What is A Savannah
Cat?
A
Savannah cat is a cross between an African Serval and a domestic
cat. The savannah ancestor, the African Serval is a tall, lanky
cat with large ears, bold black spots, a long neck, and a short
tail.
The
goal of a savannah breeder is to try and replicate the African
Serval as close as they can. They are one of the newest and most
exciting breeds of cats, currently being developed by a select
group of breeders from around the world. The Savannah, in spite
of its exotic heritage, is considered a domestic breed. There
are still relatively few Savannahs in existence compared to
other established breeds, and the demand for them is quite high.
Do Savannahs Get
Along Well With Other Pets or Children?
Absolutely! If raised
in a home with well behaved children and pets, a Savannah kitten
will thrive and are often seen sleeping with those they own.
What is a Savannah’s
Temperament Like?
Savannah Cats have
very loving and outgoing personalities and are commonly compared
to dogs in their loyalty. They will follow their owners around
the house like a canine. They can also be trained to walk on a
leash, and even fetch.
They are highly
intelligent cats and learn quickly. A Savannah is happiest being
a family member that is involved in every activity, rather than
being just a usual house pet.
They definitely love
water and have surprised many an owner with a spontaneous visit
in the running shower.
How Big Does A
Savannah Get?
There are a lot of
variables when it comes to size in Savannah Cats. The size
depends much on the size and type of their parents and also of
the percentage of wild blood they have from the Serval. I have
an F2 female that is only 8 or 9 pounds. There is no guarantee
on size and it is nearly impossible to predict as the same
breeding can produce both large and smaller savannah kittens in
different litters.
The biggest cats are
F1 Savannahs and males of the F2 Generations. They get about1 to
2 ˝ times larger than regular house cats, with their weight
ranging from 15 to 28 pounds. F3 males are often still
considerably bigger than a regular house cat but many are the
same size of a domestic cat.
F3 females and all
cats of further generations decrease in size but keep their long
legs, big ears and the wild appearance. Savannahs need up to 3
years to reach their full size. After the F3 generation, it is
common for to see savannahs the same size as domestic cats.
If you absolutely
must have a large cat you should choose an F1 or F2 male for
sure. After that there are no guarantees that any savannah will
be a large cat. Some cats will fall outside these numbers
|
Generation |
Height @
Shoulder Approx. |
Weight |
|
F1 (50%) |
16-20
inches |
13-28 lbs |
|
F2 (25% ) |
13-16
inches |
11-25 lbs |
|
F3 (12.5%
) |
12-14.5
inches |
9-16 lbs |
|
F4 (6.25%
) |
11-13
inches |
7-15 lbs |
|
F5 (3.12%
) domestic in size but a few have been known to get to 18
pounds
Diet &
Health Care
Savannahs
do very well on a high quality dry cat food supplemented
with canned wet food and some raw (or cooked) meat.
Stay away
from kibble with grains in it like soy, wheat, and corn.
Please try and stay away from grocery store brand dry cat
foods as they are all mostly fillers and very low quality.
Savannah
Breeders give the same vaccinations and veterinarian health
care to their savannah cats as the domestic cat gets. I
prefer to use "all killed" versus a "modified live"
vaccination with my cats.
Of
course, all of our savannah kittens are fully litter box
trained and properly vaccinated before they go to their new
owners.
How Much
Does A Savannah Cost?
The price
of a Savannah will vary depending on the quality of the
individual cat. Our Savannahs will be individually priced
based on gender, fertility, generation and type. Their cost
will be noted with their pictures.
Higher
percentage Savannahs (F1's and F2's) are rarer and often,
very difficult to breed. It takes many years and a lot of
luck to mate a Serval with a domestic cat. Only a few
breeders worldwide have had success.
Servals
are wild cats with special needs in terms of their caging
requirements, their diet and their health care. Caring for
pure Servals and mating them to domestic cats is costly,
time consuming and demanding.
Following
are average price ranges for PET kittens,
breeders are priced higher: I do not produce F1's. Most
breeders are in this price range.
F2's will
range from $5500 - $8000
F3's will
range from $3000 - $4500
F4's will
range from $1500 - $2500
F5's will
range from $1200 - $2000
SBT will
range from $1000 -$1500
Cats may
at times be out of the specified price range for various
reasons.
Understanding the generations |
Most people
know what the generations are but here is a simple explanation.
All earlier (foundation) Savannahs have an F and a number
associated with it to indicate how many generations it is from
its Serval ancestor. The “F” stands for filial and the number
tells the generations away from the Serval. When breeding the
filial number drops down one from the lowest number.
F1 X F6 = F2
F4 X F7 = F5
F3 X F5 = F4
etc
F1
= one generation (50% Serval) Has a Serval Parent
F2 = two generations (25% Serval) Has a Serval
Grandparent
F3 = three generations (12.5% Serval) Has a Serval Great
Grandparent etc.
As a general
rule, the lower the generation the closer to the size of a
domestic cat. Nothing is ever 100% but don’t get your hopes up
for a giant cat in the lower generations.
You will
terms like ‘high
generation’ or ‘low
generation’. ‘High generation’ means that there
is a higher Serval percentage and includes the F1, F2, F3; and
‘low generation’ means that there is a lower Serval percentage
so F4, F5, F6, and so on.
The basic
TICA codes
Some of the codes you will see may sound complicated but are
actually quite easy to understand. They will A, B, C and SBT.
A - One parent is a (non-Savannah) domestic
outcross
B - Both parents are Savannahs
C - Both parents and grandparents are all
Savannahs
SBT - Parents, grandparents, and
great-grandparents are all Savannahs.
It is the SBT level that cats are eligible for showing within
TICA (The International Cat Association) and the level that
Savannah Cats are considered a true breed.
When breeding
the letters always drop down one from the lowest letter. The
progression to SBT is as follows:
A + A = B
B + B = C
C + C = SBT
A + B = B
B + SBT = C
A + C = B etc
I won’t go into the rest of the
TICA codes as it might get confusing to understand. This should
be a great start though
