Hello!

[Brooke]

This past week, my boyfriend and I brought a Savannah into our lives. We came across him rather unexpectedly; I was wanting to adopt a cat from the humane society and while we were discussing it, my boyfriend just happened to find an ad in the local paper about a lady selling Savannahs. It turns out that the lady's grandmother had bought SVs from Select Exotics and was raising them, but she had 40 cats in her house and was put in a nursing home. So this lady was practically giving them away, I guess you could say we were lucky to come across our new baby without paying what would be an arm and a leg for a couple college students.
He is either an F4 or an F5, though he is very young, only about 6 weeks. This is the first cat I have owned, excluding while I was growing up, so I wasn't aware of how very young that was when we adopted him. We're trying to take the best care of him possible though.
I have a few questions but I wanted to introduce myself first
Here are a few quick pictures of him:


We have still yet to name him so suggestions are welcome!

 

[Pam Flachs]

Welcome Brooke! Your new baby is very precious and adorable

Has your little boy seen a vet yet? I ask because he appears (in the pics) to perhaps have an eye infection and or a cold... This would be a very good first step since he is so young and the first kitten you have had in a while. Your vet will examine him for health, any parasites or illnesses, and can advise you how to care for your baby as far as vaccines and other needs. You should have seen him ASAP. Did you receive any sort of instructions on his care and feeding from the person you got him from? It is extremely important to NOT change his diet at this time...diarrhea is sure to occur if you do that. Even if it is not of the best quality, continue with the same food he is used to eating for the time being. You can look into changing his diet at a later time, verrrrry gradually.

I'm glad you found us!

 

[admin]

Welcome Brooke! This is a good place to ask questions and get lots of feedback and inof.

Your kitten is adorable, but very young...as Pam has said, he should be seen ASAP. And you may want to call Select Exotics to find out more info on him.

 

[Brooke]

Yes, he has been having some eye gunk issues.. It kind of worries me, but the lady we got him from said it was just allergies so I wasn't sure if we should just wait and see if it clears up or go ahead and get him checked out. He hasn't had his shots yet either so a vet trip is imminent anyways..
But about the food, yes we found out what he was being fed, but its definitely not the best..What brand of food would anyone recommend? He is eating dry food just fine, and I know they are better off with a high protein diet without grains.. I've been looking at switching to evo, but I would like to hear other opinions.

 

[Pam Flachs]

I don't think his eye goobers are allergies...based on his pics. Get him checked out. It won't clear up on it's own, and if not treated, may become a life-long problem......

Again, do NOT change his food yet. You can almost guarantee he will get diarrhea from a change in diet right now....and that can be life-threatening. Evo is a good food, but you will have plenty of time to change to another food when he is older and healthy. Remember, diet changes must be done gradually...ideally over the course of two weeks or more.

Is he eating just the dry, or canned as well? He should be having some wet foods along with the dry. You can also soak the dry in hot water to moisten so he is getting some added moisture.

 

[Patti]

Congratulations on your new kitten Brooke. He is very, very young to be leaving home so quite fragile right now. I am glad to hear that he is eating okay, most of my kittens are not yet weaned at six weeks of age. I agree with the others that he should see a vet ASAP to treat the infection. I hope he gives you many years of happiness!!

 

[MK Anderson]

Congrats and Welcome, Brooke. very cute kitty!!

This sounds just like the little smoke boy story! for the like of me I cant remember the gals name and kitties name. but the mother in law and daughter in law found a article about the same and got 3 kittens if I remember correctly. The daughter use to post all the time with her smoke boy.

 

[Brigitte Cowell]

Welcome, Brooke, and congratulations on your new kitten!

I agree with the others that the eye thing is not likely to be allergies, but more likely to be something that needs a vet's attention. The vet may be able to give you a better idea of age, so you can work out when vaccinations are a good idea.

As to diet, feed him what he is used to for now...when he's better you can wean him onto the diet you prefer but it needs to be slowly. Kitten's systems are fragile and a sudden change can cause diarrhea.

About the breeder, were ALL the 40 cats from Select Exotics, were they all Savannahs or not?

 

[Trish Allearz]

Please don't let us all alarm you, but definitely get baby to the VET ASAP. Typically, if you were getting a kitten from a reputable breeder, they'd still want your baby seen within 72 hours- so in this situation, I'd hie on down to the vet and have this little one checked out immediately. At this age, I don't think it's allergies- I think it's probably an upper respiratory starting out- and trust me, this little- you want to catch it NOW, not later.

Welcome to SVCatChat.com, btw!

 

[Julie]

Okay wait... doesn't this sound like the story of the girl who got 2 or 3 savannahs from a similar situaton. One was a smoke, lokey? Or something like that?? Anyone?

Welcome though, and again vet asap, and don't change the food.