Possible buying of a two year old savannah.

[AJ]

We decided to have a cat again and my eyes feld on a savannah. The savannah who’s currently living in a household with 14 other cats is starting to act withdrawn Is said in the ad. My grandparents always have had cats and my family loves them. So we know how to handle a average cat and a savannah is not an average cat I’ve read.

We are planning to keep one cat and I’ve read that if you’re not having more than one they can get bored. A positive fact is there are always two or three people home. Could this be a problem?

We have a sailing yacht with which we go on vacations do you think it can learn to go with us? I know some people do with some cats but I don’t know about savannahs.


Now another thing, we have some special design furniture in our living room. A special design wooden dresser (dressoir is the French and the Dutch word) two wooden book cabinets on witch the cat can possibly jump and in one of them is an aquarium (the cat can’t reach it because its closed). Do you have some advice on how we keep them as much as possible from scratching by the cat? I can eventually upload some pictures if that will help.

Our couches are made from leather. Since they are special made, I hope they don’t have to suffer much. I don’t think there will be no harm on them but some advice on how to keep the cat of using it as scatsh pole and repairing leather is welcome

Our fireplace is closed but the cat could burn itself on the outside?

I don’t know if electrical wires are still a problem for a two year old?

The door to the garage can be opened easily which could get them to dangerous things like plastic, rubber, oil and lots of paper. Could this be a problem?

Is a toilet still dangerous for a 2 year old savannah?

Since we live in the countryside are there some extra things we need to keep in mind?

I’m sorry if my language is a little bad but I’m a Dutchman and writing English is a little bit difficult for me.

Many thanks for your help….
-AJ

 

[Trish Allearz]

The toilet is fine- although I've heard of Savannahs learning to flush just to play with the toilet. The leather couch- IMHO- could have major issues. I've only seen one Savannah owner with leather furniture come out unscathed and I think that's because she has two huge outdoor enclosures, cat trees, and so many other things in the house that are SV-oriented that her kitties haven't even looked at the couches. The wood furniture- my cats haven't touched my German shrunk- so you might luck out there!

 

[WitchyWoman]

AJ, I've put my thoughts in green below. For all of your questions, in general, it really depends on the personality of the cat.

We decided to have a cat again and my eyes feld on a savannah. The savannah who’s currently living in a household with 14 other cats is starting to act withdrawn Is said in the ad. My grandparents always have had cats and my family loves them. So we know how to handle a average cat and a savannah is not an average cat I’ve read.

We are planning to keep one cat and I’ve read that if you’re not having more than one they can get bored. A positive fact is there are always two or three people home. Could this be a problem? Make sure you have lots of toys for the cat and that someone takes time every day to play and interact with it. Some cats do very well as the only cat in the house. Others may feel the need for an animal companion.

We have a sailing yacht with which we go on vacations do you think it can learn to go with us? I know some people do with some cats but I don’t know about savannahs. Hard to know until you try. Once the cat has acclimated to your house and your family, you'll have a better idea of how flexible its personality is. If you think the cat is calm and unafraid of new situations, you can start by taking it to the boat and supervising as it learns its way around. Short periods on the boat at first and only when it's docked. Cat should be on a leash when you try this so leash training is very important. If the cat seems to be unafraid of the boat, take it out for short periods, no more than 30 minutes at a time, and see how that goes.


Now another thing, we have some special design furniture in our living room. A special design wooden dresser (dressoir is the French and the Dutch word) two wooden book cabinets on witch the cat can possibly jump and in one of them is an aquarium (the cat can’t reach it because its closed). Do you have some advice on how we keep them as much as possible from scratching by the cat? I can eventually upload some pictures if that will help. Plenty of scratching posts and some tall cat trees will help minimize damage to furniture but that doesn't mean the cat won't jump up on it. It's the nature of the animal. There is always the potential for scratches.

Our couches are made from leather. Since they are special made, I hope they don’t have to suffer much. I don’t think there will be no harm on them but some advice on how to keep the cat of using it as scatsh pole and repairing leather is welcome I have a custom made leather couch that definitely has scratches from the cats. They don't use it as a scratching post, but it gets scratched just from them getting on and off. As far as repair, you'd have to contact a furniture restorer and ask about repairing rips if that should happen. I know I can't get rid of the scratches in mine unless I recover the entire couch. No sense doing that since it will only get scratched again.

Our fireplace is closed but the cat could burn itself on the outside? I wouldn't worry too much about this. I have a glass enclosed fireplace and each of my Savannahs got close enough the first time they saw it to get a hot little surprise and they never tried to touch it again.

I don’t know if electrical wires are still a problem for a two year old? Generally speaking, an adult cat should have grown out of this habit. I have one cat who will still chew on wires when he wants my attention.

The door to the garage can be opened easily which could get them to dangerous things like plastic, rubber, oil and lots of paper. Could this be a problem? Big problem. You'll have to find a way to secure the door so the cat doesn't come in contact with the many hazardous substances found in the garage.

Is a toilet still dangerous for a 2 year old savannah? Probably not but you should still leave the lids down. The cat might like to splash around and play in the toilet or drop toys in there so it's just easier to keep the lids down.

Since we live in the countryside are there some extra things we need to keep in mind? Keep the cat indoors unless you have a secure outdoor enclosure for it.

I’m sorry if my language is a little bad but I’m a Dutchman and writing English is a little bit difficult for me.

Many thanks for your help….
-AJ

 

[Brigitte Cowell]

Deborah's answers are what I'd write there.

You should work out a way to add a latch or bolt to the door to the garage...else you will be chasing your Savannah in there all the time!

It's hard to know exactly what you are in for, the current owner might have info although with 14 other cats it depends on how involved they are with their pets on how much info they can give you on this specific cat. I have 8 here and could do it... but not all are as obsessed as I am

You might also find that the cat "blossoms" when it gets all the attention to itself and might develop new habits or fun things it likes to do...Savannahs like to keep us guessing

Good luck!

 

[Ashley]

From my experience, it will take me a long time to trust Kovu with wires again. They are like crack to him. :/ Kovu (F4, 7 months old) is an only cat. I do however have a 5 year old that is pretty much obsessed with him and they have the same energy level so it works out. But while we are at work/school he does fine at home by himself.

As far as scratching the furniture.. I don't know how others feel about this method but we got a spray bottle & put some water in it. Any time we caught him doing something he wasn't supposed to we'd give him a little spray & tell him no. He quickly learned that clawing on furniture, jumping on the table, ect. were not okay. This has worked with everything but wires. Now, if your Savannah LIKES being sprayed then that might be a different story. Oh & we have like, 5 scratching posts around the house, so he has plenty of places to scratch at.

I would be leery with the garage door. I'm with Deborah on making sure it is secure. So far ::knock on wood:: Kovu hasn't tried to escape. I'm terrified of that. So being in the countryside with lots of places for a Savannah to roam around on would have me worried.

 

[Patti]

I agree with what others have said. Most of what you are asking are individual behaviors that you should as the current owner, such as scratching on wood or leather furniture, jumping up on furniture, opening doors, chewing on wires, playing in the toilet, etc. Knowing that there are usually always people at home will help with supervising and entertaining the Savannah though, so it is probably a workable prospect.

 

[Dantes]

he leather couch- IMHO- could have major issues. I've only seen one Savannah owner with leather furniture come out unscathed

All of my furniture is leather, which was backlash from having a cotton sofa and chairs that attracted every cat hair in the house back when I only had DSHs. So far Duma hasn't touched the leather furniture, not even scratched it accidentally, but he's only just over 5 months yet, so there is time.

That said, my last feral did quite a bit of accidental damage--mostly just his sharpened claws leaving little dots on it from "take-offs" (lesson: keep them filed!), and Ragdoll Dante (due to a still undiagnosed illness) has peed all over my leather sofa and only recently has stopped due to an abundance of scat mats. I have my own new formula for removing pee from leather, too.

My personal feeling is that if I cared more about my furniture (or clothing, or drapes, etc) than my cats, I wouldn't have cats. It's just a decision a person has to make for themselves.

No, my house does not look like a wreck, I actually get a lot of compliments on it, but it is styled with cats in mind, ie. more wood than fabric, no cotton, vinyl where practical, blinds instead of drapes, and my little server room of course that hides cables, etc. If you walked into my downstairs (and the kits were contained upstairs), you'd never know they lived here.

Oh, one more note: good furniture is often made with animal hair in it. I had a mohair-stuffed chair that suffered a terrible fate at the paws of a few pets, and a bench that had something in it that made it irresistible to little creatures. Both of these pieces were ruined, although coming from a family of decorators/upholsterers we were able to repair/redesign them with different materials.

 

[Brigitte Cowell]

I agree, if one cares more for the furniture or possessions then a Savannah (or any cat really) is not for you. So saying that, there is a way to minimize their impact as you've described! Fortunately both my husband and I do like cleaner more modern lines so we've just transitioned that way....LOL! We bought a whole houseful of furniture 12 years ago when we bought this house (we went from a small 1 bedroom apartment to a large 3.5 bedroom Victorian) but that was before we got the Savannahs! We just replaced the last couch from that time during our recent remodel... I just wish we'd known what we were going to have (rambunctious Savannah cats) before we shopped the first time! Although to be fair, much of the damage has been our British Shorthair, he's a terrible chewer...and encourages the others to try it too...

 

[AJ]

At first thank you all.
no its not that we care more about our furiture than the cat but if we can do something minimize the impact a little bit we'd like to. I even doubt the fact that we can keep them of the tables (which is because the're from stone not a big isue) so i expect no harm is compleatly out of order.

the garage door problem can be fixed. there is a lock in there. only problem is if anyone leaves the key in it one side, it can't be opened from the other side. I just need to find an old lock which support keys from both sides.

thanks for your help and advise. next time i have a lot to ask the current owner...
-AJ