We at Deer Fern Farms are a very small, specialist breeder who breed first and foremost for temperament.  That's not to say we don't have exceptionally well marked, show quality specimens.  But producing cats that excel in the show ring is not our primary goal.  There is no shortage of cats in this world.  One only has to go to the nearest animal shelter to see there are many that fail to endear themselves in their owners hearts and end up in need of homes.   So, in our opinion, the only justification for breeding even more cats is too try to increase the qualities within cats that make them desirable companions.   Not only will this allow cat lovers to end up with even more rewarding relationships with their cats but hopefully this will eventually result in fewer ending up unloved and abandoned.   Domestic cats are first and foremost companion animals meant to enrich our lives.  This seems to be something most show breeders seem to have forgotten.  It's great if they do well in the show ring, but only if they can then come home and be true friends - with both them and us enjoying the relationship.  Otherwise what's the point?   We do select for outstanding, gorgeous coats and patterns, but only in those individuals which otherwise meet our standards for temperament first.  We select breeders which display strong attachments to their human companions but without being overly "needy" of constant attention.  We want them to be self-confident - to want our company but not be so dependent on it that they stress out without our constant intervention.  We also prefer a lack of fear of strangers.  How often have you gone to someone's home and had their cat immediately run off to the back bedroom to hide under the bed while company is over.  We wish our cats to be self-confident enough to  come say hi and be part of the family.   Now, all that said, we also really do like a flashy looking cat and no cats can out do the Savannahs and Bengals for making your jaw drop when you first see a truly nice one!

We chose to work with Bengals and Savannahs precisely because we felt they had the best potential to be both extremely good looking cats but with what we consider a better personality than the average domestic cat.   Being as I work with wildlife anyway, I really like the idea of having  a more "natural" or "wild" if you will, looking cat than  many of the common, "dolled-up" breeds commonly available. 

Bengal kittens (background) with a 6 month old Savannah 

(Where Do These Breeds Come From?)

The Savannah cat is basically the domestic version of the African Serval.  It's creation as a breed is following the same pathway as that of the Bengal, but it's in a much earlier stage of development.  Like the Bengal cat, the first few generations of crosses have fertile females but infertile males.  On the plus side, unlike the early generation Bengals,  early generation Savannahs tend to have nice temperaments.  This is likely due to the fact that unlike Asian Leopard cats, Servals naturally have good temperaments even as pure Servals.  On the down side however,  that first cross between the domestic and the Serval is much more difficult to make.  There are several major hurtles to overcome in producing first generation Savannah kittens.  First and foremost is finding a Serval male which is interested in breeding domestic females.  Most have no interest at all and can not be safely paired with domestic cats.  Secondly, most of the Servals that will breed domestics, will only breed one or two specific females and usually only those with which it was reared with (imprinted on) as a kitten.  Then lastly, most domestic females seem to have an immunity response to the developing kittens and either reabsorb the kittens or abort the litter a few weeks prior to the expected delivery date.  These factors all conspire to greatly limit the availability of first generation Savannah kittens.   This shortage of kittens coupled with their high desirability as companion animals and/or breeders is what's responsible for the exceptionally high price for early generation kittens.  

During several occasions in the late 90's, I was asked to bottle raise newborn Serval kittens.  I really had no interest in holding any back to try to breed Savannahs when I took on this project (mainly because the odds of success were just too low to invest all the time and effort into) and the early kittens were all returned to the breeder once weaned.  However during one such project, one of the kittens proved to be exceptionally friendly (as well as brighter than normal in color) and I talked myself into keeping him as a companion. 

Since he had such an exceptional temperament, it seemed justifiable to go ahead and try to imprint him on domestics and try to produce Savannahs through him.  Thus I purchased three exceptionally affectionate domestic kittens to rear with him and thus began our venture into breeding Savannah cats.  He's readily accepted additional domestic females (rare for a Serval) and has proven to be a very gentle breeder.  We pair him with only the best tempered  females (mostly Bengal and Bengal crosses) to insure the best tempered Savannahs.  

STILL UNDER CONSTRUCTION

To place an order with us, please e-mail  or call us  (360) 435- 2679 Pacific Standard Time.   We must access the suitability of any potential new homes before allowing any of our kittens to leave our home.    Once your satisfied with one of our kittens and we're satisfied it is the right choice for you,  we accept payment by either money orders or we can accept Visa, Master Card, and Discover through Paypal (click on the Paypal banner link below and you'll end up in our Paypal link.    Please mail  money orders to:

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Email: douglasdix@deerfernfarms.com