Long haired Savannah cats come in all colors and patterns. Longhair is nonstandard plus it is a recessive gene. Our retired Bengal cat Tum carried for long hair. We found this out after breeding a F3 female that was three generations removed from a Maine coon female. Long hair is Non standard which means that the trait is not accepted according to the TICA Bengal breed standard. Long hair Savannah cats and Bengal cats can not be accepted for championship status with TICA. Longhair may not be a recognized colors but a Savannah cat that is long haired is a purebred Savannah cat.
Long hair is also referred to as a Cashmere Savannah cat. It’s nothing but a term used to make longhair sound more desirable. Cashmere or long hair Savannah kittens have been produced from short haired parents since the beginning of the Bengal cat breed.
Coats can vary from relatively short with only the tail looking long hair, like Somali or Turkish Angora cat breed or you can get the length of Mane Coon which seems to be more rare. Most Long hair Savannah cats are homozygous for longhair. Studies show that when breeding two homozygous you will get long hair every fourth kitten
As we have found out many long hair kittens are born with shorter hair than most short hair kittens. In our first litter of long hair savannah kitten we originally though we had dark charcoal short hair kitten with white googles. Well come to find out that the kittens where brown with perfect black horizontal spotting plus black noses. Long hair kittens can appear to be born almost black, like the Somali breed.It is about 90% impossible to tell whether your kitten will turn out to be short haired or long haired.
