I recently reported on a current news media story about the popularity of the Savannah cat in the UK. Pets4Homes say that from their online adoption data that the Savannah cat is Britain’s third most popular cat breed. And The Times newspaper, which reported on this say that kittens can sell for up to £4,200.
They’ve provided one general price and it is an expensive one as this wildcat hybrid is considered an exotic cat breed and therefore desirable but I going to provide a word of caution to those people who are unaware of a simple and important fact.
The price of the Savannah cat depends on the animal’s filial. I mean how much of the wild cat element – the serval – is in the Savanah cat. That depends on its generation from the wild cat.
The first filial Savannah cat is the product of a mating between a serval and a domestic A second filial Savannah cat is the product of a mating of a first filial Savannah cat and a domestic cat. A third filial Savannah cat is the product of a mating between a second filial Savannah cat and a domestic cat. A fourth filial Savannah cat is the product of the mating of a third filial Savannah cat with a domestic cat and so on. This progressively dilute the genetic inheritance from the wild cat which is the serval.
A Savannah kitten is often five generations from the wildcat i.e. five generations (F5) removed from the wild cat which is the serval. Normally, it is going to be pretty much like an ordinary tabby domestic cat. It will still have a Savannah cat appearance which slenderish with is solid spots against an even light brown to yellow background and a face that looks a bit wild, but it will not be like an F2 (second filial) or F1 (first filial) Savannah.
Normally, an F5 Savannah cat will be the same size as an ordinary domestic cat. There are exceptions as for any breed. Some F6s are large. They will be pretty calm and normal in terms of their character. The exotic wild cat character is present in the F1 and F2 variants but it is not present or hardly present in F5s.
So, if you’re looking for an exotic domestic cat which is a standout cat, you would have to purchase an F1 or F2 and these cats cost a lot more than £4200. And I would argue that an F5 Savannah cat probably isn’t worth £4,200 if The Times is saying that.
I don’t think you get enough bang for your buck in terms of an exotic cat when paying over £4000 for an F5 Savannah cat kitten. You see, The Times doesn’t specify this spectrum of filials; generations from the wild. It needs to be specified because not only does it affect the price as mentioned it also affects how exotic and how large the cat is.
The F1 Savannah cat is truly an exotic domestic. It is large; in general, larger than the Maine Coon. The F1 Savannah cat is the largest domestic cat available in general. It has a slightly wild character. You will have to leash trained the animal to take him or her outside. You will get looks from people when you take your cat into a local shop or whatever you want to do. It’s a different world than owning an ordinary domestic moggy.
But if you own an F5 Savannah you are little different from any other cat caregiver. I mention this because the word “exotic” is used a lot in connection with this breed. But it only applies – and I’m harping on here – to the F1 and F2 individuals. Below that you don’t really have a truly exotic cat. You have an attractive spotted tabby.
And the spotted tabby of the Savannah cat is not as glossy and as refined as the spotted tabby coat of the Bengal cat, which can glitter. That is a part of the repective selective breeding processes. There is a range of Bengal cat spot types and there’s a range of tabby coats for the Bengal. The Savannah is only a solid spotted tabby unless things have changed over the years.
The idea is the F5 Savannah cat should look a little like the serval which is the wild cat element in this wildcat hybrid. And the serval has dark spots against a pretty plain and even background.
The wild cat element of the Bengal cat is the Asiatic leopard cat which is much smaller than the serval and their coat is more exotic.
RELATED: Can Savannah cats be vaccinated like other domestic cats?
What cat lovers need to know that creating Savannah and Bengal cats leaves a lot of “breeder cat refuse”. The F1-F4s are NOT pets and when they are done breeding they are dumped to sanctuarys or put down. Think twice before supporting these breeds.
Thanks for visiting and your advice, Ron. I agree. People tend to go for exotic. And appearance fascinates people. They tend to forget about the realities of caring for high filial wild cat hybrids. It is even worse when they purchase a genuine wild cat like a serval or caracal. Horrible as far as I am concerned.