New Savannah Mummy

[Anthox]

Hi, I have recently taken in a Savannah cat, Vashka, he is 1 year and 10 months. He was a rescue cat, his owner was moving and could not take him with. He is a marble and his owner told me he is an F1 (although I am not sure and he didn't come with any paperwork). I found you guys when I was researching how to introduce him to my other kitty, a 5 year old grumpy DSH, Oscar. The information on your forum was most helpful. We have been through quarantine and introductions, and I think it is going pretty well. He is the sweetest kitty, so affectionate. He follows me around the house all day. However, I have loads of questions about Savannah's I am hoping you guys can help me with

 

[Jason E]

Welcome to the forum! I'm glad the introductions have gone well..and any pictures would be appreciated :D.

 

[SV Dad]

Welcome Anthox. Please ask questions. It will save you a lot of frustration. Sounds like you have a great cat, as it is following you everywhere.

 

[Anthox]

Thanks, he took to me very quickly, from reading other posts I gather this is a good sign. He eats so much more than my DSH, I am wondering if I should let him eat as much as he wants for a while, I don't want fat cat, but on the other hand I want him to get as much as he needs. His owner was feeding him tins of cheap cat food and told me he wouldn't eat dry, but he has taken to the royal canin that my other cat gets. He might like it a little too much.

Also, I am not sure how much aggressive cat play the two of them should have, my grumpy DSH stills growls at him sometimes and my savannah plays a little rough for his liking. How much aggression is too much?

 

[Anthox]

Here is one photo I have, I need to get a digital camera, this is from my phone. Sorry if the quality isn't great. My two sitting together.

 

[admin]

Welcome! They are both adorable!

I do not think you have an F1 there at all, but it doesn't matter...does he get a mix of wet and dry?

 

[Anthox]

To be honest I never thought so and am glad he's not too big. He's on dry food with wet food twice a day.

 

[Brigitte Cowell]

Welcome, Anthox! Vashka and Oscar are cuties, I agree with Paige that Vashka cannot be an F1...but it sounds like he's won you over! As to his food, if he continues to eat at a great rate such that you notice him getting fat then you may have to limit how much he has access to.

As to the aggressive cat play, do you mean that Vashka seems to be playing mean or that he just loves to wrestle hard with Oscar and Oscar is not appreciating it? This can be an issue, the Savannah is a very high energy interactive breed so the other kitties in the house either need to be tolerant or similarly high energy for it to work well. You might find that if you can expend some of Vashka's energy by getting him to jump and leap after a wand toy (something like Da Bird you can get at Petco) then he won't feel the need so much for that rough play with Oscar...

 

[Anthox]

Thanks Brigitte. Yes, my savannah has a lot of energy, even for Oscar, who is quite energetic. He chases him around the house until he is hissing in a corner. No bites or blood, they do chase each other a bit too. I will try playing with him a bit more. I have a toy similar to da bird, he loves it, but he doesn't like jumping and leaping.

 

[Brigitte Cowell]

Try different wand toys...different cats like different toys... and try using it differently. Some like a toy waved crazily in the air, some on the ground and some like it inched along and then moving fast...you need to play to find what works for them. But if the feather on a string doesn't work too well, try the Go Cat CAt Catcher made by the same guys as the Da Bird...except it's a little mousie on a wire and cats can go crazy for that...