rich text

Long tail is loooooong.

This is a genet:

Genet 1

It’s about cat-sized, if you don’t count the tail. If you count the tail, well:

Genet 2

But that’s not the great part. The great part is that they are easily domesticated, thrive on cat food and fruit, can be litter-trained, and make devoted pets with personalities somewhere between cats and ferrets. (Be sure to click through to see the kitten pictures.)

Now I want one! I’m sure they’d get along fine with the cats. Although I see that genet breeder I linked there also sells pet Fennec foxes. Who has giant ears? Is it you? Yes it IS you!

Rich

8 responses to “Long tail is loooooong.”

  4. My wife and I looked at those at one point,

    Talked to quite a few owners while we were looking.

    The consensus was that while they *are* litter box trainable, it’s more like a ferret as far as the litter box goes, and less like a cat. Still not bad, but expect more cleanup outside the litter box than you would with a cat. As I don’t have one yet, this is of course second-hand information.

    We’d still like one sometime, but have been moving around too much recently and don’t want to have to drag pets with us while we do. Once we settle down, Gennets are on the short list of pets we’d like.

    I need to play with one in person first and see how my allergies react.

  5. Oh my god the cuteness.

    I loved this line from the caracal factsheet:

    “When bottle raised from a kitten, a caracal can get along with other similar sized household pets. However, since they are carnivores, you will most likely find their relationship with any other pets (birds, hamsters, sugar gliders, etc.) that would be natural prey in their native habitat as tasty.”

  6. it’s adorable! where do you buy one of those? i’ve been looking online forever and all the links i’ve found are expired except a couple in which the pricing is vague

  7. Tasha: I don’t know any more than what I wrote up there, but I imagine the only place you’ll find them is at a breeder. The breeder I linked above says $500-$1000. Even though she doesn’t have any available right now, I bet if you were to drop her a line she’d suggest other genet breeders.

  8. The picture does not appear to be a genet, it is a Linsang. They are somewhat similar but those of us in the zoology field can tell the difference. Although they CAN be kept as pets they are not like a cat or a ferret. When startled (which happens easily and frequently no matter how tame) they can spray a very potent musk. Also, declawing them would be unethical and cruel, so it should not be an option. So if yo have kids coming into your home, and they decide to climb on them, you will have issues. (by the way they will climb up your bare skin and are impossible to restrain.) Also, they tend to bond much more strongly to one person than several and wont allow just anyone to handle them. These are pointers for those considering the commitment–not a total disagreement with keeping them. Anyone considering these animals should take a long time to educate them selves before going through with it.

    ~Lauren Phillips
    Michigan State University
    Zoology Student