Smitten with a kitten

I spent some time today reading the catsite discussion forum in the section discussing ethics around breeding. As someone who appreciates diversity it was interesting and brought up a lot of things from the standpoint of creating and maintaining a breed I had never considered. But as a crafts person I constantly have to deal with mass produced knock offs and as kittens are living things that is even worse. And there was a few people posting wondering if their cat was a Savannah, some with spotted tabbies that had ocelie that looked so much like Moggie they could have been from the same parents. One kitten even had the same 2 little dots on each side of the nose ! I strongly doubt there is that many unsupervised Savannahs having unregistered litters. And there was lots of people who had cats that even to me did not look even a little bit like Savannahs who were told they were and that they had papers. And they didn't.

If my kitten is or isn't a late generation Savannah it would be nice to know as I have been treating him like he is needing special supervision that no other cat I have had has needed.

When the person I got him from did not offer more info on his Mom I did not feel comfortable pushing as he was an oops litter, was not advertised publicly as Savannah and if he is I got a very good deal and don't feel I have a right to expect a pedigree. I would have been happy with a ordinary tabby, love him, and would not trade him for a Savannah with papers. Even a really gorgeous one... But I am still curious. If his Mom is Savannah, I wonder if there is reasons why details about this would not be offered to me? I guessed maybe they did not want him to fall into the hands if a backyard breeder.

Anyways the support and more realistic feedback here is appreciated. Even if he isn't Savannah he is a very active, engaged and curious kitten and info here is still helpful. But I am thinking it may not be appropriate for me to continue here being such a prolific poster and maybe I should join a regular cat site if I just want to discuss moggies!

We have had a few "honorary" savannahs on this site in the past. Heck, I use this site to ask questions regarding the health of my pixie bob as well as my savannah so I would not be too concerned about your baby's pedigree if you want to ask questions and share his adventures.

Thanks Rafiki, that is very kind, especially as I probably will have more questions that could be answered here!

Moggiesnewmom said:

If my kitten is or isn't a late generation Savannah it would be nice to know as I have been treating him like he is needing special supervision that no other cat I have had has needed.

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Savannahs are cats, just like any other active cat breed, they do not need any special attention

Moggiesnewmom said:

I am thinking it may not be appropriate for me to continue here being such a prolific poster and maybe I should join a regular cat site if I just want to discuss moggies!

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I'm not sure why you are doubting that your baby is a Savannah since his mother is one, nevertheless I love reading your posts, and hope you will stay!

Patti said "Savannahs are cats, just like any other active cat breed, they do not need any special attention"

There does seem to be concerns that cats / kittens with a Savannah personality can get into trouble more easily than regular domestic cats. But I guess with any cat you just have to get to know them and provide limits appropriate to them individually. I have read where quite a few people say if not restrained Savannahs will get hurt or run off. So I was concerned about this and have been a lot more careful to keep tabs on Moggie than me or people in these parts generally do with other cats. But so far Moggie sticks more close to me than any cat I have had. He never even goes beyond the areas of the yard I will go with him. He tries to get me to go farther by running a ways and looking to see if I am coming, but when I don't he comes back. And he has always showed up within a few minutes of being called. On the other hand he does stuff on the porch railings that seem intended just to freak me out.

As for Moggies Mom being a Savannah... Well maybe... That's what I was told, and although I am usually skeptical I did not think to question this as he was not publicly advertised like that. But now I see this persons ads for Savannah kittens are more than a little peculiar I don't know what to think. People claiming kittens are a cross of something they are not are probably more common than kittens that are correctly described. Knowing my kitten I think he probably is a late generation Savannah, but Savannah's aren't the only long somewhat spotted active cat breed. I just wanted a pet, but I can understand that for people passionate about developing the Savannah breed, the sheer volume of questionable Savannah kittens and cats must be frustrating.

Anyways... It is kind of you to say you have enjoyed reading my posts as they tend to be on the long and rambling side...

I have found the information here really helpful as often it applies to active cats in general. The support I got after Moggie was neutered and was bouncing off the walls with that cone was really hugely appreciated. And I started reading the Atticas Diaries and now it is on my got to keep reading list... Nope I don't want an F1 or F2 but they are super cute when someone else is living with them!

As patti said, Savannahs are cats...F1's and F2's are a bit more intense and as you get down the generations, you find they are still active and curious and intelligent and just, well, savannahs LOL. They jump high, play hard and love intensely.

Most of us on this site can answer any question - doesn't matter what type of cat. You are welcome to stay and ask questions and participate.

Thanks Dana. I should clarify When I said I thought I should slow down with so many posts, or maybe join a more general cat discussion group, I was just meaning I would like to restrain myself from being one of the more prolific posters here, esp. if I am making observations about a cat that may not actually be a Savannah! Would use an embarrassed emoji but don't see any.

I live alone, work out of my home and I am generally very contented, but I love my kitty and am surprised (a bit horrified) at how much I seem to like chatting about him. I may be turning into a crazy cat lady...

Moggie just caught and killed his first rat! I am soooo proud of him !

I am just thrilled that he is now officially a working cat! Rats are a major problem here and can do serious damage to peoples houses. An active hunting cat is usually all they need to decide to move to safer places. Yaay Moggie!

He has no interest in eating it though, which I guess is probably good as it is safer. Less parasite exposure.

OK....Now back to not posting over prolifically...

When Moggie caught his first rat I used my ipad to make a video of him playing with it and then found an app to make it a slow motion video which I uploaded it to google drive. As he matures it seems his markings are becoming a lot more distinct and the gray areas between the black markings seems to be getting wider.... (the rat in this video has been dead for an hour and there is no gore- the lion sounds are what I sound like praising Moggie when my voice is slowed down)
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0ByDQ9QuQRArsbzZVeDdsY090SXM/view?usp=sharing

As people who follow most of the threads here may recall, Moggie passed away from internal causes when he was only 8 months old. He was a really special little being, and I was heartbroken to loose him.

After Moggie died, the only thing that took the edge off my grief, was looking at kittens and deciding I would find another Savannah kitten as special as he was. And as an upgrade, this one would have 2 parents I could be sure were Savannahs…

Kind of an impractical decision, especially as before I got Moggie, I started out looking for more of a barn cat… but is anyone who adopts a Savannah being practical?

I had a 1/2 finished catio I had started for Moggie, and through living with Moggie and participating here I had learned a lot about SVs, so I felt ready to do what might be required to make it work, and more or less I knew what I was getting into.

In the process of looking for a similar kitten my doubts that Moggie’s Mom was a Savannah were put to rest, (for me anyways) as finding a late generation Savannah kitten with all the SV traits I had come to love, was next to impossible. ( late generation kittens with clearly defined banded oceli seem to be quite rare) I guess Moggie really did luck into a nice combination of SV features, considering his Dad was most likely some kind of random bred feral.

And in the process of looking for a kitten, I also found out the person I got Moggie from had purchased at least one TICA registered Savannah with breeding rights. So... not sure why I never received a response when I asked about Moggie’s Mom, or why their ads seemed so vague, but maybe they just felt they had done enough. Or maybe they saw my posts here and didn’t feel like being discussed publicly.

A couple months after Moggie died everything kind of unexpectedly fell into place, but a few months sooner than I had planned, and I was able to adopt an older F7 SBT Savannah kitten who is now almost 8 months old. For privacy reasons, I am thinking it might be best refer to him here as HB, short for Honey Bug, which is one of many things I call him, but not his formal name.

I am delighted by pretty much everything about him. Being able to continue where I so sadly had to leave off with Moggie, and just simple things like that he regularly eats and continues to grow, has been something I have been cherishing every single day.

Below is a video taken a couple days ago of us playing with his rattle mouse... He plays fetch when he is really bored, but in this he is just catching it...

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1fO7So21oz8TAA1J8obbzOz0gy-0pZNlc/view?usp=sharing

Anyways, I enjoyed participating here when Moggie was with me, I really appreciated the support I received, and I continue to use all the great information here, and I wanted to introduce my new kitten.

When I started out looking for an ordinary tabby kitten, I never expected to fall in love with a Savannah, but it has happened... twice... I guess I got hooked.