Our first savannah

[The Kasbah]

I feel 9 weeks is good to get a new savannah kitten to his new home so he can get socialized with his new family. Especially if someone is getting a F1.

I personally think it depends on the individual kitten...and the owner's personal level of experience. I would, for example, not entrust a first time owner with a very young baby, as they may not be well versed enough to notice the signs of dehydration for example...and that is placing both kitten and owner in an awkward and possibly dangerous situation.

In other instances, sending early may not be an issue at all. For example, my Serval baby came home to me at 4-weeks of age, but I was already an experienced Breeder, so better equipped than most to handle any unexpected situation that could arise. In all honesty, even for me it was an enormous responsibility, as he had to be bottle fed every few hours around the clock for months and unfortunately, developed a serious URI within days of arrival and therefore, he required skilled care, including tube feeding, daily injections and nebulizing 2x daily in a neonatal incubator, which are simply not things that a typical pet owner is equipped to handle.

Breeders have very valid reasons for holding their kittens for a specified period of time. In my experience, the earlier generation cats ARE ready a few weeks earlier than the lower generation Savannahs...but the decision about when to release kittens to their forever homes is a personal one, based on each Breeder's experience with the lines that they work with.

 

[Trish Allearz]

Trish, I have been breeding Savannahs for close to 11 years now and almost always send my babies to their forever homes at 10-weeks of age. Provided they are fully weaned, not experiencing any vaccine reaction issues and are religious about their litter boxes...the are good to go. I will add that none of my kittens or clients have experienced any issues after arrival and I personally believe this is best. We, as Breeders, all have our own methods and beliefs regarding what is right...but I must say that I take huge issue when other Breeders post things like this as though they are in the right and the rest of us simply don't know our asses from a hole in the ground. SOME kittens do require more time at the Breeder's facility before they are truly ready for their forever homes, but not all of them. Determining when to release a kitten is up to the the individual Breeder and based on a variety of things involving his/her ability to acclimate in a new home. Kittens cannot be flown prior to 8-weeks of age, per Federal Law...but beyond that, it is the Breeder's call based on her/her expertise and experience with her/her own lines.

Well, it's pretty much been SVCatChat's stance that a kitten should be 12 weeks and have two sets of shots. So it's not just my opinion on this. I'm not sure what I'm supposed to take from you 'having huge issues' that I'm posting my belief which is the belief posted repeatedly on this site by many, many others. As far as background, I've done rescue for over 17 years and have been breeding for about 7 now. So I'm no newbie to this party either.

It is up to the breeder-- you are very right. Yet, you might have the experience to make that call-- a lot of breeders are pure fools and do not. On this site, alone, we have seen multiple instances of kittens being placed too young and coming home with diseases and issues that could have been avoided if the breeder had taken the time to take full responsibility for their kittens. And pray tell- how is a customer supposed to know the difference between a breeder with knowledge and experience and one just blowing smoke up their butts? Most can't tell the difference. A lot of those smoke blowers are excellent at their craft-- deceit, lying, playing to the buyer as a caring breeder, but at the end of the day, not caring about anything but cold hard cash.

I'd prefer a buyer to err on the side of caution myself. C'est la vie.

 

[Trish Allearz]

FYI here is the post on this site about sending kittens home early... http://www.savannahcatchat.com/thre...ns-should-not-be-sold-before-12-16-weeks.724/

 

[VioletFae]

Love him, and that beautiful black nose! Welcome to the SV community

 

[Tort518]

Before we end up with a breeder cat-fight let me just say that all of the breeders on this site impress me with how much they care about the kittens and cats in their charge as well as the new homes they go into.

These differences of opinion and methods are very important to have since it allows everyone, breeders and owners, potential new owners, etc to learn from the discussions and to realize just what I mentioned above. It is one of a number of things that lend themselves to the strength and value of the SVCC community.

Congratulations to all with or waiting for their new Savannah cats/kittens. You are in good company here.

 

[admin]

I feel 9 weeks is good to get a new savannah kitten to his new home so he can get socialized with his new family. Especially if someone is getting a F1.

@Diane :) - are you a breeder? What experience have you had to make that determination? I do not agree with you about nine weeks - it is too young...My friend Sue Armstrong raises F1's and has for years...her babies do not go home at 9 weeks...

My F5 babies were nowhere near ready to go home at 9 weeks and I would not have thought to do so...they are much more confident at 12-16 weeks plus I do ESN, so they stay until they can be spayed/neutered. This way I do NOT have to worry about someone NOT doing what they are supposed to do.

Cynthia - I do not agree with sending kittens home that early - period. That is my opinion and I have expressed my reasons for not doing so. What you do as a breeder is up to you...and although I disagree, it does not mean I think I am better than you or I am a better breeder than you. We will just have to agree to disagree.The problem is you have BYB selling kittens at 8-9 weeks to get rid of them and then people think this is ok...enough said...

 

[Trish Allearz]

Before we end up with a breeder cat-fight let me just say that all of the breeders on this site impress me with how much they care about the kittens and cats in their charge as well as the new homes they go into.

These differences of opinion and methods are very important to have since it allows everyone, breeders and owners, potential new owners, etc to learn from the discussions and to realize just what I mentioned above. It is one of a number of things that lend themselves to the strength and value of the SVCC community.

Congratulations to all with or waiting for their new Savannah cats/kittens. You are in good company here.

Nah, no cat fight- I just wanted to ensure it wasn't taken that this was just MY opinion on the matter. This issue has been talked about repeatedly here. It's just always MY posts that catch everyone's eyes! LOLOL!

 

[Diane]

@Diane :) - are you a breeder? What experience have you had to make that determination? I do not agree with you about nine weeks - it is too young...My friend Sue Armstrong raises F1's and has for years...her babies do not go home at 9 weeks...

My F5 babies were nowhere near ready to go home at 9 weeks and I would not have thought to do so...they are much more confident at 12-16 weeks plus I do ESN, so they stay until they can be spayed/neutered. This way I do NOT have to worry about someone NOT doing what they are supposed to do.

Cynthia - I do not agree with sending kittens home that early - period. That is my opinion and I have expressed my reasons for not doing so. What you do as a breeder is up to you...and although I disagree, it does not mean I think I am better than you or I am a better breeder than you. We will just have to agree to disagree.The problem is you have BYB selling kittens at 8-9 weeks to get rid of them and then people think this is ok...enough said...

I thought it would be ok, because some breeders do let kittens go at 9 weeks. If I remember right I thought that Select Exotics let Stacie have her F1 at that age.....Sorry to make any one upset...

 

[admin]

I thought it would be ok, because some breeders do let kittens go at 9 weeks. If I remember right I thought that Select Exotics let Stacie have her F1 at that age.....Sorry to make any one upset...

No one is upset - not to worry...SE may do not but it does not mean that is in the best interest of the kittens...some breeders do and some don't...we are all very passionate about our cats, so things get heated sometimes, but we are still all friends here...BUT..when you make a statement, you need to be able to back it up, hence my questions to you. And this is because thousands of people are reading these posts and it is not in the breed's best interest to mislead them, unless you have researched or have experience.

Cynthia has years of experience and does what she thinks is best...Trish also has years and I have less, but I have done much research, spoken to many breeders and use my own judgement, based on my own kittens.

 

[SV Dad]

If I recall correctly... I did not get any of my SE cats prior to 11 weeks. They have a criteria that must be met before sending along. I remember having a kitten held back a week until it met their goals.