Savannah or Bengal, which is best for you?

Over recent years more exotic breeds have appeared on the scene and they have found their way into the hearts and homes of cat lovers the world over for good reason. Beautiful cats are sought after and some exotic breeds are very expensive, but they are not only gorgeous looking, they also boast having exceptionally nice personalities too. If you are thinking about sharing your home with an exotic looking cat, but can't quite decide which to choose, the two breeds covered in this article might help you make up your mind whether to get a Savannah or a Bengal.

Savannah country of origin

The Savannah was first bred in the States back in the nineties. The breed soon made its mark on the cat world and was recognised by TICA a few years later in 2001. Savannahs were created by crossing a female Siamese cat with a male Serval.

Bengal country of origin

The Bengal is another new breed that was first developed in the United States in the seventies. These exotic, wild looking cats made their mark on the world and were soon to find their way over to the UK where they gained GCCF recognition in the late nineties.

Savannah personality

Savannahs are known to be intelligent cats that are very dog-like in many of their behaviours. They can be a little wary around people they don't know, but incredibly loving and loyal to their owners. Savannahs also have a fascination with water and will happily play in it whenever they can. They are quite talkative by nature and boast having a unique voice that ranges from a chirp to a full-on meow with a few hisses in between. They are good around older children and make wonderful pets and companions to share a home with.

Bengal personality

Bengals make wonderful family pets and companions. Extremely intelligent and fun-loving, Bengals form strong ties with their owners and in particular with one person in a household. Like Savannahs, they love playing around in water with some pets liking to jump in the shower with their owners. Bengals hate being left on their own for any length of time and as such are best suited to people who either work from home or who spend a lot of time in the house.

Care and maintenance

Both the Savannah and the Bengal boast short, smooth, close lying coats and are therefore easy maintenance on the grooming front. Both breeds are highly intelligent and therefore need to be kept occupied for them to be truly happy characters. Because they are expensive breeds, most owners prefer to keep them as indoor pets which means it's essential for their environment to be as interesting as possible and this means investing in lots of interesting, good quality toys.

Savannah life expectancy

The average life span of a Savannah is between 17 and 20 years when well cared for and fed an appropriate diet throughout their lives.

Bengal life expectancy

The average life span of a Bengal is between 12 and 16 years when fed a correct diet and looked after well throughout their lives.

Savannah health

The Savannah is known to be a very healthy and robust cat although because the breed is so young, it is still early days when it comes to establishing the health issues that may affect the breed. The one condition that's been reported is as follows:

• Pyruvate kinase deficiency - breeders should have their stud cats DNA tested

Bengal health

The Bengal is another young breed and to date, the breed has been reported as being healthy as compared to many other pure breeds. With this said, the health concerns that have been occasionally seen in Bengals are as follows:

• Patellar luxation
• Hip dysplasia
• Pyruvate kinase deficiency
• Progressive retinal atrophy
• Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy
• Flat chested kitten syndrome

Lastly

With so many beautiful, exotic looking cats around to choose from, it makes it hard to decide which would best suit your lifestyle. Both the Savannah and the Bengal make wonderful family pets and companions with Bengals being slightly more demanding than their Savannah counterparts.

If you are looking for one of these two cat breeds, you can visit our Bengals for Sale and Savannahs for Sale pages.