wbrett1027
Savannah Child
Not sure if I took it the wrong way but the way I saw it was, that they would pick my cat up and take it home, to there place and keep it inside, (stealing my cat)
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Any savannah outdoor cats?
- Thread starter wbrett1027
- Start date
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Gotcha... I don't know... I guess anyone might do that and therein lies the problem of letting a cat roam... Savannah cats are pretty high profile, many people want them, so you run the risk of someone taking your cat, your cat getting hit by a car, getting into fights with other animals, etc...
Paige
Owner, Savannah Cat Chat
Agato Savannahs
TICA Legislative Committee
SV Breed Section Committee
SV Rescue Coordinator
Paige
Owner, Savannah Cat Chat
Agato Savannahs
TICA Legislative Committee
SV Breed Section Committee
SV Rescue Coordinator
Ishani Birch
Savannah Super Cat
All my family cats growing up were indoor/outdoor. Only 1 out of 6 died of "natural causes", the others were hit by cars, died from fights with wild animals, or mysterious illness (probably something common but my parents didn't take them to the vet aside to be put down), and 1 just dissappeared. 1 made it to 22 years old and died in her sleep. But again, that was 1 out of 6.
It's your choice, but you asked the question and everyone has given their answers. If you feel comfortable letting your cat outside then that's what you're going to do.
There's many risks, as listed. Just be aware of them. And in my opinion, if you're not prepared for one of these outcomes people have mentioned. I would say, don't let them outside.
Good luck, I hope your kitty has a long life with you.
It's your choice, but you asked the question and everyone has given their answers. If you feel comfortable letting your cat outside then that's what you're going to do.
There's many risks, as listed. Just be aware of them. And in my opinion, if you're not prepared for one of these outcomes people have mentioned. I would say, don't let them outside.
Good luck, I hope your kitty has a long life with you.
Simply pointing out the obvious doesn't mean we would actually do it. Just that it happens. I co-founded the only Savannah Rescue quite some years ago. We email and talk to many people every day about lost and found cats. Hence we learn much about what goes on, including the fact that some people DO think a wandering cat is a cat without a caring home.
I definitely would suggest you microchip your pet, as that is one way he might be located if he wanders too far one day. But pointing out all the risks you are taking with your cat does not make us the bad guys.
cbain
Site Supporter
We let our Savannah's outdoors all the time and no problems and no escapes and it's probley more safe than most homes with people coming and going , as far as microchips go most readers wont detect all, all our cat's are chipped and one of our Vets reader wont see a Home safe chip , this cost less than $1000 4x4s every 8 feet, steel wire , reinforced top and bottom, if you don't room for a enclosure I have seen some very nice catio , this is the one of the way's to safely let your Savannah enjoy the outdoors, and ours love this, it cost less than 4 nice cat trees and this offers them very much more safely .
The chip reader won't necessarily detect the number of certain brands but it WILL detect that there is a chip...but nowadays most shelters have a Universal chip reader not a brand-specific one. It's a good thing maybe to suggest to your vet.
i agree that an enclosure is best, I have one myself...but I have also had cats work their way out of one over time... be very very careful with maintenance. Accidents do happen and pets escape. A microchip is another safeguard... and imho better than a collar and tag.
i agree that an enclosure is best, I have one myself...but I have also had cats work their way out of one over time... be very very careful with maintenance. Accidents do happen and pets escape. A microchip is another safeguard... and imho better than a collar and tag.
cbain
Site Supporter
At http://www.exoticpetvets.com/ Barberton clinic 3 years ago their reader did not see a Home safe chip or detect any chip ,their x ray found it, the Home safe chip was detected at Metro Animal hospital by our Vet using their scanner.
We had our Vet inspect our enclosure and she said the weak spot is the open top and the cats may try climbing out and she got us a discount on a electric fence for small animals [note the yellow insulators post 99] it's on both sides to keep cats and coons out also, it's very low maintenance and in the many days outdoors our Savannah's have safely enjoyed their pond and jungle. we have had many door darter escapes from our house, 0 from the enclosure,
power supply fence for small animals
We had our Vet inspect our enclosure and she said the weak spot is the open top and the cats may try climbing out and she got us a discount on a electric fence for small animals [note the yellow insulators post 99] it's on both sides to keep cats and coons out also, it's very low maintenance and in the many days outdoors our Savannah's have safely enjoyed their pond and jungle. we have had many door darter escapes from our house, 0 from the enclosure,
power supply fence for small animals
Last edited:
Moggieslegacy
Savannah Super Cat
Like many things that become contentious I think this is a clear black and white situation in some circumstances, but there is shades of gray in others.
I think the concerns raised here are all valid, though how likely the many risks are to be an actual danger, will depend on the environment and personality of the cat.
I have a 24 week old kitten and I was told his Mom is an F7 Savannah. His dad is unknown.
He has had supervised / loosely supervised access to the outdoors for a couple months now. (people in these parts think I am waaay overprotective but anyways... community norm here is outdoor cats)
Even though he is only maybe a late generation Savannah I have been a lot more nervous about this than with any cat I have had before. Partly from reading warnings in threads like this, and partly from watching what my kitten likes to do and considering what sort of trouble he may get himself into. I do think some parts of the Savannah personality could make them much more high risk or vulnerable than the average cat. There is absolutely no way I would be comfortable with a high generation cat like the aforementioned Atticas, having unprotected access to the great outdoors, and the same would be true for any cat with his personality. If people have a lifestyle that requires a indoor outdoor cat I do not think a Savannah is normally the best choice.
It is too soon to say my possibly F8 A kitten is going to be fine outside, and even if he is, he could just be lucky, but some of the factors that may be making this work are the following.
I live in an area that is relatively safe for cats. It is a rural area on an island with low traffic and no predators likely to attack a cat. I have lived in this neighborhood where unsupervised outdoor cats are the norm, for over 30 years and I have never heard of a cat being hit by a car or injured or killed by a predator. There is other non feral cats in the area and there can be cat fights if cats wander, but the last neutered male cat I had lived into his teens with no supervision, and never got into any fights where he was injured. Asking long time residents of a neighborhood what risks cats face is probably a good way to find out.
I am an indoor outdoor person, and spend about the same amount of time outside in my yard or on porches as my cat. He is not generally outside alone, doing his own thing, though he does like to snooze in a spot in the bushes beside a spring fed pond 100 feet from the house.
I work out of my home and I am almost always here.
The first month my kitten lived here I took him outside for an hour a day, wearing a harness to get him used to the area, and to see what he might get into.
I never have gone with him into areas I do not want him to go, and I always stop well back from my property lines. Now he is off harness, he seems to mostly stay within these perimeters. He does sometimes try and get me to go with him down the path to a very low traffic road 300 feet from the house, (where I sometimes go without him and visitors come up) but if I turn my back on him and go back to the house he follows me back to the more used & safe part of the yard. As long as he stays close, he can hear me calling him to get a treat, and I can hear if cat in trouble noises happen. So far, more than any cat I have had, he stays close to home and within earshot.
I make a point to call him and give him a treat once every hour or 2 if he is out of sight. He has wandered as far as my neighbors (300 feet away) but regular calls with treats seems to help keep him close.
I play with him a lot. Both inside and outside. I want this to be a fun place for him, and have him feeling he does not want to miss anything. I do not want him to get bored and go looking for adventure.
When I have to go out I lock him in the house and block off his cat door. Yesterday he removed the locked door from it’s hing before encountering the reinforcing plywood over the opening…
I sleep outside on the porch most of the year, and as there is a major rat problem on this island and the rats are active at night, the past 3 weeks my kitten has also been allowed out at night. I call him several times a night and he seems to always be close by as there is rodents living under my house he likes to hunt. He sleeps at the foot of my bed, under the mosquito net, coming and going and getting me to open and close the net when he hears something. He wakes me by walking from my feet where he sleeps to my shoulder, and gets me to let him back in with gentle meows.
He mostly just looks like an ordinary spotted tabby. If he looked like an exotic cat he would attract attention that could lead to problems.
As long as I can keep him from wandering he should be fine. And even if he does wander as much as many neighboring cats, in this area, he will probably survive, though he may get beat up by another cat.
In my situation it is totally impractical to keep him in the house when I spend so much time outside, and when cats in the area are needed for rodent control, but if the situation was different, he would probably be indoor / cat enclosure only. Even in this optimal situation there is still some risks and I will be very sad if anything happens to him.
I suppose it is possible late generation Savannah cats might be excellent farm cats, as their active sociable nature could combine, to be like a dog that loves hunting rats. But… I think there are already dogs that love hunting rats, which would be a more predictable choice. Or a kitten with a barn cat Mom.
My kitten was advertised as an ordinary tabby and it was only when I was arranging to pick him up that I was told his mom was a savannah… Kittens are very scarce and hard to find around here and I had been looking for months, so I decided to do my best to make this work. So far so good. But definitely not the most stress free choice for an indoor/ outdoor cat!!
I think the concerns raised here are all valid, though how likely the many risks are to be an actual danger, will depend on the environment and personality of the cat.
I have a 24 week old kitten and I was told his Mom is an F7 Savannah. His dad is unknown.
He has had supervised / loosely supervised access to the outdoors for a couple months now. (people in these parts think I am waaay overprotective but anyways... community norm here is outdoor cats)
Even though he is only maybe a late generation Savannah I have been a lot more nervous about this than with any cat I have had before. Partly from reading warnings in threads like this, and partly from watching what my kitten likes to do and considering what sort of trouble he may get himself into. I do think some parts of the Savannah personality could make them much more high risk or vulnerable than the average cat. There is absolutely no way I would be comfortable with a high generation cat like the aforementioned Atticas, having unprotected access to the great outdoors, and the same would be true for any cat with his personality. If people have a lifestyle that requires a indoor outdoor cat I do not think a Savannah is normally the best choice.
It is too soon to say my possibly F8 A kitten is going to be fine outside, and even if he is, he could just be lucky, but some of the factors that may be making this work are the following.
I live in an area that is relatively safe for cats. It is a rural area on an island with low traffic and no predators likely to attack a cat. I have lived in this neighborhood where unsupervised outdoor cats are the norm, for over 30 years and I have never heard of a cat being hit by a car or injured or killed by a predator. There is other non feral cats in the area and there can be cat fights if cats wander, but the last neutered male cat I had lived into his teens with no supervision, and never got into any fights where he was injured. Asking long time residents of a neighborhood what risks cats face is probably a good way to find out.
I am an indoor outdoor person, and spend about the same amount of time outside in my yard or on porches as my cat. He is not generally outside alone, doing his own thing, though he does like to snooze in a spot in the bushes beside a spring fed pond 100 feet from the house.
I work out of my home and I am almost always here.
The first month my kitten lived here I took him outside for an hour a day, wearing a harness to get him used to the area, and to see what he might get into.
I never have gone with him into areas I do not want him to go, and I always stop well back from my property lines. Now he is off harness, he seems to mostly stay within these perimeters. He does sometimes try and get me to go with him down the path to a very low traffic road 300 feet from the house, (where I sometimes go without him and visitors come up) but if I turn my back on him and go back to the house he follows me back to the more used & safe part of the yard. As long as he stays close, he can hear me calling him to get a treat, and I can hear if cat in trouble noises happen. So far, more than any cat I have had, he stays close to home and within earshot.
I make a point to call him and give him a treat once every hour or 2 if he is out of sight. He has wandered as far as my neighbors (300 feet away) but regular calls with treats seems to help keep him close.
I play with him a lot. Both inside and outside. I want this to be a fun place for him, and have him feeling he does not want to miss anything. I do not want him to get bored and go looking for adventure.
When I have to go out I lock him in the house and block off his cat door. Yesterday he removed the locked door from it’s hing before encountering the reinforcing plywood over the opening…
I sleep outside on the porch most of the year, and as there is a major rat problem on this island and the rats are active at night, the past 3 weeks my kitten has also been allowed out at night. I call him several times a night and he seems to always be close by as there is rodents living under my house he likes to hunt. He sleeps at the foot of my bed, under the mosquito net, coming and going and getting me to open and close the net when he hears something. He wakes me by walking from my feet where he sleeps to my shoulder, and gets me to let him back in with gentle meows.
He mostly just looks like an ordinary spotted tabby. If he looked like an exotic cat he would attract attention that could lead to problems.
As long as I can keep him from wandering he should be fine. And even if he does wander as much as many neighboring cats, in this area, he will probably survive, though he may get beat up by another cat.
In my situation it is totally impractical to keep him in the house when I spend so much time outside, and when cats in the area are needed for rodent control, but if the situation was different, he would probably be indoor / cat enclosure only. Even in this optimal situation there is still some risks and I will be very sad if anything happens to him.
I suppose it is possible late generation Savannah cats might be excellent farm cats, as their active sociable nature could combine, to be like a dog that loves hunting rats. But… I think there are already dogs that love hunting rats, which would be a more predictable choice. Or a kitten with a barn cat Mom.
My kitten was advertised as an ordinary tabby and it was only when I was arranging to pick him up that I was told his mom was a savannah… Kittens are very scarce and hard to find around here and I had been looking for months, so I decided to do my best to make this work. So far so good. But definitely not the most stress free choice for an indoor/ outdoor cat!!
My theory on indoor/outdoor cats has always been that there is an attrition rate of ~50% in the first year. If the kitten survives the first year of outdoor life and all the dangers out there, then there is a good chance they've learned the caution and survival skills they need to live a decently long life that way. that's why some people can say that their indoor/outdoor cat lived to 20 years of age, they also tend to forget the ones that disappeared in the first couple years never to return.
People also tend to think that their kitty has been stolen versus killed when it goes missing, I see that a lot online.
Especially at this purported generation, the risk for your kitten is no different from any other indoor/outdoor cat...I do think the more docile the kitty probably the less risk, it's the more energetic kitties that are more likely to wander and explore and thus find trouble...
If I personally found that I could not practically keep my cat indoors, my next aim would be to cat proof fence my yard so that he/she was contained there...
People also tend to think that their kitty has been stolen versus killed when it goes missing, I see that a lot online.
Especially at this purported generation, the risk for your kitten is no different from any other indoor/outdoor cat...I do think the more docile the kitty probably the less risk, it's the more energetic kitties that are more likely to wander and explore and thus find trouble...
If I personally found that I could not practically keep my cat indoors, my next aim would be to cat proof fence my yard so that he/she was contained there...
Moggieslegacy
Savannah Super Cat
Thanks for your thoughts Brigitte. I like hearing that an f8 Savannah is not at more risk than a regular active cat... I also picked the shyest kitten with this in mind... I will probably still worry though.
The stats seem to vary on the mortality rate of young outdoor access cats, and are affected by whether feral kittens are counted, and the environment. Kittens in areas with substantial traffic and predators in the habit of eating cats, are at much higher risk than the kittens in my area. Here at most maybe 1 in 20 young cats disappears, and when they do neglect and failure to neuter them is probably a factor. As far as I know, none of my neighbors young cats have ever disappeared, though once a week or so someone on the island is usually advertising to find their lost cat. But, considering there is about 12,000 people on this 74 square mile island, not that many cats go missing. If young cats were disappearing at anywhere close to a 50 percent rate, outdoor cats would not be the norm here...
I did consider fencing part of my yard, but that is a lot of work to prevent an unlikely and very very seldom occuring problem... and I have a 3/4 finished cat enclosure that was going to include part of my porch, but honestly, as long as my cat doesn't start over hunting or getting in fights, it really does not seem necessary in this area.
My sons comment seeing this "well now they will know where to look if any small children in the neighborhood go missing" LOL
The stats seem to vary on the mortality rate of young outdoor access cats, and are affected by whether feral kittens are counted, and the environment. Kittens in areas with substantial traffic and predators in the habit of eating cats, are at much higher risk than the kittens in my area. Here at most maybe 1 in 20 young cats disappears, and when they do neglect and failure to neuter them is probably a factor. As far as I know, none of my neighbors young cats have ever disappeared, though once a week or so someone on the island is usually advertising to find their lost cat. But, considering there is about 12,000 people on this 74 square mile island, not that many cats go missing. If young cats were disappearing at anywhere close to a 50 percent rate, outdoor cats would not be the norm here...
I did consider fencing part of my yard, but that is a lot of work to prevent an unlikely and very very seldom occuring problem... and I have a 3/4 finished cat enclosure that was going to include part of my porch, but honestly, as long as my cat doesn't start over hunting or getting in fights, it really does not seem necessary in this area.
My sons comment seeing this "well now they will know where to look if any small children in the neighborhood go missing" LOL