This page is dedicated to our first F1 male named Cheetah October 10, 2002 - November 20, 2006

This beautiful Savannah’s time on earth was cut short, but he left us with such beautiful memories, and a love for the Savannah breed, that we decided to become breeders. Cheetah as a kitten, was timid around us and the rest of our furry family.  Nevertheless, he soon became incredibly attached to us and the other animals in our house. Cheetah loved showing his affection by always being near us. Though he was not a “lap cat”, per say, he always had to be wherever we were.  He made his presence known by rubbing up against our legs. If we nodded our heads in his direction, he would greet us with a head butt.  Sometimes he did not know his own strength and a few times would butt us quite forcefully.  A morning “fetch” game soon became one of Cheetah favorite things.  He would amuse himself with his toys while we were “sleeping in” on weekends. When finally bored, he would bring the toy into bed with him and play there.  With sleep still in our eyes, we would throw the toy out, and Cheetah would be close behind. He always picked it up, and brought it back to the bed.  Needless to say, there was not much “sleeping in” after that.                 Cheetah always enjoyed his mid day naps with dad.  He never enjoyed being held for too long, and he complained about it quite fiercely, but he was all talk.  Dad would simply lay Cheetah on his chest, and there Cheetah found comfort. He would even place his paws on Daddy’s face to bring it closer to him.  He just could not get close enough to Dad. Every now and then, when feeling emotional, Cheetah would give Dad little nibbles on the chin, or ears.  He loved showing Dad how much he loved him!                 These nibbles became Cheetah’s new way of waking us up in the morning or telling us he was hungry.  The hungrier he got, the stronger the nibble.  It was amazing to watch him communicate with us.  He never hurt us; he just wanted to be heard.  What a spoiled little kitty.                 Getting Cheetah’s nails cut was always a big ordeal.  We had to ask Cheetah’s Uncle Rick to come over and help us.  Cheetah would whine, and meow, and growl so much you would think he was losing a limb!  As we have said before… he was all talk.  Even then, he would eventually give in and let us do his trimming. The pictures of “nail trimming day” say it all.                 After three years of having him, we decided to get two more Savannahs.  These two, Azlan and Mishka, we planned on breeding.  Cheetah was very snooty with the kittens at first.  But, in time, realized that they were not going anywhere and decided that if they were to stay in his house they would learn who was boss.  He loved showing them how to wrestle, and play. He even took time to clean them.  Of course, after they were clean, they were ready for play…  Cheetah style.  He never played fair, but the kittens loved it!!  Unfortunately, the baby kittens still didn't’t know how to retract their claws, and used them quite frequently on Cheetah.  He was no stranger to having kitten claws dug out of his forehead.  But this never fazed him.  Cheetah just played on, never once thinking to use his claws on them.  Somehow, he just knew better.                 Though Cheetah was great with the kittens, he did manage to get himself in trouble every now and then.  Getting him off the breakfast table was one of those no-no’s Mom would not allow. That is when we would have to discipline him.  He did not like that very much, and to demonstrate to us how he felt he would slap us with his paw! A big, loud, clawless slap!!  Sometimes we just had to laugh.                 Being of Serval blood, Cheetah was endowed with the ability to jump quite high.  We witnessed him make a six-foot jump straight into the air, chasing a feather toy.  He would stay air born long enough for us to capture great snapshots of him, which you will see on this page.  We once had a bird fly into the house and within no time, Cheetah was on it!  The bird was everywhere, but Cheetah’s eyes were fixated on the bird and before we knew it, he leapt into the air and caught the bird in his mouth.  Knowing, somehow, that we disagreed with this, Cheetah made a run for it down to the basement with the bird in mouth.  Dad had to run down there and try to save the bird.  Amazingly enough, the bird was still alive.  Cheetah was not ready to kill it and was holding it gingerly in his mouth.  Dad finally got a hold of Cheetah, and his mouth opened and out flew the bird!  It flew out of the house completely unharmed.  Amazing!                 Keeping water bowls around the house was always a big mistake.  Cheetah would just assume it was a potty and use it!  This came natural in him.  One morning we heard the faucet running and asked each other why the faucet was on.  We got up to investigate.  We peeked in the bathroom door and there was Cheetah, perched on the commode going potty.  He looked up at us as if to say, “I’ll be done in a minute, …”.  This happened on more than one occasion. He always amazed us.                 We have many more stories to share about Cheetah.  His death was a huge tragedy for our family and we will never forget him. He was the first Savannah we owned and he is the reason we decided to breed Savannah cats. He was the most amazing animal we have ever been around.