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- Thread starter teedoxo
- Start date
Rafiki
Site Supporter
Chiming in....
Both my SV and my Pixiebob were weaned from milk to raw. With all the new information out there, many vets, breeders and owners have decided to feed their cats raw. There is still some misinformation going around so some vets have reservations. Also, feeding raw (unless you are feeding whole prey) requires knowledge of supplements and that also has some vets concerned as giving a cat nothing but a boneless chicken breast is very harmful.
I agree with Brigitte regarding the vaccinations and anesthesia. I recall have a cat neutered >20 years ago and how he was affected by the ketamine. It took most of the day for it to wear off and it was horrible to watch. Regardless of the breed, I would not allow the use of this as there are indeed much better anesthesia available.
I personally feel that the biggest difference between a SV and another cat has to do with the high energy. A bored SV can become a destructive SV. This is true of all cats but more so of this breed. It is also equally true of Bengals and Abyssinians. Savannahs are not a good choice for everyone much in the same way that a high energy dog like a Jack Russell terrier is not a good fit for everyone. But....for those that have the time, energy and patience, there is nothing quite like having a SV run your life.
Both my SV and my Pixiebob were weaned from milk to raw. With all the new information out there, many vets, breeders and owners have decided to feed their cats raw. There is still some misinformation going around so some vets have reservations. Also, feeding raw (unless you are feeding whole prey) requires knowledge of supplements and that also has some vets concerned as giving a cat nothing but a boneless chicken breast is very harmful.
I agree with Brigitte regarding the vaccinations and anesthesia. I recall have a cat neutered >20 years ago and how he was affected by the ketamine. It took most of the day for it to wear off and it was horrible to watch. Regardless of the breed, I would not allow the use of this as there are indeed much better anesthesia available.
I personally feel that the biggest difference between a SV and another cat has to do with the high energy. A bored SV can become a destructive SV. This is true of all cats but more so of this breed. It is also equally true of Bengals and Abyssinians. Savannahs are not a good choice for everyone much in the same way that a high energy dog like a Jack Russell terrier is not a good fit for everyone. But....for those that have the time, energy and patience, there is nothing quite like having a SV run your life.
I'm in California too, so it would be great to know where this vet is!
teedoxo
Savannah Child
My boy sleeps all day and is awake all night...is this normal? I know cats are nocturnal but I've never had a cat that slept literally all day... anyway to adjust his sleep patterns?
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John Popp
Site Supporter
There isn't much use of ketamine out there now days, but as Brigitte has suggested in the past the biggest obstacle for our cats is that they are very lean. There's also some anecdotal information about small liver size of both Savannahs and Servals although it seems to be single sourced, parroted everywhere and nothing crediting the original study that I've been able to find.
If your kitty is keeping you up at night you can try the hunt, eat, sleep routine and see if it helps. In the evening before bedtime, you give your cat a vigorous play session, get him chasing the wand toy lure over furniture or leaping about in the air (depending on what kind of play he prefers) and then you give a late night snack and start preparing for bed as you normally would. When they've expended energy, got nice yummy food in their stomach they usually will much more readily settle down for sleep.
John Popp
Site Supporter
The best I've been able to muster is an extra hour out of them no matter how much food I've put in their belly or how many flaming hoops I had them jump through. If they're waking me up at 3am I clearly didn't do enough. 4am is about my average, and I just lock them out. 5am and I did really well, although most of all its getting them to move on and find something else to play with and if that means locking them out. so be it.
What works for me over the years with multiple new cats and kittens... is to have that playtime and midnight feed...then if they wake me by jumping about on the bed at 3am, I get up and throw them out of the room. The ones causing the disruption, there's always my good babies that are all snuggled up and not causing trouble. Then over a series of nights they really do learn that if they wake and want to play they should leave the bed and go downstairs or whatever, and come back to snuggle. I don't think I've ever had to do that for more than 2 weeks before they get it. One doesn't get good rest those training days but persistence does win...at least so far here. There's always the exception to the rule which I may not have met yet!
kokogal
Site Supporter
When we got our savannah Boo I slept in his quarantine room with him and after a few restless nights he learned to sleep at night. He's the only one of our cats that's a good kitty when it comes to bedtime and never wakes us up in the middle of the night. Our older DSH cats...not so much. We didn't quarantine them and it took months to get one to stop howling and singing the song of her people at 2am. To this day I believe that she thinks she's just not allowed in our bedroom, not realizing that she would be perfectly welcome if she would just be quiet. It did help immensely when we got an timed auto feeder that drops a snack for them at 3am.
I agree with Brigitte on the midnight play time and snack. I would also make an effort to play with him several times during the day (as your schedule allows). Try setting a schedule of play times and be consistent with it. Cats may not be able to tell time but they appreciate consistency and routine. If you can get him to be more active during the day, he may sleep better at night.