My 'Wild' Kitten, Vivi

[VioletFae]

Vivi had her spay surgery on Monday and is doing great. She's claimed my leopard chair and has been taking lots of naps.

I'm kind of annoyed with the vet though. When my husband picked her up, he told him 'As soon as you open that cage, she is going to go wild. She may have to stay crated for 7 days so she won't bust her stitches by jumping from wall to wall." Um, WHAT!?

I'll admit, her eyes did look dilated and she was sticking her paw out of the door with her claws open, which seemed odd. But when I opened the carrier, she didn't 'go wild' and tear everything up as predicted. She started purring, came up to me and laid down.

So is this how most vets act with Savannah patients? Immediately assuming the animal is wild and should be caged? Ugh!

On a good note, the incision is clean and healing nicely, and they did work with me when I said I'd prefer no metacam or ketamine for her.

Anyhoo, here are a few recent snaps of Vivi- my 5 month old wild cat, lol.

 

[Dantes]

She's pretty! Are her eyes blue?

 

[VioletFae]

Yes they are! My son's eyes are blue too, so I say both of my babies have blue eyes lol.

 

[Dantes]

Yes they are! My son's eyes are blue too, so I say both of my babies have blue eyes lol.

That is so cute. My Duma is the only creature in the family that doesn't have blue eyes, but he's special

 

[Rafiki]

She is seriously pretty! Love the sparkle nail tips.

Question: Rafiki had glue instead of stitches. How common is one versus the other for SV's?

 

[Brigitte Cowell]

So is this how most vets act with Savannah patients? Immediately assuming the animal is wild and should be caged? Ugh!

I'm glad that Vivi's surgery went well, but in reply to your question... NO! I don't find my vet assumes "wild" from my cats more than any other cat, they treat them as individuals. The vet techs have told me they find some other breeds more likely to bite (one being Persian!) so they do not worry about my Savannahs.

It may be that your vet has not seen many Savannahs hence is going on the assumption that "wild" heritage means feral behavior, so interpreting high energy as something other than what it is. It's disappointing but it happens...but hopefully as he continues to see Vivi he will "get it"..

Also, one needs to be careful that one doesn't unwittingly foster the impression that being a Savannah means it is "different" also. When you expressed concern about ketamine or metacam did you say that was because she was a Savannah? If so, you've given them reason to think she is different from other cats...when in fact this is a general cat concern, especially ketamine with cats of low body fat.

 

[Brigitte Cowell]

Question: Rafiki had glue instead of stitches. How common is one versus the other for SV's?

Exactly the same as for any cat, I think it depends on what your vet does when spay/neutering. Mine doesn't use ketamine on any cat for example, it's not specific to my cats. My vet doesn't leave external sutures with spays, for any cat. Which I completely appreciate as it means the cone of shame is not as essential!

 

[Tort518]

Vivi is very pretty. And of course I am biased because of how Yeti looks. They could almost be siblings.

Glad to hear Vivi came through her spaying with flying colors. Yeti will be getting snipped sometime very soon.

 

[VioletFae]

Haha the cone of shame. So far so good, she has been leaving that area alone! She does have stitches though, not glue.

When I mentioned the metacam and ketamine, I didn't specify why and they didn't really push for an answer. They did, however, say that they do not use Ketamine at all- this was the first vet out of 4 in my area that said this.

 

[Tort518]

My vet said they try to avoid ketamine. They love my cats and look forward to having them in the clinic. No fear of wild beasts.