Zeus the goose

My savannah cat, Zeus, loves the water. It's not uncommon to hear shrieks coming from the bathroom whenever some unsuspecting soul steps into the shower or slinks into a warm bath. Even though I give fair warning, some people just don't listen and if Zeus is allowed in the bathroom he believes it's his right to join you in the tub.

We'd brought Zeus up to spend a week with us in the R.V. at Shawnee lake. I wasn't sure if he would be as excited with such a large body of water, but I put him on his leash and harness and off we went.

The initial introduction to this foreign body of wetness was met with hissing, scratching, flailing legs and horrible howls.  After a quick dunking, Zeus settled right in and was curiously swimming with me and the little one.


Occasionally he would paddle out and give one of us a little loving head butt then realize his paws were no longer touching bottom and swim back in to safer places.

After a short while of swimming, skipping after minnows and ferociously attacking water weeds until he was certain he'd killed them, I decided he'd had enough for his first time out and took him to shore.

I dried him off with a towel and he sunned himself for a bit. Drowsy, Zeus was ready for a nice little nap. I watched him as he slept, marvelling at how much he resembles the wild cats. His head is more cougar shaped now and his eyes have a definite exotic slant.

It's crazy how much I love this cat, but I do and he's one of the greatest gifts I've ever received.  If he ever dies I think I'll have his head and tail stuffed and turn him into a purse.

I love my cats!

I have a couple of exotic cats that bring me great joy.  Zeus is my Savannah cat (part African Serval, part domestic cat) who has a temperament like a dog.  Not only does he play fetch, he loves to swim, climb ladders and terrorize dogs.  This is a cat with a ton of attitude.  Sometimes not a good one.  I haven't had a moments peace in the bath or shower since Zeus moved in.  If I close the door to the bathroom he runs and slams his body against it over and over again.  If I leave the door open he believes that's a invitation for him to share my shower.  Somehow that simply doesn't work for me.


Zeus came to us with a diet of raw chicken and Iams Cat Food. We've since changed his diet around finding the raw meats seemed to bring out more of the wild cat attitude in him.

The other cat, Cleopatra (Cleo for short) is a bengal bob.  Part bobcat, part asian leopard.  She's the best mouser I've ever encountered and she keeps the house spider free.  Cleo isn't much of a social cat, she prefers to stay to herself only occasionally gracing us with her presence and only on her time and terms.

Cleo is a petite cat but very agile. Her primary diet is Science Diet. She turns her nose up to "people" food (thank heavens!).

Since both cats are strictly indoor cats unless I take them out on a leash and harness, I'm very finicky about cat odors. Exotic cats seem to be a bit more pungent than domestic cats so I prefer Scoop Away cat litter for odor control in the litter box. I had invested in an electric litter box simply to keep the box continually clean. That didn't last. Zeus decided it was something to be attacked and destroyed. Whatta mess!