F2 Female - Xira - "New" Addition

[cooterz]

I actually picked up Xira a couple of months ago, but never got around to making a post =X. She is Mchumba's littermate and I didn't feel great about leaving him alone so much while I was at work so I brought him a partner in crime.

Xira is very much different than Mchumba, from her looks to her personality. She definitely has a more "feral" demeanor. Unfortunately she's very shy and skittish in comparison. Xira's come a very long way in these past 2 months, but still has yet to completely come out of her shell. In just the past 2-3 weeks she's became more vocal along with adding purring to her list of new skills (very exciting!). On the down side she's also newly learned how to really piss me off when I'm trying to get her into a room if I need to section the cats off for a bit.

Here are a few somewhat recent pics of Xira. She's quite the looker:

 

[admin]

Very nice girl!

Did you get her as a baby? What do you mean by she has learned to "really piss you off"?

 

[Katniss]

I actually picked up Xira a couple of months ago, but never got around to making a post =X. She is Mchumba's littermate and I didn't feel great about leaving him alone so much while I was at work so I brought him a partner in crime.

Xira is very much different than Mchumba, from her looks to her personality. She definitely has a more "feral" demeanor. Unfortunately she's very shy and skittish in comparison. Xira's come a very long way in these past 2 months, but still has yet to completely come out of her shell. In just the past 2-3 weeks she's became more vocal along with adding purring to her list of new skills (very exciting!). On the down side she's also newly learned how to really piss me off when I'm trying to get her into a room if I need to section the cats off for a bit.

Here are a few somewhat recent pics of Xira. She's quite the looker:

Ahhh.. she looks like she's smiling for you!

 

[Patti]

She is a very pretty girl, and I believe that as long as you continue to be patient with her she will come around.

 

[cooterz]

Very nice girl!

Did you get her as a baby? What do you mean by she has learned to "really piss you off"?

I did not get her as a baby. I picked up Mchumba when he was about 10 weeks of age. Xira was initially placed into a breeding program and sold to someone up in Canada. However the breeder didn't want to give up the cat as her personality was less than optimal (extremely shy - she would literally hide in corners when others were around and only came out to "attack" Mchumba and then run back). This eventually fell through as the buyer up in Canada, unfortunately, had some health problems. She then had a potential buyer in Chile I believe, but it wasn't anywhere near a for sure sell. This is about the time when I approached her and we, obviously, made a deal. She's currently spayed so she won't be doing any breeding, which was never my intention.

As for the pissing me off part...basically she plays this "game" whenever I try to coax her into a room. She'll stick her paw up in the air, somewhat apathetically. As I inch my hand in closer she'll raise it higher as if she's going to strike. She doesn't really scratch hard if she does strike; it's more of a light bat saying to "stop pestering me". Depending on the angle I come at her she just recently started this crazy nipping thing. Think of a dog trying to snap at you; it's quite frightening. She rarely hisses, but she may from time to time out of fear (if I'm cornering her for example, but even if I reach at her at this point she won't really do anything to stop me). That being said she's never attacked in a malicious way. All of her actions are more of a leave me be type of thing. But once I get her into where I want her to go she's just fine; she'll start purring and rubbing against me. It's more when you try to force her to do something is when she protests.

She had a horrible experience at the vet she got spayed which may have added to some of it which involved a catch pole. I wasn't there, but the story was basically that she got away and hid under some cabinets and refused to come out (wouldn't you?). They had to use a catch pole to drag her out...probably pretty traumatizing.

 

[cooterz]

I did not get her as a baby. I picked up Mchumba when he was about 10 weeks of age. Xira was initially placed into a breeding program and sold to someone up in Canada. However the breeder didn't want to give up the cat as her personality was less than optimal (extremely shy - she would literally hide in corners when others were around and only came out to "attack" Mchumba and then run back). This eventually fell through as the buyer up in Canada, unfortunately, had some health problems. She then had a potential buyer in Chile I believe, but it wasn't anywhere near a for sure sell. This is about the time when I approached her and we, obviously, made a deal. She's currently spayed so she won't be doing any breeding, which was never my intention.

As for the pissing me off part...basically she plays this "game" whenever I try to coax her into a room. She'll stick her paw up in the air, somewhat apathetically. As I inch my hand in closer she'll raise it higher as if she's going to strike. She doesn't really scratch hard if she does strike; it's more of a light bat saying to "stop pestering me". Depending on the angle I come at her she just recently started this crazy nipping thing. Think of a dog trying to snap at you; it's quite frightening. She rarely hisses, but she may from time to time out of fear (if I'm cornering her for example, but even if I reach at her at this point she won't really do anything to stop me). That being said she's never attacked in a malicious way. All of her actions are more of a leave me be type of thing. But once I get her into where I want her to go she's just fine; she'll start purring and rubbing against me. It's more when you try to force her to do something is when she protests.

She had a horrible experience at the vet she got spayed which may have added to some of it which involved a catch pole. I wasn't there, but the story was basically that she got away and hid under some cabinets and refused to come out (wouldn't you?). They had to use a catch pole to drag her out...probably pretty traumatizing.

Wow I wrote like a novel and didn't even say how old she was. She's currently near the end of her 8th month. I picked her up when she was around 5~6 months of age.

 

[cooterz]

Ahhh.. she looks like she's smiling for you!

Haha, I never really noticed that. Cute!

 

[cooterz]

She is a very pretty girl, and I believe that as long as you continue to be patient with her she will come around.

Definitely. She's improved a lot since I first got her. Naturally, the first few days she hid almost the whole day and would only come out to eat, albeit not much. She started eating/drinking regularly by the 2nd~3rd day.

After that she would play with me and others, but would never want someone to touch her. You'd have to coax her out to even start playing.

Now she'll purr and rub against you when she's in the mood. She'll even let me pick her up for a bout 5 seconds before freaking out, which is awesome . It's a slow process, but I have a lot of faith. She's improved a lot.

Ideally I just want her to cooperate to the point where I can trim her claws without any help...

Mchumba has spoiled me where I can pretty much hold him and place him upside down like rocking a baby and he loves it. He'll rarely protest and even trimming claws is a breeze. He's pretty much the laziest savannah ever who is 99% of the time content with just laying there.

 

[SV Dad]

Nice Cat!
Some savannahs just don't want to be held. My boys are that way. But they head bump and follow me everywhere. As for Mchumba, I don't think I have every heard of a lazy savannah. Every one I have seen is a package of energy!

 

[Pam Flachs]

Actually, my stud boy Simboya is what I would call a lazy cat. I have yet to see him do the wild and crazy things my others do (savannah derby nights, etc). He is very content to sit in a lap or next to us and look handsome, but lazy