Sweetspots Savannah Cats

What are Savannah Cats?

Savannah cats are a spotted breed of domestic cat, with an elegantly tall, slender, and long body frame. The savannah breed originates from a male Serval (species Leptailurus serval) bred with a female domestic cat (species Felis catus). A serval is a small species of wild cat species native to the African plains (or ‘Savannah’, hence the breed’s name).

What does the ‘F’ number mean?
The first generation of Savannah cats are referred to as ‘F1’ for first filial generation, and if they have a domestic mother they are exactly 50% serval. If a Serval is bred to a Savannah female, then depending on what generation Savannah the female is they will produce F1 kittens greater than 50%. A 50% F1 female bred to a Savannah male produces F2 kittens that are ~ 27-30% serval. Similarly, an F2 Savannah female produces F3 kittens that may be ~ 14-18% serval or more. It gets more and more difficult to estimate the % serval the more generations away one gets from the serval ancestor. The term ‘early’ generation savannah usually refers to the generations of crosses closer to the serval ancestor which are F1-F3 offspring. ‘Later’ generations usually refers to F4, F5 and greater. ‘High percentage’ savannahs are those with a greater than typical % of serval genes, and this results when an early generation savannah (F1) is bred to a serval to result in F1 offspring that are 75% or more serval.

What is a ‘hybrid’ breed of cat?
Because Savannahs are produced by breeding two different species of cats together (serval X domestic cat), this results in the ‘hybrid’ breed designation. A hybrid is a biological term that refers to offspring that result from a cross between individuals of different species. Note that in order to produce hybrid offspring, crosses must be between closely related and genetically similar species. A cat could not be bred with a dog for instance (for so many reasons!).

Why are early generation savannah males not used for breeding?
In savannah cats, the males of F1-F4 generations are sterile, but the females of all generations can produce offspring. The sterility in males is due to minor genetic incompatibilities between the two different parent species, and the fact that males have only one x chromosome (females have two). The same phenomenon occurs when a horse is bred to a donkey; the two different species are extremely similar, but there are enough genetic differences that their hybrid offspring are sterile (both male and female mules are sterile). Thus when the breed was young, female savannahs were bred to studs that were males of various spotted domestic breeds (Egyptian maus, ocicats, orientals, pixie-bobs, the occasional Abyssinians). After several years of developing the breed however, fertile male Savannahs were produced (usually F6 or F7 generation) and became the norm in most breeding programs.

Even now, because savannahs are the result of breeding two different species of cats together (serval X domestic), male F1-F4 (and often F5) offspring are sterile.  Even though these males are incapable of fathering offspring, they still have testes and produce testosterone, which results in adult male sexual behaviors such as aggression toward other males, calling to potential mates, and territorial marking (spraying of urine). This is why neutering male pets is very important.

What do the letters mean?
The letter after the generation comes from TICA’s registration codes that designate how many generations of savannah parentage a cat has.
F2 ‘A’ or F3 ‘A’ = cat with one savannah and one domestic parent
F2 ‘B’ or F3 ‘B’ = cat with two savannah parents
F3 ‘C’ = cat with two generations of savannah X savannah breeding (both parents and grandparents are all savannahs)
F4 ‘C’ = same as C above (but with at least one non-savannah great-grandparent)
F4 ‘SBT’ = cat with three generations or more of savannah X savannah breeding (parents, grandparents, great-grandparents are all savannahs)

SBT stands for ‘stud book traditional’ and is TICA’s designation for cats that have no outcrosses for a minimum of 3 generations. Only SBT cats are able to participate in TICA shows and eligible for championship status. (Because cats at the F1, F2 and F3 generations have a serval ancestor within 3 generations, they cannot be SBT. F4 is the first generation that can be SBT).

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