Progressive retinal atrophy (PRA rdAc, CEP290)
Serious
Large to very large tall spotted cat, a hybrid between domestic cat and African serval. Wild appearance with domestic temperament.
Created in 1986 by crossing a serval with a domestic cat. Generation level (F1-F5) affects size and temperament. Largest domestic cat breed. Legal status varies by location. TICA recognized.
Generally described as curious, social, intelligent, loyal, outgoing, adventurous, affectionate and active.
That is the breed in general, not a promise about one animal. Ask the breeder what their own line is like, and meet the parents before you decide.
Breed reference from The Cat API.
In Portugal and in Spain, this breed is not recognised.
This breed is not on FIFe’s list of recognised breeds.
We do not yet hold FIFe’s official reason for not recognising this breed. We would rather say so than invent one.
Here, recognised means recognised by FIFe, the federation CPF (Portugal) and ASFE (Spain) belong to as member clubs. We use FIFe’s list for both countries. Recognition depends on each country’s registry, so the same breed can have a different status elsewhere. It is a fact about the breed. It says nothing about the health of a particular cat, or about the breeder.
This breed is in TICA’s index, a North American registry. That does not make it recognised by FIFe.
Which registry the litter is entered in, and how the breed appears on the pedigree. FIFe writes “non” in the code of breeds it does not recognise.
Source: FIFe’s EMS breed table, edition 01.07.26, transcribed on 18 Sept 2026.
Drawn from sources, not opinion: The Cat API; UC Davis VGL — Erythrocyte Pyruvate Kinase Deficiency (PK Deficiency). An empty column means we hold nothing for that side, not that there is nothing to say.
Breed-level information from The Cat API. It describes the Savannah in general; any individual animal can differ.
Known hereditary risks for the Savannah breed, and the specific documentation to request from any breeder before paying a deposit. A responsible breeder will have these readily available; deflection is a red flag.
3 conditions documentedThis is breed-level literature, not veterinary advice about an individual animal — your vet knows the animal.
Health checklist (PDF)Found in more than about one in twenty of the breed's dogs screened, or described as common in the sources.
An inherited, late-onset loss of the retina's light-sensing cells that leads to blindness: in the breeds where it was first studied, affected cats are born sighted, with changes visible in the eye at one to two years old and failing sight by five to six. It is recessive, so a kitten is affected only if it inherits a copy from each parent. It was first found in Abyssinians and is common across the Siamese group. A 2022 screen of over 11,000 cats found one copy in 10 of 80 Savannahs, about one in eight, and none with two copies; all ten came from the United States, as did 68 of the 80. No affected Savannah has been described. This is a different gene from the PRA-b the Savannah can inherit from the Bengal, so a clear PRA-b result says nothing about this one.
What to ask for
UC Davis VGL PRA rdAc (CEP290) DNA test result, on both parents
This is an inherited anaemia: affected red blood cells break down faster than normal, causing intermittent bouts of lethargy, weakness, weight loss and jaundice whose timing and severity vary between cats. UC Davis's genetics laboratory names Savannah as one of the breeds found to carry this mutation at meaningful frequency, tracing back through its Bengal and domestic shorthair ancestry. A 2022 screen of over 11,000 cats found it in 11 of 78 Savannahs, about one in seven.
What to ask for
Erythrocyte pyruvate kinase (PK) deficiency DNA test result for both parents (UC Davis VGL or an equivalent laboratory)
An inherited, late-onset loss of the retina's light-sensing cells that leads to blindness: in the breeds where it was first studied, affected cats are born sighted, with changes visible in the eye at one to two years old and failing sight by five to six. It is recessive, so a kitten is affected only if it inherits a copy from each parent. It was first found in Abyssinians and is common across the Siamese group. A 2022 screen of over 11,000 cats found one copy in 10 of 80 Savannahs, about one in eight, and none with two copies; all ten came from the United States, as did 68 of the 80. No affected Savannah has been described. This is a different gene from the PRA-b the Savannah can inherit from the Bengal, so a clear PRA-b result says nothing about this one.
What to ask for
UC Davis VGL PRA rdAc (CEP290) DNA test result, on both parents
This is an inherited anaemia: affected red blood cells break down faster than normal, causing intermittent bouts of lethargy, weakness, weight loss and jaundice whose timing and severity vary between cats. UC Davis's genetics laboratory names Savannah as one of the breeds found to carry this mutation at meaningful frequency, tracing back through its Bengal and domestic shorthair ancestry. A 2022 screen of over 11,000 cats found it in 11 of 78 Savannahs, about one in seven.
What to ask for
Erythrocyte pyruvate kinase (PK) deficiency DNA test result for both parents (UC Davis VGL or an equivalent laboratory)
Documented in this breed, but no source says how many of its dogs carry or have them. That is a gap in the evidence, not a sign they are rare.
This progressive retinal atrophy destroys the retina's light-sensing cells from around seven weeks old; in the Bengals in which it was described, sight was visibly failing by one year old and the disease progressed rapidly to blindness. It originated in the Bengal breed, and UC Davis's genetics laboratory explicitly lists Savannah among the breeds it recommends testing, reflecting Savannah's part-Bengal ancestry.
What to ask for
PRA-b DNA test result for both parents (UC Davis VGL or an equivalent laboratory)
This progressive retinal atrophy destroys the retina's light-sensing cells from around seven weeks old; in the Bengals in which it was described, sight was visibly failing by one year old and the disease progressed rapidly to blindness. It originated in the Bengal breed, and UC Davis's genetics laboratory explicitly lists Savannah among the breeds it recommends testing, reflecting Savannah's part-Bengal ancestry.
What to ask for
PRA-b DNA test result for both parents (UC Davis VGL or an equivalent laboratory)