We have had our F4 Oliver - AKA "Oliver Elliott" when he’s in trouble and "Ollie Bear" when he’s cute - for a little over 3 months now. We saw him on the A1 Savannahs website and had to have him. Martin and Amanda provided additional photos and also answered multiple emails and phone calls from us as we anxiously awaited the arrival our boy. We were so excited when we picked him up from the airport and Amanda was the recipient of the first text and picture. He was not traumatized in the least bit and wanted OUT of his kennel the second we got in the truck. He explored, played, purred and nuzzled the entire 3 hour drive home. He acclimated very well to our home and was delighted to find he has an F1 brother Reilly (although Reilly was not thrilled at first). I might add he quickly established his dominance over Reilly (who for some reason allowed this to happen!). His favorite toys at the moment are Reilly’s tail… and neon plastic drinking straws. He loves to stash them underneath all of the rugs in the house, stuff them in the couch cushions, shove them under our bed or bury them in the litter box. He absolutely loves to play fetch and when he doesn’t want to play anymore, he hides the toy from us. He’s too cute!
When we told Amanda we wanted a cat with a personality combination of a dog/defiant toddler (call us crazy), she assured us that’s what we would get. Turns out she was right – and he is EXACTLY what we wanted! Ollie is energetic, inquisitive, intelligent and mischievous. If he’s bored, he will look for trouble. We can't keep toilet paper on the holder or it will either be unrolled and in a pile in the bathroom below the holder or long trails are distributed throughout the house. Same with napkins in the napkin holder. He doesn’t destroy them, he just takes a mouthful of them and drops them off elsewhere. The other day when my husband was in the shower, Ollie actually stole his towel and He has been busy relocating hand towels and dish towels around the house. I’m not sure what the attraction is, but it’s kind of funny when he strolls by with a towel in his mouth like he’s just caught the most elusive prey. He also loves to "help" with household chores (or maybe he's "supervising?), which means strutting across the wet floor or the glass tables that were just dusted, laying on the vacuum hose, sticking his paws in a sudsy sink, burrowing into the pile of laundry I’m trying to fold that is fresh out of the dryer and diving under the covers when I’m making the bed. He has also figured out that when he wants a snack, all he has to do is sit on the stove touchscreen buttons until they beep (no worries, the controls are locked) which leads to one of us having to go retrieve him, but the second you reach for him he jumps over by the fridge as if to say "Oh hey! While you’re up..." You might wonder why we "allow" him do these things. Well, it’s because anything we forbid him to do immediately becomes a challenge. “No” doesn’t mean anything to Ollie and he somehow translates it to a dare! (You feel pretty silly when a kitten wins a battle of wills.) We can’t help but love him though because he has such an adorable little face! He loves to snuggle us and purrs all the time. Loudly.
It is very entertaining to own Savannahs because of their constant antics and I think that any Savannah owner would agree. Oh, not to mention it is impossible to own only one! It makes you smile when you a purring cat nuzzling your nose wakes you up before the alarm clock (unless, of course, the purring cat brings you a toy at 2:30 am because he wants to play fetch). We can't wait to get home from work every day to be greeted at the door by our "boys.” Life is not complete until you share your home with these amazing kitties!
We want to thank Martin and Amanda Engster for their knowledge and professionalism while answering multiple phone calls and emails both during Ollie’s adoption process and afterward. They welcomed updates with Ollie and when he did something funny, the first thing we would think is "let’s tell Amanda!" or if we wondered something "Let's ask Amanda!" We would recommend A1 Savannahs in a heartbeat!
- Brian and Heather DePaulis
