You can indeed have a Savannah cat as a pet, but it takes a true animal lover to care for one. They can be very finicky, which is normal for cats to some degree but especially true for these interesting creatures.
Since Savannah cats have such a high amount of wildcat DNA in them, they have a tendency to behave a little more like wild animals than normal domestic animals would. At times, something might scare them and they’ll react to it with however much force they see fit.
If you really love animals and you have some extra room for a cat that’s going to get bigger than normal, than a Savannah cat might be the perfect pet for you. You’ll want to give this a healthy amount of thought before you commit, however.
Please understand that you shouldn’t feel discouraged if your heart was set on adopting a Savannah cat, because they really are wonderful and inquisitive animals. However, you’ll want to keep in mind that they do deserve a great deal of dedication and they need a lot of care in order to thrive alongside people.
Depending on where you are, there might be some legal loopholes that you’ll have to jump through as well. You might find that this is far more difficult than any situation you’ll run into with a live animal!
What States is it Legal to Own a Savannah Cat?
Even after doing some reading on different hybrid animal laws, I really don’t feel like I’ve learned all that much. There are countless contradictory laws on owning Savannah cats in many different states.
For what it’s worth, I’ve only been able to find relatively few laws that mentioned these felines by name. Most hybrid animal laws are more generic, and they’re generally concerned with people that have some truly exotic pets.
In many states, you can have Savannah cats no matter how far removed they are from the original wildcat generation. Breeders refer to those as F1 cats.
States that are this lenient include:
- Alabama
- Arizona
- Arkansas
- California
- Connecticut
- Florida
- Illinois
- Kansas
- Michigan
- Minnesota
- Mississippi
- Missouri
- Montana
- New Jersey
- North Carolina
- North Dakota
- Ohio
- Oklahoma
- Pennsylvania
- South Carolina
- South Daktoa
- Tennessee
- Utah
- Virginia
- West Virginia
- Wisconsin
- Wyoming
That list surprised me, because it covers a huge section of the country! Interestingly, you can also have one if you live in Washington DC, but if you cross over the border into Maryland than it has to be under 30 lbs.
Other states like Nebraksa have outright banned them. You might find that some areas, like Nevada, are fairly open to ownership as long as you don’t take them into major cities like Vegas.
Most other states allow you to have so-called F4 cats, which are at least four generations removed from actual African wildcats, but they don’t allow you to have ones that have been more recently sired.
It’s a confusing mess but worth navigating if you plan on getting a furry friend!
Do Savannah Cats Make Good Pets?
Savannah cats make great pets for people who are willing to put the time and effort into bonding with them. If you’re thinking of getting one, then you’re going to want to keep thinking it over for quite some time because they’re a ton of work.
While some breeders I’ve read articles by claim that these cats don’t really have special care instructions, others recommend a really pure diet. If your cat ends up eating grains or meat byproducts, then they could start acting unpredictably.
On top of that, it can be hard to socialize them. Some Savannah cats have a tendency to hiss at anyone or anything that comes close to them besides their owner.
If whatever stranger might be threatening them doesn’t back off, then the cat could lash out in defense. However, if you can take these challenges and really rise to the occasion you’ll end up with a very good friend and an incredibly unique new member of the family.
The best way to think of it is to treat a Savannah cat the way you might any other hybrid. These same warnings would be in place for anyone who found themselves trying to take care of a wolf-dog.
Do You Need a License to Own a Savannah Cat?
In many cases, this isn’t really up to the state from what I’ve read. Each county and city is allowed to make individual pet laws.
That means that there are situations where you might find yourself in a state that allows you to own a Savannah cat but you’ll need to get a special license to own one in your particular county. Fortunately, areas that require a license normally don’t require you to have anything more than the normal license documents you’d need to own any cat.
You can generally acquire these when you get your cat or when you register them at the vet. Vaccination records, however, can be a real sticking point in some areas.
Rabies vaccines are normally recommended for non-domestic cats judging by what I’ve seen veterinarians write. However, they’re not actually approved for Savannah cats in the United States.
That means that a non-domestic cat who bites someone may be treated as one that never had a rabies shot no matter what license and vaccination documents you might be carrying. In some really sad cases I’ve read about, that means a cat who was just defending himself or herself got taken away because of a state law.
In a worst case scenario, a cat can be quarantined or euthanized because they don’t really trust any vaccine sheet for a Savannah cat. It’s a sad fact of life you’ll want to think about when adopting one of these amazing animals.