When mine were kittens, the house always looked like a bomb exploded during a hurricane followed by a tidal wave. My F2s are 2.5 yrs & 1.5 yrs. and other than still loving to knock things to the floor, they now play in a less rambunctious manner and the house looks much better.
I'm not patient enough to train them other than basic manners & leash training. All surfaces in the house are fair game even the kitchen counters & dining table. They know we prefer them not to be up there and if they obey the rules when we are home, they do as they please when we're not here.
Juba Kai (approx. 34% serval) is the oldest and rules the roost. He exhibits some classic savannah traits -- stubborn as a mule, very focused in everything he does and has no respect whatsoever for breakable objects. He is like a tank and walks through things rather than around them.
When he was a kitten he wasn't a lap cat but would cuddle up beside us. Around 1.5 yrs old, he became a lap cat and we have fabulous Juba-love sessions complete with pleasure drool, love eyes and purring that rates about a 9 on the richter scale. Juba loves everybody and when we're out for walks, he'll jump into the car of anyone who stops to inquire about him.
Maliik (25% serval) was a challenge when I brought him home. I set him up in the master bath and spent 3 weeks sleeping in the bathtub and spending huge amounts of time with him before he trusted me enough to let me touch him. He is uber intelligent and uber sensitive and is really well-mannered. I tell or show him something once and he learns it. His capacity to understand words scares me sometimes. He enjoys being petted now but he will never be a lap cat and prefers the company of the other SVs over humans. He has a terrific sense of humor and plays the role of class clown. He is huge and still a bit clumsy and seems somewhat perplexed about how to land on his feet when he jumps up to catch the feather wand. Maliik is tolerant of strangers and indifferent to frequent visitors.
Taji is an F6 and he is a bit of a bully. He and Juba are very bonded and adding Maliik into the mix shook up Taji's confidence. He and Maliik are still working through some issues but they generally get along and play together all the time. Taji is a talker. He talks All.The.Time. He is especially chatty when he's doing something he knows is wrong. We have learned his vocalizations and he has distinct ones for "I'm thinking about being bad;" "Here I go, I'm doing a bad thing;" and my favorite "Ohhhh, I did the bad thing."
He is a cuddle bug, loves laps, sleeps under the covers with us but does not tolerate strangers, and he hates change of any kind. Takes him a long time to warm up to frequent visitors, and he's picky about who he likes. He also has the distinction of being the King of Headbutts in our house.
