by Michael
(Ponca City, OK)
A1 Savannahs dawn 18th May 2010
I obtained this cat trivia about Savannahs and Siamese cats from Kathrin Stucki.
It is not a lot of trivia and it is not really trivia but it is information from a very reliable source and it can be added to the existing information on this site.
- Hypollergenic Cat Breeds
- Colour and Cat Characteristics Go Together
- Lifestyle Pets – Allerca Cats
- Siamese Cats
Hypollergenic Cat Breeds
On the basis that “hypoallergenic cat” means a cat that produces less allergens that cause an allergic reaction (which is the correct meaning of the word) then Kathrin says that Savannah cat are hypoallergenic. I had never heard this before. Through feedback from her clients, Kathrin says that the Savannah cat is good with people who suffer from an allergy to the cat allergen Fel d1. That, I think, adds nicely to the debate on this subject. Realistically, there is no absolute science on this subject so lots of claims are anecdotal and unsupported but Kathrin knows the business extremely well and what she says carries weight. OK, on to the next bit of cat trivia…
Colour and Cat Characteristics Go Together
Dark coated F2 Savannah kitten on the left and F1 Savannah kitten right
I wrote an article about calico cat behavior recently. It was really an article about whether the coat (tortoiseshell and white) was associated with the character of the cat. I found it almost impossible to find good scientific evidence that there was a connection. There was some basis, though, that coat colour and personality go together.
Well, Kathrin says that her dark coated Savannah cats are more relaxed and become highly socialised with more ease. These dark coated cats have noses that are almost black, which looks great (wild looking). The coat’s background colour is darker so there is less contrast between the spots and background colour. The classic Savannah cat colour is a light yellow background colour (matching the serval) and high contrast spots. There you have it. It is not clear whether this genetically based connection goes back beyond the foundation cats or not. It may well originate in the serval and go back thousands of years. Or it may be that one of the foundation cats of was dark coloured and nicely behaved.
Lifestyle Pets – Allerca Cats
This is an interesting and controversial one. There has been a lot of talk (which has died down a bit over the last year or so) about the Lifestyle Pets (Allerca Cats) Ashera GD being a Savannah cat – perhaps an F1 or F2. As you might know Allerca cats are marketed as hypoallergenic. And as I have just learned that Savannah cats are hypoallergenic, there is a connection and I can confirm that the Ashera GD is a Savannah cat. That I think is certain. So people who want to adopt a glamorous cat companion that is hypoallergenic, should buy a Savannah F2 from A1 Savannahs instead.
Siamese Cats
Siamese cats, as we know are pointed. This is because the coat is heat sensitive. The extremities of the cat are cooler than the central parts, which produces the darker coat colour and “pointing”. This can be seen with a device that some vets use as a diagnostic tool. The device measures the heat given off by objects. When the device is pointed at any cat, Siamese or not, they all look like Siamese cats because the cooler areas are shown as being darker. This device is expensive but useful as it can, for example, highlight inflammed areas that look normal to the eye. Inflammed areas of the body give off more heat and they show up as hot spots, white or yellow in the image produced.
Cat Trivia About Savannahs and Siamese Cats to Savannah cats
