Is my Ollie a Savannah?

[ZKWC]

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.


This is 5 months

this is 5 months

5 months

this is 4 months after he got too tired at his scratching post.

this is 3 months crashed out on my lap

 

[Sue]

The tail does not look like a savannah tail. You posted the photos correctly. Sue

 

[John Popp]

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.

 

[John Popp]

The tail does not look like a savannah tail. You posted the photos correctly. Sue

Would that be because of length or markings as our boy definitely has a tail that long, is a 100% nut job and all Savannah!

 

[Sue]

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

 

[John Popp]

Not shooting arrows your way Sue, just curious. Also, although at quick glance I would say Chongo's tail is striped, it's actually spotted. There are defined left and right spots that are somewhat misaligned giving the appearance of stripes. As the spots go further down the tail they become more misaligned and take on more of a spotted character. His brain is misaligned, so I'm thinking that's where it all starts and if he nibbles my ankle one more time this morning he'll be getting a little misalignment therapy.

 

[Tort518]

Pretty cat. There appears to be a spotting pattern visible in some of the pictures. I'm not qualified to say if the cat is a Savannah, but I can say congrats on having a very cute looking cat.

 

[Diane]

Awesome black cat!

 

[admin]

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

 

[macmanmatty]

looks this cat either has some chausie or savannah in him. But probably not pure though.