Savannah Shopping

[Julie]

I have 2 f3 boys, same litter and brothers. They are about 5lbs different, and the one has probably 2 inches at his sholders on the other. The smaller of the boys isn't really bigger then a larger domestic but his personality is threwthe roof.

Shop around, ask advice. My husband wanted looks when we first started shopping, and I've realised were lucky we have 2 great boys, because size doesn't help a bad personality.

 

[Kronos]

I met a very large F5 male once.. probably 14" at the shoulder and a good 20+ lbs. My F5 is 6 months old and 8lbs and I am going to guess between 10 - 11" at the shoulder... so he probably will just be the size of a normal cat. I am HOPING he will get bigger, because I love the giant cats as well, but you really just never know.

The only way I think to have a guaranteed large cat is to get an F1 or F2. I think even some F2 females are on average nearly regular house cat sized, so I would definitely go with a male Savannah of any generation you end up picking.

It will also be a good idea to perhaps purchase your kitten from a breeder who is doing a repeat breeding of a previous litter so you will already know how the other kittens grew up, and hopefully your chances of getting what you want will be increased... but still there are no guarantees, you just can't guarantee genetics!

Just keep in mind about the earlier gens as well, the higher Serval % yes will give you a more exotic look, but also some temperaments can be trickier to live with or will require much more training and patience on your part. With that said, I am sure there are F1s and F2s out there that are just sweet as can be and totally calm and well behaved, but on average you will have a much higher than normal energy cat. Even my F5 is very energetic and is either running around, cuddling with me, or eating or sleeping. My Ragdoll cat spends much more time lounging around than my SV, although I do think the SV is calming down more with age... he is actually starting to sleep more often haha.

 

[Brigitte Cowell]

As you say, Trish, get it in writing. Although I remember with the Ashera cats, they "guaranteed" size...but if you read the fine print you had to have the cat for three years, then return it and they sent another kitten. Well and where are they three years later? Oh yes, laughing in another country (I think Simon Brodie went to Canada to spruik custom skis or something) with all the money!

Size is a gamble, and breeders that guarantee a kitten will be big if it is less than 6-8 weeks old ... well I wouldn't give them my money. I think you mentioned discovering Savannahs watching Animal Planet? My Mondo was the tall Savannah with the children in that episode of Cats101, one of the first kittens born here. He was completely normal in size up until ~8 weeks old when his legs started shooting out fast. He was a very average 4oz at birth, he's now ~18 inches at the shoulder. I will not guarantee size, but have produced more than one very tall Savannah... imho if you really want size then you likely have to choose an F2 rather than F3...even if my black boy Baz is pretty darn tall, his full brother is significantly smaller as are his sisters.

And please no "cubs", I am on the legislative committee with TICA and can tell you that that kind of terminology encourages legislators to ban hybrids of the exotic cats along with the exotic cats... hence the reason we Savannah breeders tend to object to the term!

 

[Sue Armstrong]

I agree with alot of the posts. There is no way to truly guarantee size and I tell potential customers that if someone is actually going to guarantee size then I would probably steer away from them. I have produced F1's and I had 2 brothers where at 1 year of age 1 boy was 12 and 1/2 pounds and the other was 22 pounds. So even at the F1 level it is hard to guarantee. I currently have a high % F3C baby boy that should be large as this is my line that was originally a Maine Coon female bred to the Serval and the F2 mother and her sister are nice large girls, but that still does not mean he will be passed these genes. It really is a luck of the draw. You just have to be prepared to be happy with a cat that no matter the size is definitely different than other breeds, has lots of love and energy to give and generally they are just a kick in the pants kind of cat! The only way you could guarantee a large cat would be if you bought one that is already 8 to 9 months of age and is already big!

 

[Julie]

Oh that reminds me, a friend has an f2 girl, I've seen her mom nice big f1... she's the same size as our larger f3 boy... (ours also go back to maine coons) so its really a giant wishing game.

 

[Brigitte Cowell]

I rehomed my F3B girl Kiki with her grown F4C son a couple years back... her new owners were stunned by how small she was in comparison..she was about half the size of her son! He turned out a very sizeable F4 boy, which was a bonus for them as we'd discussed the fact that he likely would not be huge but a taller than normal domestic sized kitty. I prefer my kitten buyers to accept that likelihood and then be pleasantly surprised when they outgrow those expectations

 

[Sue Armstrong]

I am really forum illiterate. Paige mentioned that there are pictures of the different generations and I cannot find that link anywhere??? Can someone be so kind as to show me the way?

 

[admin]

I am really forum illiterate. Paige mentioned that there are pictures of the different generations and I cannot find that link anywhere??? Can someone be so kind as to show me the way?

http://www.savannahcatchat.com/forums/savannah-cat-and-savannah-kitten-pictures/

 

[Marissa]

Yeah my f2 azul is only 12lbs. IMO not different than a larger house cat. When we have strangers come in everyone thinks she is huge. In reality she's not really that large. My Bengal boys are actually out growing her and they are only about 7 months and my f2 is almost 2 years. I always wanted a savannah for the size, I've come to realize what I like most about the breed isn't the size but the type, and personality, and of course the big ears.

 

[Brigitte Cowell]

And that is what we hope most Savannah owners end up deciding! That the personality is more important than the size... as many don't fulfil the size estimation given by some breeders. It worries me doing Rescue to hear how buyers go in expecting the female of that generation to be as large as the males etc...