My Savannah has food aggression

The other night our boy Nova was being a menace.
When he gets hungry he sits in front of the fridge and howls...loudly.

If we ignore him, he will start to jump kick the fridges, freezer door.
He’s very smart and I have no doubt he will soon figure out how to open the freezer.
The cupboards proved to be no match for him.

It was dinner time anyway for him, so I thawed him out a bowl of raw chicken.
He smashed that chicken back in a few minutes and then started ripping around the house.
He runs toward the wall, at the last second he jumps up and wall runs.
Sounds cool right?
Well it ain’t.
We’re going to have to paint the walls this summer.

Anyway, he chows back his dinner, he begged for more, I eventually gave in and got him some more.
Then he wanted more.

When I wouldn’t feed him anymore food, he got into the other cats food.
My wife tried to pull him away from their bowls, but Nova was determined to eat as much as he could.
I could hear him growling at her so I grabbed my iPad and recorded it.

That's interesting. I've seen cats get territorial about their food but they generally only eat until they're full and walk away. That's not behavior I would tolerate from ours when we had them, they got separated and only got the normal amount of food they should have had that day.

Are you just feeding meat and nothing else? What kind of meat, lean white/breast meat or dark(thighs/legs) meat, mix of both? And supplements or no?

Just a hunch here, because I've personally never dealt with vitamin deficiencies with my own pets (that I know of anyway) but know cats can be ravenous creatures if they're falling way short on vites and minerals.

I looked into feeding our elderly cat a raw diet, and did try for a bit. It's a LOT of nutrient balance work, and requires supplementing some vitamins and minerals (especially taurine) Without knowing exactly what the meals look like, and any supplements you give, it's hard to really say why Nova's doing this, but IMO, it does sound like he's just not satiated at all and that can be a red flag for a nutrient deficiency. The issue is pinning down which nutrient, which is best done via a vet & bloodwork.

Just who is in-charge in your house hold.

King Nova the Spoilt.

I could tell you how to handle it but you would get upset at some of the words used in battle.

Nyiah has some good advice above but you already know that.

P

How old is He ? He sure is Beautiful....er uh Handsome.

a reply to: Macenroe82

Are you sure it's not a medical thing? I would check with the vet.

a reply to: Macenroe82

Is he a rescue?

How much does he eat if you let him eat until he's full?

Your cats look pale...they are mineral and vitamin deficient...nothing a bag of fresh spinach and some corn on the cob wouldn't solve....or just get some cat grass.
Sometimes when they need something or crave it they try to eat their way to wellness....they know all good things come from food.

I noticed that the last week our two cats are hungry as hell. I don't know why that is, same food, but they are eating way more and are always hungry. Must be something to do with the time of year or something. Also they both got some weird colds, they are sneezing quite a bit. No sign of a fever though as far as I can tell.

a reply to: Macenroe82

I think this link will help. I would get this under control right away. You are the boss, not the cat. Nova is gorgeous by the way but is going for dominance, other than he may just be really hungry. There is something very primal about him and so check out this link. It mentions hormones, amount of food, neutering time frame.

My own take: he is getting the idea he's the boss. The fact that your wife can't take his food away is a warning. And it will only get worse.

Poor black kitty being shoved to the side when he has been there longer. He must be so confused.

www.savannahcatchat.com...

originally posted by: rickymouse
I noticed that the last week our two cats are hungry as hell. I don't know why that is, same food, but they are eating way more and are always hungry. Must be something to do with the time of year or something. Also they both got some weird colds, they are sneezing quite a bit. No sign of a fever though as far as I can tell.

Cats have allergies just as a human does.

originally posted by: Gothmog

originally posted by: rickymouse
I noticed that the last week our two cats are hungry as hell. I don't know why that is, same food, but they are eating way more and are always hungry. Must be something to do with the time of year or something. Also they both got some weird colds, they are sneezing quite a bit. No sign of a fever though as far as I can tell.

Cats have allergies just as a human does.

Yes indeed, people don't realize they can be allergic to dust, pollen, or food. Mine's allergic to fish pretty badly -- we're to avoid ANYTHING with fish, including oils & meals. It's a colossal pain in the ass, fish is filler in damn near everything kibble or canned, even the primo high quality brands are putting this junky Menhaden fish in crap. We have to constantly monitor labels on what we buy him EVERY time we buy something, recipes can and do change (pisses me off, don't fix what ain't broke!) It's why I tried raw/lightly cooked food for him, but that proved to be an even bigger PITA at his age.

When the poor old fart was diagnosed in his much younger years, we felt like crap that we'd basically been making him live with a constant reaction (hampered his breathing, quite labored in hindsight) and he ended up having a 2 day stay at the emergency vet for treatment. The vet likened it to a never-ending asthma attack. I have an asthmatic brother, so I felt like I should have seen it a mile away in an animal, but they're real good at downplaying it -- until they can't anymore

a reply to: Nyiah

Both my short haired tabby's , and my maine coon's allergies have kicked in again . That time of year.
They both eat more when this happens .
Depression ?
Don't feel well so they eat?
I don't know.

Thanks for the suggestions guys... But you all seem to forget - my cat isn't a normal house cat.
He's African Serval and Savannah.
The food aggression comes from the Serval side, as you can see here for an example:



But to address a few questions - Nova is on a raw diet.
He gets 2 Oz's of raw chicken 2-3 times a day.
This blend is 80/10/10 with muscle meat, bone, and organ.
Servals also need Taurine when living in captivity.
So he gets a taurine supplement with each meal.

He doesn't like cat treats, so my wife brings him home roast beef, that he goes nuts over.

As for grains - Servals and Savannahs cannot digest grains. Nor do they digest vegetables properly.
Because he is a wild animal, think about what the Serval would be eating in Africa.
Besides whatever is in the stomach contents of their prey, they would not be eating grains or vegetables.

Fun fact the African Serval has a 50% kill rate.
He has one of the highest kill rates out of all wild felines.

a reply to: Creep Thumper

Sorta a rescue I guess... he rescued us!

But no, he cost a lot of money.

a reply to: Plotus

He is just over 6 months now.

a reply to: Macenroe82

Try these kitty treats!


I am so jealous Mac!!
Nova is Beautiful!!

originally posted by: hiddeninsite
a reply to: Macenroe82

You are the boss, not the cat.

originally posted by: Macenroe82
Thanks for the suggestions guys... But you all seem to forget - my cat isn't a normal house cat.
He's African Serval and Savannah.
The food aggression comes from the Serval side, as you can see here for an example:

But to address a few questions - Nova is on a raw diet.
He gets 2 Oz's of raw chicken 2-3 times a day.
This blend is 80/10/10 with muscle meat, bone, and organ.
Servals also need Taurine when living in captivity.
So he gets a taurine supplement with each meal.

He doesn't like cat treats, so my wife brings him home roast beef, that he goes nuts over.

As for grains - Servals and Savannahs cannot digest grains. Nor do they digest vegetables properly.
Because he is a wild animal, think about what the Serval would be eating in Africa.
Besides whatever is in the stomach contents of their prey, they would not be eating grains or vegetables.

Fun fact the African Serval has a 50% kill rate.
He has one of the highest kill rates out of all wild felines.

Feed the cats some healthy plant material before you make them sick.. they eat plants wether they live in Africa or not......ever heard of a Zebra or a Giraffe or a Water Buffalo or a Kudu?....what do you think they eat.......there are lots of grasses and plants in this animals natural diet.

Don't be afraid of plants.....just refer to other pet owners like you are doing....and use Google...every site I found said the same things....yes your cat needs plant material in its diet...and the fresher the better.

servalkittens.com...

With most cats, giving in rewards the bad behavior.

Make sure he cannot get to the other cat's food even if that means feeding in separate rooms. If he's still young, he may be going through that teen boy phase where they want to eat everything in site. You may have to talk to someone who knows the breed and see, but if he's going through a growth phase, he may need an increase in rations. Kittens/young cats generally do need more food for the first year or so of life to get past that intense growth, but Savannahs may be different because of the mix.

Our little black beast goes through phases where he is intensely demanding and we have to up his calories a bit to get him to the next feed.