Savannah Cat Association

A small group of Savannah breeders wanted to put together a site that would 1. Educate current and new breeders because there was a lot of misinformation in our community. 2. Give breeders a place to show the extent of their commitment to the breed and to producing the best-looking and healthiest Savannah cats they can possibly produce. 3. Have a site that the public can use to get themselves educated so they would not get scammed and be able to find a healthy Savannah cat. And 4. Contribute to Feline Infectious Peritonitis (FIP) research with our membership fees and contributions we receive. FIP is a terrible disease only cats can contract. Each year we contribute to UC Davis FIP research. This benefits all cats and not just Savannah cats. There is now a cure, but it is still very expensive. Now we hope further support will help to develop something that all pet owners can afford.
Our breeder members sign a pledge to use breeder agreements with every kitten they place in a pet home. The agreements guarantee the health of the cat. If new owners have an issue with one of our members, there is a process for owners to file a complaint and Savannah Cat Association has a mechanism in place to moderate between the breeder and owner. This helps our breeders to settle any dispute. This process helps breeders in many ways and keeps them honest. Buyers know when they buy from a breeder on our website, they have an extra layer of guarantee. It sets our breeders a step above non-members.
The website offers articles in many areas. One article gives information on how to know if a breeder is a scammer. Also, articles on how to acclimate a new kitten into the home. The site covers topics such as immunizations, which states are legal to own a Savannah, every disease a cat can possibly get, Savannah cat size, and how much they cost and why.
Savannahs are a man-made and relatively new cat breed. So, to new people, F1, F2, and F3 and terms most people are unfamiliar with. The Savannah was first made back in the late 80’s by accident. Breeders started trying to produce them in earnest in the 90’s. Breeders first bred certain cat breeds to a serval. Servals are a tall, long-legged, golden-colored, black-spotted cat from the grasslands of Africa. They have the same amount of chromosomes as a domestic cat. Breeding a serval to a domestic cat is a difficult undertaking because of the size difference but not impossible. When there is a successful breeding, the kittens are referred to as F1 Savannahs. That simply means they are one generation away from the serval. If the female kittens got on to have kittens, they are F2 because they are two generations from the serval. This continues to F3. After that TICA (The International Cat Association) considers them for showing and their label is SBT unless they are bred back to a serval and then the F1 starts again.
The Savannah cat comes in a few colors. The Brown Spotted Tabby is a golden color with black spots. The Silver Spotted Tabby is a silver-colored cat with black spots. The Black Savannah. When a black Savannah cat is a kitten spots are visible. Most of the spots are not visible once the kitten grows to adulthood. And the Black Smoke. Blacks smoke is a sort of sub-division of silver. They are genetically linked by an inhibitor gene. This makes the undercoat almost a white color in both the black and silver cats. In the black smoke, you have a black cat with a white undercoat that silhouettes all the spots. It is a truly stunning cat to see.
TICA is a registry for all cats, and they have cat shows all over the world. The Savannah cat gained registration status in 2001 and full show status in 2012. In 2002, Savannahs could go to the shows and the judges had a chance to learn about them and handle them in what TICA called the New Breed Program.
Since then, Savannahs have grown in popularity worldwide. The Savannah Cat Association has grown with the breed in popularity. We began with only a handful of breeders and now we have close to a hundred in our ranks. It shows that an organization to educate and enhance our breeders and guide the public who want a Savannah cat was a good decision back five years ago.