Malibu, Kali & Odrick

[Abby2932]

@WitchyWoman I really hope Odrick doesn't decide to dust the floor with Kali.

There are times when he's very riled up & will run as fast as he can around the house and try to roughhouse with her but he respects her and backs off when she hisses or growls at him. Then he makes another FAST lap around the house & tries to jump Kali again. She hisses and he runs off. Over & over...it's actually very entertaining. If Kali starts getting annoyed, I take over and wear him out until it's out of his system.

I really prayed for a kitten that was going to get along with Kali. It was my #1 concern that her quality of life would not be affected by a new addition. I know that things can change at any time but for now, I do feel like I have been blessed with a great little man.

He realllllly wants her to love him haha:

 

[Patti]

Awww, he is being so gentle, I'm sure they will become fast friends before too long!

 

[Abby2932]

I live in an upstairs unit of a condo complex. When you exit my front door, I have a non-enclosed porch and stairs that lead down to a private, fenced in garden. I'll attach pictures so you guys can visualize. (Scrolling past 27,332 pictures of Odrick in my phone to find pictures of the outside of my home...) The picture of my stairs is covered in ice from last winter when it kind of snowed once in New Orleans haha we get so excited about that kind of stuff because it never snows here.

Odrick has been harness trained since before he came home from the breeder. I continued the training every day that he's been home. He's very comfortable playing, lounging & eating in his harness. He also does well walking around my house with the leash. I took him outside for the first time last night. It was around 8PM when it was getting dark & no neighbors were outside. As you can see from the pics, it's my own private little area, not a communal space. He did not want to go outside at all & seemed uncomfortable. I just held him in my arms/lap for a while, sitting at the bottom of the stairs. After a few minutes, he decided to get down to try to go eat some weeds. I did not want him eating the weeds so I tried to take him outside of the gate to go explore into the neighborhood but he was not having it. He was doing OK in the garden but was happy to get back inside.

I thought I was going to get lucky & Odge would just stomp his big feet right into the world but it looks like we're going to have some work to do to get him comfortable being outside. It's very important to me that he learns to be a leash cat. You see, I have the following situation planned in my mind:

I'm sitting at a shaded, outside table at Cafe du Monde in City Park in the Fall, drinking a cafe au lait & reading my book with Odrick on his leash next to me trying to catch a cricket. My future husband is drawn to my beautiful, fearless, hunter cat and comes over to sit with us and tell me how beautiful he is. He obviously falls in love with us and marries me so he can be Odge's co-owner.

Of course, I'll still love Odge if he doesn't end up liking the outdoors LOL I'll just have to figure out how to fall in love without his help. Or maybe I'll just acquire more savannahs. Seriously though, if anyone as advice on leash training & it works, I'll invite you to the wedding.

 

[WitchyWoman]

if anyone as advice on leash training & it works, I'll invite you to the wedding.

Who could pass up the possibility of helping you find your life mate? I used a laser light and a feather wand with my first SV, an F2, to get him to walk a straight line rather than wander hither and yon. Juba is totally chill in most situations and since he's deaf, he wasn't afraid of outside noises. I walked him on the street in the gutter and I think having a curb on one side and me on the other made him feel safely enclosed. When it came time to train the others, I used the light & feather wand but I always took Juba too so they followed his example. Of my 4, only Juba loves leash walking. I can't handle Maliik and Atticus is just to large to wrestle with if he encounters something or someone outside that scares him. So they all go out in a stroller. Now there's a way to get attention...you at Cafe du Monde with stroller enclosing a spotted cat.

 

[Ninja-n-Bear]

Hmm, if he's sensitive to city sounds and/or smells, maybe getting him used to that first would make him more inclined to be curious? What about a pen/tent/enclosure of some sort where he could hang out and acclimate?
I do love Witchy's strollers, though, and am getting one as soon as we live somewhere with sidewalks. Do you want children? That would probably scare off any guy who isn't into kids, but if you're wanting the family oriented type...

Scrolling past 27,332 pictures of Odrick in my phone..

LOL, is that a real number, or comedy?

 

[Abby2932]

@WitchyWoman I didn't know Juba was hearing impaired. That probably does make a big difference! Thank you for the tips. I will have to remember to bring the laser pointer with us the next time we go out.

@Ninja-n-Bear The tent is a great idea too. I'd have to sit outside with him to supervise so he doesn't escape it and run! I had bought a tent for him when he came home but once I let him out of quarantine & let Kali into his room, he peed in it. I guess to tell Kali that it was his tent and no girls were allowed. I had to throw it away LOL I have a gallon of Anti-Icky Poo here at the house but I wasn't interested in wiping the whole thing down & spraying it. It was only $28 on Amazon & served us well for the few weeks that we had it.

I did bring Odrick to Petco today! I'm attaching a video below. We stayed for about an hour. I thought he would really like to look at the birds or rodents or crickets but no...he didn't even like looking at the fish or the turtles in the aquariums. But as soon as I brought him over to the cat condos, he was like a kid in Discovery Zone Do ya'll remember that place?? I used to love going there.

Petco must have been exhausting for him because as soon as he got home, he walked right over to the Ripple Rug and crashed. Sidenote: I'm so happy I bought the Ripple Rug! Both of my cats just love sleeping, playing and scratching on it!

 

[Patti]

It sounds like it will just take time and patience to get him used to the outdoors. I have also used a wand toy, and it may be enough to distract him and actually enjoy his time outdoors until he actually realizes how cool the outdoors are.

Just an FYI, cats are virus factories and I would not let my cat on a cat tree that is in a public place - who knows what germs are on them from previous visitors?

 

[Renee]

Oh my gosh!!! Congratulations on the new one, he is just so cute! Love his coloring.

It really looks as though he is getting along well with your other cat, that's fantastic! They can be so temperamental when being introduced.

I love all the photos and videos, this has been such a fun thread to read

PS, I saw a ball of some sort in one of your photos. Please be careful, Loki chewed one last Christmas and wound up in emergency surgery to remove a piece that was blocking the small intestine.

 

[Abby2932]

Just an FYI, cats are virus factories and I would not let my cat on a cat tree that is in a public place - who knows what germs are on them from previous visitors?

That's true, I won't let him climb on there in the future & will try to think about this kind of stuff more.

@Renee Thank you! The pictures are a little deceiving...I definitely wouldn't say they are getting along "well" haha. More like Kali is tolerating him most of the time. When he's very hyper, he will really agitate her. But when he's spent & sleepy, I do think she enjoys the extra company. I even saw her try to play with him yesterday evening. They were playing footsie on the Ripple Rug for a few seconds. Then Odge got excited and wanted to take playtime up to 80% but Kali wanted to keep it at 25% and their playtime was over.....baby steps though!

 

[Ninja-n-Bear]

You're going to need another Savannah to wear him out, lol.