Savannah cats

Re: Savannah cats

Martin Atkinson — Sat, 05 Nov 2011 11:26:32 GMT

[quote user="Robin Grimmer"]

I had a ragdoll breeder in the other week and her kittens were in for vaccinations. The queen had always had flu/enteritis only and I just wanted to confirm she wasn't having leukaemia. She looked at me like I was an idiot and said of course not, leukaemia is not recommended in ragdolls, and it can given them FIP!

[/quote]

This is not as daft as it may sound at first. It's certainly not confined to any specific breed but I have a policy of not vaccinating kittens with what I consider likely to be coronovirus diarrhoea or if indeed that are unwell at all because I am very suspicious in a number of kittens which fairly rapidly succumbed to FIP following FeLV vaccination that the immunological shock (for want of a better expression) may have contributed to the conversion of benign FCoV to FIP. I've not seen this situation in kittens vaccinated only with flu/enteritis. Sometimes old wife's tails have some foundation.

Re: Savannah cats

Mark Holmes — Fri, 04 Nov 2011 21:16:10 GMT

I would not want or I think even be prepared to handle a cat that size without IM injections. In fact sod the size fractious cat, even irritable cat gets DTK

Re: Savannah cats

Simon Neuhoff — Fri, 04 Nov 2011 21:03:34 GMT

Yup - breeders! Lost count of the number of diffeent breeds I have been told need "special" anaesthetics over the years.

Re: Savannah cats

Robin Grimmer — Fri, 04 Nov 2011 20:49:35 GMT

[quote user="Mark Rowland"]

The claim that these cats are sensitive to modified live vaccines is not supported by any peer reviewed data. The same is true for ketamine usage. However in the case of the latter it is probably prudent to use something like propofol as you will probably be the unlucky one that has a problem after being prewarned.

Goodluck.

[/quote]

That's all very well until you find the cat is fractious when it comes to anaesthetise it and you won't be able to give it an i/v injection!

Re: Savannah cats

Mark Holmes — Fri, 04 Nov 2011 18:41:56 GMT

[quote user="David Mills"]Sigh. Thank goodness for old ladies, and wills.[/quote] That's nice of him, I though he just flew helicopters!

Re: Savannah cats

David Mills — Fri, 04 Nov 2011 08:38:12 GMT

[quote user="Martin Atkinson"]

(then say they can't afford vet's fees for it) it is grist to the mill.

[/quote]

"Where did you get this (atopic/demodectic/aggressive/entire) Staffie from?"

"Gumtree, cost me £400"

"Well treatment today will costing the hospital £30 (preds, antibiotics, £10 consult fee), can you leave a donation?"

"What, no! I'm unemployed! How can you expect me to leave a donation? It cost me £3 to get here and I only get £70 a week"

Sigh. Thank goodness for old ladies, and wills.

Re: Savannah cats

Kate Richardson — Thu, 03 Nov 2011 21:58:06 GMT

[quote user="karen jones"]follow a bizarre feeding regime of tuna, poached chicken raw chicken drumsticks to "supplement" the royal canin kitten/nursing queen food which must be fed until 2 years old[/quote]

Whatever you do, make sure they feed a balanced kitten/diet. We had a 6month old cat referred to us- apparently an african wild cat cross - related to a Bengal. Weirdest looking cat I have ever seen. Fed chicken all its life. Acute onset hindlimb paralysis and bladder/rectal dysfunction secondary to spinal collapse due to nutritional deficiency. Apparently, his sister cost his owners £5000. Apparently, came from a zoo. All smells a bit like like bovine excrement.

Re: Savannah cats

bob lehner — Thu, 03 Nov 2011 11:55:25 GMT

[quote user="Martin Atkinson"]. Or that anyone should be surprised by idiots who go and pay a fortune for a trophy pe[/quote]

Saw my first naked guinea pig the other day (apparently they are called 'skinny pigs' ) - same idea as a Sphynx cat - completely hairless with a horrible leathery black skin - weird looking critter !

Don't know what it cost, but I bet it was a lot.

Re: Savannah cats

Martin Atkinson — Thu, 03 Nov 2011 10:30:35 GMT

On the subject of sensitivity to certain anaesthetics, I had a Groenendael in the other day for routine surgery, the owner told me the breeder had said they were sensitive to anaesthetic and shouldn't have them I poo pooed this and low and behold the bloody thing had to be ventilated all through the procedure and was either trying to die or get off the table never anything in between. Confirmation of myth or coincidence?

Re: Savannah cats

Mark Rowland — Thu, 03 Nov 2011 09:39:02 GMT

Goodluck.

Re: Savannah cats

Braden Collins — Thu, 03 Nov 2011 09:24:26 GMT

Don't forget some pet shops as a source of rubbish advice - some of my favourite ones recently include "Advantix can be used on your cat", "Rabbits shouldn't get ANY grass for the first 6 months of life - just this concentrate we sell", and the advice to the client with the itchy dog "vets are a waste of money, this shampoo will fix the problem".

Re: Savannah cats

Martin Atkinson — Thu, 03 Nov 2011 08:53:45 GMT

What surprises me is that anyone is surprised by the crazy advice given by a breeder, 'twas ever thus regardless of species or breed. Or that anyone should be surprised by idiots who go and pay a fortune for a trophy pet (then say they can't afford vet's fees for it) it is grist to the mill. I've been a cynical grumpy (old) man since one day after I qualified. I see the Dulux dog is back: cue waiting rooms full of dirty, matted OESDs with crusted eyes, shitty arses and myasis.

Re: Savannah cats

Braden Collins — Thu, 03 Nov 2011 08:24:00 GMT

Perhaps the Leukaemia vaccine concerns comes from the low risk (1:10000) of injection site sarcomas which may be related to this vaccine type. In this case it's probably not an issue if the cat will be an indoor cat as it becomes a low risk cat for FeLV, though on a more general basis I don't know of any other issues they have with this vaccine.

Re: Savannah cats

karen jones — Thu, 03 Nov 2011 07:58:48 GMT

To be honest looked like a nice tabby kitten to me. Cost owner, who I personally wouldn't rehome a stray kitten from the streets to, £650 and she states she's never letting it outside.

The question that floats around my brain is why would you want one, why spend that on a cat (glut of lovely kittens round here rehomed 10 from various farms, stray from streets this autumn all for no cost to new owner) Surely a cat is a cat is a cat... Why have a cat that apparently behaves like a dog, get a dog!! She already has 3 dogs, 2 with behavioural problems so good mix in all.

Think I'm joining ( or the nurses probably think have joined) the ranks of the grumpy old people

Re: Savannah cats

Michael Woodhouse — Wed, 02 Nov 2011 22:55:42 GMT

It's a cat, treat it as such.

The number of times you hear how the animal they have is somehow 'different'. If they bring me a crazy care guide from the breeder I confiscate them, not joking here.

Re: Savannah cats

Mark Hedberg — Wed, 02 Nov 2011 20:02:46 GMT

Sure, and no doubt the breeder advised the client that you could just pick up Stronghold by the box from your local vet, no need to see the cat!

Ok, joking aside: Anecdotally I heard that these cats may be sensitive to ketamine, so there's a grain of truth in the "don't use injectables" - but this is why I trust a vet before I trust a breeder. Propofol shouldn't be an issue.

If you're using a killed virus vaccine, I don't really see how that would harm a cat. But I defer to more knowledgeable colleagues on this one. I've never heard of FeLV vaccine killing a cat, so I'm afraid I must be totally skeptical on this one.

It's a cat hybrid. Give it a fancy name and sell it for a bomb, eh? </rant>