Interview with Chloe the Serval – The Story of a Huge House Cat with a Personality to Match

We’re huge fans of the huge house kitty known as Chloe the Serval. Celebrity Pets visitors are too, with our article on Chloe being one of our most popular over the last year. When we say this cat is big, note Serval cats can weigh around 30 lbs (13.6 kg), with a standard house cat weighing around 10 lbs (4.5 kg). And if you’ve already seen Chloe’s videos, you know she has a big personality to match!

Now we’re lucky to say Chloe Jade, along with her humans Matt Corbeil and Shannon DePender, made the time for an interview to share their story. We’ll start with questions with her humans about Servals, before jumping into a few questions with Chloe herself.

Celebrity Pets: People are generally more familiar with exotic house cats such as the Bengal or Savannah cat, which flaunt a look that’s wilder than a domestic cat. What separates a Serval from them?

Matt and Shannon: A Serval is a species of cat from Africa; they have super long legs, a long body, and big ears! A Savannah can be similar to a Serval, because they’re part Serval. If you breed a serval with a domestic cat, you’ll get an F1 Savannah. If you mix that F1 with a domestic cat, you’ll get an F2, and so on. So a Savannah and a Serval can have a lot of the same characteristics! Bengals came from breeding domestic cats with the Asian Leopard cat.

Celebrity Pets: What is it like caring for a Serval over a regular house cat?

Matt and Shannon: I’d say for us, it’s a constant and deliberate commitment to her well-being and enrichment. She goes with us anywhere, besides work now that she’s older, and we don’t leave her for more than 8-10 hours at a time. We can’t leave Chloe with friends or with a kennel, since she’s only bonded to her two humans. Her specialized diet requires extra attention as she needs specific foods and nutrients. Servals also live 25-30 years with proper care 🙂

Celebrity Pets: Are there rules or regulations for owning a Serval cat?

Matt and Shannon: Yes! Servals aren’t legal everywhere. Check with your state and local laws for restrictions.

Celebrity Pets: What is a Serval’s diet like?

Matt and Shannon: Servals in the wild are very opportunistic predators and obligate carnivores, so they survive on only animals. We give Chloe a variety of different raw animals such as duck, chicken, turkey, rabbit, and quail. She loves mussels too! It’s important to make sure they get meat with bone, or are supplemented with quality calcium. Chloe gets a mix of bones and supplements. She also gets grass every once in a while, which is good for a serval’s digestion!

Celebrity Pets: Do Servals get along with other cats, dogs, and other humans?

Matt and Shannon: They can, but not always. Some Servals do well around other animals, especially if they are around kids and other pets from a young age. But, that doesn’t mean every Serval can be around other pets. In the wild, they are solitary animals, so they don’t want other animals around them. In homes, they bond with one or two people, and most of the time they simply tolerate anyone else.

Celebrity Pets: What makes Chloe special to you compared to other pets or other Servals? Does she have any funny quirks?

Matt and Shannon: She’s such a love! I smile just thinking about her 🙂 I think the fact that Chloe has such a sweet personality is definitely one of the things we love the most about her. Matt says that Chloe’s so special because they have such a strong bond. If Matt’s been gone or hasn’t had extra time to play with her, she makes sure to lay on top of him and follow him all around the house to make up for lost time. Just like the saying, “everyone thinks they have the best pet, and everyone is right.”

Celebrity Pets: Now onto some questions for the one-and-only Chloe Jade. How did you and your humans meet?

Chloe the Serval: I came from a small Serval breeder in Texas way back in 2005 (yes, I’m 18 years young, thanks for noticing). Matt was 22 years on then and I still remember the first time I saw him. It was at baggage claim at the Detroit airport, just 7 weeks old, chipping with excitement like a lil’ bird! I met Shannon when she started dating Matt in 2017. As my humans mentioned earlier, Servals are a picky bunch when it comes to friends and family. But I liked Shannon’s energy right away and gave her the exclusive privilege of petting me the first time we met!

Celebrity Pets: So what does a Serval like yourself do for fun or to kick back and relax?

Chloe the Serval: While I am feline royalty, I also partake in the simple pleasures of the common house cat. I enjoy playing with toys, jumping up on kitchen counters, and climbing on top of cabinets. I even get the zoomies from time to time and enjoy fooling around with some string. And of course, I love to nap as much as possible!

Celebrity Pets: Counters and climbing cabinets are kitty classics! But does your good time ever cause any trouble?

Chloe the Serval: Let’s start by saying I’m a really good girl (most of the time). In my younger days, you could say I used to get a lil’ out of hand… Sometimes I’d get carried away with jumping all over things, before I matured and realized how big I was. Weighing up to 30 pounds, would you want a triple-sized housecat leaping around your living room furniture?

When I was a kitten I knocked over and broke a pair of nice tower speakers from performing a stunt jump. My human showed me the $800 receipt for the speakers, but I said we’d call it even for the tickets to my stunt show. My next performance was chewing up some wires, but I said it was because I was teething. Also one time I caught a delicious deer and proudly carried it around the house. But my humans claimed it was a venison roast that I pulled out of the sink…

Celebrity Pets: If you just won the lottery, what’s the first thing you’d buy or do?

Chloe the Serval: I’d buy a lifetime supply of Liberty Bell and Consuela the Cactus toys from Bark Box! I’d also definitely start a charity for kitties in need.

Celebrity Pets: Being a very rare kitty, I’ve noticed some negative comments from humans who don’t fully understand Servals or know what your life is really like. Do you have a message for your haters or want to say something to help educate them?

Chloe the Serval: It’s okay to ask questions if you have them! It’s so easy to get into a negative mind space, but if you are interested in learning more just reach out!

Celebrity Pets: What’s the story behind this TikTok?

Chloe the Serval: That was the first day in our new house and I for sure needed time to adjust to all the change. Despite the stressful day, you can see I still helped guard the chicken in the sink. I’m also glad you brought up this video, so I can share a bit about how Servals communicate through hissing is different than domestic cats. Yes, hissing can be because I’m pissed off. But also because I’m excited or are having strong feelings in general, like when it’s dinner time!

Celebrity Pets: And for the final and most important question… The one thing our team and all our readers are clamoring to know… “If it fits, do you sits”?

Chloe the Serval: YISS!!!

Thanks for sharing your story with us Chloe and thanks Matt and Shannon for educating us on Servals! Make sure to follow @chloetheserval on TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube.

Goodnight Chloe!