Help? New here...

[CheriBlack]

Wow. Thank you all for such great information. I wrote this just before bed last night on my epilepsy medication, and I could have gone into way more detail. I bought her from a breeder in Arizona as a new breeder (I have wanted to do this for a long time, so we spent our tax money on an F2 female). My children own cats who live here, but their cats don't come in my room. Let me see if I can start at the beginning... We bought her from a breeder in Arizona (who is listed in TICA), who has a partner in Colorado. We were told she had a very sweet personality, was very social, and liked to play. She was shipped alone on an airplane; a mistake we will never make again. We live in the very southern tip of Texas, but we'll drive next time. When she first got here, she was definitely frightened at that point. When we got her home, that is when I reached into her cage and scared her even worse, and also found out how much harder a savannah bites compared to an average cat.
I have called her breeder several times. We set up her quarantine room in our master bath, and within a couple of days she was coming out to see me on her own. I have lots of toys for her, and she plays with me and both my daughters. Thank you, Patti, for pointing out the differences in the three behaviors. She hasn't really been frightened since the first couple days. She gets skittish when I move around the room unless I purposefully ignore her. If I look at her, she runs under the bed. When I get on the floor to play, she comes back out and will even bring her toys (which she likes to keep under the bed). THEN, we may actually get to pet her (which she pretends not to feel unless she sees us, then she runs away for a second). We have to do so very gently, middle of the back only (except me, she lets me scratch the back of her ears sometimes, but she *has* to be concentrating on her feather toy). When we are not playing, she spends a lot of time sitting under my chair, so I know she is not afraid of me anymore, she is just afraid of my hand reaching out to her, and I think she may be sketchy (hyper vigilant... she notices every noise, everything, and runs under the bed) as part of her personality. The one thing that had me most worried is the one thing I didn't mention last night. She came to us fully litter box trained. She used the box that we gave her (with the wood pellets that her breeder used) for the first few days. Then she started peeing on my bed. Almost always on my side, occasionally in the very center. After the first two days, we put a tarp over the bed to protect it, but apparently she wasn't doing it because of any kind of scent, because she kept doing it on the tarp. We now have put the litter box on the bed to try to retrain her, and she uses it most of the time, but will still pee occasionally up near my pillow on my side. I'm nervous about scolding her. I haven't caught her in the act, and it isn't like I can pick her up yet to show her (Oh, and one of you asked if she sleeps with us... I wish. She sleeps in a box that is right near the head of our bed so she can see us, but she isn't too close to us). I knew when we got her that Savannahs tend to not like being picked up. I was fine with that. I was not expecting this, but I can definitely just keep trying. We have talked to her breeders, but it's kind of like calling the mechanic who fixed your car... they keep saying it's normal and she'll be okay. I wanted a second opinion. Like I said before, she is so smart, and we all love her... we are just confused about some things... sorry this was so long!
Cheri
PS - I changed my avatar to a pic of Rey. we were tickling her nose with a make up brush here...

 

[CheriBlack]

After talking to the Breeder that raised her, I think I've figured out 90% of the problem. The other breeder who didn't raise her sold us homeopathic drops that I had been giving her since day one on her chicken. One was called Vibactra and it helped with stress and any toxins from her recent rabies shot (she got that the day before she came here). I'm epileptic and I have been given so many anti-stress meds that actually give me more stress. I'm DCing the drops in the morning.

 

[WitchyWoman]

Do you live in Brownsville? I lived in Weslaco for a couple years when I worked for Audubon doing wildlife rehab and land conservation. I assume you've checked http://www.hybridlaw.com/texas/ to ensure that Savannahs are legal where you live? If not, please do so. Even if they are legal in the county where you live, they may not be legal in the town or city in which you live so you should check those local laws also.

If your bedding is made of down, you might have to change it. Feather bedding is a "please pee here" temptation some cats just can't ignore. It's also possible that your cat's hormones are starting to kick in and she may be starting a heat cycle. I can't remember how old you said she was. If you're going to keep an intact female in your house, you'll need to get used to peeing and perhaps spraying as it's often a part of the territory when it comes to breeding.

You mentioned that you are going to breed her. Do you have a male? If not, whose cat will you use for stud? If you will purchase your own stud, are you fully aware of what that means, the accommodations required for breeding cats? Do you have a mentor?

Something else that may be contributing to her peeing on your side of the bed is your medical issue. Animals are sensitive to emotion and can detect physical anomalies. Your medication may give you an aroma she is confused by. She may detect your epilepsy and be confused by it.


One of my pet peeves is when a kitten/cat buyer is told how friendly and sweet a kitten is without the cavaet that it's because the cat is at the only home its known with the only people its ever known. There is never a guarantee that a cat will be the same in its new home although most do adapt, some sooner than others. As we've stated before, how well she adapts to human interaction depends on how she was socialized at the breeders and her genetic makeup.

 

[CheriBlack]

Do you live in Brownsville? I lived in Weslaco for a couple years when I worked for Audubon doing wildlife rehab and land conservation. I assume you've checked http://www.hybridlaw.com/texas/ to ensure that Savannahs are legal where you live? If not, please do so. Even if they are legal in the county where you live, they may not be legal in the town or city in which you live so you should check those local laws also.

We live north of Edinburg. We didn't live in one of the places that prosecute or allow, so we got a signed paper from our local animal control allowing us to own her. It's nice to have connections.

If your bedding is made of down, you might have to change it. Feather bedding is a "please pee here" temptation some cats just can't ignore. It's also possible that your cat's hormones are starting to kick in and she may be starting a heat cycle. I can't remember how old you said she was. If you're going to keep an intact female in your house, you'll need to get used to peeing and perhaps spraying as it's often a part of the territory when it comes to breeding.

She's four months old. We have no down, I did read about that. We have a foam bed topper. I have to say, My water broke on that bed several times. That is literally the only thing I could think of that she would smell. Once we put the tarp on, her breeder (who told me they raise so many, they are mostly kept in kennels except when they came out for playtime or dinner. This was never mentioned before. She roams free in my room here, so I can see why she is so sketchy. Anyhow~) told us that by doing that we basically told her - pee anywhere you like... so now I'm not sure how to keep her from peeing on my bed. The breeder says lock her in the bathroom for a few days? If it is from hormones, I can live with cleaning off a tarp once a day.

You mentioned that you are going to breed her. Do you have a male? If not, whose cat will you use for stud? If you will purchase your own stud, are you fully aware of what that means, the accommodations required for breeding cats? Do you have a mentor?

Our breeder offered to provide the stud for a stud fee included in her cost at the time, we knew we wouldn't have one yet. We do have a male black cat and a male siamese cat and were wondering about using those, but haven't read much about how people do all this. I'm still new to this.

Something else that may be contributing to her peeing on your side of the bed is your medical issue. Animals are sensitive to emotion and can detect physical anomalies. Your medication may give you an aroma she is confused by. She may detect your epilepsy and be confused by it.

I wondered about that. I smell a difference in my sweat at night, I can imagine she does.

One of my pet peeves is when a kitten/cat buyer is told how friendly and sweet a kitten is without the cavaet that it's because the cat is at the only home its known with the only people its ever known. There is never a guarantee that a cat will be the same in its new home although most do adapt, some sooner than others. As we've stated before, how well she adapts to human interaction depends on how she was socialized at the breeders and her genetic makeup .

I feel better after reading everything and talking to the breeder again. I never want something going on that large, just a couple queens, a stud. I love my cats. All the ones I've ever had. I knew she was different right away. I love her little personality, I just wanted to make sure I wasn't being a bumbling idiot!

 

[Patti]

I hope you are aware of the TX law requiring Savannah ownership? Namely, you must register them with your local Animal Control or Sheriff's office, you must carry $100,000 liability insurance for each Savannah, and you must have appropriate caging requirements (to be determined by your registration agency) - that is, if they are allowed in your county at all. Here is a link to the laws: http://codes.lp.findlaw.com/txstatutes/HS/10/822/E BTW it is also illegal for you to sell a SV kitten to anyone in TX who doesn't meet these same requirements.

As for the petting and handling, it may be that she needed medication as a young kitten which would require scruffing her to get medicine down her which could explain why she is so head shy. However, I have a couple of cats who behave similarly - they are head shy so I know to pet them on their back, and don't reach toward them when in front of them where they can see my hand coming directly at them.

Regarding the peeing on the bed - as Deborah mentioned, down bedding is an invitation to pee, so if you have a down comforter or pillow try switching them out with an alternative material. Have you tried Cat Attract litter or additive? This is a great tool to help retrain cats to use the litterbox and in my experience is almost 100% successful. Is your litterbox open or covered? If it is covered you might try uncovering it to see if that doesn't help.

However, it may just be as Deborah said that your girl is becoming hormonal and starting to mark her territory, in which case there is really very little you can do except confine her to an area that you can easily clean. I know four months sounds young for her to start marking, but she wouldn't be the first four month old kitten to do this. Both males and females spray, and often females spray more, although male pee is much stinkier, so if you haven't already planned some sort of enclosure, now is the time to do so. Also it is important that you have a male lined up for her soon if you don't already - if she is starting to mark she will soon be cycling, and although I would not recommend breeding a cat younger than a year old unless absolutely necessary, once she starts cycling she will be at risk for developing pyometra if she is not bred, and the more often she cycles the higher the risk. Pyometra is a serious uterine infection that can leave the girl sterile and even kill her if serious enough.

As far as bonding with her, it sounds as though you have made progress, and are approaching it in the right way. I think with continued patience and persistence you will eventually win her over

 

[Patti]

Oops, I think I was writing my response the same time you were, so sorry about the redundancy...

 

[Brigitte Cowell]

You were thinking about using your two other intact male cats as studs? All those hormones floating around your house (even if your two intact male cats do not spray their urine is pungent and says WE'RE HERE!!!) it is no wonder your poor little female is confused and peeing about the place. She's quite affected by this no doubt.

And YES if you have a foam topper and you've had "accidents" such as your waters breaking on that bed, there's odors that you may not smell but your cat's nose is WAY more sensitive than human noses. Chances are that unless you have a waterproof mattress protector this is the reason your cat is choosing to pee there. I might suggest investing in two or three waterproof mattress protectors and rotating them as you need to. I did this before even getting a breeding cat just thinking that they would of course choose my bed to give birth.

Do think about your preparations if you are thinking of breeding this cat. I would suggest altering the male cats in your household in the meantime... that is an unnecessary complication and you don't want to be breeding outcrossed mixed breed kittens.

 

[CheriBlack]

Thanks again for even more good advice. The two boys are still small kittens. They aren't spraying yet, and I'm not even sure they are big enough to neuter at this age. If they aren't good for breeding, we'll have them altered. We already altered the mom. They live in the other side of the house. One is my son's, one is my daughter's. I do have a question about breeding. It isn't something I want to do forever. Maybe once or twice to earn back the money I spent getting her. I need to read the rest of this message board. I have seen Savannah's that are part Siamese and I have seen black ones... Are they from the original breeding with the Serval? Do the Savannahs always breed with other Savannah's? Yes, I admit, I am new to Savannah breeding (obviously). It was much more straightforward with Siamese. I've been in love with Savannah's since I met my first one though. I would definitely have Rey altered before I let anything bad happen to her. I would rather not breed her at all than do it all wrong. That is why I'm trying to learn as much as possible now.
Thanks for the advice about the Cat attract litter. I think I'll give it a shot. I can tell she is getting really confused by the tarp on the bed.
You all have been so helpful. I'll definitely stick around. We're moving to Washington soon, so I don't foresee a problem with selling her kittens.
Cheri

 

[DumaLove]

Breeding to make back the money you spent for her is a very bad idea. You are very lucky to break even as a breeder, let alone make ANY money. You have to do it for the love of the breed and to further advance it. I highly recommend you do a lot more homework before taking on breeding.

 

[Patti]

Breeding to make back the money you spent for her is a very bad idea. You are very lucky to break even as a breeder, let alone make ANY money. You have to do it for the love of the breed and to further advance it. I highly recommend you do a lot more homework before taking on breeding.

I completely agree with this. I also foolishly thought I could 'earn back' a little of my investment when I first started out, but that just doesn't happen. I run in the red by thousands of dollars every year - believe me, if I didn't have a good job to support my breeding hobby I would have filed for bankruptcy years ago.