A1Savannah Sensation - Retired Savannah Queen

This page is about Sensation in her new home after retiring from breeding

Paul and Floss adopted Sensation from us as a neutered retired Savannah queen to keep Fred and Honey company.

Below in Paul's own words:.....................

What got us into Savannah’s?

In 2006 we bought our first Bengal, a male kitten we named Fred, who soon grew into a very large SBT Bengal. We knew he needed a playmate to calm him down, but where to get one. We spent months searching for one, and kept looking at Purebliss retirees as they were all such beautiful cats. We knew the companion for Fred would need to be a female.
Jacky and Tim used to run a boarding cattery, and we were due to go to Portugal. Although we had decided that the companion for Fred would be a Purebliss retired queen, we wanted to wait for a female who was around the same age as Fred. It seemed logical to board Fred with Purebliss for his holiday so that Jacky and Tim would get to meet Fred.
Fred's stay was great, and he was pleased to see us again when we picked him back up. We had only been home for a few days when we finally saw a cat we were interested in - Purebliss Honeycomb, and promptly contacted Jacky to see if she felt that Honey would be a good companion for Fred given his temperament - she thought they would make perfect companions, and were only a few days apart in age.
Fred and Honey settled together very quickly, within 2 weeks if I remember correctly. We kept Jacky updated with their progress regularly and sent photos at every opportunity. We all became friends as a result of this really (us humans that is).

And Savannah's?

Floss was always on the Purebliss website after this, and it was probably around September last year (2007) that Jacky started to place information about the Savannah’s she was due to be importing. ............... I immediately fell in love with the Savannah’s as soon as I saw the pictures, and read about them on the Purebliss website.
I was totally intrigued, and read as much as I could about the breed. I wanted one. I had to have one, but as any man knows the one who wears the trousers said no. (Only teasing about the trousers, Floss). It would be awkward also as Honey does not get on with kittens, but the likelihood of ever seeing a retired Savannah queen was pretty slim.

In late August this year we went to visit Jacky and Tim, and Jacky could not resist tormenting us with her wonderful Bengal cats. She then also told us about Sensation having been retired, and she was close to the ages of Fred and Honey. I was hooked, but explained that whilst I loved the breed, Floss had decided no more cats. After our usual lovely visit and catch up we started on the 50 mile journey home. I could not shut up about the possibility of owning a Savannah, and must have really drove Floss mad during the journey home, because within minutes of being home I was allowed to call Tim and Jacky and ask about the suitability of Sensation as an addition to our Bengals. I was so thrilled when Jacky said that Sensation would be a perfect companion to Honey and Fred.

We picked Sensation up on the evening of the 17th September 2008, and probably caused the Bliss family to eat a cold Chinese meal, we were all so busy talking cats again.

Sensi is very playful, and does not seem to be overly worried about people being around her. I have managed to tickle behind her ear even, and what a purr I got in reward. Nothing like a Bengals. She's very much like them in loving, but the sounds are so very different. That's the only time she has let me stroke her, but what a thrill.

	During Sensation's second week here, our 3 year old grandson decided to play fetch with her, despite us saying she wouldn't want to. All of a sudden sure enough the two of them were playing fetch with a toy mouse. The picture shows Sensation putting the mouse onto his back for him to throw yet again.  I've also included a photo of Sensation learning some computer skills from our youngest daughter.

Oct '08 ...................... Sensi and Fred have periods when they will sniff each other and tolerate being close to each other, and periods when they want their own space. Sensi and Honey are still finding it a little uncomfortable being around each other, although we are sure that this will change over time as they are all coming on so well together in such a short time. Honey wants to play and Sensi is not ready for play with anyone just yet (cat wise anyway). Sensi has been through so much in her short life that the level of play that Honey demands from another cat seems to be too much for her at the moment. Sensi is quite happy to have Fred and Honey play in front of her but does not feel ready to join in just yet. She appears to want to at times as her bottom starts to shimmy, but nothing develops beyond that, therefore we assume that she is not quite ready yet.............Cheers.............Paul & Floss

(11 November '08) Jacky................Fred, Honey and Sensi have been missing out on attention due to how busy we have been decorating. Had it not been for this I do not doubt that things between Sensi, Honey and Fred would be much further forward.

OK so what’s Sensi like....?   Sensi loves to eat; she doesn't seem to get full - ever. Normal wet food is wolfed down at first sitting. Biscuits seem to be eaten in vast quantities. Any form of fresh is eaten with a low growl, whether anyone is nearby or not. It’s a litany of yum, yum, yum that only ends when the fresh has been consumed. She is also quite naughty with food, she thinks that she is supposed to eat with us from a plate, usually either Floss or one of the kid’s plates. Meat, potatoes, veg, cake or crisps are all on the menu and all stealth fully acquired. Or just taken...... at lightening speed. She now has removing sandwich fillings from between bread in your hands to a refined level. The amount of plain bread consumption in the house has risen considerably.   Sensi talks and talks, and it can at times be quite guttural........we have found that what may sound like a growl is more often than not a very deep purr. When Sensi sleeps, she snores and yes, you guessed....... it can be loud. Then she will surprise you with a gentle meow which leaves us wondering why Fred or Honey is calling us, before we realise its Sensi.   Sensi love to play, but she's not quite comfortable yet playing with Fred and Honey. If Sensi decides she likes a toy, she likes it to destruction, much the same as Fred or Honey would. On the whole Sensi is much like Fred and Honey, but everything is done with 10 times the energy, 10 times the speed and 10 times the passion.   Sensi is now happy to wander around the house and explore where ever she decides to go or get into. If she is surprised by Honey or Fred, we usually hear the thunder of little paws, shortly followed by Sensi gliding unceremoniously down the hallway from the staircase. This is sometimes accompanied about 5 seconds later by Honey, who stops at the bottom of the stairs and rolls for anyone who happens to be in her line of sight. The sound of this might sound quite alarming for anyone who happened to hear it, but we know its only play. It seems that Honey is desperate to play with Sensi, but Sensi is not quite ready for Honey's play yet. Although she will sit and watch Honey and Fred play chase and hovers where she is sat as if she is just about to join in, and then she will settle back down as though she has decided that now is not quite the time.   Only tonight she chased Honey out of the dining room in play, and as she got to the hallway abruptly stopped, realised what she was doing and returned to the dining room.   We have been further surprised in the last few days by finding the 3 of then together on the sofa. Honey spoilt things by waking and deciding she wanted to play with Sensi, however, Sensi was unaware of the invitation for play as she was asleep. She was very unhappy to be woken from such a deep sleep (yes, she was snoring), and made her displeasure apparent to all around her. Needless to say she has not settled down near Honey since, but we all know this will change and sleeping with Fred and Honey will become the norm for her.

Sensi is starting to realise a difference in Honey and Fred's personalities. Sensi and Honey are starting to understand each other now, and despite mistakes are starting to accept each other. There have been attempts at chase, but they usually end in either Honey running off on her own, or being corrected by Sensi for the rude awakening. This is changing as Sensi's confidence is growing and she is making herself part of the family. It’s becoming quite apparent as Sensi's confidence in being a pet, alongside being companion to 2 Bengals is coming along very well. She has come so far in such a short time and is really settling in and becoming the companion to Honey and Fred we all expected she would be. Since adopting Honey we have become to realise that having her around is like having a permanent kitten as part of the family. After adopting Sensi, we have now accepted that we are going to have a permanent Bengal Kitten and a permanent Savannah kitten as part of the family. What has been surprising is the fact that we are starting to see traits of Sensi showing up in both Honey and Fred. Even to the extent that Fred, who has never been interested in anything other than wet or dry cat food is now starting to eat bits of fresh. 

This weekend has been another busy one. I had planned to get a lot of work done on the Landover, but the weather meant I got very little done, so Saturday afternoon I was dragged into the house as Floss has moved the living room round to get ready for Christmas. This meant I had all the surround sound to rewire. One adult male, 2 Bengals, one Savannah, lots of cables - what a recipe for disaster. What ought to be an hour’s job relaying cables under the floor turned into 5 hours work. Surprisingly all the speaker cables still work. Unfortunately we found out that the new layout means that Sensi and Honey can get to the back on the TV and surround sound system. I've spent this evening (Sunday) cat proofing the whole thing. 
It’s quite obvious that as time moves on there will be more and more adventures to share.
Cheers ...........Paul & Floss 

25th November Sensi is coming along leaps and bounds. We have all read how much Bengals and Savannah's love water. To see Sensi play with water is an absolute delight. Having learnt early on with our cats that we needed to protect the wooden floors of the house, we put water dishes into empty cat litter trays. This always generates amused looks from any visitors to our house, it serves its purpose in protecting the floor. Honey and Fred simply paw water out of the water bowl to play with it within the confines of the litter tray. Sensi tips the litter tray by lifting it in her mouth to allow water out of the water bowl to play with. She will then play in the water for a while before laying down in the soaking litter tray. After a while she will emerge from the litter tray dripping wet through, lift the tray in her mouth again and empty the water out onto the floor. Floss is getting plenty of exercise due to this, and Sensi absolutely loves this as she then gets to play attack the mop - one of her favourite games..........Paul

January '09

Sensi has taken my personal hygiene into own her hands, for the last two Sundays I have had my arms groomed for between 15 - 30 minutes. Unfortunately, its only one arm per Sunday that gets the attention, and Sensi enforces the grooming just the same as she would with one of her own kittens. I receive a number of directives to stay where I am during the grooming process, which we all find quite amusing. Unfortunately, by the time Sensi feels my arm is clean enough for her liking, I have friction burns on my forearms. I don't mind this at all as Sensi is obviously very happy to be pampering me like this.