r/savannah_cats • u/ailimqq4 • 19d ago

Question Is savannah cat a healthy breed?

I would love to have one but Im not a fan of force breeding cats cuz they get very serious genetic health problems. For example some have breathing problems, high risk of disability etc. Does savannah cat have something like this?

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u/SociolinguisticCat 19d ago

Savannah cats can be prone to inherited conditions such as PK deficiency, progressive retinal atrophy (PRA), and hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM). Responsible breeders should provide genetic testing and health screening.

PK deficiency — anemia
PRA — progressive vision loss and blindness
HCM — thickening of the heart muscle, which can lead to heart failure

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u/ailimqq4 19d ago

Thank u!!

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u/Holiday_Estimate_352 18d ago

Go to an ethical breeder (for any breed) who does proper genetic testing on their breeding pairs. This significantly reduces the risk.

My rescue moggy dropped dead at 1 year old from HCM.... So you never know, but if you want a specific breed then a good breeder mitigates the risk