Savannah cat

Savannah Cat
Country of origin
USA
Breed standards (external links)
TICA

The Savannah Cat is a new and still fairly rare exotic domestic cat breed that is the result of a cross between an African Serval and a domestic cat. The breed is recognized by TICA thanks to the efforts of breed Founder Patrick Kelley and Joyce Sroufe.

Generations

As Savannahs are produced by crossbreeding African servals and domestic cats, each generation of Savannahs is marked with a filial number. For example, the cats produced directly from a Serval/domestic cat cross are the F1 generation, and they are typically 50% serval (although if you use a F1 Savannah as the domestic cat, the percentage of serval blood can jump to 75%). The F2 generation, which has a serval grandparent and is the offspring of the F1 generation, is 25% serval. The F3 generation has a serval great-grandparent, and is 12.5% serval. They can be very expensive to purchase because of their scarcity.

Male Savannah cats are typically sterile until the F5 generation or so, although the females are fertile from the F1 generation and on.

Characteristics

The Savannah is one of the largest breeds of cats. The earlier generations, F1s to F3s or so, tend to be larger than the generations with lower percent serval. Also, the males are often quite a bit larger than the females. F1 males may be fully twice the size of a domestic cat.

The overall look of an individual Savannah may depend not only on what percentage serval it is but also on what other breeds of cats are in its pedigree. The bodies of Savannahs are long and leggy -- when a Savannah is standing, their hind end is often higher than their shoulders, like a Cheetah. Their heads tend to be longer than they are wide, and like their serval ancestors, they have long necks. Also like servals, they tend to have white spots on the backs of the ears, called "ocelli". The ideal tail for the breed is a short hock length tail similar to the serval.

The coat of a Savannah depends a lot on the breed of cat used for the domestic cross. Early generations always have some form of dark spotting on a lighter coat, and many breeders employ "wild"-looking spotted breeds such as the Bengal and Egyptian Mau for the cross to preserve these markings in later generations. Cats with serval heritage can have a tan coat with black or brownish spots, or a silver coat with dark spots, a marble (also called classic) pattern, and many other patterns and colors, although The International Cat Association or TICA breed standard calls for Black, Brown Spotted Tabby, Silver Spotted Tabby and Black Smoke types only.

Behaviors

Temperamentally, Savannahs have been compared to dogs in their loyalty, and they will follow their owners around the house like a canine. They greet people with head-butts or sometimes pounces out of nowhere (many a guest entering a house with a Savannah have been pounced upon in the entryway!) They have a lot of energy and are social animals that do well with both cats and dogs.

Owners of Savannahs say that they are very impressed with the intelligence of this breed of cat. Savannahs have been known to get into all sorts of things; they often learn how to open doors and cupboards, and anyone buying a Savannah will definitely have to "Savannah-proof" the house to prevent their pet from getting into things it shouldn't! Also, many owners have trained their Savannahs to walk on a harness and do various tricks like fetching toys.

Some Savannahs will play or even immerse themselves in water.

Vocally, like their serval parents and grandparents, some Savannah cats normally "chirp" instead of meow.

Care

Savannah cats have no special care or food requirements; they can eat cat food like any other domestic cat, use the litterbox, and a normal veterinarian is qualified to care for one that needs a checkup or is sick.

External links

• Savannah Cat Breed Section
• About.com Savannah Cat Profle
• SavannahCat.com Oldest and largest group of Savannah Cat breeders in the world.
• Savannah International Member & Breeder Association
• Savannah Cat Discussion (Yahoo) Group