Thursday, April 21, 2011

Savannah Cats... Bigger is Better

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I've been fascinated by this recent breed, created by breeding Servals with domestic cats, ever since I saw one a few years ago in a magazine. I still haven't seen one in person, but they are gorgeous, and from the videos I've seen, very friendly!


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For cat & dog lovers, they're like the perfect kind of mix! Big enough (like dogs) to romp around and play with... they average about 30 pounds, but with the independence of cats. They're really gorgeous animals, and quite intelligent. They have more energy than domestic cats, though, so if you have a few thousand dollars to spend on one, then be prepared to also give them room to run around and leap, and put the Faberge Egg away!


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They are graded by how many generations away they are from the first breeding with the serval. An F2 will be the closest to the first, and very expensive (think $50,000) and an F5 is further away, so they will be more affordable and possibly a little smaller than the F5, I'm not sure. 


If you want a kitten, there are people who breed them, but you need to make sure that it's legal to own one in your state. I found this one family that are registered raisers of Bengals, Maus & Savannahs. They're at Wild Trax Exotics. They raise the kittens in their home so that they're very well-adjusted and comfortable around people. And there's definitely a waiting list!