F1 Savannah Cat for sale....no, not worded correctly. I’ll try again. Beautiful F1 Savannah Cat who loves her Mummy and her other F1 friends so much but not the serval she lives with.... Not really the ideal sales advert or the ideal solution for either the cat in question or myself. Owning early generation hybrids and wild cats means that you really do need to be responsive to their needs and change things to suit them where possible. Sometimes when a group have been friends through a juvenile period, after becoming Mothers themselves or even approaching adulthood, the hormones can really upset the balance in a cattery environment, even in large enclosures. We always aim to keep the cats occupied through various enrichment experiences and change things up regularly within their enclosures. Sometimes when the cats take a dislike to each other, they can stay in their “mood” for weeks and even months at a time. You, as a responsible owner, must take the sufficient steps to ensure there is a balance at all times. Emira our F1 Savannah has always been the most stand-off-ish out of our F1’s and a bit less predictable. She was completely un-socialised when we got her, which meant she was absolutely terrified to come near us. Our advice when we received her was, “here is some Supermarket branded pouches with gravy, she likes those best and kibble along with a couple of mice”. I kept her on the Tesco value sachets and biscuits for the first few weeks as I didn’t want to make her feel even worse. We then moved to what she should’ve been on and that was raw meat. The breeder had also kindly included a blanket – for comfort of smell you would think? No, the blanket was for picking her up with, it was for our 'protection', not for the comfort of the kitten. We were advised not to look her in the eyes and put the blanket over our hands before picking her up, ideally from her backed into a corner so we could control her spitting fit. “She is an F1” we were told. “This is what they are like at 10 weeks, totally wild but will come round through time”. Emira was our first F1, we were very naïve and didn’t realise that she was far from what a socialised and loved F1 should be like on arrival. Thankfully all our other F1’s were raised in the family home and loved dearly before they came to us. They purred! Purring is something we never got from Emi until she was with us for about 6 months. I wouldn’t give up on her. After time progressed Emira came round, never really enjoying male human company despite the endless nights of playing without eye contact and reaching out to her without force from my Husband. She has always been so striking in looks and produced lovely kittens for us. She got on with my female serval so well when she was introduced as a playmate as a kitten. They played great together and even slept beside each other in the indoor sleeping house. After Emira had kittens, she decided she didn’t like the serval anymore. The serval grew bigger and Emira just ‘felt different’. We resisted the sale of Emi for so long and tried changing the cats round, but then it left everyone else upset. She gave my serval a hard time and then as the serval grew, she got it back twice as hard. “I’ll have to rehome her, it’s the only option to rework the balance”, I said to Gordon. “She just hates this serval and I don’t know what else to do”. I asked a breeder who owns Emira’s sisters at her cattery and she said, “I don’t want her. We have enough problems with her sisters!”. I thought, well, at least Emira is not causing any problems when she is not with the serval, so that is a bonus! F1 Savannah cats are notorious, along with servals for imprinting on one (to two at the most) human. They do this from a young age, within the first few months of their life and that is why getting an F1 no later than 12 weeks is advisable. Getting an F1 after 12 weeks old could be too late and mean that they won’t accept you without a tremendous amount of work, sometimes to no avail. Moving them to a new home can be catastrophic for them and the new owners. I had heard this for years from several breeders, namely of servals and F1's, where they said they would keep all their cats for life…until recently we were told that several breeders cats had been offered for free as an “off-load” to make way for new cats. Along with advice on how never to advertise on certain listings and just to give them away cheap to make it look like you are in demand. They advised me on not selling cats unless they were excellent type and to give away those ones less than perfect, which would ensure your image was perfect because of the way of customer perception. “Everyone is full of shit”, I thought. "I'm my own person, honest, first and foremost and I can make the right decisions for my own cattery". The people who have done this for way longer than us, that preached the best way to care for early generation hybrids and wild cats in the beginning, were doing exactly what they told us never to do - rehoming! You now see their own advice not applying to the person giving it but happy to deceive everyone through hiding the less-than-perfect parts of breeding. I thought to myself, who-ever I decide to home Emi with must have vast amount of experience and be willing to put in the work to bring her round to trusting them. How else could we work out the situation to accommodate, most importantly? But who can I trust? I reluctantly advertised her. The advert was the largest post I have ever written for an advert on a cat for sale. I boasted about her type, my darling baby, so perfect in every way, the perfect cat. “Doesn’t get along with my serval”, I wrote. I thought this is absolutely killing me. I received loads of e-mails every day about her. People saw it as a bargain. “I don’t have a licence but I’ll get one, how much is it?” “I breed blue puppies because I get £1,000 more a puppy than regular puppies – breed removed- so I’d like an F1 Savannah 'cause they make the most” “I’ll give you X for her as she is less valuable than a kitten” It was ALL about money, no-one had a *swear word removed* care about the difficulties in mating F1's. How can I even consider discussing the TYPE of home on offer when we can’t even get past the financial ‘interest’. This isn’t working. To be honest, she is a really friendly F1 now when she is not kittening and I had no concerns with her temperament on a regular day. No-one was really ever going to understand the difference of an F1’s temperament when they have kittens and how to suit/ adjust things to suit an F1 queen which has kittens, when they were more interested in the financial outcome of such kittens. And what happened when they realised how hard it can be to produce F2 kittens or to have live F2 kittens even AFTER a mating has been successful? The thing I most interested in for my F1 was TRUST. We sat on the bench one evening, as we do, while I have a cup of tea and a chat with the early generation Savannah girls. They know all my stories and secrets. They chat back to me. Emi was reaching up and pawing my face so I would lower it in order for her to reach and give me a head bop. “Ma-ma”, she meowed and I just burst into tears. I just can’t let my girl go. She is my child and I am her Mother, her world. I have to make this work, there must be another way. Revelation moment and total re-evaluation of the setup. We pulled together and brain-stormed, drew up plans, put ideas across to each other. Emira has a new fantastic enclosure pictured above where she now lives happily with some of our other F1’s, her best friends. The plans were drawn up, the enclosures were all re-worked and within 2 weeks of re-working it all, the equilibrium that we once had, was restored. We now have other enclosures drawn up to ensure that we can move any more girls if required. They are our babies and I couldn’t ever imagine them going anywhere else. Hallelujah!!! What do you think of your new enclosure Emi? She just looked at me, just like in this picture below. "I am home", she said with her eyes, then smiled. F1 Savannah Cat "NOT" for sale. #savannahcat #f1savannahcat #savannahcatforsale #f1savannahkitten #savannahkittens #hybridcats #hybrid #servalcats #servalcatforsale #servalsintheuk #savannahcatsuk #savannahinGB #Stylisticatsavannahcats #catoftheday #instacat #stylisticathybridcats #hybridkittens #hybridownership
Finally getting through the backlog of filing and paperwork we had to get done! We have a software where we log all our cats vaccines and batch numbers in their individual files on our system. This system can be handy if you want to add notes to a cats file, find information quickly for kitten owners/potential buyers and the good thing about the pedigree aspect of it is that we can look back so many more lines very quickly when they are all linked together on the system. I love the software storage but data entry can be very monotonous- even worse when you need to make sure its completely accurate. Once it's done though the benefits are fantastic as it means that we can review the whole cattery at the click of a button. It is also handy to schedule in reminders for boosters. We have started to do boosters every 18 months as opposed to annually to prevent over-vaccinating. We no longer vaccinate for the Feline Leukemia Virus as we have all our cats indoors and fully protected. I will write more on this vaccination later. How are you all? Are there any signs of Spring for your pussy cats to enjoy where you live? This holiday period we are removing the newly laid bark in some areas as it's been selected as a new litter tray despite the cats having two each! We will have to resort to paving slabs in areas which we really wanted to avoid and give them a more natural surrounding. In the case of infection control, the cats surroundings must be kept sanitary and hygienic - plus we don't want any unexpected friends that are very small and furry. The bark is very porous so even though we collect waste then disinfect the areas, the scenting of faeces or urine in an area (whether it be outside the home or inside the home for other cat owners who have cats that like to defecate outside their trays), the saying is true that once it's happened once, they will likely always go back to that area as no cleaners can remove the scent which is detectable by a cat. We can't wait for the weather to get that bit better. The sun has been shining a lot more during the day although it doesn't seem much warmer. The flies always come when the farmers start on their fields so at this point we always remove the hay outside and discard sand boxes. The wild cats simply don't like litter trays though so we have to be busy cleaning more throughly, regularly. Wild cat urine is also a lot stronger in smell than your domestic or even F1. Update on our new centre progress Its going to to be an exciting year. We have some wonderful cats coming to join us into our breeding programme from the USA and Europe and we have successfully rehomed ones that we decided to no longer use in our programme.
We have been getting to work on our new concept of the Feline Centre which we hope to open either at the end of 2017 or early 2018. This centre will be based at our home and only be available to visit through private arrangements for a one to one hands on experience with an array of cats. The purpose of the centre will be to support the reintroduction and preservation of certain species which we have been offered to work with, even the privilege of supporting some endangered species, which we will be helping to support the breeding programme with our Zoo colleagues, private owners and colleagues within our own facility. It is very exciting and we can't thank the people enough who have shared their time with us, forming good working relationships and some friendships within the professional wild animal field. The dedication and determination on our part has helped to demonstrate the passion to work with the cats and that has been worth its weight in gold in achieving certain goals. It is not an act or falsified in any way to portray an image for commercial purposes. That's the beauty about being a small team of Wife, Husband and some extended family members. The friendships are closer with those who we call friends and they know they mean a lot to us. This also means that when people come to us for advice we can give them it with a heart felt response. If someone asks us for a certain thing which doesn't fit with our vision and goals then we won't offer it - even though it could be very easy to do things and make a quick buck. Working at the Zoo is also a massive milestone and as I'm going afterwards to do Veterinary and Zoo related studies, it all seems like we are on the right track. We are very much looking forward to being able to provide people with that much sought after "experience day" where they can come and be a keeper of our wild cats for the day and really get involved with the husbandry. We feel that this will be very educational in itself to allow people to properly identify if wild cat ownership really is for them and provide the opportunity to ask a load of questions. Some of the big cats may not be suitable for the hands on experience as much as the smaller cats such as our servals and caracals but we do aim to work on that. For those who decide to apply for a wild cat from us (or others) we will be aiming to provide a days course where they will be given the dwa requirements and a chance to run through their own plans for their enclosures, experience the cats hands on, prepare food and learn about the techniques of smaller wild cat feeding, learn about diet and nutrition, help with the cleaning of the enclosures and discuss environmental enrichment, discuss breeding plans and receive support and guidance on getting started. It will be amazing to show people how loving our tame wild cats are and be able to show them how to get their own wild cats to grow up in the same manner of mutual respect and love (something which is often overlooked when buying a wild cat). Behaviour training and understanding is one of the most important aspects of wild cat ownership because without creating respect for each other you could simply have a wild cat which gets no enjoyment from living in captivity, you don't get the chance to enjoy the cat and the whole idea of having a bond becomes a distant dream. We hope to help people get it right from the word go and really enjoy the experience it can bring. As a secondary additional service the centre will take any wild cats or hybrid cats which need a new home but one cannot be sourced from the current owner or the cat requires to be placed in emergency respite until paperwork clearance comes through. We hope to work with behavioural issues if necessary putting the feline behaviour management qualification into place and also putting our work in Africa with cats to good use. We will always aim to rehome any cats that fall into the DWA category. This service is currently active but we are in the process of making it all more official through registration as a separate entity and not part of Stylisticat. Hope you enjoy your Easter break! We'd be happy to have any volunteers who would like to come and help us do some groundwork and spring cleaning. (Cat cuddles guaranteed) ;) and remember: chocolate is poisonous to cats so make sure you keep those eggs safely stored. Sincerely yours, Kayleigh McIntosh-Lowrie Stylisticat UK I thought it was important to put up something for those who ask us for stud to read.
Careful consideration is taken to have a NEW cat or kitten which we intend to purchase tested before it leaves the premises of the breeder and again upon arrival. It is only rarely we will accept a cat in which hasn't been tested before it arrived, which we then test. Testing is wonderful and horrible all at the same time. Why do I say that? Sometimes you can bring in the most beautiful cats to your cattery which look perfectly fit and healthy and they only display the symptoms of their internal issues when they are stressed. Basically, even if you test your cat before it leaves, it could show positive when tested on arrival due to stress triggering the immune system level to drop, allowing the virus to be (in simple terms) allowed to develop and attack. The times of stress in a cat usually involve either: A: Travel, B: Mating, C: Settling into a new home/ environment, D: Overcrowding. If you have had a cat tested before it leaves for a full upper respiratory panel including Calicivirus, Chlamydia, Mycoplasma and Herpes, along with a faecal PCR (Poo Sample), then this gives a full range of results of the status of the cat in a normal state i.e. non-stressed. The cost of these tests are £225 per cat for us. Upon arrival, the cat would then require to be tested ideally immediately and AGAIN about 2 - 3 weeks later (with results taking 10 - 14 days to come back) to ensure any infections had adequate incubation time to be displayed on a PCR test result. This way the cat has been tested 3 times and had a quarantine period of at least one month at our premises before being fully admitted i.e. a stud being put with a queen. If we have a new Queen, then our policy is that we will allow her at least 2 months of settling in time, before considering putting her with another cat to live with. The 2 months is not inclusive of the quarantine period as there is a specific pen to cover the quarantine period and we only have one (or two if from the same place) at the one time in this area. Why would we spend £££ per cat on testing before having them fully integrated? Most Upper Respiratory Infections spread so easily among catteries as they can be spread from clothing, shoes, gloves, door handles and even the air. This is why perspex is used in the event that the tests have missed something which hasn't been shed at the time of testing so that if anything does ever come up it will be contained to a pen. (Touch Wood). So if your cat was in heat and you brought her to us, you would've spent around £225 x 3 sets = £675. And this is before your stud fee was charged. We would also retest our stud and show you a clear panel but this would be included in the fee. Fee-wise - what would we need to charge for this to be worth it? The normal fee for stud in the UK is £500. If we deduct £225 from this it's not really worth all the hassle... Some cats have intermittent shedding of viruses so it cannot even be detected with tests unless you repeat weekly - I never want to have to go through the cost of that so I don't want to put my cats at risk. Your cat would have to clear the 3 months quarantine procedure so we would need to then wait for the appropriate heat period to have her mated thereafter. Housing someone elses cat for 3 months plus however long a hear-period takes to appear can be very costly when it's a heated pen, food water, wastage etc. So now realistically we're into the £850+ fee for stud by the time the testing is done too. £675 testing + £850 stud fee = £1,525 cost outlay to you. Oh, and have you got an HCM scan certificate to show us? By this point most have ran a mile. When we mention HCM scans they don't want to know! READ ABOUT HCM HERE. We will not allow any of our boys to mate an untested Queen inclusive of HCM too. Our HCM tests cost £135 per cat, so if you haven't done it already then include this into your cost. Now you're at £1,660 and you know that Savannah Studs can be purchased between £1,500 and £4,000, right? You can own your own tested and safe male for the same cost it would likely be to stud here. Always ask for the test certificates for HCM and PCR tests before you bring a male into your cattery. You can have a happy female more likely to be mated because she is at home and putting her in a males pen on your own premises will not cause any high levels of stress. It is always worth noting that any mating process is stressful for any cat as they are highly hormonal during that period so it is not normal behaviour for them. By moving the female off-premises, it can trigger other elements of stress which can cause complications and then who will be the one to blame - the one with the Stud or the one with the Queen? Chances are, as soon as we mention tests, people tend to run a mile and just take their cat untested to Joe Bloggs' cat untested and hope for the best. That's fine if they are happy with that - it's completely none of our business and we are only writing this to display the reasons why we don't offer stud. Call us too protective perhaps, some even call us over the top. Some breeders will tell you that you don't need to test, that you don't require an HCM Scan because it's inconclusive particularly in early gens (which is a load of rubbish as we've never had an inconclusive result even on F1's!), that HCM is not a problem in the breed so you don't need to worry (they obviously do not read about the owners who have lost cats to HCM on Savannah groups), that the disease is in all cats so you may aswell not worry about any infections...(no comment) and my all time favourite...wait for it: "But I KNOW my cats are fine. IF there was anything wrong with them I'd be able to see it. I've never had any problems so I KNOW they are fine and don't need to test them." Yep. I have even discussed testing before with a breeder which claimed the above. Wow, really? Microscopic Vision. I have heard it all now! You cannot KNOW simply by looking at your cats. The only way to truly know is perform a full panel of PCR's. As long as we're clean and healthy and continue to produce clean and healthy cats then that's all that matters here. I'm sorry we can't help you out but hopefully potentially saved your cat or whole cattery from being put at risk by you reading this. NOTE: We don't offer stud to general public but do work with Zoos and private owners on the above stud plan when working to preserve any at risk species with some of our other wild cats, where the husbandry we provide is also reflected in their own facility. Best wishes, Where do I start? So you are wondering how we have come to own such beautiful cats and wondered where to start, whilst you give the idea of exotic cat or dangerous wild animal licenced cat ownership very careful consideration… We receive many questions on a daily basis on how to obtain these animals and if they are all as wonderfully tame as they are in our videos which we post regularly on social media. I decided to write this small article as a rough guide to cover these questions and explain reasons behind my answers. I will also discuss the breeding aspect of these animals very lightly. I will refer to the “DWA”, and the, “DWAA” throughout and these abbreviate the “Dangerous Wild Animal” and “Dangerous Wild Animal Act”. Any animal considered not to be domesticated falls into the DWA category in the United Kingdom. You will find that parts of the world have different rules and do not even licence some wild cats for private ownership. In some countries not only wild cat ownership, but hybrid ownership is banned altogether. I would suggest that before deciding to really research private exotic cat ownership, whether this be a hybrid or full wild cat, please do check your local laws depending on which state or country you are in. This is primarily aimed at the UK DWAA, but can be used as a guideline or part of your research on wild cat ownership anywhere in the world as I hope it can give you some useful information. The Dangerous Wild Animals Act was first produced in 1976 and amended in 2010. The purpose of the act was to prevent incompetent ownership of the larger species which were widely available around the time of the Act’s compilation. Do not get me wrong, there are still a number of private owners in the UK with leopards, pumas, cheetahs, tigers and other larger species but they are licenced and inspected annually/ bi-annually to ensure the welfare of the animal is being prioritised. There are no different rules in Scotland, Northern Ireland, Wales or England. What is the requirements of a DWA Licence and how do I find out more? Firstly, there are no physical national requirements on enclosure sizes, materials, lighting, heating or design structure. The answer is simply- speak to your local council animal welfare officer. Each individual council or county has their own requirements on what they feel meets the DWAA compliance for them to issue you with a licence. I will give you an example of 4 different wild cat owners enclosure types and they all have DWA Licences: NOTE: the comfort rating and security rating is a personal opinion and is not issued by a council. The rating is inserted to help potential DWA cats keepers to understand the difference that enclosures can make to the life of the animals in their care.
Who enforces the DWAA? Your local council holds full responsibility to enforce the DWAA and issue or refuse to issue licences to Dangerous Wild Animal keepers. It is worth noting that you must apply for a DWA licence before you obtain your animal you intend to keep on your premises. Most councils have application forms for a DWA licence so by asking for one well in advance, you will have an insight into what information the council will require from you. It may also be worth speaking to your council DWA officer to gain the contact details of the Veterinary Surgeon who will be inspecting your enclosure. You can then contact her/ him directly and discuss any concerns or recommendations they may have well before you start your building project. It is worth remembering that there are a few requirements that must be met to adhere to the act and this is what the council is there to enforce under the act. What are the basic requirements of a DWA Licence? The council will check to ensure that:
If a licence will be issued, it will include the following:
If I plan to breed DWA’s – what happens when another one comes for breeding? Call your council well in advance to notify them and ensure they add the cat on to your licence. Councils have the right to discretion and as this is a temporary situation you will be able to add on the animal for a short period. Do I really need a licence? How would anyone know any different? Power to seize Firstly, we do not trade any animals under the DWA to non-DWA holders. Please do not ask us as we will not risk the safety of our animals. We have exceptionally high-standards in our facility and if you are not deemed competent by the local authority in your area, then we will not undermine this decision, or overrule and give you a cat anyway. “But I’m about to build an enclosure” “I’m just waiting on my inspection” “I’ll build the enclosure before the kitten gets big” “It’s only the one cat, so I don’t think I really need an enclosure” If you would like a kitten from us which requires a DWA licence then please provide us with a copy of your licence that has already been granted. NOTE: Where an animal is being kept contrary to the section 1 (1) of the DWAA (held without a licence when it requires a licence) or any condition of your DWA licence is contravened/ you are non-compliant, the council may seize your animal. The council can hold on to it, rehome it, destroy it or whatever they decide and they NOT liable to pay any compensation for the animal to the owner. Not only do they not need to compensate the owner but they can also charge fees for uplifting the animal and doing what they have decided to do with it. This debt is recoverable through court. I find it difficult to encounter the wild cats which I would like to own…why is everyone so protective? You need to work for trust. Network. Visit places if people will allow you to. If breeders of the animal you want to keep are being secretive, ask yourself why. It can be difficult to source if wild cats are inbred or not without being in contact with other people who have bought cats from the person you decide to buy from. If you genuinely want to purchase a wild cat or F1 hybrid then ask breeders if you can spend some time with the breeds they have, stating your genuine interest in purchasing one. Some breeders may even accept volunteers, but be sure that they have adequate insurance to cover others in with their DWA animals. To explain this further, one of our insurance policies only covers those named on the licence, so we have had to take out a further policy to cover those who are not named. By having two, we can change the amount of liability and the type of contact with the animals. What cats are covered under the DWAA? A selection – (remember if it is not considered domestic, then a licence is applicable): Bobcat Caracal Cheetah Jaguar Lion Lynx Ocelot Puma Serval Tiger If I have an enclosure built and a DWA licence granted, can I bring the animal in the house? No. Not unless you have your house or more specifically an area of the house dedicated to DWA animals. This is not easily attainable but is achievable through time and knowledge. What’s the point is keeping a DWA animal outside in an enclosure all the time? I want a DWA pet. A dangerous wild animal licence covers you for animals that are not “pets”. The term pet is part of the reason why the act was introduced. The fact that these animals are not domesticated means that they are not well-suited to houses or the domestic lifestyle. It is often that these animals will not use a litter tray or play with something that was a much cherished possession of their owners. DWA cats are quicker, smarter, more agile and can give bigger bites than your average domestic cat – they need to be kept secure not only for public safety, but for their own. If you decide to bring your cat in and it escapes, you will have to put your emergency procedures into place and you could lose your cat and your licence. If you really want your DWA cat in the house, plan carefully and have it onto your licence. What if I get a wild cat and I am scared of it? It is natural to be unsure about any animal which you haven’t met before. If you have bought a DWA cat then you must have it transported in a DEFRA-approved vehicle which means it’s suitable for transporting a DWA animal. It is worth getting your own transport approved for this. The travel tends to either completely upset an animal or they breeze through it not even noticing the travel. Give them a quiet room when they come home, but don’t leave them alone. Work with your animal right from the beginning. If your cat has been raised properly then it should be well-socialised and outgoing. Some cats can be shy and will take a few days to come round – but not longer. If you have not owned a hybrid of these animals, it would be worth doing so before taking on a wild cat. In all honesty, an F2 will only give you a slight indication of the temperament of the wild animal in their ancestry. By F2 there is likely to be around 25% wild genetics (2nd generation) from the wild cat, which is, in wild cat terms, huge dilution. The best thing you can do before making the decision is to get experience. Hopefully you will have taken a long time to consider the DWA cat you have purchased and worked so hard for your licence for. DWA ownership is not for those who are out at work all day as they need regular interaction come rain or shine. If you have a DWA cat and decide that it really isn’t for you after trying your best then it is always likely that the breeder will take the cat back (no refund) and you should always ask them in the first instance should you decide to part with the animal. We are currently going through a long process of setting up a non-profit charity in the UK to help with rescue/ rehoming of DWA cats only as more of them come into ownership in the UK and many often sold to un-licenced or unsuitable homes. Should you decide not to speak with the breeder for personal reasons then please contact us for advice. Are most wild cats like yours in the videos? Can I feed them from my hands? Aren’t they aggressive? I wish I could say they were. Every cat has their own individual temperament but you need to allow enough time when every cat you receive is new to have them imprint on you. Here at Stylisticat, I am the main carer. I am here 24/7 and spend an extensive amount of time with the cats to ensure that they know who is the most trusted person they can rely on. It has been often asked how I have molded them to be so loving when other struggle to get them to come when called or to pet their DWA cats. Some are flabbergasted that I have a serval cuddling on my knee, cleaning my face. It has not come easily and I have had to work so hard for the trust and love that I am given. I always say to people that you reap what you sow. My cats are all affectionate on their terms. The larger wild cats we have here will hiss at visitors who approach the enclosure. Once they get to know them a bit better they will rub themselves along the fence to try and scent the person and show affection. Always be persistent with animals, similar to small children. Do not reward naughty behaviour but do not ignore it either. When wild cats are small they play with their mouths. You may have to wear gloves initially until the training period is over and you and your cat have a behavioural understanding where possible. Some cats do not ever become, ‘safe’, to work with. Bear that in mind. Even my most loving cats can bite or scratch when they want/ do not want something and it’s certainly not just your average nip of the skin. You may get puncture wounds in your skin through play. This can be difficult to get used to initially and is not enjoyable but always have a toy to hand so that you can divert attention and show praise for playing with toys and not human skin. I would never advise playing with any DWA cat of a larger size. There is a great difference for example in the way that I play with Servals than the way I play with caracals! A lot goes on behind the scenes in any DWA Licenced keeper where there are a number of cats – great and not-so-great things. It’s only natural. If you have any questions feel free to ask. There are loads for sale overseas – how do I import one? Any animal imported may be covered by CITES Licences you can contact CITES here. Any animal which is covered under a DWA licence i.e. a full wild animal or F1 hybrid cannot travel under the Pet Passport Scheme into the UK. You will be required to obtain an Import Licence from APHA/ DEFRA - Go to DEFRA. You will be required to quarantine the animal for 4 months in England and 3 months in Scotland within a DEFRA-approved quarantine facility. The facility will have a quarantine licence and must also obtain a DWA to accept your animal. This page will be updated as more questions are asked to be answered! You can ask us a DWA Licence question here We must admit - the cold weather is harbouring the development of our ground inside the enclosures. The constant wet weather here in Scotland means we are putting off digging and planting until things dry out a bit!
We live on the side of a mountain so the water tends to flow underneath our ground. We have our #DWAlicence renewal visit in the next few weeks so we are looking forward to showing our Vet how things have progressed since his visit last year. Currently, we are trying to source some safe plants and trees which we can put inside our enclosures. If anyone has any suggestions on what else we can fit inside our new enclosures then we welcome any ideas - and the cats do too! I had an interesting discussion with a fellow big cat enthusiast and we were discussing the enrichment of the cats lives. He made a very valid point which is, "Large spaces do not always equal enriched spaces and likewise small spaces do not mean lack of enrichment". We are perfectionists in what we do and strive to give our cats both - hence the constant extensions. In our DWA Enclosures, so far, we have:
Well, what's the objective here? I think the main thing we are always asking is, "what can we do better", "how can we make this more fun/enjoyable/exciting?". Ideally, our cats (not just DWA) should be able to run, explore, investigate, pounce, hide, surprise, relax and have the cat equivalent of "me-time" if they want it. Our other cats are currently in some boarding style pens which we bought as a temporary solution when we moved home in July. We had an issue because of the space that they liked to defecate wherever on the ground, so we have had to remove the stones and plan to replace the ground with slabs in the mean time but we don't like concrete for cats. For our smaller cats, such as F6 Savannahs and Abysinnians we are deciding what size of run to build as an outdoor-zone where they can have shots each in the area. They have a small outdoor area each at the moment but we want the above to apply to the smaller cats too. With male cats, they tend to spray everywhere to ensure that a. the ladies know he is ready and available, b. to ensure that male cats know that it is HIS area, not theirs and c. because male cats are stinky boys! ....so the males will likely be kept confined to their own quarters. We will keep the boarding pens to ensure that pregnant queens (although we don't have them very often) are able to be alone and have their own space. We have decided however, that the grounds which we have will never be big enough in order for us to give the cats the 100m2 per cat which we want to give them, so we will be looking in the next few years to upgrade to more land in a different area. At present we would be looking at a minimum area of enclosures equal to 6,500sqft/ 600m2/ 0.15 acres. This way we can give them zoo-size outdoor enclosures where they can feel more free to roam in long grass or come down to the water pond - or relax on a high perch in some trees. We still have to communicate with the local zoos and suppliers to see how we can possibly 'enclose' such a large area inclusive of the roof. We are doing well through our online store and are thankful to those of you who invest in us to provide beautiful gifts for your cats. In the summer of 2016 I will be travelling to Africa to spend some time on a conservation project with Cheetahs, Servals and Caracals in a much wilder situation to develop my knowledge on all aspects of Husbandry, Enrichment, Entertainment and Lifestyle. More on that later. Sincerely yours, Kayleigh M-L Stylisticat #100m2percatproject #wildcats #savannahbreeding #caracat breeding #caracal #serval #bigspacesforbigcats #beautifulbreeding #giveussomeideas #africacheetahssummer2016 #stylisticat Image courtesy of Hoedspruit Endangered Species Centre |
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ようこそ!| Sveiki | Добро пожаловат | Välkomna | Velkommen | ยินดีต้อนรับ | خوش آمدید | 환영 | AuthorAll about Stylisticat, written by Kayleigh McIntosh-Lowrie Archives
February 2021
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