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The Serengeti breed family in the world is only a few hundred individuals. But each individual is a standard, has a unique coloring and uniqueness! This rare breed was bred in order to bring more elegance and charm to the wild African nature.
Breed history
As you know, the African jungle and deserts are not the homeland of the Serengeti, America is considered its homeland. The founder of the breed Karen Southman in the 90s of the 20th century conducted labor activities in the wildlife reserve. The inhabitant of the reserve, a wild cat belonging to the Serval breed, simply fascinated Karen. And she decided to repeat all the charm and charm of a wild cat at home, but subject to the condition that the servals should not independently participate in the expansion of the population.
Karen Southman decided to cross an Oriental Shorthair cat with a Bengal cat. This decision was not without soil, because four years of in-depth analysis and research laid the foundation for her choice. All these years she carefully selected breeds, all animals without fail underwent ultrasound examinations for the presence of diseases. And this work is priceless today, because Serengeti cats are among the most expensive cats in the world, and not only because of their number.
On a global scale, this breed of cats is not massively bred, only a few dozen geneticists who breed Serengeti are known.
Characteristic features of the breed
A huge wild cat and a domesticated affectionate gave birth to charming, original kittens. They have absolutely no aggressive character traits, although they have external pronounced predatory signs. It is this original feature that makes them welcome pets in every family.
It is also surprising that they are very similar in appearance to servals, do not even have a single chromosome from them.
- The baby Serengeti has a flat head in the shape of a wedge. The outlines of the head are soft, with soft fillets without sharp lines and angles. The pronounced chin, but by no means powerful, the cheeks are not pronounced, they smoothly round the outline of the head.
- They are always very attentive and alert, which is why they have ears on the top of their heads. Moreover, the size of the ears is the same with the size of the head of a kitten.
- His characteristic innate alertness not only rewarded representatives of this breed with large ears, but also with his eyes wide apart. They have a honey color, large and round. By the way, the color can be not only honey, cats of this breed with other yellow shades are also often found, even walnut and light green can often be found.
- Their nose is uniformly wide over the entire length and always has only a dark lobe.
- They have a long mustache, because with their wariness, the sense of touch should be at their peak.
- The representatives of the breed have an elongated high neck, which has an extension from the head to the shoulders.
From the first week, kittens are distinguished by certain features that are unique to them; they are both elegant and muscular. Muscularity again betrays their significant origin, although their muscles are significantly different from wild cats.
Ideally, representatives of this cat breed have an average body size. Distinctive features of the Serengeti breed are always a straight back and a very slight elongation of the body along the back.
Males are always larger than females. The limbs of these individuals are long and strong.Cats have oval non-massive legs, the tail is never elongated, but always massive. The tip of the tail has a brush painted in black.
The weight of representatives of this breed is quite significant. The female weighs up to 12 kg, and the males even reach 15 kg.
Another striking difference between this breed and the rest is that the Serengeti has absolutely no undercoat, as a result of which they are devoid of “manes” and “panties”, they have a sports body structure. Representatives of the breed proudly wear a fine, short coat that is pleasant to the touch, while the process of molting occurs completely imperceptibly for people around them.
This breed of cats of all has the longest limbs, so they can reach up to two meters in a jump.
Colors
This breed can have several types of color:
- It happens black spotted tabby (has a contrasting black spots).
- Black, smoky or with shades of gray (has a ghostly spotting).
Despite the color, the spots are always the same, they should have a rounded shape, slightly elongated only in a horizontal position. The presence of a dark path that comes from the inner corners of the eyes is greatly appreciated.
But with all the advantages, there is, unfortunately, a drawback in their coloring - these are ordinary white, red, and spotty cats. However, in ordinary spotted cats, spots are elongated in the vertical direction, which is not characteristic of representatives of serengeti.
Character and temper
Serengeti is a very sociable cat, which is unlikely to sit silently in the presence of the owner. Talkativeness and predatory graceful posture are perhaps the most striking features of the breed in order to guess from the first words what kind of cat they are talking about. They have a very rich vocabulary, so they will never be tired of going after the owner and meowing in their own language. Excessive sociability can be tiring, but it is impossible to persuade kitty to be silent.
These cats are very stubborn, so it makes no sense to forbid them anything. Because of their persistent nature, they always achieve what they want. Therefore, in order to protect furniture, accessories and other household items, it is worth providing the cat with special toys and all kinds of acceptable entertainment to the maximum.
In addition, they are very fearless, because they have the roots of wild animals. Street dogs pose absolutely no threat to them. Most likely, when meeting with them, it’s the serengs that will be the attacker first. Do not let the animal let go for a walk on its own, because by virtue of its fighting nature, the opponent’s choice may not fall on a weak dog or other animal.
Nevertheless, they are leaders not only on the street, and in the house these cats occupy a leading position. Even if someone does not agree with their decision, this does not concern them, and they are unshakable in their conviction. If we take the leading side of the cat, then it will always reciprocate the owner with tenderness and affection.
Health and body features
This cat breed has a greater predisposition to urolithiasis. It is important during the time to identify and prevent the disease. You also need to know that females get sick with this disease much less often than males. Moreover, the disease proceeds absolutely imperceptibly, the animal does not show any alarming signals, no symptoms are visible, but a sudden malaise appears immediately. For example, the first signal that needs to be taken into account when the kitten painfully cannot go to the toilet for a long time, when licking the genital opening, the animal meows plaintively, suddenly the pet urinates somewhere, not reaching the toilet. Other signals are also possible when the kitten behaves abnormally. Self-medication in this case will not bring the desired results, and only can aggravate the situation. Only a qualified veterinarian has the power to eliminate this disease.
In addition to providing assistance and prescribing the right treatment, the doctor will advise you to follow a certain diet to avoid such diseases. This is the only weak point of the representatives of this breed, and in everything else they have excellent health. Usually, from the well-being and appearance of a pet, one can guess the state of his health. If the tail is a pipe, then this is a sure sign that nothing worries the cat.
You need to know that sereneti crossbreeding with servels is prohibited. Firstly, kittens will no longer be sereneti, and secondly, there is a high probability that the offspring will be infertile.
Usually representatives of this breed live about 10 years.
Maintenance and care
These are cats that do not cause problems and difficulties in caring for them. Like every pet, they need care and attention. Sometimes you need to comb your hair and wipe your ears and eyes.
What to feed
You can’t feed cats with potatoes, pork, saltwater fish and milk. Low-fat veal is suitable for her, and this should be the basis of daily nutrition.
Where to get a kitten
Given that there are not so many individuals of this breed in the world, and even the specialists who breed them, it is very difficult to immediately answer the question. In Russia and Ukraine there are still no specialized nurseries for the cultivation of serengeti, sales in these states are carried out singly, in private.
Therefore, if you basically want to get only serengeti and no one else in return, then the Karen Southman cattery in America will always provide you with only the best cats. Firstly, the cattery enjoys an exceptional reputation, and secondly, cat breeding does not stand on stream. On average, the cost per kitten is 30 thousand rubles, because an African cheetah cannot be cheap, it’s not logical.
Video: Serengeti cat breed
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