The African Serval
The basis of the Savannah Cat

The Savannah cat  is one of the newest breeds of cats currently being developed by a select few breeders around the world. There are very few Savannahs currently in existence, and the demand for them is quite high. The Savannah is the result of crossing an African Serval cat to a domestic cat. There is a variety of domestic cats (most often termed domestic shorthairs) used in breeding programs to create the early generation Savannahs, including Oriental Shorthairs, Egyptian Maus, Serengetis, Bengals, etc. While it is not difficult to have a Serval to Serval breeding take place, it can be very difficult to accomplish the Serval to domestic cat breeding. The first documented breeding of an African Serval to a domestic cat was accomplished in the mid 1980's by Judy Frank, a Bengal breeder and cat fancier in Pennsylvania. The Savannah breed, still in the early stages of development, provides a smaller (approximately 20 pounds, vs. the 40 pound Serval), more manageable (Savannahs use litterboxes and do not require any special diets, facilities or veterinary care) version of the beautiful, exotic Serval Cat for people to live with and enjoy in our own homes. Savannahs make wonderful family pets. 

The kittens resulting from the first and subsequent generations from the breeding of a Serval cat to a domestic cat or a Serval cat to a Savannah cat are recognized as DOMESTIC Savannah cats. The goal of the Savannah breeding program is to create a uniquely beautiful domestic cat which has physical features distinctive to the Serval cat, and with the loving, dependable temperament of the typical domestic cat. Savannahs are known to be extremely friendly and talkative, and very playful and curious in nature. They are the largest hybrid cat available at this time. This breed was named for the native African grasslands where the Serval makes its home, and also for the first and only Savannah kitten produced by Ms. Frank, who named the female kitten resulting from this Serval/domestic shorthair cross "Savannah". Savannahs are breathtakingly gorgeous, with beautiful spotted and striped coats and colors ranging from silver to amber. They have distinctive "tear drop" markings around their eyes and large round ears. The Savannah is a very graceful, uniquely built cat, with a lovely long neck, long legs and ears, and a three-quarter length tail. The breed standard states that they may be solid, tabby or silver/shaded in pattern, with the allowable colors in those patterns to be black, brown spotted tabby, silver spotted tabby or black smoke. The breed standard calls for a head shape that is longer than it is wide. When the face is viewed from the front it should form a distinct triangle. The head of the Savannah is slightly smaller than in proportion to the body. In profile, the nose is long but with a small chin and should add to the cat's wild appearance. The ears of the Savannah are to be large and alert, with a wide base and slightly rounded tips. 

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BODY ..............................40 points
Torso .................................8
Legs ..................................8
Feet ...................................4
Tail .....................................4
Boning ...............................8
Musculature .......................8

COAT/COLOR/PATTERN ..20 points
Texture ....................................8
Pattern ....................................8
Color .......................................4

CATEGORY: Traditional.

DIVISIONS: Solid, Tabby and Silver/Smoke Division.

COLORS: Black, Brown Spotted Tabby, Silver Spotted Tabby and Black Smoke ONLY.

HEAD:
Shape: The face forms an equilateral triangle. The top of the triangle is the brow line over the eyes; the sides follow down the jaw bone meeting at the chin. The triangle excludes the ears. The head is small in proportion to the body.
Ears: Ears are large and high on the head; wide with a deep base and rounded tips. The inner base of the ears are quite close at the top of the head. There are ear furnishings present that rarely extend beyond the edge of the ear. Light colored, horizontal bars (i.e., occelli) on the back of the ear are desirable.
Eyes: The top of the eye resembles a boomerang set at the exact angle so that the corner of the eye slopes down the line of the nose. The bottom half of the eye has an almond shape. The eyes are set directly underneath a slightly hooded brow. The eyes are moderately deep set and low on the forehead with at least one eye width apart. Tear stain markings are present along and between the eye and the nose. Eye color is considered independent of coat color; the deeper, more vivid colors are preferred.
Chin: From the frontal view the chin tapers to follow the triangle of the head. In profile, the chin is very shallow without much depth.
Muzzle: The muzzle is a tapered muzzle with no break. It falls within the bottom portion of the facial triangle that runs from the brow to the point of the chin,
Profile: The forehead is a straight to slightly convex curve from the top of the head to the ridge just above the eye where there is a slight change of direction and a straight to very-slight concave curve from that ridge to the tip of the nose. In profile, the face also forms a triangle from the top of the eye to the tip of the nose, turning to follow the jaw line and back up to the eye.
Nose: Viewing from the front, the nose is wide across the top with low set nostrils. In profile, there is a slight downward turn at the end, giving a rounded appearance. Nose leather is slightly convex not flat.
Neck: Long and lean.

BODY:
Torso: A semi-foreign body type with a full deep rib cage and a slight, but not extreme, tuck-up and a rounded rump. The hip and thigh are full and long and somewhat heavy in proportion to the rest of the body.
Legs: Very long and slender yet strong. Back legs are slightly longer than the front legs, and due to this extreme length, may now and then give a false appearance of being cow-hocked.
Feet: Oval, small to medium, with elongated toes.
Tail: Medium length and thickness, not reaching the floor when standing and tapering slightly to a blunt end; very articulated and expressive.
Boning: Medium boning with density and strength.
Musculature: Firm, well-developed, yet smooth.

COAT:
Coat: Short to medium in length with a slightly coarse feel to it; a coat that has remarkable substance and texture. Coarser guard hairs cover a softer undercoat, though the spots have a notably softer texture. The coat is not inordinately dense and lies relatively flat against the body.

COLORS:
Black, brown spotted tabby, silver spotted tabby, black smoke ONLY. The only color variations allowed are the gold to orange ground color with bold dark markings, the silver ground color with bold dark markings, solid black and black smoke. In any variation the lips are black, as are the prominent black tear duct lines on the inner sides of each eye.
On the spotted Savannahs the nose leather can be either brick red, solid black or black with a light red or pink line running down the center. In black Savannahs, the nose leather must be solid black. Paw pads in either color variation should be deep charcoal or brownish black.

PATTERN: The spotted Savannah pattern is bold, dark-brown to black with round, oval and elongated spots. A series of parallel stripes, from the back of the head to just over the shoulder blades, fan out slightly over the back and the spotting pattern follows the line of the stripes from the shoulders continuing the length of the body. Smaller spots will be found on the legs and feet as well as on the face. The black Savannah should be solid black. Black spotting on a black background is the ideal. The spots should conform to the spotted Savannah's standard. The smoke pattern will conform to the spotted Savannah’s standard.

TEMPERAMENT: The ideal Savannah is to be a confident, alert, curious and friendly cat.

GENERAL DESCRIPTION: The overall impression of the Savannah is a tall lean graceful cat with striking, large, dark spots and other bold markings on a luxurious tawny, gold , orange, silver, black or black smoke background. The cat is a replica of the tall, lean, muscular Serval cat of the African plains from which it originated. Affectionate and outgoing, with exceptionally long neck, legs and ears, as well as a medium length tail, the Savannah is both unusual and beautiful. The Savannah is also an exceptionally graceful, well-balanced cat with striking color and pattern.

PENALIZE: Spots that are any color other than dark brown to black. Any distinct locket on the neck, chest, abdomen or any other area not provided for in the standard. Vertically aligned spots or mackerel tabby type stripes. Cobby body. Small ears.

WITHHOLD ALL AWARDS: Extra toes.

Temperament must be unchallenging; any sign of definite challenge shall disqualify. The cat may exhibit fear, seek to flee, or generally complain aloud but may not threaten to harm."

Evidence of intent to deceive the judge by artificial means, cats with all or part of their tail missing (except those breeds whose standard calls for this feature), totally blind cats, cats having more or less than five toes on each front foot and four on each back foot (unless proved to be the result of an injury or as authorized by a Board approved standard), male cats in the adult championship class which do not have two descended testicles, and, at the discretion of the judge, tail faults (visible or invisible) and/or crossed eyes shall be disqualified from championship competition.

See Show Rules, ARTICLE SIXTEEN for comprehensive rules governing penalties/disqualifications applying to all breeds.
 

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Wendell & Jane Magley
Cattery Phone: 219-363-8514 or 8515
DiamondRidgeCats@aol.com