Savannah kitten behavior

[NikkiA]

Thanks guys

We had guests on Friday night, and yesterday, and I was worried he would revert to hiding/running from the world after Thursday's visit from the vet, but he was out with our friends on Friday night, trying to steal our guests' food, and yesterday, he let one of our guests pick him up and carry him around!

That may have been the first time Jarvis has been picked up by a total stranger. Right now, as I type this, he is sitting next to me, snuggled against my leg.

 

[John Campbell]

Thanks guys

We had guests on Friday night, and yesterday, and I was worried he would revert to hiding/running from the world after Thursday's visit from the vet, but he was out with our friends on Friday night, trying to steal our guests' food, and yesterday, he let one of our guests pick him up and carry him around!

That may have been the first time Jarvis has been picked up by a total stranger. Right now, as I type this, he is sitting next to me, snuggled against my leg.

That is fantastic.... I remember taking Elsa up to my mom's and I told her that Savannah's usually want to be around people before letting them touch them... Elsa went straight to my mom just like she had known her for a 100 years and Mom picked her up and Elsa let her hold her.... Just goes to show you... You cannot predict what they are going to do... Some how they know people of good character.

 

[Snookie]

What an inspiring story. I think it takes some cats longer to adjust than others. Savannahs can be quirky at the best of times. I think we all need to take cues from them. Is it common for a savannah kitten or cat to have all the normal behaviors such as play, following their human, taking treats or food from their humans hands but refused to be touched anywhere on the their body. I mean nothing at all! . My friend has a 7 month F4 little girl named Athena. Cutest little angel. Shes growing leaps and bounds, and loves to play, but that is her only issue. Athena will not let her even get close let alone touch her head or nose or anything. She will run away as if someone was chasing her to hurt her. Is this normal behavior. I dont think it is, but I am looking to adopt my own girl soon. Just waiting on a litter!! YAY. But this is starting to jar me a bit. So is this normal or not, and if its normal what can she do to help Athena along. Great site ladies!! Oh on a last note, the vet and the staff where they took Athena for her health checkups and such say she seems to have Feral in her. Lack of love and touch. How disturbing. She has been with my friend Mary and her family for over 3 months now. NO other pets and no small kids.

 

[Pam Flachs]

What an inspiring story. I think it takes some cats longer to adjust than others. Savannahs can be quirky at the best of times. I think we all need to take cues from them. Is it common for a savannah kitten or cat to have all the normal behaviors such as play, following their human, taking treats or food from their humans hands but refused to be touched anywhere on the their body. I mean nothing at all! . My friend has a 7 month F4 little girl named Athena. Cutest little angel. Shes growing leaps and bounds, and loves to play, but that is her only issue. Athena will not let her even get close let alone touch her head or nose or anything. She will run away as if someone was chasing her to hurt her. Is this normal behavior. I dont think it is, but I am looking to adopt my own girl soon. Just waiting on a litter!! YAY. But this is starting to jar me a bit. So is this normal or not, and if its normal what can she do to help Athena along. Great site ladies!! Oh on a last note, the vet and the staff where they took Athena for her health checkups and such say she seems to have Feral in her. Lack of love and touch. How disturbing. She has been with my friend Mary and her family for over 3 months now. NO other pets and no small kids.

No, this is not typical Savannah kitten behavior. I suspect there are a few factors at play here:

1: Your friend's F4 Athena may not have been properly handled and socialized while at the breeders.

2: Athena was not properly quarantined in a room to herself for a time (two weeks or more) when she arrived to your friend. Some kittens (or cats) require longer to acclimate than the recommended two-week quarantine period...sometimes months. If she was not quarantined at all, being allowed from the first day home to roam the entire house and/or being introduced to several excited family members and friends within the first few days..a new home, new noises and sights all at once, plus a possible vet visit...can be very frightening to a baby who may have been properly socialized while young but has a somewhat reserved nature..

Your friend should try the quarantine and acclimation process again with Athena. It is not too late, and may take some time but I believe Athena should at least become more approachable with her humans...there are many good threads on this forum about quarantine, introduction, and acclimation. You can also recommend your friend join this forum, as well as ask her kitten's breeder for advice.

http://www.savannahcatchat.com/thre...ed-acclimating-your-new-sv-to-your-home.1959/

 

[Snookie]

I will pass on the information to Mary. She did do the quarantine period for the first month. She was told two weeks but kept going as Athena still seemed off to her. How long do you recommend the second quarantine to be.
How do you repair lack of touch of proper handling by the breeder. Or is it just a process Athena has to go through to learn to trust her human.
Im waiting on a litter but now questioning whether or not this breeder is in fact a good one. Athena is in a very good home with very patient people. Ill get her to sign up and see if she can get some help.

 

[WitchyWoman]

The piece that Pam provided the link for has some suggestions for getting skittish cats used to touch. It is a slow process that can test the limits of human patience. Lots of sitting on the floor with this desensitization process. Your friend can start with running a feather wand down the back and sides of the cat and trying to get the cat to take food from the hand. Get the cat chasing a toy over the legs of a human. When those start showing signs of progess, Mary can "accidentally" touch the cat with a finger, quick and light and go from there.

My Maliik was similar to your friend's cat. It was a 3 yr process with Maliik; he's now going on 6 yrs old and still sometimes when I pet him he acts like I'm giving him cooties. Other times, he just chills. Mary's cat may turn into a love bug but she may also have strict limits on how much touch she'll allow and when.

 

[Snookie]

Mary`s concern is that Athena has some traumatic memories or perhaps so little touch that she is just so scared of Mary and the rest of the family. Mary is a very patient soul and has done it all. The acclimating, the play therapy, the treat therapy, and also respecting Athena`s space and never overwhelming her. Athena is so lucky to have Mary. She is going to sign up later when she gets home from work. Im going to look into different breeders as I am concerned about Athena and do not want to have the same issues. The breeder is waiting on a litter, they should be born middle of April. So meanwhile, Ill look into other breeders because now I am unsure.

 

[Pam Flachs]

It does sound as if Athena is in a very good home with Mary! We'll be looking forward to her membership here and hopefully she will get some additional advice and insight into helping Athena.

You would be wise to look into different breeders. There is a list here on the forum of recommended breeders.

http://www.savannahcatchat.com/forums/savannah-cat-breeders/

 

[Snookie]

Ok great thanks!! Im going to look at the breeders now!

 

[Patti]

Last year I did something different with all my kittens, I tried a therapy called Early Neurological Stimulation because it was a highly recommended treatment to assure well adjusted, well socialized kittens. It was actually developed for puppies but I was assured that it worked the same for kittens. Well, I have never had such a lot of quirky, weird, unsocialized kittens in my life! Nine kittens all born within a week of each other and almost all of them had problems with being handled. Obviously I will never use that method again, but it goes to show you that there are no many influences on a new kitten, even the most benign seeming event can have lasting, adverse effects on it.