F1 Savannah Cat for sale....no, not worded correctly. I’ll try again.

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.

Absorbent Bedding
We prefer vet bed for travel but it can be messy. The best thing on the first few hours of your journey is puppy training pads as these can easily be put into the bin and replaced if a toilet break has been required. Generally after a few hours the introduction of your pets favourite blanket or bedding can help relax your animal and encourage them to nap the journey.
 
Litter tray on not?
We use extra large carriers on our long distances. This enables us to have a litter tray and a bed side by side. This is to make sure that the cat feels comfortable to be able to go to the toilet.
 
Access to Water and Food
Bowls which clip onto the carrier are the best as this way they are unable to be stood on or knocked over. They are very cheap to buy and some even come with the carrier as standard. Your pet may not feel like eating or drinking but water is the most important offering on a journey because the stress can make your animal become dehydrated, alongside the heat.
 
Familiarity
Make sure you leave the carrier beside the animal a few weeks before the journey to ensure it has their scent and the have got used to the idea of going inside it to nap. We also offer food inside it so that the cat feels comfortable eating inside – this encourages them to eat on the journey. Toys inside also help them feel safe.

Sometimes it may be necessary to have a courier transport your animal for you. We always recommend fully vetting your courier before paying any deposit or in full before having them transport your kitten. There are many things you should consider when selecting a courier for your kitten.

Firstly, is the animal insured to be travelling with the courier?
Are they giving you a contract for the transportation of your animal?
Will the animal be alone or travelling with other pets?
What's the infection control process to ensure your pet is kept safe and secure from infectious diseases?
Do they have secure carriers for your pet?
If they are transporting a DWA animal - do they have a carrying licence for the animal?

We are Defra-Approved registered carriers for the transportation of Dangerous Wild Animal cats and can carry rabies-risk/ quarantine cats. Generally, we hand-deliver all of our kittens where possible and collect any new cats ourselves with relevant paperwork for border control inspection.

You must have a passport of equivalent paperwork for your animal you wish to travel with, import or export. Generally most animals fall into the Pet Travel Scheme set by DEFRA, the UK Government, but it is worth bearing in mind that some do not. In order to cross the border at some countries you may also require an additional licence granted by CITES. The purpose of the passport is to make sure the microchip matches the passport and vaccinations are up to date.

In our case, for Savannahs, you can import and export anything to/ from the UK with no CITES required provided it's within the EU. A brief guide below:

• F1 Savannah:- No CITES required - see notes. Quarantine required at a DEFRA-Approved facility for 3 months in Scotland, 4 months in England. Transportation of the animal must be done through a licenced carrying agent, such as ourselves. You may not transport an F1 Savannah in your car without a carrying agent licence (even to the vets!).
• ​F2 Savannah:- CITES required - see notes. Rabies Vaccination.
• F3 Savannah:- CITES required - see notes. Rabies Vaccination.
• F4 Savannah:- CITES required - see notes. Rabies Vaccination.
• F5 Savannah:- CITES required - see notes. Rabies Vaccination.
• F6 Savannah:- Pet Passport only required with rabies vaccination.

​IMPORTANT NOTE: Under the above EC Regulations there is effectively free movement of CITES listed animals within the European Union so no export/import permits will be required.  However, we would advise that you travel with proof of legal ownership in case challenged by Customs; this could be in the form of a receipt or a copy of an invoice. You should also contact their colleagues in Carlisle to discuss applying for an import health certificate and also any quarantine issues.  Their telephone number is: 01228 403600 or email: imports@apha.gsi.gov.uk and pettravel@apha.gsi.gov.uk

Congratulations to the wonderful Emira on the birth of her baby boy. He is a big healthy bouncing boy, golden in colour with jet black spots. The spots from this kitten will stay as defined as he gets older as there is no rosetting in this mating. This boy also has a lovely clear face with really interesting features. I can't wait to watch him grow. Welcome to the world wee man. 

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Kayleigh
Stylisticat UK

​http://www.stylisticat.com/upper-respiratory-infection-screening-in-cats.html

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

Next up for HCM heart health evaluation scans are:
F1 Bugatti 
F2 Shiloh
F6 Chima
Medal - African Serval
We believe we are the only HCM scanner of servals in a Savannah breeding programme in the UK. HCM is known to occur in any cats - even wild cats. We aim to prevent breeding from heart defects.
We are lucky enough to have a good network of Veterinary Surgeons whom we adore and work closely with. This means we can also ensure our wild cats are looked after just as easily as our other cats. If you decide to own a wild cat it can be hard to get a Veterinary Practice to agree to care for them. Specialist services are even rarer for wild cats unless you are a Zoo facility.
If you would like help with wild cat veterinarians in Scotland then please get in touch and we would be happy to support you and their care.
‪#‎makingadifference‬ ‪#‎promotinghcmscans‬ ‪#‎checkwhatyoucan‬ ‪#‎hcmscan‬‪#‎hcmscanning‬
www.stylisticat.com

I thought it was important to put up something for those who ask us for stud to read.

1. Mostly, people who ask us for stud, bought their cat not knowing if they would breed from them or not as a kitten. For us, this is usually the first warning sign as the kitten would not have been properly assessed for the breed standard when bought. Also, if the kitten has any faults the person usually wants to 'just get one litter from them', which is not the norm for any breeder unless it's simply to get their money back that they paid out for their cat in the first place. A cat is usually sold as a breeder OR a pet, not BOTH.
2. We try to improve the standard in any kittens we produce so are very protective of where our lines go to and which breeders they will be mated with. We really want the breed to improve and get those traits out which are in some lines. Many breeders won't sell their kittens to new breeders because they tend to realise they don't like it and rehome the cats they bought for breeding to try and get their money back, or they don't know how to care for kittens. A lot of people unfortunately do think it's just a quick buck or two.
3. The main reason though, which applies to the remainder of breeders who have purchased their kitten with breeding rights and intentionally planned to breed from the said cats is: Testing. There is a lot of testing involved in our facility before a kitten can even be put with the rest of the cats - and we don't mean in beside them, we just mean nearby in their own designated space.

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:

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,

If you are interested in submitting an application for ownership approval - you can now do this via the following link: