Savannah Weights

[Brigitte Cowell]

I have a PhD in Microbiology... specifically bacterial infections of the cornea due to contact lens wear.

Thanks for the compliment on Zari, we adore her and she did very well as a show cat right up until she got so ill last Labor Day :-( She and Hunter (Mike and Sandy's lovely show alter) basically grew up in the show halls side by side.

I'm not sure about "replicating"... as biology is such a funny thing that you can hardly ever get exactly the same result each litter. What I have seen is that the three litters I have had from Nadiya bred to Zak (Zari's parents) they have been consistently really nice and I have found it hard every time to choose a favorite. Because of Zari's illness (still no diagnosis although they've ruled out almost everything) we have kept another girl from the last litter... Dalila. She's very different from Zari in coloring but I think still a really nice girl.

Dalila is the one on the left... as you can see none of the four (three girls and a boy) turned out like Zari! Forgive their bugged out eyes, first professional shoot and they were very excited by the wand toy he was whizzing about! LOL!

 

[sacred]

I have a PhD in Microbiology... specifically bacterial infections of the cornea due to contact lens wear.

Thanks for the compliment on Zari, we adore her and she did very well as a show cat right up until she got so ill last Labor Day :-( She and Hunter (Mike and Sandy's lovely show alter) basically grew up in the show halls side by side.

I'm not sure about "replicating"... as biology is such a funny thing that you can hardly ever get exactly the same result each litter. What I have seen is that the three litters I have had from Nadiya bred to Zak (Zari's parents) they have been consistently really nice and I have found it hard every time to choose a favorite. Because of Zari's illness (still no diagnosis although they've ruled out almost everything) we have kept another girl from the last litter... Dalila. She's very different from Zari in coloring but I think still a really nice girl.

Dalila is the one on the left... as you can see none of the four (three girls and a boy) turned out like Zari! Forgive their bugged out eyes, first professional shoot and they were very excited by the wand toy he was whizzing about! LOL!

I am so sorry to hear that Zari has taken ill. I'd be curious to know more of the details of this mystery illness. As for the newest crop of kittens they are, of course, all gorgeous.

I've studied breeding systems for 15 years (My personal interest is in bullmastiffs - also something of a hybrid originally though it is merely a cross between breeds) and hold Masters degrees in biotechnology and regulatory science from Johns Hopkins. ZahrasHuman is working on a PhD in Clinical Neuropsychology from Northwestern. So, we both have a reasonably strong background in the biological sciences, one of many reasons we (okay, she) were attracted to the Savannah Cat.

As I understand it the goal with the Savannah cat is to stabilize the SBT into what we now currently think of as F1's I am curious what the long term strategy is. Looking at your F5's would, I should think, give hope as to the feasibility of this long term goal. I am also curious about some of the more advanced genetics at play (e.g. Haldane's Rule, female heterogamety, etc.) and would be appreciative if you could point me towards more advanced literature covering the topic. Am curious if the future is genetic mapping (now that it's crossed the $1,000 threshold and continues to rapidly drop) or perhaps even a viral vector to amend fertility issues in F1 males. Should be interesting times going forward ...

 

[Brigitte Cowell]

I think that we are waiting on the results of the fertility project that is ongoing at Texas A&M to know more about where to go with that subject. Haldane's Rule definitely applies but there is a professor at that place who has spent years looking at DNA samples to try to work out what is going on with our fertile/infertile males of all the hybrid breeds. I think Bengals and Chausies along with Savannahs.

There's unfortunately not a lot of literature for you to read. There's really no funding around for such things. My undergraduate Microbiological research (for my Honors year, I went to "school" in Australia) was in agricultural microbiology and basically what you quickly learn is that if you cannot apply something that you want to research in animals to a human disease then you are unlikely to find funding. It's what holds back really good research in subjects that we need research in like FIP!

My background in Science is probably what lead me into breeding Savannahs. I happened to get my first SV back in 2001 when they were newly accepted by TICA and all the work developing them and getting them through TICA's new breed program needed to be done. These F5 SBT kittens are the great grandchildren of my very first breeding Savannah, an F2A girl Karamu from Joykatz whom I am still glad I chose. The appeal of developing a breed and not just breeding to retain type was a huge draw. I had never felt drawn to breed a pedigreed cat too much before then. It's been an interesting ride!

Personally, I have never thought we would achieve an F1 at SBT level, I am a practical sort and think we can definitely achieve a good F2 though. That has been my aim. I think F1s will always look different... if you look at the Bengal breed it is the same... the F1s are always identifiable.

Zari's illness is not something I put on the forum. I did share on Facebook as it is such an immediate type of format... so every time I was at the vet with her you sit there and post on FB, LOL! I think I kept waiting for the "diagnosis" to post as there were so many questions about what the heck was going on...and that just never happened. Brigitte McMinn published the first chapter in a recent edition of Savannahs Illustrated and most likely will post updates. I think the next specialist visit might actually point to a whole new diagnosis and one of those "wow, if we'd only known we could have saved ourselves $15,000 in vet bills" kind of stories. I should make a thread about it though, it probably is educational. If I had listened to the vets I would have euthanized her. 9/10 specialists said there was no hope. I clutched at the straw of the one vet that didn't agree with them... and we saved her. Well she's had five months extra life...which for a cat that was only 15 months at the time, that's a lot of life

I don't fear for her siblings, the immediate panic of her initial diagnosis was scary as it would possibly have affected them but we've at least eliminated infectious and hereditary causes. She's just "unlucky"...

 

[Becki]

@Brigitte Cowell the eyes on your Mel (dark smoke maybe?)! Swoon!

 

[WitchyWoman]

Brigitte, oh my gosh, those kittens are breathtaking. I hope you know by now that I think you are an exceptional breeder and an exceptional person and it makes me sooooooo happy to see such wonderful results of your love and labor for this breed. Hugs to you. I hope Zari's mystery illness is solved soon and that she is restored to complete good health.

 

[Brigitte Cowell]

@Brigitte Cowell the eyes on your Mel (dark smoke maybe?)! Swoon!

No, she's black (mel), I don't have any silver in my program

 

[Brigitte Cowell]

Thanks, Deborah

I'm proud of them, when you work on something for years you are so invested in them...but they are a lot of joy too. The personalities are fabulous and that is so important to us.

I'm hopeful with Zari... just so very much want her to be well again. The scientist in me really wants to know what was wrong, but the pet owner in me will be happy just if she gets better!

 

[ZahrasHuman]

I have a PhD in Microbiology... specifically bacterial infections of the cornea due to contact lens wear.

Thanks for the compliment on Zari, we adore her and she did very well as a show cat right up until she got so ill last Labor Day :-( She and Hunter (Mike and Sandy's lovely show alter) basically grew up in the show halls side by side.

I'm not sure about "replicating"... as biology is such a funny thing that you can hardly ever get exactly the same result each litter. What I have seen is that the three litters I have had from Nadiya bred to Zak (Zari's parents) they have been consistently really nice and I have found it hard every time to choose a favorite. Because of Zari's illness (still no diagnosis although they've ruled out almost everything) we have kept another girl from the last litter... Dalila. She's very different from Zari in coloring but I think still a really nice girl.

View attachment 11193 View attachment 11194 Dalila is the one on the left... as you can see none of the four (three girls and a boy) turned out like Zari! Forgive their bugged out eyes, first professional shoot and they were very excited by the wand toy he was whizzing about! LOL!

They are absolutely beautiful And I agree wholeheartedly with Sacred, Zari is a gorgeous girl. Hopefully she wil be feeling better soon.

 

[ZahrasHuman]

Excellent Pictures.. Looks so innocent... She looks so well behaved you could probably leave a raw chicken on the counter and she would not even think about it![/quote


Ahem she may not think about the raw chicken, but tonight she was not above sneaking a bite of my pizza crust lol. She has an obsession for bread of all things lol

 

[ZahrasHuman]

Zahra is an F2B female (F6 to F1) that is 22 weeks old and spayed at 18 weeks. Today she was weighed by the vet at 6lbs 12 ounces. The vet noted she still has all of her baby teeth and so may be due for a large growth spurt.

About that.... Has anyone here experienced later kitten tooth loss in Savannahs, and that being connected to a slower growth rate? Just curious. My vet has seen a lot if Savannahs (she is popular with a few of the Chicago area breeders). She commented that Zahra was a bit small for an F2 and thought it was adorable and unusual that she still has all of her baby teeth. She said that might indicate slower development, which left me wondering if anyone else has seen growth spurts after six months in slower developing cats.