Rehomers
Every now and then we are looking for a new home for one of our (adult) cats. For example, if things don't go well in the group, or when a breeding female or male cat retires and can enjoy a well-earned rest. We call these cats rehomers.
At this moment cattery SavVal has no rehoming dogs .
Are you interested in a re-homed dog? Then take a look at our colleague
Savannah breeders of Breed Association Savannah Cat (RVSK). Click on the logo of RVSK,
and you will be redirected directly to the rehoming page of the Savannah Cat Breed Association.
Successfully relocated
Even before Cattery SavVal was founded in the fall of 2023, we have been committed to cats looking for a new home. With the exception of a single Savannah, these were all common cats or kittens who came our way by chance. We would like to share their story with you below.
Luke & Leia (Tuco & Peyote)
Our home is in a rural area, and other cats occasionally visit our large backyard. However, in December 2022, we first encountered two young kittens – shy and timid, too small to be outside without their mother, especially given the cold.
In a village there is a bit of a "we know each other" atmosphere, and that also applies to the cats that walk around freely. These kittens were unknown to us, so we asked several neighbours: were they perhaps missing two kittens? No one came forward as the owner. The days became shorter, the nights longer, and the weather became colder and colder. We fed the kittens outside for several days. Suddenly we found another cat in our garden - an adult cat this time. This cat looked enough like the kittens that it could well be their mother. We asked around again in the neighbourhood - who did this cat belong to? She turned out to belong to the neighbours, who kept her as an outdoor cat. With the care of two kittens without a permanent place inside in the severe frost, we did not think this was responsible. In good consultation with the neighbours, we lured the mother cat with kittens into the warmth of the house by means of food. This was quite exciting - none of the cats were really used to living inside, but they got used to it quickly.
Mother cat was named Tiger, and we kept it that way. She turned out to be very affectionate and quite used to people. The kittens turned out to be brother and sister - they look exactly alike - and we named them Luke and Leia. T he tomcat Luke also seemed to be used to people and we quickly managed to convince her that people are quite nice. The kitten was a different story - we had to work hard to get her to trust people, but we succeeded.
Tiger was very happy that she didn't have to worry about her kittens anymore, and enjoyed the peace and quiet while the kittens played and made the house go crazy. We prepared the kittens for life as a house cat indoors in just over 4 months before they moved to good friends where Luke goes through life as Tuco, and Leia as Peyote.
These two kittens, who without us would have probably had a short life as farm cats, now live in a big house with a cat run and another cat friend. The kittens have developed into sociable chatterboxes, and love to cuddle and play together.
Tiger (Molly)
In the harsh winter of December 2022, we first found two kittens, and then an adult cat. We did not know this cat yet, and we were curious - the kittens had no owner, but we suspected that this was their mother. She turned out to be from the neighbors, where she lived as an outdoor cat without a permanent home. We were already taking care of her kittens (which were not from the neighbors, by the way...) and, after good consultation, we brought the cat family into our home.
The adult cat already had a name, Tiger, and we kept it that way. She turned out to be very affectionate and had already gotten used to wishes. She hardly had to look after her two kittens now that there were people to take care of them, and life as a cat without obligations suited her just fine. Unfortunately, Tiger got pregnant again; shortly after her two now played and independent kittens had moved, she gave birth to a single kitten: Odin. Tiger proved to be an involved and good mother, but was fine with us socializing Odin and getting her used to people. It was a bit like co-parenting the way she entrusted Odin to us.
Tiger had a home waiting for her with the parents of the friends who had adopted Luke and Leia (Tuco and Peyote). She would move out as soon as Odin was independent. Plans were already being made to set a moving date when the neighbor across the street contacted us. There had been a shy kitten hiding in the bushes for a few days. Could we help?
It took some effort, but then we had the next foster cat in the house. It turned out to be a little cat, which we (again) named Leia. Surprisingly enough, Tiger – who was still nursing Odin – accepted Leia fairly quickly. It was also a godsend for Odin – he now had a peer with whom he could hang out and play. It meant a lot to his development that he was able to grow up with Leia for a few more weeks under the watchful eye of Tiger.
With both kittens at an age of around 12 weeks it was really time to wean them and give Tijger a well-deserved rest. She was sterilized and left a week later for a new home where she can live without other cats and has been given the new name Molly.
It took Molly quite some time to get used to her new, quiet home. Slowly but surely she came out of her shell, and where she previously did not dare to come out from under the couch and then chose to stay in the attic (where you could visit her and she welcomed tickles), she now prefers to lie on the armrest of the couch, right next to her owner. Playing is something this former farm cat still has to learn, but she is starting to learn that it is actually a lot of fun.
Leia (Dingle)
In the spring of 2023, we received a phone call from the neighbors across the street. They had been hearing a noise in the bushes for a few days, and now they had discovered that it was a kitten, all alone. They asked if I could help catch the kitten. With the tastiest cat food and the patience of an angel, we managed to get the little cat out from under the bushes. It turned out to be a kitten, a very small one at that. But what now? The neighbors across the street had no room for a kitten themselves, and we were actually going to stop taking in cats. Tiger would be the last one who would be allowed to move when her kitten Odin was big enough (who would stay with us). Of course, we couldn't leave the cat to her fate, so I took care of it.
This time we asked around if anyone was missing a kitten, but again no one came forward. We set up a room for the kitten so she could get used to it, eat, drink and use the litter box in peace.
The kitten turned out to be a female, and because we really liked the name Leia, we reused the name. She was very small and on the skinny side, and was estimated to be about 2 weeks younger than Odin, who was 6 weeks old at the time. So she had no business being out in the wide world on her own and was lucky that the neighbors sounded the alarm. Without her mother, she wouldn't have survived much longer.
We quickly decided to introduce Leia to Odin - they were almost the same age, and kittens can learn a lot from each other at that age - and they clicked almost immediately. Shortly after that we introduced Leia to Tiger, Odin's mother, Tiger had only had one kitten that was still nursing, and Leia had lost her mother. Tiger accepted her as a second kitten, and even let Leia drink from her. So Tiger got a daughter, Odin a sister and Leia a family. Because Leia - small and still a bit shy as she was - also got along fine with our other cats in the house. As the weeks went by, Leia grew into a strong and self-assured cat. Soon she was running around the whole house with Odin, together inseparable.
As sweet and fun as Leia and Odin were together, it was never our intention to keep her. We also went looking for a new home for Leia, which we found with acquaintances. They already had a cat, also a female cat, and were looking for a friend for her. At the age of about 4 months, Leia moved and is now called Dingle.
Dingle lives again in a family with children and a cat friend with whom she gets along well. The cats play together happily, but Dingle also likes to lie near her adult and child owners. She gets up to a lot of mischief, which is also part of it when you get a kitten. Her owners secretly enjoy that quite a bit.
