Do Savannah Cats have as many health problems as Bengals?

[Mavelle]

I think Neo really misses Loki. He walks around the living room and then cries, then he wants to go outside. Neo is a Bengal I got from a breeder (Starangel Bengals). He’s 2-1/2 yrs old. Loki got sick with IBD about a month after we got Neo.
I want to get a F3 Savannah. But I can’t wait that long. I need a new baby Kitty to take care of, to get my mind off missing Loki. So I emailed Neo’s Breeder and told her what happened to Loki. And guess what.... 2 days ago one of her cat’s litters were born. That’s one day after Loki died. I’m gonna get new baby boy Bengal. And I hope you guys don’t think I’m crazy, but I told Loki when he was lying on the floor. I was crying and I said “I love you Loki, it’s okay you can go to the other side, just come back to me in another cat”. Then he took his last breath. A part of me thinks his soul could be in the kitten i’m gonna get.
I’m crying a lot. Especially when I’m getting ready for work in the morning, because he was apart of every part the morning getting ready ritual. And when I’m driving home, cause I know when I get home I won’t here him meowing through the door and when I open the door, he won’t be there rolling on his back waiting for me to rub his belly.

 

[Mavelle]

This a picture of Loki and Neo

 

[Ninja-n-Bear]

Your post made me cry. I'm so glad you are getting another kitten, both for Neo's sake, and yours. I hope Loki does come back to you!

 

[Fran Kunkle]

I'm so sorry that you too have felt the pain that me and my family feel about Dexter our Savannah F3 He died 2 days ago at age 9, lived with HCM for 7 years. How have you managed in the past few years? Did you get another cat?

 

[SV brats]

Hi, I’m new to the forum. I don’t have experience with Savannah Cats yet. I have 2 Bengals right now. Loki is 7-1/2 years old. Two years ago he was diagnosed with IBD and Glaucoma. Just last week he was diagnosed with an enlarged heart. Neo just turned 2 years old. He was diagnosed with PRA (progressive retinal atrophy). Also 2 years ago I had another Bengal named Simba. Loki was his uncle. Simba died at 4-1/2 years old. He had HCM and FIP. I still wake up in the middle of the night crying because I had a dream of when we had to say goodbye to him. Loki and Simba were from a bad breeder from NJ that sells lots of sick cats. Unfortunately I didn’t know about her before I bought my cats. Neo is from a different breeder that is supposed to be really good, and she is. But Neo is going to be blind. It just makes me feel like the bengal breed as a whole has health problems.
My husband always wanted a Savannah. So my question is, do Savannahs commonly have these types of health problems? Because when Loki dies of heart disease, I’m going to be devastated. We have the closest bond I ever had with one of my cats. I’ve always had cats since I was 5 years old. Just thinking about life without Loki and typing this right now is making me cry. After he is gone, I’m looking to maybe get a Savannah.

How long do they typically live? I was interested in a male F3, but I don’t think I could handle it emotionally if he died of some horrible disease at an early age.

So sorry for you loss and other problems with your cats. Most Bengals seem to be healthy. My brother’s beautiful boy never went to the vet for years after his first vaccines. The breeder is so important. I got my first 2 Savannahs from a bad breeder too, they were both sick with parasites and infection right from the beginning and my beloved Bruce died at only 4 (heart attack, myocard infection I think.). My newer F3 Sav gotten from a top notch breeder is super healthy, almost 2 and never had any problem! I could visit him a bunch of times before adopting. She was playing a lot with him, he was in a clean environment, she was constantly sending me pics and videos, all vet visits and health monitoring done, proper feeding, guarantees, etc, this is what you get from a high quality breeder! He eats twice the amount of my F5 (which is about the same size), and he his super thin! Because he is such a brat I strongly encourage getting one if you’re ready for it, this is hopefully the day that your bad luck runs out.

 

[Vito]

So sorry to hear the problems you have experienced with your cats, nothing prepares you for the heartache of losing one of your beloved friends. I have to agree with SV Brats, always go to a reputable breeder, the Savannah cat association can advise you of such breeders. We have 3 savs and although they’ve had a few ups and downs they’ve never been specifically pertained to savannahs.
prior to getting our first Savannah we started out with a beautiful bengal boy Ravi, who becomes very I’ll at 7 months old and died of FIP, it truly broke us , we didn’t do any research on the breeder and found out afterwards she churned kittens out constantly with illness or health problems, after this we decided to get a savannah, it changed our lives forever, so much so we ended up with 3. All came from reputable breeders.

 

[Brigitte Cowell]

So sorry to hear the problems you have experienced with your cats, nothing prepares you for the heartache of losing one of your beloved friends. I have to agree with SV Brats, always go to a reputable breeder, the Savannah cat association can advise you of such breeders. We have 3 savs and although they’ve had a few ups and downs they’ve never been specifically pertained to savannahs.
prior to getting our first Savannah we started out with a beautiful bengal boy Ravi, who becomes very I’ll at 7 months old and died of FIP, it truly broke us , we didn’t do any research on the breeder and found out afterwards she churned kittens out constantly with illness or health problems, after this we decided to get a savannah, it changed our lives forever, so much so we ended up with 3. All came from reputable breeders.

I'm not sure that I personally recommend Savannah Cat Association as so many great breeders that I know are not part of that small group of individuals.

I'm more likely to recommend doing good research, not just looking at pretty pictures but asking questions and feeling that the answers are thoughtful and knowledgeable. Hanging out on the Savannah groups on Facebook will usually also tell you who has a clue and who is just selling kittens. Definitely choose the breeder versus looking for who has a kitten available right that moment!

 

[admin]

This Forum is a good place to ask questions about breeders as is the Savannah Cat Enthusiast group on FB. We do not recommend any other association or group. There is no official Savannah cat association with the exception of TICA and the Savannah breed section.


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[Vito]

APOLOGIES …. I just assumed the Savannah cat association would have had details of reputable, vetted breeders. Did not intend to offend anyone with this suggestion.

 

[Brigitte Cowell]

APOLOGIES …. I just assumed the Savannah cat association would have had details of reputable, vetted breeders. Did not intend to offend anyone with this suggestion.

The limitation of the group is what breeders wish to pay to be a member. It was not original to the breed during development, so many GOOD breeders weren't motivated to join as we had already a breed mentor group, a breed section group...which are free and established and already fulfilled the needs that such a breed association might do. I can't vouch for how good any vetting is, but I will say that one would limit one's choice needlessly if this was the only source of breeder.