Tips for Socializing Your New Savannah

First, you should always quarantine a new pet for two weeks. Even if said pet is 100% healthy when they leave the breeder, you shouldn't take chances that they haven't picked something up during shipping, at the vet's, etc. For all of us, this is difficult, probably the worst part of bringing a new SV home. It is a very important precaution that you should strictly adhere to.

Secondly, if you have other pets they will know what's up before they actually meet face to face. She will smell and hear the new girl right away. If the new girl is quarantined in a bedroom, the other cats will meet her under the door. That is going to segue into a proper introduction later, when quarantine is up. This doesn't mean that your new cat will get along right away with your other cats. They may hate each other at first, there may be a lot of hissing going on, and power struggles also. Or you could have what I had happen to me, which was that my SVs all loved to play "chase the fat tabby", not out of malice, but because she was so predictable and always ran. She ended up under the bed and they just sat and waited for her to bolt again. When they got tired of waiting, they left her alone. None of them ever tried to do anything aggressive to her; on the contrary, they thought she was a lot of fun to just chase. This is pretty common.

I know other SV owners who have never had any problems with bringing a SV into their home. This is usually because their domestic doesn't run so consequently isn't much fun to chase. They usually end up buddies in this case. You just can't tell ahead of time how it will go. My domestic now spends a lot of time in my son's bedroom out of self preservation. She is happier that way.

As for how to introduce them and initially try to get them used to each other, I did what some of the experienced breeders told me to do: I put the SV in a large kennel in the same room with the DSH, and later swapped them out, letting the new girl be on the outside and letting the DSH be in the kennel. I did this for short periods of time at first, and didn't actually let them meet out of the kennel till a few days later. This of course, drags the quarantine period out, as they have already been in separate rooms for two weeks. But it is a good way to do it. Susan Martin
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Links:

http://www.savannahcat.com/
http://www.savannahbreedsection.org/

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About the photo:
Cahabacats Nyala, F3 B (15%); Owner Susan Martin (Sandalwood Savannahs). Queen Nyala is who she feels she is. Regal, intense and elegant all sum up this silver girl. She does not walk away from a running faucet, and is likely to catch the feather toy first, but she is somehow able to pull off being aloof at the same time. Susan Martin, www.sandalwoodsavannahs.com

A Place I Can Call Home

So your new addition to your home is on his way, but are you ready for this new bundle of joy? Your level of readiness will vary depending on your new pets housing arrangement. I normally will break this down into two categories: 1) do you have other animals at home. 2) will he be your only pet.

Step one of what I affectionately call “The Protocol” is the same in either case. I will normally prepare a small room (a bathroom with an adjoining master bedroom) where he can rest and recover from his long journey. It is important to remember that he has just been taken away from his beloved family.
To prepare his temporary living area first and possibly the most important is to Savannah kitten proof the room. Remove anyhing that can be eaten from the room, put away the soaps and any sharp objects. Place a fresh litter box (using the SAME brand of litter he has been using) in the room. Have sleeping arrangements ready for him but more on that later. Prepare clean food bowls and place them far enough away from the litter box. Do not change his diet. Make sure you feed him the SAME brand of food that he is used to eating. A sudden change of home and food will guarantee that he will get diarrhea.

If you are receiving a kitten that has been flying all day he will probably be scared when you pick him up from the airport. Its best that you keep him in his carrier until you get home. Once home place the carrier in his new room and remove the door from the carrier. Let him come out to explore his new surrounding on his own time. Make sure there are not any loud noises during this time. Keep him in the master bathroom for at least 1 to 2 days. If he wants to come out to investigate let him but only supervised and only into the master bedroom. If your new kitten feels confident to explore and stay in the master bedroom let him after the 2nd day. He should be confident and not scared. Have a nice pet bet set up for him in his new room. A nice cushion inside his carrier makes a safe comfy hiding place for him in the new room. Make sure he still has access to the litter box and kitten food.

Step two is introducing him to the rest of the house. If you have other pets this could take several weeks depending on the age of the your other pets. Make sure you take it slow. First introduction should be done in your arms. Just carry him around to the other rooms and let others in the house hold know that they have a new house mate. If your new kitten gets scared take him back to his safe place and let him have some quiet time before attempting again. A large carrier or dog crate can sometimes act as a barrier from the other animals in the household. This is helpful in preventing fights. Remember to have fun and also make sure that your new Savannah has plenty of play time. Playing with toys always helps with introducing your new kitty to the others. Leonard D.

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Links:
http://www.savannahcat.com/

http://www.savannahbreedsection.org/
http://www.spottedlove.com/
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About the Photo:
BarikaSavannahs Apollo of Gattobello, Apollo is 6 months in this photo and is a B F5 male, owned by Jody McClelland and Leonard D. Apollo has beautiful golden warm tones, nice larger ears that are high on his head. He is extremely social, he gets along with all the other cats and humans in the household. Apollo loves to sleep under the covers with you. He also loves to hike on local trails. Photo by Leonard D. (lifeatthesharpend)

What is all this Leash Stuff?

Training Your Cat to Walk on a Leash

Your new Savannah Kitten is interested in what is the “great outdoors”, what should you do? Under no circumstances should you ever let you kitty wonder outside unsupervised. I would even go a step further that he should not go outside without a leash and harness.
Savannahs can easily be trained to walk on a leash. What are your expectations of the cat on a leash? More than anything it takes time and patience. If the cat is more persistent than you are then the cat wins. A cat on a leash is more like the cat walking you, and if the cat does not want to walk you don’t walk, especially at first.

Training your cat to walk is really something you can do and develop that relationship between you and your cat. Sometimes it is about the cats trust in you.

Start buy having your cat wear the walking jacket to get used to it. With a leash attached then go to the back/front yard let them lead or go where they want. They will probably just sniff around some flowers or munch on grass. Try not to constantly pull on the leash. This needs to be a pleasurable experience. If your cat does not like the time on the leash then the cat will probably not want to be on it. If this is the case then what you have is a cat that wants to be outside without a leash.

Cats in general do not want to be out in the open if they are in new places. Many times they want to be near or in shrubs bushes or weeds. Getting them to walk on the side walks sometimes is hard because of this. If you have a very confident cat then it is not so much a problem. After the cat is trained and is used to the "sidewalk" they will normally walk on it without complaining.

You can see this in some of my videos on at: www.youtube.com/lifeatthesharpend. Leonard D. (lifeatthesharpend)

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Links:

http://www.savannahcat.com/
http://www.savannahbreedsection.org/
http://www.spottedlove.com

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About the photo:

Demdar Savannahs Fifth Wheel; Owner: Kristin Filseth
Demdar Fith Wheel has very nice leg length, hard muscular long body, he has good tuckup, nice thick tail that is not too long, good stance, upright ears, good contrasting spotting pattern. His color is warm. When Fifth Wheel goes out for his walks he is confident and has a tall stride. He is curious, enthusiastic, outgoing. (http://personal.rockbridge.net/kfilseth/index.html)

What is the Difference Between the Bengal and the Savannah cat?

The main difference stems from the different exotic cats used to produce the two breeds. The Bengal descends from the Asian Leopard Cat (ALC), while the Savannah has the African Serval as its ancestor. The ALC gave the Bengals a strong muscular body, small rounded ears, large rounded eyes and more rounded contours to the head. The Savannah inherits from the Serval an extremely leggy, lean body and long neck along with distinct large upright ears, smaller hooded eyes and a more angular face. The Bengal can have two-toned rosetted spots, while the Savannah should have bold solid spotting. Brigitte Cowell (http://www.kirembosavannahs.com/)

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Links:
http://www.savannahcat.com/

http://www.savannahbreedsection.org/

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About the photo:
Spots on the Lake Chessie BST F3B , Lisa Jeffrey owned;
Chessie is a beautiful BST Savannah, she is special to us as she has the most outgoing & sweet personailty. Chessie maintains a wonderful horizontal dark solid round spotting pattern on a golden warm background, she has very tall and long legs and a nice short thick tail, she also features a expressive triangular face.

Do Savannahs like water?

The Serval is known to hunt small frogs and fish in creeks, and it is generally very comfortable splashing about in water. We often find that our Savannahs inherit this very un-catlike tendency to be completely unconcerned about being wet. A running tap of water is seen pretty much like any toy that moves; something to be pounced on and batted at!

Now this is not to say that Savannahs like to be bathed. No cat likes to be MADE to do something, a Savannah is no different and may even be more resistant than the average cat to being restrained. But it will not be the water they are objecting to as much as being held still for a period of time.

If you want to encourage your Savannah kitten to enjoy water, don’t dump them in the shower cubicle and turn on the water full force. Turn on the shower at a trickle while they have followed you into the bathroom and see if they show interest. If you have a shower with a removable shower head on a long hose, set the shower head on the floor of the shower and turn it on low so that it makes a mini-fountain. Be careful not to set the water temperature too hot. Be aware though, by introducing your kitten to the joy of the shower or bath you may never have peace again. No longer able to relax in a deep warm bath and dream, because no sooner do you sink into the lovely warm water will you have a kitty playmate splashing in with you. In these cases, I recommend giving the Savannah the first half hour of the bath and then shutting them out of the room.

Some new Savannah kitten owners find their Savannah kittens are making a huge mess of their water bowls. No sooner is the water bowl filled but the Savannah is splashing and pawing at the bowl emptying it all over the floor to slide through and drop their toys in. There are some pet water bowls designed for this, the “buddy bowl” is one that resists being tipped over. Additionally, you can place the water bowl in a tray (small cement mixing trays can be useful) so that the spilled water is not ruining your floor. Often when the ability to make a mess is foiled, the Savannah loses interest in that game and goes looking for other amusements. Life is never dull when you live with a Savannah!

Not all Savannahs inherit the love of water, but enjoy it when it happens. A Savannah kitten racing about in a shower of water with joy and excitement in their eyes is a lot of fun to experience. A little messy and soggy for your bathroom, but it’s all good clean fun!

Brigitte Cowell (http://www.kirembosavannahs.com/)

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Links:
http://www.savannahcat.com/

http://www.savannahbreedsection.org/
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About the photo:

Kirembo Makini Muhimu (Mackie), B F3 (~14%) ,
Owner: Brigitte Cowell Cattery: Kirembo Savannahs
Mackie is a crazy kitten, he loves to be playing with anything that moves, might move, or might be persuaded to move. He adores the shower and any form of water. Mackie is also sweet and loving and loves to wash my hair at night. Brigitte Cowell

What does a Savannah look like?

The Savannah Breed Standard calls for a graceful cat that is a domestic version of the tall, lean and muscular Serval . Savannahs have long long legs, a noticeably long neck and a long lean body. The head is small in proportion to the rest of the body which adds to the lengthy appearance. The face is angular not round and the ears are large, rounded at the tips and sit straight up. When you see a Savannah sitting you should be given an overall impression of elegance and length, the tall upright ears atop a long neck over extreme legs.

The eyes of a Savannah are a distinctive shape, with a flattened upper eyelid that gives a hooded appearance. The description of the Savannah eye includes the shape of a boomerang, with one arm going straight across the top of the eyelid and the other arm at ninety degrees running down the broad nose bridge. The eye should not be large enough to distort the equilateral triangle of the face where one side of the triangle runs along the top of the eyes and the two other sides down the straight sides of the angular face to the broad nose. The nose is strong and puffy in appearance, the nose leather may be red or black or a combination of the two.

The body of a Savannah should give an overall impression of legs and long lean musculature. Although not fine in bone, a Savannah is not sturdy and should appear elegant and tall. A Savannah should appear athletic and ready to spring into action.

The pattern of the Savannah’s coat is bold and striking. The spots should be solid, dark brown to black in color, and range from round to oval in shape, with little triangularity or barring (where spots run together to form stripes). Spots on a Savannah should run in a horizontal pattern from head to tail end. Savannahs come in four colors/patterns: the Brown Spotted Tabby, Silver Spotted Tabby, Black Smoke and Black (melanistic). The black and smoke varieties still have spots that are visible in some lights. The tail should be thick and short to medium in length, as the Serval has a three-quarter tail. Its coat is short but a little coarse to the touch, and requires very little grooming. Brigitte Cowell (http://www.kirembosavannahs.com/)
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Links:
http://www.savannahcat.com/

http://www.sadiespets.com/
http://www.spottedlove.com

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About the Photo:

Sadie's Pets MojaDuma of Gattbello, (F1, 50%), Moja, Belongs to Leonard Dieguez and Kristine Alessio and is one of Gattbello's F1 Queens. Moja is about 6 months old in this photograph. She is a very elegant and tall Savannah cat. She can easily jump on top of doors. Her favorite past times are chasing toy mice, chasing feathers, caring for her new born kitten, going for walks on her leash, munching on grass and helping with breakfast and dinner. For videos of Moja please visit www.youtube.com/lifeatthesharpend for more photos of Moja visit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/10218442@N02/sets/72157600887393432/
Photos taken by Leonard Dieguez (aka lifeatthesharpend productions).

Terms you should understand before you buy your Savannah

Because this is a very new breed and is still in development, there is some terminology one needs to know when investigating which Savannah kitten might be right for your home. The first generation cross resulting from a Serval-domestic cat mating is known as an “F1”, where “F” refers to “filial” generation and the number to the number of generations away from the wild cat. An “F2” is the progeny of an F1 so is two generations away from the wild cat, a Serval is an F2’s grandparent. And so on with F3, F4, F5, etc. An interesting complication to breeding Savannahs is that when you cross two species (in this case, the Serval and the domestic cat are two different cat species) you may encounter fertility issues. For Savannahs, we usually find that until we reach the F5 generation (five generations away from the Serval) the male kittens will not prove to be fertile and so will generally be offered as neutered pets. Female kittens in general are fertile and will be retained for breeding, although as Savannah numbers grown some breeders will sell their female kittens as pets also.

As the Savannah breed grows, breeders have an increasing number of these precious F5 fertile Savannah males, and then another terminology becomes important. TICA has registration codes that distinguish an “outcrossed” Savannah from one that has “Savannah-to-Savannah” breeding. An outcrossed Savannah generally has a Savannah mother and a domestic breed father, TICA will give this SV a registration code beginning with “A” and we sometimes refer to these as “A-registered Savannahs” or use this A with the generation (so either AF3 or F3A would refer to an outcrossed third generation Savannah). When a Savannah female has been bred to a Savannah male, the progeny are then termed “B-registered” and therefore might be termed BF3 or F3B by the breeder. “B” denotes that both parents are Savannahs, while “C” then tells you that not only are both parents Savannahs but also all grandparents are Savannahs. A C-registered Savannah has two generations of Savannah-to-Savannah breeding in this case, and would be termed CF3 or F3C.

The ultimate goal of the breed is to breed SBT-registered Savannahs, “Stud Book Traditional” Savannahs are three generations of Savannah-to-Savannah breeding and when the three generation pedigree of a cat only has that breed in it then that cat is considered “purebred”. The first SBT Savannah kitten was produced this year, and we expect many more in the years to come.

TICA accepts only four colors/patterns for Savannahs (brown spotted tabby, silver spotted tabby, black and black smoke), any other coloration or pattern is “non-standard” and almost always sold as a pet and often for a reduced price. They will still retain the same physical type as their standard colored littermates and may still be registered as Savannahs, but are not able to be showed. Brigitte Cowell (http://www.kirembosavannahs.com/)

Links:

http://www.savannahcat.com/
http://www.savannahbreedsection.org/

About the Photo:

L-R Wagati Jabber (F3 Savannah), Joykatz Always (F2 Savannah), Rooney of CactusRun (Serval) and Goldie Locks (F7 Savannah)Owned and loved by Peggi Johnson - http://www.cactuscreekdesign.com/

What is a Savannah?

The Savannah cat is one of the most recent breeds to be recognized by The International Cat Association (TICA). The Savannah Breed Standard calls for a graceful cat that is a replica of the tall, lean and muscular Serval cat found on the African plains or savannas, for which the breed is named.

The Savannah is a tall, elegant spotted cat with large ears, and was developed by initially crossing the African Serval with spotted (usually) domestic cats, using breeds such as the Egyptian mau, oriental shorthair, ocicat and domestic shorthair. Further interbreeding of these “first generation” Savannahs to domestic cats produces a breed with the exotic spotted appearance and unique personality derived from the Serval, but retains all relevant domestic cat personality traits.

Tall, long and lean with bold black spots and large ears set on top of its head, the Savannah has the appeal of the wild cat with the personality of a domestic cat. High energy and playfulness added to a sociable nature makes the Savannah almost dog-like as a pet. Not normally to be found lounging in your lap, they will follow you around the house, come when called and fetch toys for hours. They are delighted to go for walks on a leash and often recall their Serval heritage by leaping joyfully into water.

Savannahs eat domestic cat food, faithfully use litterboxes and basically will live in a house exactly as any other domestic cat would. Savannahs were developed here in the U.S. and are now found through the world. Check your local ordinances and state laws for any limitations on owning an animal with “wild” heritage.

Savannahs are a very high energy cat, and combined with high intelligence this can spell trouble for an average unsuspecting household. Left to their own devices, Savannahs can think up activities you would never imagine a cat might enjoy. Therefore we usually recommend that people consider a companion animal of similar energy, and to seriously reconsider getting a Savannah if they have crotchety elderly cats that are not going to enjoy being pounced on 24/7 for a wrestle match. Brigitte Cowell (http://www.kirembosavannahs.com/)

Links:

http://www.savannahcat.com/

http://www.savannahbreedsection.org/

http://www.helmiflick.com/

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About the photo:

Kirembo Amonke Amadi, nickname Monkey, Owner Brigitte Cowell, (Kirembo Savannahs). Monkey is a B F4 Savannah (24.5% Serval). Monkey looks very elegant whether she is sitting up in a show cage or on the photographer's table, she has a lovely long neck and legs to go with tall ears, and of course those dramatic spots. Monkey likes to wrap her front legs around her human's neck and give "kisses", she was raised on laps but also enjoys running about the floor after snake-like wand toys. Photographer: Helmi Flick (http://www.helmiflick.com/)