People who do not know what Savannah cats look like can find a complete answer in the photograph below taken by the well-known cat photographer, Helmi Flick in 2010 at The International Cat Association annual cat show at Santa Clara in California. Helmi does not tell us what filial this cat is by which I mean how much wild serval is part of her. As you perhaps know the Savannah cat is part serval and part domestic cat; a wild cat hybrid. At a guess I’d say this cat is a high filial with plenty of wild cat in her, perhaps an F1-F3. If she is an F1 her father would be a serval.
They are large cats; the largest domestic cat on the planet in fact.
They have slender head relatively small heads in comparison to body size just like the serval. You can definitely see the serval in this beautiful cat. The dark, inky spots against the yellowish background, the tall ears and wide nose leather. The long legs and smart alert, look on her face are all synonymous with the Savannah.
Apparently, this cat made the cover photograph of the magazine “Cats USA”. This is an annual publication. Helmi says that her subject was cooperative and “fun to photograph”. Savannah cats are alert and arguably more demanding than your conventional domestic cat. The cat would have been wrangled by Helmi’s husband Ken and perhaps the cat’s owner might have assisted. The photo would have been taken in ten minutes or less. Helmi uses top of the range Canon digital SLR equipment and a telephoto lens to compress the perspective (flatten the image).
I hope that this photograph answers the question “what do Savannah cats look like?”
What is the difference between the Bengal cat and the Savannah cat?
