Savannah Sitter Question

[nickandkristi]

Hey Everyone,

As most of you are aware, when you become a savannah owner/parent you become a little obsessive with your 'fuzz baby'. We've had Lyra for 3 months now and between my wife and I probably play with her for a combined 3 hours a day, make her chicken daily and other delicious meals for her, snuggle her at night and basically spoil the heck out of her to make her feel special and loved.

The problem we're having is that we have a vacation opportunity in 3 weeks which we would be gone for 9 days and we're struggling/hesitating/worrying about leaving Lyra for that long I will not leave her at a kennel shelter so I'm thinking of having relatives take 3 day intervals staying at our house while I'm gone to take care of her. I will have a 'to do' list about 3 pages long on what she likes to do, favorite toys, treats, meals, times etc....

Any advice to calm our seperation anxiety? ever had someone who your savannah never seen watch them before for longer than a day or two?

 

[BlackLabelKim]

I would recommend family/friends OR talk to your vet to see if any other their techs/kennel help pet sit and house sit on the side. When I was a vet tech I loved having the occasional pet sitting job!

 

[WitchyWoman]

Nick, if possible, have your sitter(s) come by frequently between now and when you leave. They should play with her and go through your feeding routines with you so everyone feels comfortable. Maybe even have them spend a night on a weekend if possible.

Before I got my first SV, I interviewed a lot of professional cat sitters, chose one, and had her involved with the kitten from the moment I brought him home. We had already had a trip to Europe scheduled prior to getting the kitten so we had only one month with him before we left him. I had the sitter come over a couple of times per week to play with him and feed him. She was so enamored with him, she didn't charge me for the the weekly visits and said she'd pay me to be able to play with him. LOL. I as quite worried about leaving him since I had read so much about the potential for F2s to bond strongly to their owners and be skittish with everyone else. I had a ton of friends come over to meet him that first month so he was exposed to a lot of people and comfortable with strangers. I went overboard for sure but it worked because I don't think he missed us at all and when we got home he was relaxed and happy.

If Lyra is social and outgoing, you don't have to go to extremes. If she's shy or not confident, I definitely recommend doing a trial run with your sitters so she gets a chance to adapt.

 

[Brigitte Cowell]

Have those relatives that you are considering having come stay with Lyra met her before? How was the interaction(s)? This is key, you can feel happier about leaving Lyra if she has already met the people before and enjoyed their company. If this is the first time she will have been meeting strangers in your home, then it will be harder to predict how she will do.

How old is Lyra? If she's ~6 months of age, my guess is that she will take the changes in stride and come to enjoy the extra attention if your relatives make a good effort to play and interact with her. Hopefully those relatives will be willing to make those special meals for her also, else I would suggest transitioning her onto something easily prepared so that there is less issue at least on the dietary front! I'd have those relatives over a few times to play with Lyra so she knows them and knows that they know how to play properly with her. That may sound weird but some people really don't know how to play with a cat and need to be shown how to wield that wand toy!