Meet Crixus F3C

[Igor]

Thanks for the responses Pam and Brigitte. Sorry, I should've explained the meowing a bit more. So yes, we all work Mom-Fri 8-5 and we were keeping him in the room during the beginning and slowly introducing him to the household. We were told to keep him by his food, water and litter box during the beginning.. He currently does not have playmates. The meowing was happening when we were all leaving for work while he was alone in his room. He was also meowing when he was in the room with us. He would sit by the door and meow so we would open it for him. Letting him out or playing with him stops the meowing and discomfort for him. We stopped with the time outs.. He now has access to the entire 2nd floor of the household. With time he will have access to the whole house. I just don't want him getting lost and not knowing where his food, water and litter box are.. He still meows sometimes like he's bored or anxious. Playing with him or giving him one of his toys fixes the problem. After that, he either goes back to running around the room or jumping on the bed and falling asleep by us if he's tired. But, he is still meowing when we all leave for work.. We will see about getting him a playmate or buying the products Patti suggested. Do Savannah's generally get used to being alone for 8 hours a day? Will this cause him long term problems mentally? We are getting him more toys like I mentioned before so I'm hoping this will only be a temporary problem for him. Maybe have a certain toy that he loves only available to him during those 8 hours? Would that relieve some of his stress or divert the negativity of everyone leaving for work? We just want the best for him.. Thanks

 

[WitchyWoman]

Do Savannah's generally get used to being alone for 8 hours a day? Will this cause him long term problems mentally? We are getting him more toys like I mentioned before so I'm hoping this will only be a temporary problem for him. Maybe have a certain toy that he loves only available to him during those 8 hours? Would that relieve some of his stress or divert the negativity of everyone leaving for work? We just want the best for him.. Thanks

He'll eventually adjust to the family's schedule with no effects to his psyche. Playing with him before everyone leaves for work is essential, followed by his breakfast or a small snack. Tiring him out and filling his tummy will likely put him to sleep for a little while. Placing a radio to his room tuned in to either music or talk radio may help also. Spending time cuddling and playing before and after work and before bed is what we commit to when we live with highly energetic cats. He will slow down a bit after his neuter and as he matures. The humans just have to find a way to survive kitten hood -- I relied heavily on vodka LOL.

Trixie pet products has a nice selection of interactive toys for cats https://www.trixie.de/heimtierbedarf/us/shop/Cat/ActivityGamesAgility/

 

[Patti]

I agree with Deborah, Crixus will eventually adjust to the family schedule - playing and feeding him just before you leave for work should definitely help. Just be aware that a bored Savannah is a recipe for mischief, so be sure that once he has access to the entire home, you have thoroughly Savannah-proofed the house. That means not just ground level items that he could knock over, chewed on, or otherwise destroyed, but items high up as well, since Savannahs are known for their jumping abilities.

 

[Brigitte Cowell]

As Witchy and Patti have written, he will adapt. Patti has a good point though that with all that time to himself, how he "amuses" himself may not be what you choose! LOL!

In terms of him having a large house and forgetting where his water and food are, I would recommend putting more litterboxes around the house. A kitten should not need to go far in search of a litterbox...far better to have them easily accessible while he's young and plan on removing a few later on when he is older. You could add a couple more water bowls around the house too.

 

[MM3]

WELCOME WELCOME! Beautiful furbaby!
Savannah's are very interesting. Loaded with tons of energy. And they do a lot of chatter. You'll learn what talking is just catching up while you've been at work. And what chatter is directed to something that is needing your attention. I'm fortunate to be able to stay at home. But if I know I'll,be gone for long periods of time I play with her Before I leave. You'll,get to know your guy. And will settle in to a routine. You'll enjoy every minute!

 

[moondiamond]

OMG what a gorgeous baby! He's so cute!
Would you consider letting him stay with you at night? Our boy Dexter doesn't like to be alone either, he follows me everywhere and then right at bedtime he wants to snuggle right against my chest. I wouldn't want him to think he was being punished or otherwise if we left him by himself in a room

 

[admin]

Oh he is so adorable! Congratulations...

 

[karenlynn79]

He is a cutie. As we have a new F3c boy kitten, RP, on Monday for 4 weeks, I can empathize. Though we are not new to the SV world as we have a 2.5 yo male F5. My new boy isn't vocal at all, thank goodness! Though neither was Zyon for the first year... and now he is.

I think everyone has great suggestions.

I would only add (unless I missed someone else posting this) to be careful reinforcing his crying behaviors by rewarding him with what he wants. This is like giving candy to a child throwing a tantrum - by giving into their demands, one is only ensuring that the behaviors will continue.

I'm a psychology professor and tend to lean towards behaviorism as my focus, and the following is true of all kids and pets (and grown ups too =). So for example, when Zyon is whining, yowling, or throwing himself on my husband (as he knows not to do it to me...), I've been "training" my husband to turn his back to him, look away, ignore it etc.. - then as soon as Zyon has stopped, even for a split second, reward him for being appropriately quiet - whether it's verbal reinforcement (talking to them sweetly, etc..) or maybe tossing a toy, or opening the door to the location he wants to go. If this is done consistently, by everyone in your house, he will learn that he only gets what he wants when being quiet. Positive reinforcement such as this will always trump punishment (like time-outs, water bottle squirts etc..) in shaping behavior.

And congrats on your little guy!

 

[Igor]

Thanks for the tips and compliments everyone!! Crixus is adjusting and getting used to his new home and the people in it. He's considerably more calm.

Guys, I never said we are keeping him in one room and isolated. The excessive crying was only during the beginning when he didn't know much about his new home. We were even told to keep him only in one room during the beginning so he doesn't forget to eat or drink. Slowly we started introducing him to each room and floor of the house. He has now explored most of the house and and is more familiar with his surroundings. At night and during the day he sleeps right next to us.

I haven't been able to post the past couple of days because the little guy has been sick. Here's the story.. When we first got him he had some foul smelling solid stool. I took him to the vet for a regular checkup and also gave them a stool sample. Told the vet everything about him, even about the smell. Vet called a day after and told me the stool test came back negative for parasites. After that, the smelly solid stool turned into smelly diarrhea. 2 days ago he went on the bed. Smelly diarrhea.. and blood. I called the vet right away. They told me to bring him in asap and I did. They checked him, said he looks healthy. He's even gained half a pound for the two weeks we've had him for. They gave me 5 doses of panacur and metronidazole. They also gave me 5-7 cans of digestive care I/D. We started him on both on the night of. Next day he had a bowl movement which was a little bit solid, but mostly diarrhea. It's been about a day and a half since that bowl movement and he just went again. Solid stool with little smell. I couldn't be happier. He's eating just fine as well. One can, 2 meals per day, just like the vet said. I'm so happy he's showing better symptoms.

He's also been sleeping a lot because of the metronidazole and doing yoga in his sleep.

 

[Patti]

I'm so sorry that your little guy has been having issues, but glad to hear that the meds are working. Love the yoga pose!!