Do they
have scent glands or an offensive smell? CR: No, but they will spray occasionally. MH: The do tend to get a slight smell but we had him castrated
at nine months to reduce the smell and also to curb the strong feelings
of wanderlust.
What
is their average life span? CR: I believe about 15 years with a proper diet and care. MH: About 15 years in captivity.
Do they
enjoy interaction? CR: Only on their terms, if she wants to be touched she'll come
to you, usually she wants to be in the room, but not touched. MH: Yes - they thrive on it!
What
is their general personality, disposition, and attitude? CR: In a way typical cat attitude, mine loves high perches and
wants to know everything that's going on, doesn't want to be messed with
unless it's to play. MH: Loving personality but can get really grouchy when he doesn't
get what he wants - especially around feeding time.
Are they
sweet and petable, or mischievous and playful? CR: Love to play and chase toys. I wouldn't call her petable or
sweet, I would say she has fit's of sweetness that generally only last
for a minute or two when she'll bump her head against you and want a little
affection. Because of these fit's of affection being so short spaced out,
it makes it that much more special when she comes up to say I love you
in her own little way. She wants to play more than there are hours in
the day, chasing balls, toys, or the two domestic cats that I have that
she will absolutely run into the ground wanting to play with. MH: All of the above. At night if came home late he would jump
on the bed and start kneading the blankets on top of you and purr away
- like a diesel engine going off next to you.
How destructive
are they for an average household? CR: I'm convinced that a human could walk into a room and declare
it totally empty and Princess could go into it and show you a half dozen
thing's to play with. They will chew on things, such as wooden window
frames or ledges. Forget having anything sitting out that's even remotely
breakable unless you want it broken. When they cut teeth, they will chew
on anything they can fit in their mouth. Think of your three favorite
things you have in your house (figurines/pictures/etc), three favorite
articles of fabric (clothes/blankets) and think of your three favorite
things in your house that don't fit into there. Now take one thing out
of each category and get ready to throw it away because it is going to
be broken or chewed up. There is no place in the house that will be safe
from her, it's not possible to put anything high enough, they do get big
enough and are athletic enough to jump up and touch the ceiling. One of
these days I halfway expect to come home and find a ceiling fan laying
in the middle of the floor. Locking stuff up in a cabinet will only get
her attention to go inside it that much more whenever you do happen to
open the door on it. MH: Very Destructive - will shred furniture if not given enough
attention. Also, almost impossible to house train, so he constantly marked
territory in the house even though he was castrated.
Do they
climb or tear up furniture? CR: YES!!! They will climb anything climbable and some stuff that
isn't. Plan on your furniture at some time or another being used as a
chew toy. If you've heard of the idea of throwing a small pillow at them
to break them from destroying furniture, this doesn't work with exotic
cats like it does domestics. All it'll do, is probably get her attention
to chasing and playing with the pillow for the moment. Arms on furniture
will be chewed on at some time or another, and if you have chairs with
wooden legs on them, expect to have those chewed on too. MH: Yes - when he felt neglected.
Are there
any problems associated with their claws? CR: Only up to about sixteen weeks old, at which time they will
be about the size of a full grown domestic cat and their claws will be
about twice the size you would expect. This is the age that's generally
recommended for declawing which is a must for cats like this that are
intended as pets. Once full grown if they were to have claws still, there
wouldn't be anything such as a simple scratch needing a Band-Aid, it would
be a trip to an emergency room for stitches. MH: Yes, but only when playing or in regards to the above.
How messy
are their droppings? CR: Nothing really special, just very big! MH: Can be quite pungent!
Can they
be litter box trained? CR: Yes, although they may not be willing to go look for one which
means litter boxes in most rooms of the house somewhere. MH: Not really. Possibly, with lots of consistent work.
Can they
be trained? CR: About like a typical cat I'd say, may be trainable some, but
with a lot of work. MH: To a limited degree.
How are
they with other pets, larger and smaller? CR: This will probably depend more on each individual caracal.
Mine is great with the domestics as far as her attitude goes, but she
does get a bit rough sometimes just playing with them. Forget about keeping
birds in the house at all, that's not going to work at all. I don't imagine
small house dogs would be a good idea either. MH: Fine. Sly grew up with the dogs (one took over the role of
the mother) and the cats (he grew up with a three month old kitten). He
was devastated when the kitten died from complications from kidney stones.
I didn't realize how the the bond was. We did get another cat of about
a year when the other cat died and sly was fine with him. He wanted to
play the usual games and the poor new cat didn't know what hit him! But
they eventually also became buddies.
What
size cage do they need? CR: A twelve hundred square foot house works nicely! :) To build
an outside pen for one I don't know, they need to be able to run so it
would need a fairly large pen. MH: I did not keep him in a cage as I personally fell that is not
the right thing to keep a wild animal caged. But, if kept in a cage it
would have to be at least ten meters square - they require a lot of space.
What
do you feed them? CR: Chicken is the main diet food, along with exotic cat food and
rodents, plus vitamin and calcium supplements.
What
vaccinations/vet care do they require? CR: Very big thing to keep in mind here. They have to have totally
killed vaccines which most veterinarian's don't keep in stock which means
you would need to let your vet know what you are planning on getting way
ahead of time so they can expect it and be ready for it. They also will
hide being sick from you, you have to learn to recognize changes in them
and be able to figure out if they are just having a lazy day for instance,
or if they are being a bit slower because they are actually quite sick.
They don't show symptoms like domestic animals do, and once they start
showing obvious signs of being sick, it probably means you should have
had them at the vet's office a week ago. They can crash overnight, and
by crash, I mean that they may be up walking around one evening (hiding
being sick) jumping up onto counters and getting in the way, and the next
morning finally give in to whatever is bothering them and be so bad off
that they can't even stand up. This isn't something I'm exaggerating or
making up either, I have personally seen cat's crash this hard this fast.
You also have to have a vet that is willing to work on an animal that
may very well be like a totally wild animal towards them.
At what
age would it be best to get one? CR: It is a MUST that you get a kitten when it's time for it to
be weaned, or as close to it as possible if you plan on having one for
a pet. You should be ready to expect to bring home an animal that may
seem wild until she get's used to her new owner and new home. You can't
get one from someone else that they've raised and bring it home to keep
in the house as a pet. This also means that once you get one, you are
making a decision to take care of it for it's lifetime. MH: Around the age of two weeks, just after the eyes have opened.
Otherwise, it is impossible to tame them. At this stage they need to be
bottle fed every two hours. At the age of three to four weeks they need
solid foods introduced. They still need to drink milk for as long as possible
- as they are prone to rickettes.
Other
Consideration for owners of Caracals? CR: First big consideration, kids. If you either have children,
or plan on having them, then this is not an animal you want in the house.
They are still wild, they will challenge you at times to see who's boss,
and this isn't something you want around kids, that's most certainly going
to lead to problems. MH: Think long and hard before obtaining a caracal.
What
kind of person should own these animals? CR: Probably a very small percentage of people should actually
keep these animals. They will push your patience probably most every day.
Aside from being expensive, they aren't something to just go out and buy.
Don't be surprised if you have to put down a one thousand dollar deposit,
then have to wait six months on a waiting list before actually getting
your kitten. MH: Patient, tireless, love cats, lots of time.
