Vacations with Savannah?

[barbja]

We had a DSH that was quite savannah like. He had type 1 diabetes since he was 1yo and required between 1 and 3 insulin shots per day (depended on the kind of insulin he happened to be on at the time). Boarding was out of the question because he would stop eating when was boarded. That's manageable and potentially fixable with a healthy cat, but unacceptable in his case.

I actually took him with me most every place I travelled. Fortunately, he had been car trained since he was a tiny kitten. If we absolutely couldn't take him, luckily I have a really good friend who was my room mate when I got him. He's actually the one that trained me to give him insulin shots, so I know that he was in good hands.

Many kitty's have come and gone since then . Now we have one DSH inside and one outside. I actually let my ex hub have access to my house so that I can always 'assume' that he'll come feed the outside cat 2x a day when I'm out of town (and he assumes that I'll drive him to the airport). My neighbor thinks I'm CRAZY to let my ex in my house by himself, but it's working for me, so I'm ok with it.

We're due to get a new SV kitten mid May. We have a 7 day cruise scheduled for July 2013, so she'll be about 18mos by then. I hope that goes well.

 

[MK Anderson]

I usually fly my mom in to sit, but my stepfather is not doing so well this year....So, this year a couple of my friends are going to come over and take care of them while we are gone.

 

[Brigitte Cowell]

We are lucky to have a good friend who will come by twice a day and feed and play...as we don't let them have kibble anymore (eldest cat is in kidney failure and removing kibble has helped him a lot) they need someone to feed twice a day. That eldest cat does go to the vet for boarding generally though as he needs medication twice a day and is a pain for anyone but us to do. Our vet hospital is great and he gets a lot of love and attention there and now that he's been doing this for years he really doesn't seem to mind so much.

I also take cats to show, and so that question about what do you do when you go to dinner...I do leave them out in the room but haven't found they immediately scale the curtains or anything. I do remove any fake plants they might have in the room for decoration and put them in the closet. If I was bringing a kitten/cat that was a chewer I'd probably pack some bitter spray and give the wires a coating though!

 

[Pam Flachs]

Vacation---what's that? lol! The only time away I take from the cats is no longer than a 2-3 day weekend; usually for a cat show or a weekend to Florida. My fiance has zero interest in going with me, so I always have someone at home, and he is very good at giving me frequent kitty updates. I do leave out extra litter boxes in all the cat areas, since I know my fiance does not like to scoop This has worked well for me. I also leave out extra water bowls in every room, and extra dry food bowls filled full. That way, if one of the cats should get accidently locked into a room, they have food, water, and litter box.

I would never consider both of us going away, even for a night without having someone check on them. I have yet to find someone willing to come to my home that I would trust completely to care for them or see that one was in distress of some sort. In my area, there are a lot of pet sitters, but they all want the cats brought to their home.

When I am traveling with a cat (or two), I check the hotel room for possible traps...I heard of one cat (not an SV) that climbed behind the radiator, which had to be dismantled to get the kitty out....and I worry that one will crawl under or behind the bed and get stuck (can you tell I worry a bit? I tend to either lock them in the bathroom or in their crate if I am out to dinner or otherwise away....

 

[Kristine]

I'm not planning to travel anytime soon after getting our kittens (maybe when they're around 2 years old or more) but I've been wondering what other Savannah cat owners do when you go on a trip or vacation away from home. Say it's for 3-5 days...

Do you leave them at home with a house sitter who will feed them and play with them twice a day?

Do you leave them home to play amongst themselves? I've been told you can just leave enough food and leave them for a weekend but 3-5 seems like a lot.

Take them with you? I see a lot of pet friendly hotels but say if you were going to visit the Grand Canyon from the East Coast, you can't really leave them alone in the hotel room (potential damages) and not sure if they would enjoy a long road trip or flight. Assuming you wouldn't be able to actually eat in most restaurants during the trip and possibly not be allowed into a lot of the sights you went to see as no pets allowed.

Or... Never go on a trip and stay home with your Savannahs?

What do you do?

I leave mine with a pet sitter (-: I have too many to take with me. I have two wonderful friends who also have purchased Savannahs from me that live close by and thankfully are willing to pet sit when we go on vacations. Before I had my friends as pet sitters, we had a licensed and bonded pet sitter whom we loved, we found her online and interviewed her.

 

[Kristine]

Thanks for the reply!

That gives another option: boarding at the vet. I assumed that they may get too agitated similarly to what you mentioned and do not want to leave them caged.

I currently do not feel comfortable about the idea of leaving them alone for the weekend but if I hear from many that their Savannahs are okay with it, we may try gradually. Like coming back in the wee hours of the morning seeing how they coped without us for a couple hours off schedule.

We will definitely try car training them young! I'd hate for them to go crazy in the car or think it's only ever for going to get shots! I wonder how easy it is to go on road trips (non cat show related) it is.

My cats are fine being left overnight without us. In that respect they are no different than a regular house cat. However, if left for more than one night, they get anxiety and do destructive things such as scratching, knocking things over. They are much happier when they have a pet sitter to care for them when we go on vacation. We take vacations regularly. Usually 5-10 days and the cats have their sitter.

 

[AmyAndSimba]

When I get my kitten I don't plan on leaving him alone, even for weekends, for a while. I don't have experience with Savannah cats to say, but...

I have left my domestic medium-hair cat home by herself for up to 4 days (lol before you guys think I am cruel and inhumane, I couldn't afford boarding at the time and had no friends in the area to check on her, since I just moved down) She was completely fine by herself.

Savannahs I would be more careful with. They are more curious and can get into cabinets more so than other cats, and can jump much higher onto shelves where you may be storing dangerous items. My cat can't figure out how to open a cabinet for her life, and she can't jump more than two feet, so as long as I do some basic cat proofing I know she'll be fine. I'll turn off all electrical outlets so she doesn't chew any wires and get hurt.

When my Savannah comes along I'm not sure what I'll do when if I were to take a vacation or go away for a few days... I still don't know many people where I live so boarding might be the best option for me.

 

[WitchyWoman]

Vacation with a savannah??!! AAAHHAAAAAAAAAHAAAAAA. I go on vacation to get away from my guys. I need the rest. They have already worn out one catsitter. Before she "retired" she told me that she had to schedule a vacation after sitting my guys to recover her sanity. Luckily, a good friend who is an animal lover and experienced in cat care now watches them when we go away. She lives across the street so if they turn on the faucets and try to flood the place (which they have done), chances are she'll find out before any real damage is done.

All my boyz are momma's boyz so when I'm gone and they are not being closely monitored, havoc ensues. There's no way I could leave them even for 1 nite unsupervised.

 

[admin]

deborah, your descriptions are so funny!!!

 

[WitchyWoman]

deborah, your descriptions are so funny!!!

Sometimes I wish I was making them up. High generation cats are not for the weak