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Just saw this on msn. Supposedly the cat can get up to 30 pounds. Given the origins, I wonder about their demeanor.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/18965940?GT1=10056
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But one company, banking on the fact there are more than a few prospective pet owners willing to part with some serious ka-ching for a kitten, is selling a designer breed of cat that costs $22,000.
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The pricey pet is said to have been produced by cross-breeding an African Serval and an Asian Leopard Cat with a domestic feline
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The Savannahs are supposed to have regular, domestic house cat demeanor and are recognized as a domestic cat legally.
Apparently the Serval is very docile and there's a long tradition of these cats being tamed in Africa to be kept around villages for rodent suppression. Temperament was a key factor in choosing Servals for the breeding (as opposed to a bobcat, fishing cat, etc.)
Cost was largely driven by scarcity. Part of the reason for the scarcity is that a serval and a domestic house cat have different gestation times for kittens so the mortality was high. As far as I'm aware, you can now get kittens for less than $1000.
The first generation of these cats are the ones that can get over 30 lbs (and 18-24 inches at the shoulder).
I'm not a cat breeder kook. I stumbled upon these things a couple years ago and like the idea of having a really big house cat. The cats I've owned have generally been strays, pound cats or hand me downs so I'm not predisposed to paying a breeder. Still, I like the idea of a thirty pound house cat sunning itself in the back yard.