant amount of damage to household items. They can also roughhouse during play, and may accidentally cause injury to their human counterparts or other animals if their claws are not properly maintained. For this reason some hobbyists strongly recommend declawing. There is a lot of debate about the ethics of declawing which will not be addressed here. You may want to discuss this option with your exotic cat veterinarian.

The healthcare and feeding costs of the Serval are NOT similar to that of a domestic cat, instead because they are still wild animals Servals should be on a primarily meat diet with calcium supplements and other vitamins given daily. This is the costly part of owning a Serval. Like domestic cats Servals should be vaccinated, though unlike domestic cats the Serval should only be vaccinated with "killed virus" vaccines.

Some people have chosen to keep hybrids instead of full-blooded Servals. One popular hybrid is the Savannah, which is a hybrid between the Serval and the domestic cat.

The average Serval reaches sexual maturity as early as 9 months, but it is not uncommon for breeding to not occur until two years of age. There is no definitive breeding season known for this feline, though most litters are seen during the spring and summer. The gestation period is usually 66-77 days, producing a litter of one to four cubs that should be weaned at three to four months of age.

There are no known problems that occur for Servals breeding in captivity.