Civet Cat Available for Adoption

Life Animal Adoptions & Emergencies
1

Taiwan SPCA visited another animal-rescue organization this afternoon and have been moved to improve the welfare of the animals we found there. This one is the first I would like to see homed:

He or she is currently being kept in a tiny, rusty cage in a room full of noisy and aggressive dogs. This is far from ideal.


By seanimals, shot with DYNAX 7D at 2009-09-06

I will find out tomorrow if the civet cat is wild or tame and also the gender, plus the poor guy’s story. If you know where he or she could live a happy, healthy life, please let me know ASAP. We will get him checked up by a vet who knows about these animals.

First come, first served, interview pending.

Thank you!

Sean

2

Arent wild animals protected? And isnt the Civet Cat considered a Taiwan wild animal?

3

I think you should contact a zoo for advice. If it’s a Formosan masked civet then it’s a native species and could be released into the wild in a suitable habitat.

Taipei Municipal Institute for Animal Health: tmiah.tcg.gov.tw/ (web site is down as I post this.)

4

I reported a civet cat previously and was informed that it’s legal to buy one that’s bred in captivity but not to capture and keep a wild one.

I’ve already contacted TMIAH about this one and am awaiting a reply.

5

Which in the case of most of these things is a place where someone provides food and water every day and spends time playing with them. These things are not wild animals, for the most part. I’d take it in a second if I didn’t have a dog and cats and a baby.

6

Which in the case of most of these things is a place where someone provides food and water every day and spends time playing with them. These things are not wild animals, for the most part. I’d take it in a second if I didn’t have a dog and cats and a baby.[/quote]

Yeah deffo don’t want one with a baby; those things have sharp teeth. My friend had one and it bit his willy…true story!

7

If this is one of those Civets that produce Civet coffee (Kopi Luwak) then I may know somebody who is interested.

8

Which in the case of most of these things is a place where someone provides food and water every day and spends time playing with them. These things are not wild animals, for the most part. I’d take it in a second if I didn’t have a dog and cats and a baby.[/quote]

Yeah deffo don’t want one with a baby; those things have sharp teeth. My friend had one and it bit his willy…true story![/quote]

the question is: How did the cat get so close to his willy???

9

the point of civet coffee is that you also need a whole bunch of coffee trees with berries in varying degrees of ripeness. If your friend has a coffee farm, that might just work. And my guess is that this is a learned behaviour among some civets, and is not instinctive, especially in a tame civet… and is it even the right species?

You don’t just brew up a pile of dried civet shit, you know. (I sincerely hope you know this already :laughing: .)

10

SARS :runaway: :runaway: :runaway: SARS…

11

Unless the new owner is planning on barbecuing it, I think we’re ok

12

Unless the new owner is planning on barbecuing it, I think we’re ok[/quote]

They probably taste better roasted.

13

I just learned that this civet cat was born in captivity and was a pet, but can bite now, so he/she really needs to go to someone who knows what they’re doing. But these are amazing animals to have around. I’ll be fostering him/her until a suitable home can be found, so expect more info and pics soon.

14

Hope u find a good home for him/her. Seems like a cutie. Born in captivity means never can be released into the wild (it would simply die).

15

Don’t civets stink?

16

How did it go with the civet adoption?

I am very interested to know your experience in looking after this animal. What is your opinion of these as pets ? I have kept ferrets etc but never a civet.

questions I have and may sound stupid

Do they smell like ferrets?
Can they be house trained like a cat?
Are they easy to feed?
Are they aggressive even if treated well?
What kind of diseases could they have?

I’d be grateful if you could let me know your experiences as I have always been curious as to how even ones bred in captivity take to being pets?

17

She got adopted by a crazy English guy who fell in love with her and couldn’t bear to see her go. Although, if someone steps up with the perfect set-up for her, I would consider adopting her out.

Well, she’s wonderful to watch, but nowhere near as fun and friendly as ferrets are. But she lets me stroke her, and she eats out of my hand, and likes to play chase with me around the sofa. But a friend had one who would go out with him on his shoulder - I haven’t tried that yet. I would say you’re better off not encouraging their capture and breeding and leaving them to be wild animals, though you may enjoy the experience of rescuing one as I did (she can’t be released; too tame).

No. Their poop smells sweet, too. They do have an aroma and their space needs to be cleaned regularly, but she hasn’t produced any smells as nasty as my ferrets did.

Yes. By leaving the smell of their bowel movements in the area you want them to go and cleaning up the areas you don’t, they learn a place to perform their daily duties.

Mostly fruit and meat, with bugs and worms from a specialist pet-food store. Very easy.

She’s not aggressive at all. She has tried tasting my fingers, but with no pressure at all, so it didn’t hurt. She did try to nip when I tried picking her up, but that’s her prerogative.

I’m still finding this out, but they do need to vaccinated against distemper, for sure.

Hope that helps.

18

She got adopted by a crazy English guy who fell in love with her and couldn’t bear to see her go. Although, if someone steps up with the perfect set-up for her, I would consider adopting her out.

Well, she’s wonderful to watch, but nowhere near as fun and friendly as ferrets are. But she lets me stroke her, and she eats out of my hand, and likes to play chase with me around the sofa. But a friend had one who would go out with him on his shoulder - I haven’t tried that yet. I would say you’re better off not encouraging their capture and breeding and leaving them to be wild animals, though you may enjoy the experience of rescuing one as I did (she can’t be released; too tame).

No. Their poop smells sweet, too. They do have an aroma and their space needs to be cleaned regularly, but she hasn’t produced any smells as nasty as my ferrets did.

Yes. By leaving the smell of their bowel movements in the area you want them to go and cleaning up the areas you don’t, they learn a place to perform their daily duties.

Mostly fruit and meat, with bugs and worms from a specialist pet-food store. Very easy.

She’s not aggressive at all. She has tried tasting my fingers, but with no pressure at all, so it didn’t hurt. She did try to nip when I tried picking her up, but that’s her prerogative.

I’m still finding this out, but they do need to vaccinated against distemper, for sure.

Hope that helps.[/quote]

Yes that is fantastic info and thank God for the animals that you do not work for a pet shop lol you would get civet cat salesman of the year award.
It was also very honest information. I agree with you about not buying one as it encourages their capture from the wild and fake paper work to say they were bred in captivity would be easy in Taiwan. Mind you I guess that would depend on how hard they were to breed in captivity.
I saw some for sale in Yung Ho market a few months ago and found it a little disturbing as I thought that was illegal but now I realize not so. I bet some locals used to buy them on the pretense of pets and then eat them. I guess SARS had helped protect the wild ones as I hear they are not as popular to eat anymore as they used to be.

Thanks for the info and by the way I saw a wild mongoose a few weeks ago run right in front of me. It was an indigenous crab eating one. :thumbsup: