Friday, May 20, 2005

Are Bengals Too Mundane Now?

The New York Times recently published an article on Savannahs in New York that appears to be causing a bit of a kerfluffle. The Savannah is a cat breed that's sort of like the Bengal, as it's a hybrid of a domestic cat with a wild cat species. But the Savannah's wild parentage comes from the African Serval.

The Savannah is bigger than the Bengal, much more expensive, and not the sort of thing you want to keep in a Manhattan apartment - if for no other reason than the fact that they're illegal in New York City. The article describes owners going to great lengths to conceal their cats from neighbors who might complain to the city. It also describes what looks like a thriving black market, with people having to wait more than a year to pay $5,000 for a kitten and then being afraid to tell their friends where they live.

Now this is clearly a screwed up situation. But I'm more concerned about the impact publicity could have on public perceptions of hybrid cats. The Times notes that the Savannah is gaining in popularity on the Bengal. Says an Oklahoma Savannah breeder, "Bengals were the rage for a long time, but then people wanted something bigger."

It was hard enough gaining acceptance for the Bengal. They're still legally questionable in some places. And a Discovery Channel piece a couple months ago about rescued Bengals from a breeding operation that got out of control had people approaching Bengal owners on the street and chiding them for having such dangerous animals near their children. We don't need to start this up again with a bigger, more exotic cat.

I've nothing against Savannahs or the people who love them. But I do worry about people keeping them in inappropriate situations. If Leela weighed 35 pounds, we would not be keeping her in our townhouse, much less a postage-stamp New York apartment. And I worry about these situations - or whatever comes along after people decide the Savannah isn't big and exotic enough - causing trouble for breeds that have supposedly already cleared up those misconceptions.

2 Comments:

At May 25, 2005 at 2:00 AM, Blogger Rene said...

Well, Savannahs becoming more fashionable is a good thing for the Bengal cat breed. Too many "breeders" were ruining the breed altogether. Hopefully only people who want to improve the breed will continue (IMO the only true breeders, the others are just "multipliers").

I've heard that Savannahs have to be raised in an incubater the first couple of weeks and that infertility is a problem even in F6 (6 generations after a Serval was paired to a domestic cat), while in Bengals this is only until F2/F3. This has all to do with the difference in gestation time and the obvious size difference between domestics cats and Servals. Savannahs still have a high mortality rate at birth. This also explains why they are so expensive (besides their exclusivity).

Did you also know that many Bengals have intestinal problems, just because they derive from a different species of cat. Especially Bengals that aren't far removed from the Asian tigercat are not so tolerant for cat food normally sold in supermarkets.

Bengal cats are different from other domestic cats in more ways than one. I think they actually need specially formulated catfood. I can't give my Rasheed (F6 Bengal) canned food every day, or he gets diarrhoea. I get the best results from Royal Canin Fit 32. Of course, my Rasheed doesn't represent all Bengal cats, but I've heard this complaint by other owners and breeders as well, so I guess it is true for most Bengal cats.

 
At May 26, 2005 at 6:33 PM, Blogger T - Another Geek Girl said...

Came here from blogexplosion.
Really enjoyed my visit.

 

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