Snowy beast

Panzer seems to like the snow, but the cold he could do without. Since the last time I posted he tried to escape to get the squirrels in the back yard but he was caught before any damage was done. For the animals outside this might be kinda scary because during his last check up he was about 20-21 lbs. He hasn't grown all that much since the late summer so I think he's finally grown up. Chances are he may gain some pounds before his 3rd year but he won't get much taller. At the rate in which he eats he'll be a basketball unless we start to run him like a dog. He's a food stealer. We feed the other cats wet food, something I like to think of as Kitty McDonalds. It's fat in a can and not good for wild cats, maybe not even for regular cats. However our spoiled cats won't eat anything else so we're stuck feeding them Kitty Big Mac's for now.

Wow, this is a good one.

Age: 1 year 3 months
Weight: 21 lbs
Shoulder Height: 15.5 inches
Neck -> Tail Length: 18.5 inches
Paw-> Tip of Ears: 22.5 inches
Paw Dimensions: ~2.5" x ~2.5"

It's been awhile since I posted any stats so I figured since he just went to the vet, this would be a good time to update everyone. After a year of being with Panzer he's still the same old silly cat, just up a notch or two on the energy level. My wife has to spend at least an hour with him daily playing and jumping around to keep him out of trouble. Trust me if you want to get into sharing your life with a Savannah or a Serval you should expect to spend as much time with them as you would a dog. If not, kiss your collectibles and favorite stuff goodbye. In the morning if we aren't wake on time (4:30am) Panzer will ransack the bedroom and knock all the collectibles down off the shelves. Not one or two things. like 25! Also if that doesn't work he will beat up the other cats then start punching my wife in the face with his paws. The alternative is scratching her feet and biting her toes. This is not once a week, its daily and unless we pull out the water bottle to squirt him (thanks for the tip Terri) there is no luck in getting him to stop. Now you might think that this annoys us, but it doesn't really. He's part wild animal so by nature he's going to act strange and have much more energy. Truthfully even though it's not fun at 5am, over all hes a very good animal. I'd say hes the smartest cat we have, but at the same time he does some silly stuff. It's like having a little kid with you all the time. Except this one can jump 8 feet high. Yes, be warned my cat can jump higher than I stand tall. It's amazing he can leap like a jungle cat on to door tops then fly off on to the bed or couches. Last week he was on a shelf that's about 7 ft high and when he saw me coming he flew off into the air on to my wife's back as she slept. That's 21 lbs of cat landing on you while you sleep so to say the least she wasn't happy.

Over all his health is great. He's very strong now and in good condition. My wife makes sure he's fed on time and we only feed him the best food we can afford. He's not into cat treats, but he loves chicken legs. Eats the bone and all sometimes. For some reason he likes young chickens more than regular ones. Might be better quality? Dunno. Also we got him a HUGE litter box online that is like 3 times the normal size for a large cat. Its like a damn sandbox, but its awesome. Since then we have very few incidents and he actually fits in the box. The other cats like it because it's like a empty cardboard box to them. We've been lucky that he's not decided to kill our furniture or other house hold items. However we make sure he has tons of toys and many scratching areas. Oh and about the raw chicken... tile flooring is the best area to feed with rubber mats and a plate. He drags it into the other rooms once in awhile but you get used to it once you step on a leg or two. :)

So yo might be wondering whats this title about? About five minutes before I wrote this Panzer was up on his cat tree, right about 7 ft high. From the top he decided to projectile vomit off the top onto the floor. It launched about 3 ft out and onto the carpet. I couldn't stop it but I have to admit, that was interesting. Of course he sat and watched me clean up the mess, then ran off squawking *Meh! Meh!*. Question to anyone out there who has a Savannah. Does your cat meow or does he chirp and make a short vocal sound? It's not a meow, rather its a loud and short burst that sounds like "MEH".

Tub Photos

Bath tub time!

Bithday CAT!!!

Panzer is one year old today!! I'll be posting pics of him in his b-day hat tomorrow. :)

Panting Panzer

Pics!

Plastic Straws & Lamp Shades

Recently Panzer has discovered plastic straws. He doesn't care where they are or what they look like he just has to steal them. Lets say you have a large drink with a lid and straw full of ice and tea. Panzer will either remove the straw and run away with it, OR dump the drink and rip the straw out. Most of the time its dumping the drink. He's obsessed with the straws. If he sees one and you try to hide it, he finds it and steals it. If you put it up really high on a book shelf he'll find a way to jump up and get it. No matter what I do, where I hide them this cat is like the Sherlock Holmes of drinking straws.

Also he found that our hanging paper lamp shade is a great noise maker. If he smacks it lots of noise and damage occurs. The first one he ripped in half. The second one he tried to jump into head first and got stuck. He also ripped it in half but was stuck in the smaller hole at the bottom. After freaking out and running around like he was on fire he escaped the evil grip of the lamp shade.

He's starting to grow again as well. His latest weight was about 19-20 lbs and he's right about 22" from tip of ear to paw. I can tell he's getting bigger because his body is proportion to his head, so that means he'll start to get taller and more bulky. Lately I've been looking at getting him another playmate. My wife and I have been considering either an F1 or a Serval. Most of this depends on where we live, as a Serval needs to live outdoors and requires a lot of space to run and play. Building the housing would be awesome, all I need is a large area of land and a few extra tools. I think all the cats would LOVE an indoor/outdoor area to play and enjoy the outdoors. My all time fantasy would be to have a huge plot of land to create a rescue for Servals and Savannah's that are in need. After raising Panzer I know why I love this breed of cat so much.

Panzer in the pool

New pics

More morning madness

Some cats like to meow and cry to get attention. Panzer likes to knock all the stuffed animals off the shelves in our bedroom and sit on the top shelf (~6ft high) staring at my wife. The other trick he has up his sleeve is the punch to the face as I stated in an earlier blog, and the affectionate clawing of the feet. There is also a series of pounces and door slamming that he has in his arsenal but those are somewhat less frequent.

What is his cryptonite? You may not guess this but its ballons! He hates ballons and if they are floating he won't come out of the bedroom. If they have a string he'll grab the string and chew on it until the ballon makes a noise then he runs off. However most of the time he forgets to let go of the string so it chases him. It's quite amusing.

Everyone says he's getting bigger but he's looks the same to me. His weight is about that same as it was last time I posted so we'll see in a month or two if he's grown.

Morning cat says wake up!

Why oh why does Panzer have to make loud noises at 7am? When he wants to wake up my wife he licks her or lays with her until she wakes up. Granted at one time he would punch her in the face if she didn't stir but that was 4 weeks ago. Every morning for weeks now he has ran past me as I sleep, tearing around the carpet like its a race track. Then if I don't budge he opens a cabinet door and slams it. Not to get in, just to make the noise. He repeats this over and over until I get up OR squirt him with water. However I can't get him with the water now as he KNOWS that is my defense. So he watches me then tears ass out of the room and goes to sleep.

d00d, I never wake him up when he sleeps. My wife wakes him up all the time but I never do! Now I could take this as him wanting my attention (negative attention) but I think he does it for fun because he just goes to sleep after wards. Today when I get home... I'm gonna wake him up. :P

Ned Flanders

Age: ~9 months
Weight: 17.6 lbs
Shoulder Height: 15 inches
Neck -> Tail Length: 18.5 inches
Paw-> Tip of Ears: 22 inches
Paw Dimensions: ~2.2" x ~2.2"

The beast now dominates the household. If not by his silly antics then by size. Our other cats use to seem large but now that Panzer is starting to fill out that's not the case. He stands a few inches taller than our cat Lou and is twice the size of our smallest. Its almost as if he had a teenage growth spurt and gained two pounds and grew about one inch taller. The most noticeable change is in his width and muscle mass. This week alone he's rampaged through the house to destroy the window ledge we mounted and tore the curtains off the wall. Before that is was bending the metal on a lead and clawing huge holes in our metal screens. To be fair it's not all his fault. He's just VERY excited and playful now that spring is here. The other cats are older so he wants to play and no one is awake. The wife and I try our best but some days he's just more energy than we can muster up. My wife does a great job keeping him under control, but without the squirt bottle (just water) I doubt he would listen to us. When he wants to be bad... he's all out Ned Flanders. *reference to the Simpsons episode about little Ned Flanders being really bad*
Below you'll get an idea of the size difference between Panzer and our smallest cat Monkey. Monkey is 4 years old and 7 lbs. A normal sized house cat.

Panzer (left) & Monkey (right)

Panzer the Destroyer

Would you like to know how Panzer wakes us up? He's found that if he punches us in the mouth while we're asleep we'll wake right up. We're freaked out by all this but it seems to get the job done. I have no idea why he paws us in the face, or how he learned this but it makes it hard to sleep knowing if you don't get up to play and feed him he'll sock you in the mouth. It doesn't hurt when he does this however its stunning.

Since my last post about feeding habits he's still eating about 10 lbs of chicken a week. He also has dry food but he only eats that at night. We've tried a few different types of food but the raw chicken legs are the easiest to serve and he eats them right up. I don't know if he'll get much taller than I last recorded, his weight has tapered off and he seems to be getting stockier rather than tall. He stands right about 20-21" tall from ear to paw. His paws do seem to be a little bigger, but its so hard to measure that. Oh yeah we found a really nice cat hair comb at PetCo. It's a red glove with a rubber palm that has small spikes that comb the hair right off in clumps. This is seriously the best cat hair brush I've ever used. All the other cats love it as well.

March Measurments

Age: ~8 months
Weight: 15.8 lbs
Shoulder Height: 14.5 inches
Neck -> Tail Length: 18 inches
Paw-> Tip of Ears: 21 inches
Paw Dimensions: 2.16" x 2.16"

Panzer hasn't grown all that much this last month but he's getting more muscular. His paws seem to be getting bigger but he's not getting any taller. The kitten is slowly going away and he's becoming more like a grown up cat. Don't get me wrong he still loves to play all the time. If we don't give him the right amount of attention and play time he goes bonkers and stuff gets broken. Lately he's been fascinated by drinking straws. He steals them out of our drinks even if we are still using them. If I try to take it back he gets very angry and will not be nice to me for a couple days. Panzer can be quite moody. When he's not being a butt head Panzer is a really cute cat who loves to run around and explore. With spring on its way I hope he doesn't decide to fly out the door after a bird.

Measurements Feb 2010

MMMNN... You look like FOOD! Nom Nom Nom...

Age: ~7 months
Weight: 15.4 lbs
Shoulder Height: 14.0 inches
Neck -> Tail Length: 17.5 inches
Paw-> Tip of Ears: 20 inches
Paw Dimensions: 2" x 2"

He's starting to gradually grow again. He's gotten a little taller and his paws are still over sized in comparison to his legs. I have no idea if that means he'll grow but either way they are very large. We found a new toy that he loves to play fetch with. They are foam rubber balls that bounce when you toss them. It makes it more challenging for him and less work for us ;) He's up to about 9 lbs of chicken legs a week on top of dry food and wet food. Lately he's been eating the bone and marrow even though we give him his calcium twice a week. Panzer needs a bigger place to run so I hope the wife and I can find a larger place by the middle of this year.

Interesting sounds

Panzer makes some really interesting sounds when he's excited, hungry or bored. Most of the time he does this half meow that sounds like *Meh*, but with a cat tone. This is how he communicates with my wife and I when he needs attention or wants to play. Now when he's excited or we work him up too much with a toy he will make a really loud barking noise that is lower than the other sound and let's us know he's agitated. It's not often he makes that noise but it scared the hell outta me when I woke up to that one morning. Around that same time he started to snort like a pig... Maybe he was congested but if my wife teased him with a toy during play and he couldn't get it he'd start to snort and breath really hard. At first I didn't believe my wife when she told me, but he did it later that night and the next morning. I know that sounds weird, but seriously he snorts like a pig when he's pissed off.

I have no idea why he makes these sounds. I couldn't tell you if its a sounds Serval's or Savannah's make. But believe me... when your cat snorts at you it's really funny. On a side note he LOVES it when we sniff around him like a dog (loud sniffing). He gets all happy and rolls over. It's really funny that no matter what he's doing he runs up to us if we do this. However he will not come if you call his name :\

New Pics!

RIP Mr. Giraffe
*he lasted 2 weeks.*

Paw at the camera sling

Cry/Snort because he wants to bite the camera sling

Score!

Dr. Appt

Monday Panzer went to visit the Vet. He had to get fixed because over the weekend he sprayed one time. He's that age so I expected this to happen eventually. However he sprayed in my wife's purse so that didn't go over too well. Anyway the vet appointment went well minus the fact that the nurse didn't heed my warning. Panzer has never been (or needed to be) caged. well actually one time I put him in a cat carrier when we went to the vet. He really didn't like this so he cracked the plastic bottom and escaped by pushing the door off. This all happened on the way to the vet the last time we went. So... we got him a harness and he doesn't seem to mind it.

Anyhow they put him in a cage and well... he freaked out and swiped the nursing staff a few times. Thank God the doctor knew how to handle him. He seems to like her the best. When we came to pick him up we waited in the waiting room for about 20 mins after they said they were going to get him. I worried that he was being defensive since so much time had past. Finally the doctor appeared with a huge white box with holes in it. Panzer the Destroyer was in this box growling and making noises he never makes at home. The doctor was very sweet and made light of him being a menace. She is a true professional and even though I was worried I knew she had things under control. It's good to note that he was heavily sedated and just three hours out of surgery. Even in that state a 15 lb, 7 month old male Savannah can be lightning fast with amazing precision. He's my furry kid but don't get me wrong he is not a house cat to be taken for granted. The respect he deserves is given. It 's funny thinking back to that day because the first thing the doctor said was "Wow, he has huge paws!". And she's right he does. Twice as big as our largest domestic and he is so strong he RIPPED the head off a new dog toy when he got home. (Pics to come). He was super happy to be home and purred for at least an hour. I hope he never has to go through that again. For anyone taking your Savannah to a new vet; take care to pick a good vet that meets their needs and understands the breed. These animals are picky, smart and extremely sensitive to strangers if taken to new places. A harness and training is so much better than a cage.

January 2010 Measurments

Age: 25 weeks
Weight: 13.2 lbs
Shoulder Height: 13.5 inches
Neck -> Tail Length: 17 inches
Paw-> Tip of Ears: 19 inches

Some notes for all of you that are wondering about his growth. He's gaining about 2-3 lbs a month, but that has tapered off. His growth spurts are off and on, but he eats like a horse. His legs are very long,his mid section very slim and his head and tail are smaller in proportion to the rest of him. If he starts to look like a normal cat we know he's about to grow again. His balance is better than before, but he is really really hyper now. We are making sure he getting his calcium and other vitamins. Whether than means treats or special food additives he's very healthy and happy with his diet. I've never known an animal to eat as much meat as he does but if he cries for food we serve it up. I figure it will be like this for a year or so until he's grown and his kitten needs are less. For any of you out there that are wondering how much is costs to feed him a week... 7lbs of raw chick legs, calcium supplements, dry high grade cat food (Mazuri) and a host of other treats like chicken jerky and anything else he steals from us. (BEEF THIEF!!!) We get our chicken from a butcher and its about $0.99/lbs. Mazuri is about $60 for 40 lbs of dry food and the treats range from $2-20/ bag. He literally eats more meat than I do in a weeks time. Oh any if you intend on skimping and getting the leg quarters... don't. He carried it into bed with us at least once and just gets pissed at the thighs because they are too hard to gnaw on. Break the bones so they get some marrow from the leg and you should be all good. Besides all that he's awesome and my best buddy. Well, when he's not trying to steal my sandwiches, pork loin, steak, potato chips, dunking his paw in my iced tea, biting my toes, jumping on my head, knocking over our glasses, jumping in the freezer, jumping in the washer, jumping in the dryer and reaching into the refrigerator to grab the bacon wrapped up on the bottom shelf. If I was a cat I'd be just like him. lol I love food too!

BEEF THIEF!!!

It seems our furry little friend likes roast beef. Why? Well because I walked into the kitchen last night to get some dinner and Panzer was sitting on the counter with his paws in the middle of our freshly cut beef chowing down his fill before I could get to him. He didn't fight me whenI tried to get him off the counter. I just picked him up as he held on to the largest piece of meat that he could, chewing the entire time. Now, I was quite hungry so this was not what I was expecting. I mean it took my wife 7 hours to cook it, so the entire time I was preparing for the meal in my head. I might have been mad if he were a normal cat but I think he just doesn't know the difference between his food and our food. Actually, he thinks the fridge is a buffet so it's not unusual for him to climb in the fridge or freezer to sniff around. Combine smart, fast, determined , hungry and stubborn and you'll get a fur ball named Panzer the Destroyer.

What did I learn from all this? Don't leave a meal out in the open if you don't intend to share. I do feel it's fair game to the quickest and the smartest. Obviously that cat is much smarter than we give him credit for.

Humans = 0 , Panzer = 1.

** Oh and he pawed my leg and bit my toes all night because he was hungry! I had to sleep on the couch because he wouldn't leave me alone. THEN he took my spot in bed. If he wasn't a cat I'd say he planned that.

Pictures!

Look at my white tummy

Nice spots on my back

The dark black color of my paws are perfect

Some tiger striped legs for ya

and arms....

and finally my huge paws.

Happy New Year!!

CLOSE UP OF PANZER

WHERE'S PANZER?

WIFE AND I (NYE 2009)

It's already 2010. Wow, how time flies when your having fun. All the cats were up until 3am with my wife and I playing and running around. Panzer was being the trouble maker as usual and thought that swinging from out coats while on the wall rack would be awesome fun. His daily routine is to knock over the candle holder, pull down the blanket on the back of my wooden chair, slide into the kitchen rug at full speed, knock over glasses with liquid in them, pull the star off the xmas tree, pull off bulbs from the xmas tree, curl up and sleep where ever I was just sitting/resting, bite the other cats butts, look out the back window, make weird noises to try and con us into taking him out into the snow, chew on paper bags, try to get into the cupboards and play, speed through the house making wild sounds just to find another cat and tackle him. The morning routine jump on our legs, bite our toes, and do anything possible to wake us up. Whom ever moves first (wife and I) he will keep bugging. This is not for food, it's for attention. Now I'I m not saying he doesn't like food, that's just a bonus. We bought 5+ lbs of chicken legs on Sunday and today we have one left. Now I'm not sure how many legs are in that bag, but he is either going to get really chubby soon or get much bigger. At this time it's so hard to tell what his final size will be. His skills and physical abilities are on point, but he still seems a bit clumsy when he's running. One of his paws is about the size of my three fingers put together. Let's measure that at 2.5 inches give or take a 0.5 inch. He stands very tall now, with huge ears and his black markings are perfect in color. The sides of his chest and stomach area are getting very light while his back is much darker with stripes running all the way back.

Ok I have to go now. He's started a war with a roll of wrapping paper and he's pissed off at it. I have no idea why he despises this roll of paper but they are not cool with one another. Maybe he thinks its a snake??? The other cats use it as a way to detour the never ending attacks... they run up to it and stand behind it :) Smart cats. Like Superman he seems to lose all his powers and retreats to my wife and I.... to bite our slippers.

What should your New Year's resolution be? Well that's simple.
BEFRIEND A SAVANNAH CAT!! Give one a good home.

They are and will always be your best friend! I've adopted and fostered cats for years and either I'm the luckiest guy in the world or these Savannah cats are just the most creative, energetic, silliest breed out there. It's the closest you can get to learning about/living with a wild cat without moving to Montana or working at a zoo. It's so interesting that in the back of my mind I keep thinking someday I'll move to the country and start my own wild cat sanctuary. It'd be so nice to rescue Savannah's, Servals and other wild animals that need help and find them home's in zoo's or other places they can live out their lives given the gifts nature gave them.

**Just remember to buy lots of neosporin, rubbing alcohol, band-aids, cat toys and chicken. Lot's of chicken. Oh and a harness that fits with a long leash. Oh hell, just read the blog posts you'll see what I mean :)