New to Savannah's

[valsloop]

My hisband and I received a savannah kitten 3 days ago! We are already in love! I am trying to learn everything there is to giving the best care possible to our bouncing baby boy ! We have a f4 C boy that is 7 wks old I was a little surprised we were able to receive him at such a young age but the breeder said he hadn't fed off the mom in a week and had been eating hard food for 2 weeks! So guess it was ok . We are recently married and have a dog (7 yr old 10 lb shitzu - poodle) he is mine from before we got married. By husband has always loved cats and has always loved the idea of exotic animals, we thought this we be good for us since people say they are a lot like dogs! I am worried about knowing if he is eating enough... We were told to feed him blu buffalo wilderness blend and a grain free kitten food ( we chose evo kitten food) and then some wet food (fancy feast kitten ) once a day to keep up his appetite . He eats the wet very good, and we see him eating the dry from time to time, I just don't know how much is enough!

 

[Patti]

Congratulations on you new baby boy! I hope you will post pics soon ;-) As for his eating, I would feed him as much as he wants to eat and be sure that there is always kibble available. Seven weeks is pretty young to be going to a new home. If you are concerned about his eating you can weigh him daily and keep track of his progress that way (a postage scale works well). He may only gain a fraction of an ounce daily, but as long as he is gaining I wouldn't be worried.

Has your kitten received any vaccinations? I usually don't allow a kitten to leave my home until it's had at least two vaccines, sometimes three.

 

[valsloop]

Well he seems to be doing just fine haha ... He is bouncing around full of energy ! Another thing, he is using the litter box frequently so that makes me feel like he is eating enough! And yes he has had
1st March 3/10 Heska Feline Rhinotracheits/Calici MLV nasalDrops (given @ 3wks)

2nd March 28/12 Feline Focus MLV Drops (given @ 5.5 wks)
And has been checked for worms. But another question is it common for a savannah to have stripes?? Our little guy looks like he does? He a spotted belly tho

 

[admin]

Welcome to the forum valsloop and congrats on your new Savannah boy! I haven't heard of a savannah kitten being released that early either...usually it is 10 weeks and in many cases 12-16 weeks.

That being said...have you brought him to your vet yet? You usually want to do that to make sure he is healthy and also most breeders require that as per their contract. Has he been weighed so you can keep an eye on whether he is gaining weight?

Maybe try to transition him to more wet food (grain free if you want) or Evo or Blue Wilderness...this way you will know if he is eating enough,,,one can does not sound like it is enough for a kitten...I used wellness kitten and my cats loved it when they were kittens.

Hope this helps. I'm sure others will share their opinions as well.

 

[AmyAndSimba]

I will be bringing my new kitten home around the same age, 7.5 weeks. My breeder is going out of business and moving to Canada, and wasn't expecting kittens, so I understand why she might have wanted to sell her kittens once they are fully weaned. Most breeders won't let kittens home until they are 10-12 weeks to be on the safe side... but I have certainly heard of kittens (not savannahs though) being brought home as young as 6 weeks and they they turn out fine.

I have seen some Savannahs with a marble look to them, and if you look at Servals, they seem to have a couple of stripes on them. My Simba looked like he had stripes when he was two weeks old, but they have broken up into beautiful spots.

Good luck with your new baby!

 

[Trish Allearz]

Look- I've fostered and rescued kittens off the street and yes, at that point in time, I adopted kittens out between 6-8 weeks of age. Yet- I did not CREATE those kittens- I did not put a male in with the female and impatiently count the days until those babies were born into my hands... Yet- if I knew then what I know now- I would never ever have adopted out those little street urchins at such a young age.

Before 12-14 weeks of age, a single serious bout of something as simple as diarrhea can kill a kitten. Dehydration can kill a kitten. A good chill can kill a kitten. They are so very very fragile up until 12-14 weeks of age. Their immune systems are not developed at all at 6-8 weeks of age. I *PERSONALLY* feel that forceful weaning at 5-6 weeks of age isn't the best for the kittens' immune systems either. Of course, I have very strong feelings about nursing all around (including humans- hehehe) and my belief is that for kittens- in my home- I let them wean when they decide to wean or Momma forces them to wean. For my kittens- they are still nursing at 6-8 weeks of age- they are eating solids, but they are supplementing with Momma's milk.

If you choose to breed cats and you choose to SELL the kittens- then you need to do everything to ensure those kittens are in the best health before going to their new homes. At 6-8 weeks, you simply cannot guarantee anything.

Also, at 6 weeks (for example) kittens have just left the nest box about the week before. They are still getting used to the world- still experiencing the world. When left with Momma for the next 6-8 weeks, Momma teaches them everything. It is a very important time development-wise for kittens.

For ANYONE bringing a kitten home from ANY breeder- please ensure you have a contract on your kitten. I know it's easy to forget the contract in the excitement and the niceties, but this kitten isn't just a new family member- it's an investment that should pay back for many many years to come... (And by pay back- I mean with love and fun and laughter and smiles!)

I hope all of the babies going home at a younger age thrive and are wonderful companions.

 

[Brigitte Cowell]

Welcome, Valsloop!

I agree with the others that 7 weeks is way too early to leave home. The intranasal vaccines he has been given are as good protection as you can give a young kitten BUT a kitten's immune system is not thought to be very functional before 8-9 weeks which is why vets recommend that age for their first vaccine, and we currently think that it takes until at least 12 weeks for them to have a fully functional immune system which is why they also recommend at least one vaccine at or after 12 weeks of age as the second vaccine. We can't just "fast-track" immunity by giving vaccines earlier and expecting that to give proper protection. So I would be very careful with your baby, as Trish says they can fail very very fast when they get ill at that age. Hard to believe with him bouncing around I know, but we breeders have all seen kittens take a nose-dive with infection and know how bad it can get quickly.

The other reason I hold my kitten until a minimum of 12 weeks is for their psychological development. They learn a lot from their siblings and momma cat, but their personalities also develop along with their confidence. At 12 weeks of age my kittens are very outgoing and interested in new things while at 7-8 weeks of age they are more easily worried and stressed. I actually find that kittens that go to their new home at 16 weeks of age do even better settling in and bonding...so am not a huge believer that you have to get them young to bond to them.

As to his eating, I believe in feeding them what they want to eat... until a cat shows signs of being overweight I think they will eat what they need. I think a high energy cat like the Savannah may burn up more calories per day than the average cat so only take those guides on cat food labels as a guide not an absolute rule. I have a kitten here that has had some health issues and has a specially formulated diet from a specialist vet, he estimated at 14 weeks of age he'd be eating 4.5 oz chicken a day, well when I went to weigh that it was almost what he was eating at one meal but getting two meals a day! So when we went back I guiltily confessed he was getting more than he'd said to feed him and he laughed... Babbage was slender but tall and growing fast...so what he wanted to eat was fine by the vet.

 

[valsloop]

Well we measured a whole cup of wilderness blu buffalo and and evo kitten mixed and he ate it all last night ! I hope he will be fine , my husband and I are nurses and therefore are probably a little more cautious than others ! I feel like he is eating enough I just wish there was an exact amount that could tell me for sure! . As for the dehydration side we take him about every 30 min when he is out of his room in the other parts of the house to play to drink water and he usually is drinking something! I hope he is fine and if any warning signs pop up we will act fast

 

[Brigitte Cowell]

If he is eating kibble, then free feeding him would mean he gets as much as he wants?

 

[Trish Allearz]

Watch his poops That's a good way to tell how things are going in his system. If they are well formed poops, that's great! If they are runny, slimy, mucous-like, etc, then I'd probably ask the vet to check him out asap. Nothing dehydrates as fast as a bout of the runs!