Breed Information
Help with choosing the right kitten for you.
Adding a pet to your household is a big commitment and I hope the information below will help.
Savannahs
At Wiccacats I do my utmost to produce healthy Savannah kittens that conform to the breed standard. The Savannah standard has been laid down by TICA with the help of long-standing Savannah breeders. It is displayed on the TICA website.
For showing Savannahs you of course want to have as near perfect as you can get. The Savannah should have solid black or dark brown spots as opposed to the rosetted spots of the Bengal. Savannah breeders are trying to eliminate rib bars or stripes behind the forearm. If you take your cat to a show and two equally nice Savannahs are presented to the judge, the one with rosettes will be placed below the cat with solid spots. If one Savannah has rib bars and the other does not the one without bars will be placed in front. The Bengal is no longer recognised as an outcross in the Savannah breed. A Savannah is not a large Bengal; it should be a completely different type. The Savannah is long legged, large eared, has a triangular face and is less stocky than a Bengal. If you want a rosetted cat, buy a Bengal. The judges want the Savannah as near to the breed standard as possible so it is in your interest to read the standard before buying a show quality kitten.
Breed quality is not the same as show quality. For breeding Savannahs you need a strong cat which feeds well. Remember she has to nurture her babies and look after herself. It is no good getting a picky feeder that looks good and does not nourish her babies. It is what a breed queen can bring to the table. She does not have to be perfect but a good breeder will see her potential in producing better than herself.
Feeding.
I have strong views on feeding cats. By design a cat is an obligate carnivore; it must eat meat, fresh raw meat. Pet food companies bulk out their produce with about 50% grain, rice or potato. One company proudly states that their natural cat food contains at least 26% real meat. I wonder what the other 74% is. A cat’s insides have not changed since it was domesticated 3000 years ago. It has an acidic stomach with short intestines so that food passes through quickly. In the wild or your back garden there are no microwaves to cook the mouse and your cat does not go in the farmers’ field to pick the wheat so why feed cooked food containing wheat to a cat? The reason is simple - cost. Meat costs more money than bulking agents.
I start weaning my kittens on whole raw chicken mince with bone in. My butcher grinds it for me with added small amounts of liver and heart. I add water and raw egg yolk with a supplement. I have never had a problem with this and have full support of my vets. I do relent and also feed them a dry kitten kibble because I know when my kittens go to their new home most people will not feed raw. I have to be realistic and think of my cats’ future life, but while they are with me they are fed like the carnivore they are. All my cats including pretty little Siamese kittens will eat whole rabbit or pigeon. At about 8 weeks I introduce them to processed pouches when their immune system is a bit stronger.
If you are contemplating importing a Savannah from USA, below are some breeders who I have found very helpful and honest
http://www.Jasirisana.com
http://www.Thomwrencattery.com
http://www.wyldthingz.net
http://www.halestone.org
http://personal.rockbridge.net/kfilseth/index.html (Demdar)
Siamese cats.
The siamese has changed a great deal in looks and style in the last 30 years. What was an elegant, beautiful cat has been changed into something resembling a gremlin. Some people phone me saying that they want to find a normal siamese and not a batwing kind, their words not mine. I strive to breed the siamese of the 50s, the cat I grew up with. The traditional siamese or the THAI as Tica the US registry have renamed them is a robust cat of good substance, not lacking bone but not coarse or too round in the face. The applehead siamese as some may call them are not the traditional siamese. It is now thought that the cats seen in old photos at the turn of the 20th century were in fact entire toms with jowls, making their face look round.
I recently attended the tica annual show in Philadelphia in the hope of meeting some Thai breeders, and I was not disappointed. I made contact with a good breeder whose cats are from very old US lines and I intend to import a stud kitten next year to assist my siamese breeding programme. I allow my queens to have three litters, the first, to see what the mating has produced, the second to prove consistancy, and the third to keep a girl back. I then neuter the mother and stud and bring in a new boy for the girl kittens I have kept back to continue my lines. I breed on the tail line, that is from the maternal side of the kitten. My hope in importing new blood is to widen the gene pool and put the old style firmly on the map. Below is a photo of a cat that brings happiness to me every time I look at him. His name is Clonlost Yoyo and he was born in 1949. This is the type of siamese I am aiming to produce. I am not there yet, but hope to be there in the near future.
Clonlost Yoyo born 1949
As a matter of interest, below is a photo of 9 week old siamese kittens argueing over who finishes of the torso of a rabbit. If you could of heard the noise these kittens were making you would have thought it very similar to a pride of lions. We must not forget, ALL cats are carnivores
