Bringing my new Savannah home

[Joshua]

Hi everyone,

My name is Josh and my girlfriend and I are getting our Savannah, who we decided to name Frejya, in a week Shes a F4C and will be 9 months old when we get her. We have already gone shopping and got everything imaginable we could think of for her and have everything set up. However, I was just wondering how easily Savannah get acclimatized to their new homes and what we should do to make the transition as easy as possible? I have read up on kittens but since she is quite a bit older, I feel like the process might be slightly different? Also we have got her the same food that the breeder uses and the same litter. She will also be coming with a few of her toys and blanket after the 6 hour drive to get here.

I was also wondering on how big F4 females usually get? The breeder measured her from the back of her neck to her tail base and she was 18 inches (and 12 inches tall) at 8 months, this seems a little bigger than average from what I have read so far, but I would love to get an aprox weight of how big the average F4 female gets just so we know and can make sure what we get her will accommodate her in the future, as we are university students and dont have a ton of extra money to spend on new 2-300 dollar cat trees in a couple more months haha.

Oh also one last question, what kinds of canned food/meaty additions do you feed your Savannah's? The food she is on now is Royal Canin digestive care and we are switching her to Orijen cat food after she is all settled. Both of them have 40% protein and I was a little surprised when I saw that almost all the canned foods only had 10% protein in them. From what I have read she needs a very high protein content in her food, so I don't really see the point of giving her regular canned food to supplement her dry food, however I would love to know what works for your Savannah's!

Here are a few photos of her that the breeder sent us(She is the taller one in the picture of her and her sister)

Thanks a bunch and im really happy to be a part of the forum now! From what I have seen it looks like a great place!

 

[Carykd7kau]

Joshua, Frejya is beautiful. Welcome and Congratulations.

Minimum of 2 weeks in quarantine. During that time spend as much times as you can with her so she bonds with you.

As for food, there are some really knowledgeable folks here on food. I am not one. But I DO recommend Giving MORE wet food than dry food. The wet food is easier for them to digest. And YES, high Protein.

 

[WitchyWoman]

Joshua...welcome and congratulations on adding a SV to your family.

, I was just wondering how easily Savannah get acclimatized to their new homes and what we should do to make the transition as easy as possible? I have read up on kittens but since she is quite a bit older, I feel like the process might be slightly different?

The acclimatization process is the same regardless of the cat's age. It's impossible to predict how a cat will react to new surroundings. Some may chill immediately and be completely at home in minutes or days; others may take a long time. Remember that her world will be turned upside down with the change and she may take quite a bit of time to get used to you and her new home. Give her a room in the house -- your bedroom, a bathroom or spare bedroom containing litter box, toys, food and water dishes, and a cat crate or large cardboard box she can use as a safe zone. Keep her in quarantine for at least 2 wks. so she can get used to her home and her new parents. Spend quiet time and play time with her in the quarantine room. If she is very adaptable and warms up to both of you quickly, use your instinct to decide if you should cut the time in quarantine, but I still recommend keeping her isolated from the rest of the house for at least a week.

When quarantine is over, let her out in the house but do so only when someone is home. Even if she appears to be relaxed while out in the house, I think it's a good idea to keep her confined when you're not home for at least a week and definitely until you're sure that you have cat-proofed the house and there's nothing she can get into that will cause her harm. She'll be sure to show you where those things are. Trust me when I say that no matter how well we think we've cat-proofed a house, the savannah will show you how wrong you are.

At the top of this forum http://www.savannahcatchat.com/forums/savannah-cat-questions-need-savannah-cat-advice.20/ is a thread called "The Demon Under the Bed" that provides tips on acclimating a cat.

I was also wondering on how big F4 females usually get?

There is no "usual" when it comes to these cats. As you read through the discussions here, you'll find significant size differences in the same litters as well as in the same generations. You can get a feel for her adult size if you ask the breeder about the parents and past litters. Parent size and littermate size can be indicators but not always. There's no real way to know until the cat is grown. She is a large cat already so plan on a few more inches long and tall at adulthood.

what kinds of canned food/meaty additions do you feed your Savannah's?

I feed a whole prey diet (quail, rats, mice, guinea pigs, chicken, rabbits) as well as meat chunks for variety (pork, beef, bison, goat). No matter what high quality canned food you feed (and I recommend finding at least 2 different brands the cat will accept), you can always give meat chunks as a treat. If you're on a limited budget I'm assuming that you won't want to feed a lot of fresh meat. So if you buy a chicken to cook for yourselves, whack off a wing (raw, not cooked) and give it to her. Whatever meat you buy for yourselves, you can always try giving her some.

Frejya is very pretty. I adore the belly shot. We look forward to a lot more pictures once she's home.

 

[Carykd7kau]

See Witchy, that is why I do not give much advise. You give SOOOOOO much better advise.

 

[Patti]

You've already gotten good advice - as to the quarantine, it is the same process as with a kitten except it might take a bit longer as she is older. You will need to play this by ear and follow her cues as to when she is ready to leave quarantine (e.g., curious about the other side of the door, trying to break out, etc.)

The majority of Savannahs, F3 or later are the size of a normal domestic cat. There will be variations as there are with all domestic cats, but as already stated unless the parents have consistently produced significantly larger or smaller kittens, average is probably what you will get.

Orijen is an excellent food for cats, but please remember that cats drink very little so get the majority of their water from food, which is nonexistent in dry food. One of the reasons that the protein content appears lower in canned food is because the water content is so high. If you prefer not the offer canned or raw, please consider a drinking fountain as the running water tends to encourage cats to drink from it.

Congratulations on your new Savannah - she is adorable, and I am looking forward to seeing new pics of her once she arrives home with you!

 

[Kristin]

Congrats on bringing Freyja home! She's adorable!

As stated before, the size of each cat varies. For what it's worth, my F4 SBT female is 9.4 lbs and my F4 SBT male is 8.4 lbs.

I agree with WW and Patti with food too...cats allow themselves to get very dehydrated so canned food is better than kibble. In my opinion, raw meat is best as there is little to no processing, and is biologically appropriate. I buy pre-made raw, and I also do whole prey. The cost is actually less than canned...I think it's a myth that raw has to be expensive. Origen is quite pricey as well, so the price difference between raw and Origen wouldn't be much.


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[Savannah Mama]

Congrats!


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[Rafiki]

Hi Josh. Welcome to the forum. Frejya is a pretty girl. Not much to add to the excellent advice you have already received. I strongly advise ensuring that you new baby gets a variety of food so that if a particular food becomes unavailable or if she should have any dietary issues you can switch her easily. I did not introduce my cat to enough variety as a kitten and she only likes chicken/turkey/duck in either raw or freeze-dried form. I agree with Kristin that you might not find raw meat any more expensive than canned. The most expensive part for me was buying a grinder that could handle bones. I frequently find Foster Farms thighs for about $.99/lb.

 

[Joshua]

Hi Everyone! Thank you for the awesome advice!! I am going to actually get her tomorrow morning now (I'm pretty excited haha). I will try her out with raw meat once we get her and she is settled in happily and I can try to change her food. Out of curiosity, would I be able to add water to her dry food like I do with my sheltie for the time being until I make the switch? I just constantly read issues with cats getting dehydrated and I don't want that to happen until I can make the switch to raw if she accepts it. I will also try to supplement her dry food with a little wet.

 

[Joshua]

Also I will upload lots of pictures once I get her haha