Trish and Bridgette, John Popp and I had a long discussion on PM's over this very subject. We were very curious about how narrow or wide the Serval gene pool actually is in the Savannah population.
We were impressed with the hybrid vigor, but thinking about what has been said in this thread, I have to wonder if all of the domestic outcrossings more strongly contributed to the overall health of the breed.
Side note: But I am starting to get very worried with all these FIP reports showing up. Yes, I do consider that these are expensive cats and the first thing somebody does is start googling it when their SV appears or has it. So that might be why we are seeing a lot of reports on the forum......
Back to the Serval gene pool. JP and I were wondering if the Serval gene pool was under 10 cats initially, and if this gene pool has been expanding in the last 5 to 10 years.
I do realize we have an established breed and new Serval blood might not be important, but Trish and Bridgette have got me thinking that if there was substantial line breeding, then some genetic flaw might be showing up. Before we get all worked up, I realize the tremendous growth of the breed has the number of these cases (FIP, HCM, etc) to be proportionally very small. Doesn't hurt to be vigilant.
Hate to say it-- I don't believe in hybrid vigor.
Look at the dog breeds that supposedly have hybrid vigor and then spend some time reading up on them. Labradoodles and whatever else has been hyped up. They have the same issues as their parents had- hips, eyes, whatever.
I think all in all, CATS ARE healthy creatures! And we are not creating anything abnormal-- ie (hate to say it) like the very giant breeds of dogs- who end up only living 8-10 years due to the massive amount of work their hearts have to do to sustain such large frames. I don't think even a 25 pound Savannah is that abnormal weight-wise (I think I'd need John Popp to do the math- he seems good with numbers) when the average kitty weight is probably 12-16 pounds versus Danes/Mastiffs which can weigh over 200 pounds and average doggy weight is probably closer to 50-60 pounds (if not 40).
Anyhoo, what can you do? I remember the discussion on here about the Serval gene pool (it was on the forum for a bit before ya'll probably carried it into private message) and I do find it a point of concern in our breed, but as B has pointed out- as we've bred outwards, we have introduced so many other bloodlines, that hopefully, there are no worries.
BUT I do want to point out- in the SX breed, they can easily trace back through the heritages quite a few generations to point out a few ancestors who really brought HCM into the breed (or were huge contributors to HCM as far as they can tell). So that worries me too-- the fact that one or two individuals can play a significant role in the future of a breed far, far down the line.
But let's face it--- everything worries me
