Understanding pedigree certificates.

[Lesley]

I don't particularly like inbreeding because of the health implications. Limitation of the genetics has lead to a number of breeds being in pretty bad shape nowadays. This is one of the ways TICA is a much better cat registry than CFA (the other cat registry, but they don't accept Savannahs) because TICA allows outcrossing. This allows a breed to decide for health's sake to do so...for example the Burmese breed which has a devastating skull defect in its breed. By importing new cats from the streets of Burma they have been able to outcross and keep going with healthier gene pools.

The Savannah breed is so fortunate, it's gene pool is diverse as not just Servals but a number of different cat breeds were used to create the foundation stock... we are as outcrossed as you can get. So with care to not inbreed heavily we should be in good shape.

it's something that benefits the looks but maybe not the health. And good cat breeders prioritize: health, temperament then type!

This is one of the primary problems with wild cheetah conservation. The population is so small that genetic diversity is lost.

 

[Patti]

You really need a statistician and/or an epidemiologist to be able to adequately research the history/pedigrees and drill down the numbers - which of course is never going to happen...