Gather round, I have a story to tell. While the Serval Cat, native to Africa, can be found south of the Sahara desert, it is not considered to be endangered, even though they are now extinct in many areas like Morocco,Tunisia and Algeria.
This painting is of a cat named Chace, whose early life is unknown, but he was rescued from a perilous situation in 2007. A woman was walking down the street one day in upstate New York when she saw what appeared to be a wild animal crazily crashing into the windows of a home. Animal control officers quickly rescued the cat and discovered that he had been left without food for some time, having resorted to eating furniture stuffing to survive. The house was abandoned by a drug dealer, who had apparently returned from time to time with food for the serval cat.
Chace was lucky, they nursed him back to health and eventually sent him to where he lived out the last few years of his life safely and comfortably.
Servals are wild animals and are not suitable as pets. There are people who breed and sell these cats, they are taken from their mothers at birth and declawed. They are great while they are kittens, but the older they get the more solitary and timid they become. They are huge (for house cats) weighing in up to 35 pounds. They require a very specific diet to thrive. They are rather destructive because they can jump 15 feet up and are extremely athletic and even while neutered at a really young age, both males and females tend to spray.
Servals can be found in sanctuaries and museums all over, so of the cats I have so far depicted, you have a good chance of being able to see one alive.
Chace died after living at the wildlife sanctuary for about 2 years from kidney failure. They estimated his age to be around 13 years of age, which is not too bad for a cat who was so badly mistreated.
This painting is not for sale.
reference photo taken by Dan Butterworth.
What a beautiful picture. It looks as if he is content and enjoying the moment.
what a beautiful painting and beautiful story. May Chace rest in peace.
Another beautiful wildcat portrait and loved hearing his story. Poor Chace.
lovely.
Lovely work and love hearing the history as well. xox
Beautiful!
very nice watercolor you are very blessed with your talent
lovely blog
-KAT-
Love the stories benheat your paintings!!
Your painting is beautiful! And its saddening to hear how yet another animal was mistreated by us human beings.
Wonderful!
Another wonderfully done painting ! ~~ namaste, Carol (Share the Creative Journey) and A Creative Harbor
so beautiful, i LOVE your cat paintings….your passion is evident…happy PPF
Beautiful painting and incredible story. He looks so happy in your painting. I’m so glad he was rescued and well-cared for after being abandoned.
that story was affecting and sad – I can’t help feeling angry and sad about the whole thing. Nice portrayal for sure!
beautiful painting! I was shocked when you said he was found in New York of all places, how awful.
Beautiful painting of Chace. Great post about a sad situation.
Lovely Serval! The message is very important too! ~Happy Paint Party Friday! #56 Robin Panzer Art Studio 33
LOVE Serval Cats. I really enjoy visiting you every Friday.
Lovely paintings on such wonderful subjects!!
Happy PPF!
Sheri Cook/HappyHorseStudio
Your paintings of cats has just mesmerized me. I am not familiar with this particular breed. I love the write-ups you include with your paintings. Very educational.
Another wonderful cat portrait!
Can’t wait to hear about Hawaii!! Hope you are having an amazing time…it is one of my favorite places on the planet!!
Happy PPF!!
Mary
Mixed-Media Map Art
This painting is just beautiful, I love the composition and the colors. It’s so striking.
Thank you once again for educating me about another wild cat I didn’t know existed. Chace is beautiful and I’m so glad his story ultimately had a happy ending of sorts. It’s horrible to de-claw even domestic cats – I can’t imagine how painful and stressful to the cats it must be. Thanks for sharing this story and your beautiful painting.
What a beautiful portrait and story about Chace! I love it!
happy PPF and thanks for sharing this wonderful story together with your really great painting, so lifelike.
hugs, peggy aplSEEDS
Lovely drawing, very feline! Thank you for sharing his story.
This is such a beautiful rendering of this amazing animals… I love that I get to look at beautiful work and learn stuff when I come to visit… happy ppf…xx
wonderful portrait.
this cat was lucky to be rescued. it would be my wish that wild animals were left in their homeland. thank you for sharing this story.
you did a lovely painting!
Wonderful painting. I especially like his face. Happy PPF!
I enjoyed the story and love all your cats. Great work. Enjoy your weekend.
The history/story with this painting is excellent to inform people about the Chace cat. I had not heard of them. Blessings, Janet PPF
Amazing story and painting, I’m so glad I stopped by your blog today.
I, too, love this series on cats that you are not only painting, but also telling of their habits and habitats. Great story and painting, Mimi!
Wow Mimi I love this one. You really nailed the serval cat look. The head is perfect! You are doing a good job spreading the word the wild animals are just that, wild. They were not meant to be pets to humans.
I’m still enjoying your series of cats, and it’s obvious you are loving painting them.