Someone in my family is thinking about buying a Savannah Cat. Does anyone have any first hand experience with these?
Are they aggressive around strange dogs?
Kids?
Strange places?
New people?
Kennels?
How much exercise?
Male vs. Female?
In a house?
Any first hand experience will be helpful. Thanks!
No first hand on Savannahs. Only with Bengals.
I loff my kitty and her antics amuse me to no end, but I don’t think I’d get anything that is still a cross breeding product.
I came across a page of a rescue dealing with the fallout of such dealings, plenty of F1 products being surrendered due to their wildness.
It was something ‘Tiger’ as I recall.
Pretty cats though.
I don’t know the Generation number but my brother is getting an un-neutered male, 6 month old, for free or almost free. It will come to family gatherings and be a family-fur-baby. Sleepovers and all. (brother lives out of town)
Just a little nervous and looking for some people with experience, he has been convinced it will be a feline dog. (???!!!)
The rest of the grandkids are real kiddies and the fur-babies are doggies. Will they get along? Do we need to build an outdoor house? Kennel ok? We just don’t know…
:lol::lol::lol::lol:
I think somebody is telling him tall tales! If it’s such a great cat, why do they give it away for next to nothing?!
However, I am a cat person. I love my crazy wild cat.
How well cats and dogs get along depends on the individuals. Same to the travel habits. My cats, 2 domestic short hairs and my little Bengal do not care much for being stuffed in a carrier. but then again, they either end up at the vets to be prodded and poked, or at the vets to be boarded. They don’t like either.
My wild cat came with no history. It took her a good year to fully integrate herself into the household (meaning climbing over DH etc)
At 6 month you might have some serious kitten issues still to deal with. Heck the Bengal is here for over a year now, she might be close to 2 years or older, she has her moments when she highbanks off the walls.
But he is also pretty young to get used to a lot of different things.
I am putting my experience here with the caveat that my kitty’s background has a different wild species in the family tree. The results could be vastly different, past the coat color.
However nuts she is, I would not want to part with her though. 
(As cat person I’d get the little Tom though I am not one to go out for breed cats. Mine just found me - literally!)
Adding that it is probably not a bad idea to build a screened structure for the cat in the yard. While my domestic go out (they have to be back before dark though ;)) the Bengal is house only. She gets a bit spooked outside, besides, she does have pretty sharp hunting instincts…while I hate squirrels, I don’t want them killing birds.
But I am probably silly, after all, she walked up to my house and moved in.
Unless you are planning on breeding though, I’d consider neutering.
Also, I don’t know where you are, make sure they are legal to have where you are. Some states don’t like these ‘wild’ cat breeds, and should they get away from the owner they are in danger of being put down by authorities!
http://www.voont.com/files/images/edit/weekly_residue/2010/040410/cat3.jpg
Seems they can be a little on the bigger side…
My experience is highly biased as its only from the medical side, and I have a serious distaste in my mouth over half attempted domestication but here’s my cents anyway.
Bengals I have met are GORGEOUS, inquisitive, busy but sweet–but will get sick at the drop of a hat. Very difficult to litter train, riddled with health issues; I work with two former breeders and they’ve sworn them off for LIFE.
Servals…ugh. I don’t know why anyone would own one in anything but an exotic, SERIOUS commitment setting. We have one who’s all 4 declawed that comes in for medical issues often; terrifying to work with, would love to hit you with his feet really if he could, happy to offer a bite, still manages to destroy owners home.
If someone offered me a Serval hybrid, unneutered, for free–they’d only be talking to my cloud of smoke. I’d hit the ground running.
And I’ll say this callously but honestly–if said family member has so little experience with this style of pet that the very basic questions are being asked, I think he should save the hardache and let that opportunity pass by.
And the Serval we see at the clinic is 34 pounds, if that gives you a size indication, though I’m sure the hybrids are smaller.
Having a 12 pound cat hanging on your elbow reliving the call of the wild (complete with the innocent look of the lion from Madagascar when he hangs on the Zebra’s butt) is one major reason why I have decided having a wild species as a pet is a really bad idea.
(man I didn’t know Servals were that big!)
My one experience with a Serval cat (not hybrid) was encountering one in a public park on a leash. The owner told me that I should catch my off leash dog because her (easeily 35-40lb) cat would kill it. :eek:
So…yes, the hybrid will be smaller and probably less inclined/able to kill a medium size dog. But I would want the cat to demonstrate friendly behavior for a long time before I would want it near any small dogs (well, any dog, really…) and certainly children.
They are BANNED in some states. That should tell you how bad of an idea it is to own one. It’s a wild animal (despite the half domestic genes). They can be aggressive and I would think such an animal would not be happy living in doors. It will always want to BE wild.
As for Bengals. I have several friends with them, I’ve NEVER seen a sick on or heard of issues with their health. They are however in my experience aggresive and territorial to other cats and more dog like that cat. All my friends that own them had to get rid of their regular domestic cats because the Bengals were tormenting them so badly the domestic cats developed neurotic behaviors (over grooming ect).
The other thing is if your family member gets a “cute kitten” that then grown up to be a NASTY half-wild animal (because it IS a half wild animal) it’s not like they can just dump it at the pound. Rehoming a 35 lb half wild cat that can kill a medium size dog or serious damage to a human is no easy task. I think it not responsible to breed or keep them as pets. People get them because it’s “cool” and are often ill prepared for how “exotic” it truly is.
Thank you so far for the comments. Yes, this cat is larger than a regular house cat but I don’t know by how much, maybe 5 lbs heavier.
I’ve been doing some research and it looks like the more Serval blood it has, the wilder they tend to act.
It also looks like they are legal in his state but I don’t know about his county and subdivision.
All good advice and comments, I’m not a cat person but they are beautiful cats.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Savannah_(cat)#Physical_features
I would be extremely, extremely concerned about bringing one of these cats around children. Particularly strange children who have not been properly trained “how to act” around what is, essentially, a wild animal.
I once met a neutered male Savannah cat. It was nothing short of vicious, demonstrated almost no inkling of intimate bond with anyone (even its owner), and was constantly on edge, obviously concerned with keeping its guard up at all times. I imagine this is likely exacerbated in the case of a male that is kept entire. I met this cat in “the comfort” of his own home, and when I left, was extremely thankful that his owner did not have children or roommates.
At the very least, these are certainly NOT cuddly, affectionate “fur-babies”. They are wild animals with very different instincts than a domesticated house pet. Instincts that can be very, very dangerous to the inexperienced handler/bystander. There are a lot of red flags in the OP (free? not neutered? “fur-baby”??? cat will be staying with out of state relatives, their kids, their dogs, etc?). If your brother is serious about taking on the type of commitment necessary to care for one of these exotics, he should probably do A LOT of learning beforehand, and be fully prepared for the real possibility that this cat will likely not be a good travel companion…
www.wildcathaven.org/residents/hybrids/boss/
That was the website I was talking about.
Interesting read.
What is wrong with a good old domestic cat? OP’s relative would be have a much better chance of finding a companion kitty if he were to perhaps pick a young adult cat whose personality he’s drawn to.
The “coolness factor”, which I think is the prime motivator for most people who get these crosses, will wear off quickly, probably after the adolescent un-neutered male sprays all over the house. Or when it goes after the family’s dogs and toddlers at the next family reunion.
I hate these Island of Dr. Moreau experiments - Savannah cats, wolf crosses, etc. Why? It’s not as if there’s a dire shortage of cats and dogs with generations of domesticity in their pedigrees.
Contact the owners (Amy & Jeff Wylie) at Why Not An American Ark. Amy has raised wild cats for a long time, I think Savannah’s. She should be able to answer all of your questions.
Well as for size, I had a 30 lb cat but he was a Maine Coon - a much different personality than a hybrid. It’s a good thing he was laid back and friendly because a cat that big could do some serious damage if it was so inclined.
I don’t know anything about the wild/half wild breeds. I’ve only seen pictures and while they are beautiful, I’m not sure I’d inflict them on my regular domestic cats. And if it was indoor/outdoor, I’d constantly be afraid it would revert to it’s wilder side and not come home.
[QUOTE=Alagirl;6098261]
www.wildcathaven.org/residents/hybrids/boss/
That was the website I was talking about.
Interesting read.[/QUOTE]
Yes, very interesting…did you listen to Boss? My cat’s fur went up when I played it.
http://www.wildcathaven.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/Boss_talk.mp3
They were most interested.
That link set every dog in my house off and running for the culprit of the audio and caused a ruckus…next time, I’ll read before I click 
[QUOTE=irkenequine;6099196]
That link set every dog in my house off and running for the culprit of the audio and caused a ruckus…next time, I’ll read before I click ;)[/QUOTE]
Funny, my dog didn’t even bat an eye at the audio…on the other hand, the Jehovah’s witnessesses that just rang my doorbell? Some days it helps to have a dog with attitude:yes:
Why, why, why?
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