Savannah Cat Forum Message Board and Classifieds For Savannah Kittens and Cats. All cat owners welcomed!

So as we all know Savannahs are very curious and always want to know what is going on.

So I was cutting up an orange last night and Kiah jumped up on the counter to see what i was doing...she smelled the orange and I never saw her get off the counter faster...she absolutely hated the smell. I walked over to her to let her smell it again and she ran in the other room.

So naturally I went over to Matti to see her reaction...exactly the same reaction, she ran away.

Has anyone else experienced this behavior?

Cats generally don't like citrus, some more than others. I had a dog that would grimace from across the room and leave when I peeled oranges.

It's kind of funny...it's the first thing we have found that really annoys them

I have read somewhere that orange peelings tossed in the garden soil keeps neighbor cats from doing their business there?

Oh, wow! That is great to know! I will have to try that trick with the garden. Thanks.

My family (country bumpkins that we are) have used orange peelings on the garden for many years... didn't work too well because the acid/oil starts evaporating very quickly from the inside and the outside of the peel gives off less powerful scents. But a freshly peeled orange will have cats (and dogs I think) running for cover!

A fresh cut onion will do the same thing. They like to poke their nose into whatever your doing. One at a time they all came within about 6 inches and then jumped straight backwards off the ground and left.

Add to that a nicorette inhalator.

Well Dolly keeps bloody stealing it

So to see what it was that she found interesting about it I held it out. She took a sniff.... Needless to say she's not touched it since. If I pick it up now and tap it she looks at it and pins her ears back before doing a runner. Gotta say for a cat that must have seriously burnt her nose. The things are really strong.. So much so that sometimes after I am done sucking on it I lose my voice..

Talking of which.. Dolly... AGAIN.

Mum has Iritis in one of her eyes (forget which one now). She went to the docs and they gave her steroid drops for her eyes. Now these things are so strong they don't stock them at chemists and the only place she can get them is in Worthing about 40 miles away (at the eye hospital). So they come in a small bottle.. Well.... You've guessed it. Dolly !

I woke up one morning and mum was all in a panic, can't find her eye drops. She said she sort of thought she dreamt Dolly stealing them and realised she must have been half awake. Dolly had indeed gotten on her night stand and bloody nicked 'em.

I spent about two hours tearing the house apart (these things were crucial to mum, she could have gone blind without them) and eventually found them half way under mum's bed.

Honestly, a naughtier cat I have never ever had but man, she really does make me laugh. I figured out that if you tickle her belly whilst she's standing up she squirms for a bit before rolling over and sticking her paws straight up like a doggy, it's absolutely hilarious.