Tales of savage in suburbia – it’s just a cat!

Taller, more exotic than the domestic cat, with beautiful eyes, and glossy coats, the
Savannah is a relatively new breed of cat in the UK with dog-like
traits; they can be taught to walk on a lead, and play fetch!

Savannahs can be produced in many different colours. The most usual
colour is the brown spotted Savannah. However the Savannah can also be
white, black, smoke, charcoal and silver! The black Savannah can be very
panther like in appearance and is used in advanced breeding programmes
to lend darkness to the spots, ocelli (often referred to as ’night
eyes’, which are horizontal bars on the back of the ears), and teardrops
(tear stains), often producing dramatic results.

Words of advice
When searching for your dream Savannah cat, make sure you have
researched the breed thoroughly and know what to look for in terms of
appearance and temperament. These cats should be long, lean and leggy,
with triangular faces, hooded eyes, extremely large ears and small tight
closed spots covering its body. The feet should be oval, small to medium
in size, with long toes. They should be well socialised and very friendly.

The Savannah is present in Britain at this time from the second
generation onwards. This means some cats in the United Kingdom are only
two generations removed from the African Serval. They are represented
with a filial number (meaning ’of sons’) as F2. F2 ’queens’ will produce
F3 offspring, F3 queens will produce F4 offspring and so on down the
line. The F1 to F3 male Savannah is infertile. Rarely is the F4 male
fertile. Later generation males, however, seem to have no problems with
fertility.

The F2 and F3 cats are considered to be ’early generations’. They are
extremely rare in the United Kingdom, and their offspring is difficult
to produce. We are extremely lucky to have most of these early
generation girls here at Teardrops. If you are considering buying an
early generation cat, do ask to see the mother’s TICA certified
pedigree. TICA certified pedigrees have the words ’The International Cat
Association Certified Pedigree’ across the top with a silver TICA
sticker to the top right of the pedigree. If you are purchasing an early
generation cat (closely related to the African Serval), you will see a
Serval (denoted either with the word Serval, or the code SZ) in the
pedigree. If the Serval is not there - you are not purchasing an early
generation Savannah.

Health advice
The Savannah has been found to have a smaller liver than the average
cat. For this reason we advise against using Ketamine based
anaesthetics. It is also usual NOT to vaccinate the Savannah against
Leukaemia as there have been some reported side-effects in Savannah
cats. Otherwise these cats are treated in the same way as any other cats
with their usual first vaccinations taking place at nine weeks, with
their second at twelve.

Later generation Savannahs (four generations removed and onwards) need
no special care with their diet and can be fed just like any other cat.

Dietary advice
With earlier generation Savannahs, we recommend a raw meat based diet.
Typically our early generation Savannahs here at Teardrops Savannahs
live on a diet of biscuits (complete food), water AND enjoy their daily
feed of raw chicken drumsticks. For some reason our Savannahs will dine
daily on raw chicken drumsticks, but object to being given wings, thighs
or any other cut of chicken! They are also treated occasionally to steak
and fish to ensure they have a varied and interesting diet.

For more information, you can contact Nicola Yates at Teardrops Savannahs, Corfe Mullen, Dorset
UK Tel 01202 880093
www.teardropssavannahs.com/