Serengeti | Cat Breed Information & Facts – Pictures

The Serengeti breed was created with the goal of breeding cats that have an appearance reminiscent of the wild African serval cat. There is another breed of cats that resembles a serval, it is the Savannah, and the serval itself participated in its breeding. But the Serengeti breed was bred without the participation of the serval, only domestic cat breeds participated in breeding programs.

The Serengeti cat is a “mix” of the coloring of wild cats, tender affection for a person and active behavior. With such a pet, there will certainly be no time to get bored! Appeared in 1994, these animals are considered quite rare. What’s so amazing about them?

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A large wild cat and an affectionate domestic cat produced wonderful offspring. Lack of aggressiveness and predatory appearance bribe everyone without exception. These cats, having no trace of servals in their set of chromosomes, turned out to be surprisingly similar to them.

The Serengeti can be really large when the weight of a cat reaches 15 kg, but on average the weight ranges from 8 to 12 kg.

• Head: The Serengeti cat has a flat, wedge-shaped head. The contour of the head is not sharp, but smooth, the roundness is soft. The chin is strong, but not massive, the cheeks should not be noticeable;
• Ears: are on top. They are tall and “alert” – the ears are always high. The size of the ears is equal to the size of the animal’s head. The “vigilance” of the ears and their large size are characteristic traits of the breed;
• Eyes: wide apart. They are large and round, honey-colored. Although the breed standard calls for other shades of yellow, hazelnut or light green is also acceptable;
• Nose: large width, and the width is maintained throughout the length of the nose. The nose is exceptionally dark, the vibrissae are long;
• Neck: long, high, extending from head to shoulders.
• Body: The ideal Serengeti is medium in size. At the same time, their physique is athletic – this is a type of strong semi-foreign body. Signs of the breed – a straight line of the back, equal in width to the croup and shoulders, some stretching of the body. The muscles are not overdeveloped. Sexual dimorphism is pronounced (males are larger than females).
• Legs: the limbs are long and strong. Of all domestic cats, the Serengeti has the longest legs. Paws are not large, oval
• Tail: The tail of this breed is not unnecessarily long, but it is thick. And the tip of the tail is always painted black.

The Serengeti, as we said above, has all the best qualities of domestic cats. These cats are affectionate, affectionate, able to sense the emotional state of the owner and his family members very well, and love to be around you, whatever you are doing. It can be said that they are very sociable pets who love the company of close people, as well as other pets and get along with them without problems, if they do not encounter counter-aggression.

They have good hunting instincts, which goes well with their appearance. These cats do not like to be alone, especially for a long time, often away for a long time, even if it is everyday work. Ideally, it is recommended to start in a family of several people and, if possible, to live in the private sector – this will ensure maximum freedom, and the cat will almost never be alone.

They treat children well, love to play, have a high energy level, but are not harmful and moderately playful. Serengeti cats perceive a change of residence quite difficult – it takes some time to adapt to a new place. By the way, they may feel uncomfortable even if you rearrange the furniture in the house.

To date, there are no data on genetic propensities for various serious diseases, especially due to the novelty of the breed. An exception may be gangliosidosis – in this regard, breeders are advised to carry out DNA tests. In general, the Serengeti cat breed is a healthy animal, with good immunity and metabolism.

The Serengeti is a short-haired cat and needs weekly brushing. Also, you need to clip the claws once every 10 days, bathe the animal regularly – on average once every 2 months, clean the eyes and ears from dirt and brush the teeth at least three times a week.

The Serengeti is a relatively new and rare cat breed that first appeared in the 90s. It was developed by Karen Sausman, breeder, conservationist and biologist. The main idea was to create a breed that would combine the best qualities of domestic cats – kindness, intelligence, love of people, while having the appearance of a wild African serval cat.

Here a pattern appears – for sure she crossed Servals with European or American Shorthairs, but this is not the case. The Serengeti have no serval blood at all. The Serengeti cat breed comes from the cross between Bengal and Oriental Shorthairs. Within a few years, the Serengeti started to catch on and other breeders from around the world also joined the breeding program. The breed is registered with TICA as a new breed, but the GCCF has not yet recognized it.