Is my Ollie a Savannah?

[admin]

A melanistic savannah often has ghost spotting (black spots underneath the melanistic coat)...this kitten looks to have some kind of brown spotting underneath or as part of the coat.

Looks more Bengal than anything else and does not look like a Chausie to me.

 

[Jacq]

His face looks a little savannah-ish. Hard to tell.

 

[Sue]

Uh, there are many of us on the breed committee - one does not need to be on the breed committee to know the standard

I don't think it is a savannah, but it really doesn't matter...he is a cutie

So sorry Paige, I knew that there are a number of people that are on the Breed Committe but Brigette is the first name that came to mind without looking it up. Apologies to you and the other members of the Breed Committee. Sue

 

[admin]

No worries, Sue...

 

[ambiente18]

Hi all - new here and just joined to try and figure out the mystery of my rescue kitten. I hope I'm posting correctly and inserting images correctly. When I picked him up at the pound when he was only 6 weeks old one of the ladies there told me a breeder dumped him. He was black (and I only rescue black kitties) so I wondered if he was a mix of a siamese or something. But after he got in the sunlight I saw spots on his sides and stripes around his legs. I did some research and narrowed it down to either an Egyptian Mau, Bengal or Savannah.

Maybe someone can tell me what they think and if I've found myself the lucky owner of a melanistic Savannah. I'm a lucky owner either way... I don't really care what he is, I love him! I'm just really curious because he's not just a normal black cat. His tail is super long, he's long. I boarded him recently at a cage free boarding facility and held him up to a 7 month old kitten (Ollie is 5 months old) and Ollie was as big as the 7 month old. But he's really long and thin.

Here are some photos. Hard to get the spots to show when he's not in the sun. But maybe someone can tell me if I'm off about my feelings he's a Savannah, Bengal or Egyptian Mau.

Oh, and he walks with a harness and leash like no other cat I've had before. Took to it immediately with no complaints and I can walk him around our yard for boundary instruction lessons (in case he accidentally gets outside without supervision) with no problem. Like he's part dog. And he jumps like a kangaroo... totally sproing! Leaps into my arms. I've never had a cat act like this before. I love it, just the mystery of what he may be.

View attachment 9197
This is 5 months
View attachment 9198
this is 5 months
View attachment 9200
5 months
View attachment 9201
this is 4 months after he got too tired at his scratching post.
View attachment 9199
this is 3 months crashed out on my lap

your kitty is great! May be he is melanistic Savannah, or not - your kitten great

 

[Trish Allearz]

To me, I see a tiny bit of Mau- I don't see any SV though... But an amazing kitten is an amazing kitten and I bet he's awesome :D

 

[Lesley]

Agree. I think it would be difficult to call him a pure SV, but you got a great kitten and someone was really stupid for dumping him.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk 2

 

[ZKWC]

Well you have me stumped. The body type looks to be Savannah, although the spots seem more vertically aligned than horizontal. Ear position seems to be close, but it will take a better eye than mine to be certain. Perhaps one of the people who attend some shows and are more familiar with the with the finer points come be of some assistance. Nothing I see would rule him out of being a Savannah, and difficult to discern without knowing what potential outcrosses that were part of him coming to be.

Any way you slice it, simply a beautiful kitten and a keeper. There our quite a few people here who have a melanistic Savannah on their wish list (myself included, delivery in about a month) and bought their first for the spots and buying a second for personality. On breeders sites you'll often see the melanistic kittens going early as there is a lower price and second time buyers are more inclined to purchase a marbled or melanistic simply because they are enthralled with the personality.

Trish from AllEarz Savannahs, who is a regular here, has a beautiful melanistic that I believe has won his share of awards and she would be someone familiar with some telltale features to look for in a melanistic. Not that others can't do the same and at the end of the day all that matters is that you have a beautiful healthy and happy kitten.

So welcome, and keep us posted on any other traits you become aware of. Oh and one other trait which I haven't seen in other cats would be the serval pounce, where the cat really loads up their weight on their rear legs, a higher arcing leap and uses its length to really load up some leverage on it's prey. As I understand, pretty much to clear the tall grass in their native land and the blows often renders the prey unconscious making them very effective hunters of small prey in the wild.

thanks. yes, i'm stumped too! thank you for the reply. he does do that jump... a lot! sometimes on my head. ha. and he will pick up his little kitty bed in his mouth and carry it to where he wants to sleep. even if that means carrying it up on the bed to sleep with us. i've not ever had a cat do something like that before. he will also jump and catch cat treats in his mouth in mid-air. he's a fun little kitteh.

 

[ZKWC]

To me, I see a tiny bit of Mau- I don't see any SV though... But an amazing kitten is an amazing kitten and I bet he's awesome :D

i wondered "mau" too. but there are some markings on him consistent with Savannah or Bengal that make me think no. and mau's aren't this big. he's a big kitten. and you know those little "fluffs" on the back legs? they look like fuzz on top of the fur. he has that. i'll try and get a picture when he isn't being a little monster. anyway... it's just a puzzle. he's either mixed with something or a purebred black that someone didn't want to show potential buyers for some reason. our shelters get full of black kittens that are purebred because of this. the stupid superstitions.

his eyes were completely blue when i got him he was so young (poor little guy was dropped off by himself). then they turned yellow and they're now getting a hint of green around the pupil with yellow on the outside. which also made me think Mau because of the "gooseberry green" eyes requirement by at least 1 1/2 years old. from what I read online anyway and who knows if that information applies to a melanistic. ?? unsure.

his tail does have spots and stripes, it's just really hard to photograph. the light has to be perfect and with his tail switching around like a whip it's near impossible.

 

[ZKWC]

The tail usually has stripes is why I said the tail did not look like a Savannah's, but then what do I know. I'm not an expert by no means. I am sure Bridget will comment soon since she is on the breed committee. Sue

yep. his tail has spots and stripes. like rings around the tail sort of marbly with spots here and there. it's just really hard to get the light right for them to show up in a photo. 90o << that was Ollie typing. thought i'd leave that in there. lol - thanks for the response!! you're all very awesome here.