[Malaclypse]

Mine is only half-savannah - the neighbourhood bully cat broke in and impregnated the savannah mother - which is quite apt, now that I'm dealing with him and his predilections.

I insisted on a savannah kitten for my birthday 4 years ago and made Hetan drive into London - by the time we arrived she was FURIOUS because of the traffic we had had to deal with - I've never seen her so angry before or since.

And we got this weedy little half-breed who is not the 18 pound monster that I was hoping for but is instead the sweetest, most engaging and interesting cat that I have ever encountered. He's a complete bastard, it's true, but he makes up for it in so many ways.

I've known dozens of cats. Hell, I've shot dozens of cats (barncats, they are the worst pest known to farmerkind) and he is something completely different.

I like to think it's to do with their pack mentality - he respects the pack, always trying to make friends with the dogs and they're like 'wtf?' and he comes and pays tribute to his providers, totally differently from normal cats. He's deliberately showing appreciation which is fucking weird and wonderful.

Anyway, anybody else out there?

[McLovin]

If by "savannah" you mean "collie," and by "cat" you mean "dog," then yes I also own one.

[Malaclypse]

right, this is the Inn, where such nonsensical responses are somehow acceptable. Thanks for draining off some of my hate for the day, wankrag

[Ukjent]

I read Finish lapdog, they are awesome. Remember when she was a puppy and everyone said that puppies was afraid to go to far away from you and she just see ya!

On topic: If I ever wanted a cat a savannah cat would have been high on my list, they look awesome.

[Malaclypse]

A pic of both our cats, which I think manages to communicate their respective natures:

Attached File(s)

•  kittehs_web.jpg (503.76K)
  Number of downloads: 4

This post has been edited by Malaclypse: 27 September 2014 - 02:40 PM

[Nicodimas]

Im jealous...i totally want one

http://www.amirisava...nahkittens.html

They only run about 5k maybe someday...im totally going to convince my future wife to get one...vs a dog

Well maybe a boxer..

A: Would you have to keep your pet inside...
Do you create a enclosure...I have a big back yard that's around 13k SF so plenty of room...

B: Arizona Temps okay?

c: Diet and healthcare pricey?
You would have to find a Vet that works with exotics right?

[Malaclypse]

What? No, keeping in mind that mine's only half-savannah, we paid a pittance for him but you definitely don't have to spend anything like 5k (sure you could if you wanted one for breeding and needed the pedigree and all that bollocks).

There are two theories of cat stewardship - 1) You never let them roam outside, they are either in an enclosed space outside or in the house and 2) You let them roam as they please and take your chances.

I subscribe to the 2nd option. I don't think we could keep ours in the house even if we bent all our effort to the task. He is a roamer and I believe that he would be a less interesting and less happy cat if we tried to keep him enclosed.

Also, I see a lot of savannahs and bengals roaming around my town so I am not alone in this. A friend of ours got the brother of our guy and kept him in the house all the time, just allowing short excursions to the garden along with a pedigree Bengal and they were both mental, staring out the patio door for hours on end. I felt sorry for them.

I'm sure they'd be happy in the heat and they like MEAT! proper meat, not the 3% chicken/beef/tuna/whatever and 97% mystery meat (whatever dead animals that were unsuitable for human consumption that went into that batch at the rendering plant that day) that you get with off-the-shelf cat food. We do feed him some of the up-market canned food (with gravy) but he will often reject it, which makes the dogs happy.

Touch wood, we've never had a health problem with either of our cats.

This post has been edited by Malaclypse: 01 October 2014 - 03:45 PM

[Abyss]

Malaclypse, on 27 September 2014 - 11:57 AM, said:

... I've shot dozens of cats (barncats, they are the worst pest known to farmerkind) ...

Cool story Mal. Tell it again.

Closer to a window this time.

Malaclypse, on 01 October 2014 - 03:45 PM, said:

There are two theories of cat stewardship - 1) You never let them roam outside, they are either in an enclosed space outside or in the house and 2) You let them roam as they please and take your chances.

I subscribe to the 2nd option.

Average life span of an indoor cat - 12-20 years.
Average life span of an outdoor cat - 1-5 years.

Typical risk to indoor cat - harmful shit left lying around by owner.
Typical risk to outdoor cat - harmful shit left lying around by the entire world, dogs, other cats, misc predators, lice, fleas, cars, heat/cold exposure, feline leukemia, feline immunodeficiency virus, rabies, well meaning random people who adopt the cat, well meaning people who capture the cat and pass it to the humane society where it gets adopted out or euthanized, getting lost, alien abduction, sex traffic abduction, mad scientists turning cat into cyborg and forcing it to watch tv, internet porn...

[Aptorian]

I am with Mal on the let them explore the great outdoors.

Cats are built and hot wired to hunt and prowl and patrol and just generally find things to mess with. It's what makes them tick. It's what they live for. I can understand the argument for keeping them indoors because they kill everything around them for miles, but in terms of the cats own safety or well being I would rather the cat choose its own life path.

My parents have owned maybe 7 or 8 cats over the past 15 years. None of them have lived to an older age than 10. Some have disappeared. Some have been run over or killed by dogs. One 1 year old cat died a horrible death where we didn't know the people we adopted it from hadn't had it vaccinated and within a week it more or less lost half its weight and worms erupted from every orifice of the animal. 3 months ago a cat they'd owned for 6 years was run over randomly one day when it was crossing a road between fields 3 miles away from the house. Really sad but imagine all the adventures that cat must have been on in those 6 years it roamed the town and surrounding fields!

Losing a cat is painful. They are lovable creatures but if you love something you also have to let it be free. I think.

[amphibian]

I firmly prefer dogs to cats.

Even if Savannah cats look cool.

[Slow Ben]

I cant wrap my head around paying for a cat.



My cat is awesome, spends half its time inside, half outside chasing critters. And it was free.

This post has been edited by Slow Ben: 01 October 2014 - 09:26 PM

[Abyss]

Apt, on 01 October 2014 - 06:46 PM, said:

Cats are built and hot wired to hunt and prowl and patrol and just generally find things to mess with. It's what makes them tick. It's what they live for. I can understand the argument for keeping them indoors because they kill everything around them for miles, but in terms of the cats own safety or well being I would rather the cat choose its own life path.

I think that most cats would not choose to get FIV or run over by a car and live the extra fifteen years, and most owners would prefer to have them around for that long.

Quote

... Really sad but imagine all the adventures that cat must have been on in those 6 years it roamed the town and surrounding fields!Losing a cat is painful. They are lovable creatures but if you love something you also have to let it be free. I think.

You're humanizing the animal.
Cats are predators. They aren't looking for adventure, they're looking to establish territory, hunt, fuck and then sleep safely.
Pet cats are domesticated predators. They can do all of that to their satisfaction in the home, with a slight level of owner thought and care, and not end up a furry red smear on the road.

I'll stop belaboring the point now and go back to mapping Mal's typical routes and vulnerabilities.

[Malaclypse]

Let's get something straight here 'byss - I have already noted that there are two philosophies on the subject. I have no intention of changing your mind and I hope for your sake that you don't intend to continue your harangue because I am quite prepared to hammer you into the dirt on this subject should you desire it.

So don't pretend that you are in possession of universal truth regarding this matter and we'll get along fine

[Abyss]

Malaclypse, on 02 October 2014 - 01:58 PM, said:

Let's get something straight here 'byss - I have already noted that there are two philosophies on the subject. I have no intention of changing your mind and I hope for your sake that you don't intend to continue your harangue because I am quite prepared to hammer you into the dirt on this subject should you desire it.

So don't pretend that you are in possession of universal truth regarding this matter and we'll get along fine

Nah, that's fine, i said my piece. Go back to playing with your gun.

[Nicodimas]

@ MAL and ABYSS

See that is the problem I have at subjecting a Cat to staying inside all the time..I mean I obviously want one of these guys, but want it to be free and roam too. I would hate to cage an animal that is meant to stalk and get to play the predator role.


@ Amphiban:

Quote

Even if Savannah cats look cool.

Everyone should watch some of the youtube videos...these guys have some unique behaviors...am I correct in that assumption Mal, that they totally put other <domesticated> cats to shame.

They are awesome right?

This post has been edited by Nicodimas: 02 October 2014 - 07:55 PM

[Malaclypse]

Like I said, totally different ball-game - he's leagues above moggies in terms of intelligence and FOCUS - man he focusses in a way that other cats just aren't capable of. Related to the point I made about the fact that I don't think I could stop him from going out if I wanted to - we had a nestbox hung up on our garage and we had a family of bluetits who returned every year but when the cats arrived, first day out for the babies became a day of carnage so I walked out one morning to find a couple of dead baby birds in my back garden so I called the alarm, got Hetan up, corralled the cats, locked the catflap, started closing the windows and while we were doing all this, Magic was diving out of an upstairs window to deliver more slaughter. But he's also far and away the most chill cat I've ever had any contact with, apart from his mother. He jumps onto my shoulder from the floor without clawing me. Honestly, it's a league apart.

ETA: we removed the birdhouse the very next day

This post has been edited by Malaclypse: 02 October 2014 - 08:14 PM

[Malaclypse]

We have close neighbours which include a 'crazy cat lady' with a breeding pair of pedigree bengals which they allow to roam. The male is proper hideous, deeply unfortunate markings and therefore cheap so this bitch imagines she's got this amazing pedigree beast but in fact he's the bottom of the barrel. And a rather fearful, standoffish female, also with muddy markings. The male has tried to invade our garden but the dogs put an end to that so our cats have an unassailable base of operations for starters, which makes them feel amazing, I see it every day. Mojo, the ragdoll, and they are an amazing breed unto themselves - she has no desire to stray, she likes to stay close to her home and we love that because we never have the anxiety with her that we have with WeeMan when he's gone for two days, wondering if this is the time when he might have zigged when he should have zagged. Anyway, she settles on the wall over the carpark and quite clearly lords herself over it - if anyone were to try to grab her or anything, she has ample time to drop down into the garden and I am pleased with her astuteness.

Anyway, these neighbours with all the exotic cats, they love our little Magic, don't know all the details but he obviously goes into their house and hangs out there for significant periods of time. They said when they got too close he would hiss at them. So, my little warrior, honestly he's fucking tiny, runs the gauntlet of these enormous inbred cats, busts into their home and intimidates the owners to the point that they more or less serve him now. This is a life-partner I can appreciate

[amphibian]

Is this Mal caring about another being besides Hetan and SE?

I don't know what to say...

This post has been edited by amphibian: 02 October 2014 - 09:33 PM

[Malaclypse]

You are disingenuous my friend, I'm sure you remember quite clearly when I posted with similar passion about this cat on Facebook and you deigned to reply

[Malaclypse]

I'm gonna use this paltry platform to pass on my best tip on dealing with pets - pet them like your'e looking for ticks - it's social grooming, the ultimate show of care and respect. In evolutionary terms, both those who were motivated to groom others (because of observational learning which animals are good at) and those who were inclined to accept grooming would have had an evolutionary advantage by being less susceptible to disease via tickbite so after hundreds of thousands of generations you have cats who are motivated to groom those they consider packmates and those who are willing, nay, DELIGHTED, to accept social grooming. They will be yours forever if you can communicate this notion of social grooming - cover every inch, be vigorous, and they will love you forever. They can't help themselves.

This post has been edited by Malaclypse: 02 October 2014 - 09:54 PM