OdinF7 SBT Savannah Stud

Please note addition of PRA update below.

Odin is my easy-going F7 boy from Lori Barnaba at Manjaro Cats. When one-on-one with me he is very eager for petting and affection, however when the "lady cats" are around, suddenly I'm old news and they are way more interesting. He appears to love "his girls" rather dearly. He grooms them and snuggles with them at night. He is quite the sweetie and never picks a fight with anyone.

Finding a stud for your cattery can be a challenging task. First off, Savannah males are usually not fertile until around the F5 generation, meaning they have a lot less serval in their genes, yet you want them to look as serval-like as possible. In addition, often lower generation Savannahs will carry a lot of bengal traits and it is important to know the odds of those being passed on. These traits are even more likely to be passed on to kittens if he is bred to a female with Bengal in her background. In short, studs are important for solidifying the traits that you think are most important in your cats' offspring and should avoid traits that are non-standard to the breed.

Odin does not carry obvious Bengal traits and is SBT (stud book tradition), meaning he is the result of at least three generations of Savannah-to-Savannah pairings. He brings a lovely head shape and ear set. His body is sleek yet has a nice musculature. In addition, he has wonderful round solid spots on a warm golden coat. I adore his bright golden hooded eyes. He came from Lori Barnaba, who I know strives to avoid Bengal traits and solidify the Savannah standard in her kittens. He is by far my most photogenic cat, often producing headshots that I think are just stunning and posing in wonderful curved forms. This does not surprise me though; his father was on the cover of Savannahs Magazine.

We recently started taking Odin to TICA cat shows. He seems to really be enjoying it and has already made "Champion" status. We are very proud of him!

TICA Pedigree and Awards

• Odin's 5-generation TICA pedigree is available upon request
• Odin's TICA "Champion" certificate

Health info

• Feline AIDS: Negative
• Feline Leukemia: Negative
• PK Deficiency: Negative, N/N (does not have or carry for the disease)
• PRA: Affected, rdAc/rdAc (please see below for more info on how we're managing this)
• PRA-b: Negative, N/N (does not have or carry for the disease)

PRA UPDATE: Feb 3, 2017

Much to our sadness Odin tested positive for both copies of PRA: Progressive Retinal Atrophy. As he ages he will likely lose his eyesight. A cat must have both copies in order to experience vision loss. We had never heard of this disease until the breeder we purchased Odin from notified us that one of his siblings from another litter unexpectedly came down with the disease. This came as a big surprise to the Savannah community, as many of us have cats from these lines. So it is likely that many more cats have it and carry for it than we know. If you are shopping for kittens ask breeders to test for this disease! It is our job as Savannah breeders to now test for PRA and work to eliminate the disease from of our lines. Making sure that future generations of Savannahs do not suffer from it.

Given this situation we thought long and hard about how best to deal with Odin in our breeding program. He has produced fantastic, loving kittens. We have decided to temporarily use Odin with Ivy and Noel (who are both negative for the disease), which will only produce kittens that are carriers. Carriers will not experience any of the vision loss that PRA causes. Those kittens will then be spayed/neutered to prevent further spread of the disease. They will be sent to loving pet homes.

Recently, Odin was used for stud services with a cat from another cattery. At the time, we did not know about PRA. This breeder has been notified of his status now. Now that we know to test for PRA, Odin will never be bred to another cat potentially carrying for this disease. In addition, in order to better manage the disease's spread, we will no longer provide his stud service for other catteries. It is through these new plans that we will never produce a kitten that will go blind from PRA.

Odin is likely to be removed from our breeding program once we find a suitable replacement. When this happens we will be sure he lives a pampered pet life.

There has been some discussion in the breeder community about trying to preserve the line by breeding exceptional carriers to non-carriers and then only using the non-carriers from those litters as breeders. This approach passes on the desired traits and eliminates the PRA after two generations. We are considering working closely with fellow breeders we trust to succeed at this goal. Therefore, in rare circumstances carrier kittens may be sent to approved programs of responsible, thoughtful breeders in order to continue the line but eliminate PRA.

All three of the situations below will produce cats that will eventually go blind. So you should never breed: two carriers together, a carrier and an affected cat, or two affected cats. This is why it is so important for breeders to test all of their cats prior to breeding. Within a few generations the gene pool can be full of carriers and affected cats, resulting in the below scenarios.

If you would like to test your cats for PRA, this can be done in the U.S. through UC Davis for approximately $40 per cat. All you need to do is send in some Q-tips with the cats' saliva on them. For more information about PRA and testing please see the following links:

• http://www.stylisticat.com/blog/progressive-retinal-atrophy-pra-in-savannah-cats
• https://www.vgl.ucdavis.edu/services/cat/pra.php
• https://www.vgl.ucdavis.edu/services/cat/

Odin's Photos

Odin's Kitten Photos

Odin's Parents

Sire: A1Savannahs Dakari

Dam: Manjaro Adisa