Is a one bed apartment big enough for 2 F1 Savannah cats?

In my opinion, no, but there is no right or wrong answer. It is all on a grey scale. F1 Savannah cats are rare and expensive. They are large and intelligent. Let’s no forget that they are half serval. A1 Savannahs say 53% serval. Servals are medium sized wild cats. Wild cats are considered more intelligent than domestic cats because they need to be to survive. The F1 Savannah is also very athletic. They have great jumping ability and speed. They are the largest domestic cat that you can live with.

So you are living with a large, active, smart cat that is more than half serval. Servals in the wild have home ranges that can be in the order of 30 square kilometres. That is an area that is 5.5 kilometres by 5.5 kilometres or 3.4 miles by 3.4 miles. Quite a large area. Certainly an area that is out of all proportion to the area of a one bedroomed apartment. Will your F1 Savannah cat be happy in such a small place? I am not saying an F1 Savannah needs the same space as a serval but the Savannah cat’s natural instincts will demand a substantial amount of space. If you are working all day leaving the cat alone any problems the cat might have with lack of space will be compounded.

A domestic cat that has so much wild cat in him probably needs the smells and stimuli of the wild; of nature in order to be content and feel relaxed.

The difficulty I have with keeping cats in apartments is that the cat might become stressed, particularly if left alone a lot. You might not see that in symptoms but you might see it manifested in behaviour disorders and sometimes mysterious symptoms that are associated with compromised immune systems. Vets don’t know much about this and treat cats with blockbuster drugs like steroids but do not tackle the root cause.

Persian cats are better suited to apartment life but they tend to get stressed more easily that other purebred cats. The stress can be expressed in inappropriate elimination – peeing outside the litter box. I don’t know if Savannah cats do the same thing. But they might.

One compromise in keeping a F1 Savannah cat in an apartment is to leash train and take your cat for regular walks. This is a good compromise and good for meeting people! F1 Savannah cats are very noticeable. This, though, is a poor substitute for real space and freedom. The space needs to be safe, however. By safe I mean fully safe – enclosed ideally.

My personal conclusion is that a one bed apartment is not big enough for an F1 Savannah cat. It is essentially an unsuitable environment. You can’t say that it is the wrong thing to do but I believe that you can say that it is not wise to do it and that it is unfair on the cat. Having two F1 Savannah cats might help but it might also make things even more unmanageable.

Note: I have a YouTube account partnership that shows several videos of F1 Savannah cats. Some people think that I live with F1 Savannah cats. I don’t. I just made the videos from material provided by Kathrin and Martin Stucki but I have played with them and been with them and servals.

F1 Savannahs are Rolls Royce domestic cats. They are quite outstanding. They are at the pinnacle of the domestic cat world. I think that their human caretaker should provide Rolls Royce environmental conditions.

This is my personal opinion. I respect other people’s opinions and welcome them in comments.

Two useful tags. Click either to see the articles: Toxic to cats | Dangers to cats

See: Savannah cats and serval wild cat.

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5 thoughts on “Is a one bed apartment big enough for 2 F1 Savannah cats?”

  1. Amen, to what you said in the article, Michael. My cat Michael has a spotted belly, huge ears, and a highly intelligent, inquisitive nature. We would chase each other up and down three flights of stairs in the house (while everyone else was asleep!) He never tired of playing. Thank goodness I have a fast metabolism, because he kept me going all of the time! And he wasn’t even an F1, let alone, an F5 Savannah. Miss him dearly. I hope that the person who posed that question understands. 🙂

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  2. Probobly Not.Savannah Cats Are VERY Active You Might Even Have To Take Them For Walks. If You Had Two I Would Suggest A Medium Sized Back Yard.So No.

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