Savannah Cat Chat - THE Place for Savannah Cat Talk

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Hello from PDX

I was recently at a meeting with one of your current members, Chris Elliott, and his lovely wife, Carolyn. We got on the topic of my new house, pets, and I, in the course of the conversation, indicated my desire to one day own a Savannah. I had no idea that Chris already had two! For me, having pets was never a real consideration until I moved into a home. My last residence was a condo, and while roof access is sort-of outside, it still didn't feel like enough space to be fair to a pet.

Now I've got a big house with a fenced yard in a great neighborhood and the hunt is on. Chris pointed me to this community, as well as SV rescue. I feel the first order of business is making sure I understand the commitment that owning a Savannah entails. Do I get two? If so, do I get them at the same time, or one at a time so that they acclimate with me before acclimating with each other? Is my house big enough? What don't I know that I should be asking about?

I look forward to exploring these topics with all of you on my road to savannah ownership. Thank you in advance for your support. I've already been browsing the forums and this community seems very supportive and friendly!

Colin in PDX
 

admin

Paige
Staff member
I was recently at a meeting with one of your current members, Chris Elliott, and his lovely wife, Carolyn. We got on the topic of my new house, pets, and I, in the course of the conversation, indicated my desire to one day own a Savannah. I had no idea that Chris already had two! For me, having pets was never a real consideration until I moved into a home. My last residence was a condo, and while roof access is sort-of outside, it still didn't feel like enough space to be fair to a pet.

Now I've got a big house with a fenced yard in a great neighborhood and the hunt is on. Chris pointed me to this community, as well as SV rescue. I feel the first order of business is making sure I understand the commitment that owning a Savannah entails. Do I get two? If so, do I get them at the same time, or one at a time so that they acclimate with me before acclimating with each other? Is my house big enough? What don't I know that I should be asking about?

I look forward to exploring these topics with all of you on my road to savannah ownership. Thank you in advance for your support. I've already been browsing the forums and this community seems very supportive and friendly!

Colin in PDX

Hi Colin,

YOu don't have to get two savannahs, but I have seen first hand what joy two siblings bring to their owners. Brothers in a litter of mine, went home together and it is really heartwarming to see how bonded they are to their owners and each other. But it does require a bit of work to bond with each one, so they do not only bond with each other.

Have you decided what generation you would like?
 
Hi Colin,

YOu don't have to get two savannahs, but I have seen first hand what joy two siblings bring to their owners. Brothers in a litter of mine, went home together and it is really heartwarming to see how bonded they are to their owners and each other. But it does require a bit of work to bond with each one, so they do not only bond with each other.

Have you decided what generation you would like?

Thank you. 2 was my thinking as well since it gives each of them someone to play with when left alone without an "adult" around.

I haven't decided on a generation. Any suggestions?
 

SlugMaster

Site Supporter
Welcome Colin,

I am South of you in Eugene.

My Savannah adventures started with a F5 and then add two F2 one and two years later. It did take quite awhile for my second F2 to integrate with the other two cats. I would be hesitant to start with F 1 or 2 without prior experience of an active breed.

FYI, at my last vet apt. With my "kitten" Max, pulled the instrument gaskets out of the office desk while we were talking. The vet said he had never had that happen before and I said welcome to my world

Good luck with what you decide and there are beautiful cat of any generation!
Bruce




Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD
 

Patti

Admin
Staff member
Welcome to the forum! Getting one or two Savannahs is an individual choice. I usually recommend two if you are going to be away from home quite a bit of the time (e.g., at work during the day) so that one doesn't get bored (translation: get into trouble), but if you're home most of the time it's really personal preference.

Personally I would recommend that if you do choose to get two kittens at the same time you quarantine them separately for a minimum of two weeks to work on that human bond before they decide to bond to each other. I have known people who have gotten littermates and have not done this without an issue, but there have been others who have never been able to develop that tight bond with their cat because it bonded with another cat instead.
 

WitchyWoman

Admin
Staff member
Welcome Colin. I'm delighted we have yet another Oregonian as a member. Take some time to read through the discussions here and you'll get an accurate picture of what it is like living with savannahs. Being owned by a SV means your life will always be interesting and probably in some ways you may not expect.

Some things to remember as you search for your cats:
They are not passive companions and will demand to be part of family activities. If you aren't committed to giving them the time and attention they'll want, consider a different breed;
If you are fussy about your decor and have treasured items you want left intact, you'll have to get used to living in a cat-proofed house and those treasures will have to be stored or held down with something such as Quake-hold;
They are smart and catch on fast so if there are things you don't want the cat to learn, you might find yourself spelling out loud in conversations with other family members and hiding how you do certain things. For example -- mine can turn on the DVD player and are obsessed with playing with the ice dispenser on the fridge. The child-lock has to stay on the ice dispenser. All my cabinets have child-proof locks. Ninety percent of the doors in my house lock from both sides to we can keep them out of certain rooms and lock them in others when we need to keep them from being underfoot for short periods of time. They have conquered both lever style and round doorknobs;
You'll experience intense love and devotion from your SV and will have to return those in equal measure -- easy to do because they are fabulous companions;
They can be very stubborn and when a human utters the word "no", the SV hears "try harder";
Multiple litter boxes located in quiet locations and kept scrupulously clean is a must;
You need a sense of humor and patience in abundance -- living with an SV is equivalent to living with a young child.

As far as space goes, all cats prefer to have an abundance of vertical space, so you'll need at least 1 substantial cat tree and having some shelves installed or other areas where they can get up high is a bit more important than the square footage of the house. An outdoor enclosure will give them stimulation and an opportunity to safely enjoy the outdoors.

As for the generation, I agree with Slugmaster than an F1, F2 is not necessarily a good option for a first-time SV owner. One of my F2s is an angel, the other is more stubborn than my F1, and my F6 is as naughty as they come. My first SV was an F2. Had I purchased the F6 first, I likely wouldn't have bought another SV. While he is sweet and loving, he is a monumental trouble maker. That's one of the reasons I hesitate to discourage someone from getting an early generation SV as their first SV (with the exception of an F1). We can generally say that F1-3 may be more stubborn or challenging yet we have folks here with lower generation cats that are similar in energy and behavior to the higher gens.

There isn't any way to guarantee temperament which can dramatically change as a cat matures, just as there is no way to guarantee size. The most important thing you can do is research the breeders that interest you, ask lots of questions, see if you can get some names of people who purchased from the breeder for references, be absolutely sure the breeder socializes the cats extremely well.
 
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