Cold

There's been plenty of this in the Indikon household in the past few days. Radiators have become fiercely defended hangouts and activity has ground to a halt. Soft southern housecats, the lot of them...

Indigo, in particular will scarcely allow me to sit down without her climbing all over me. I'd be flattered, but I know it's only because I'm warmer than the bed! Still, it's quite pleasant, unless I'm trying to work and then it becomes rather less so. Indigo can be VERY persistant, and being a pampered princess doesn't help, 'no' doesn't seem to exist in her vocabulary.

Brrr. Can't wait for the spring. Stay warm everyone!

Far Too Old

Definitely far too old for all this nonsense... but Mama cats will keep letting them! Poor Indigo looks ridiculous, hidden under that sea of kitten!

Weights today and nothing else as I'm really busy, may not get an entry in tomorrow either but Sunday I will finish the weight comparison and do a proper entry I promise.



Liesl

Birth 96g
1 week 172g
2 weeks 226g
3 weeks 250g
4 weeks 325g
5 weeks 420g
6 weeks 586g
8 weeks 880g
9 weeks 1050g
10.5 weeks 1310g
12 weeks 1460g
FriedrichBirth 101g
1 week 187g
2 weeks 239g
3 weeks 271g
4 weeks 349g
5 weeks 449g
6 weeks 630g
8 weeks 950g
9 weeks 1180g
10.5 weeks 1380g
12 weeks 1500g

KurtBirth 102g
1 week 205g
2 weeks 280g
3 weeks 341g
4 weeks 448g
5 weeks 570g
6 weeks 740g
8 weeks 1020g
9 weeks 1220g
10.5 weeks 1460g
12 weeks 1550g

LouisaBirth 82g
1 week 157g
2 weeks 219g
3 weeks 260g
4 weeks 334g
5 weeks 394g
6 weeks 530g
8 weeks 820g
9 weeks 960g
10.5 weeks 1160g
12 weeks 1260g

BrigittaBirth 83g
1 week 179g
2 weeks 248g
3 weeks 301g
4 weeks 374g
5 weeks 497g
6 weeks 641g
8 weeks 890g
9 weeks 1070g
10.5 weeks 1300g
12 weeks 1400g

MartaBirth 91g
1 week 178g
2 weeks 249g
3 weeks 311g
4 weeks 389g
5 weeks 468g
6 weeks 603g
8 weeks 840g
9 weeks 970g
10.5 weeks 1130g
12 weeks 1270g

GretlBirth 81g
1 week 150g
2 weeks 220g
3 weeks 269g
4 weeks 342g
5 weeks 402g
6 weeks 516g
8 weeks 780g
9 weeks 950g
10.5 weeks 1140g
12 weeks 1260g


Comparison:

Birth

REM litter 83g-103g. Average 92g

Von Trapp litter 81g-102g. Average 91g

1 week

REM litter 182g-217g Average 195g

Von Trapp litter 150g- 205g. Average 175g

2 weeks


REM litter 257g-294g, Average 272g
Von Trapp litter 220g- 280g, Average 240g

3 weeks


REM litter  338g-390g. Average 359g.
Von Trapp litter 250g- 341g. Average 286g.

4 weeks


REM litter 437g-524g. Average 466g
Von Trapp litter 325g-448g. Average 365g

5 weeks


REM litter 539g-604g. Average 581g
Von Trapp litter 394g-570g. Average 457g.

6 weeks


REM litter 712g- 792g, Average 752g
Von Trapp litter  516g-740g, Average 606g

9 weeks

REM litter 1070-1340g. Average 1238g

Von Trapp litter 950-1220g. Average 1057g

10.5 weeks

REM litter 1130-1530g. Average 1368g

Von Trapp litter 1130g-1460g. Average 1268g if Liesl's weight is correct.

Merry Christmas!

As a Christmas Eve treat, I put Mama's lunch directly into the cage whilst the kittens were active, the idea not being for them to eat it, but see Mam doing so, to have a sniff and get used to the smells, if they wanted to. Some of them were really quite curious, some of them decided snoozing was a better option. No problem!

Merry Christmas from all the people and kitties here at Indikon!

More Colour Musings

But firstly, once again, if anyone is here from the advert in Your Cat, welcome to my blog, where I ramble on about my kittens and permanent resident cats and post lots of cute pictures... like this one!

This is Freddie, and yesterday he officially became the first kitten to crawl out of the nest. Very clever!

I've had another nibble, someone who may want a kitten. Hello, P, if you are reading this!

I'm going all out this time to get the colours correct *grin* so now that their nose leathers are starting to colour up- the earliest indicator- I've taken pictures of the kitten's noses to see if they hold true- plenty of time for them to change, but we will see.

I'm only lightly holding the kittens heads in these piccies... of course they all screamed their heads off like I was murdering them hehe. The photos aren't clear (my replacement camera isn't as good as my other one, but what do you do just before Christmas??? Still haven't found it...)

Liesl.

Nose leather really quite dark. She's also developing quite a marked difference between ears and body, so my guess is brown mink.

Friedrich

I'd had Freddie down as a brown solid, but look at his nose. It's dark, but a warmer, pinker dark than Liesl's. He's still pretty dark all over though, so I'm going for chocolate solid.

Kurt

Very dark nose. I think he must be a brown, whether a solid or a mink I have no idea because of his odd colouring- I got a pic of it...

his bottom half looks really pale in comparison to his dark little head. No idea what's going on there! Judging by his head colour I'd say solid, but by his bottom colour mink. Um...?

Louisa

I had Louisa down as a chocolate, but that nose is looking very lilac to me... much paler than her possibly chocolate siblings noses. Her fur has lightened up considerably too and her ears are not really noticeably darker than the rest of her- yet. So possibly a lilac solid. Otherwise a chocolate.

Brigitta

I had thought she was a choc solid before, but that nose is really dark, so now I'm thinking brown solid

Marta

Looks like a chocolate nose to me. Chocolate solid?

Gretl

That little face cracks me up!

In the photo her nose looks a bit pinky but looking at Gretl and Louisa side by side, Louisa's is much warmer. I'm sticking with my original thought here, blue mink.

Anyway them's my thoughts at the current time! No doubt they will change again though, but I think having a visual record will help me in future years when it comes to determining a kitten's colour. Whatever they are, they are all yummy! 

Google

If you type 'Indikon' into Google, I'm the third entry. Given that it's just the name of a colour, albeit in another language, I'm pretty pleased with that actually!

If you type 'Tonkinese' in, well, lets just say I stopped looking at page 20. Hehe. Ditto 'Tonkinese kittens'. The top 20 pages of images  for both don't have any of my piccies on either. Not quite conquered the market yet then...

'Tonkinese blog' puts me right at the top though... and second and third, actually. Whoo! Even 'Tonkinese diary' I'm on the second page. I'm hoping blogging is my niche- it's not that no-one else does kitten diaries, they do, but... oh I dunno. I think my families last year really liked having a daily update on their new baby anyway, so it was worthwhile to do it!

Erm... and that's today's entry. Not really a point to it, but that's just how we roll here hehe

Be Indikon's Friend On Facebook!

Ok, so I've been meaning to make an Indikon page for AGES, and finally have. So if you use Facebook, please do friend us! We're down as Indikon Tonkinese (obviously!) - not sure if you need this link http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100002993394274 but there you go if you do.

One Year Of Blogging

Well! Today marks one year of blogging. On this day last year, I drove Indigo to stud at Folkestone and came home to fret and worry and generally wring my hands at the thought that she was unhappy (she wasn't... she had a great time) Did I worry so much this year? Erm... well yes, actually. I suspect being neurotic about my cats is constitutional!

Indeed. Weirdo

Anyway, here's a few things that happened in the last year.

I officially became INDIKON- my registered prefix. Indikon means indigo... in Greek, randomly. I don't speak Greek, I've never been to Greece and Tonk cats have their origins in the far East not the med... I just liked the way it sounded. Hmm... I like feta cheese and olives... does that count?

Indigo went to stud at the beginning, and went to stud again at the end. Kittens came, captured our hearts, grew like weeds, and left for fabulous new forever homes. Sigh. But kind of a happy sigh, you know? Enough to want to do it again anyway!

The relationship between Indigo and my other two girls finally broke down, and they were permanently separated. I’m still sad about this. Maybe one day? Both sets of cats continue to have loving relationships with Theo, my male neuter. Very strange.

Hideous amounts of money was spent at the vet, pet store, online and so on. None of the cats could care less about my empty wallet, naturally!

I managed to miss THREE cat shows because of illness. Three. Ridiculous! Two because I was ill, and one because Indigo was.

Theo was a fabulous uncle to the kittens and one, in particular, worshipped the ground beneath his paws. Sofia had no interest in being an aunt, hissed whenever she saw a kitten, (which was rarely- see separation of Indie and other two girls) and Ava ran away whenever SHE came across one.

Our resident cat population went from four to ten, and back to four again. And now? Who knows! There could be several kittens a-cooking even as I type!

Sofia remained somewhat rotund. Indigo went from slim to slightly matronly. Ava is still a skinny thing and Theo? Hard to tell under all that floof!

Theo's tummy issues seemed to resolve (touch wood). Indigo had an ongoing, worrying allergic reaction, only resolved when I changed her food. And amusingly I discovered Indigo had an extra nipple. I still have rather worrying dreams about Indigo having a litter of nine kittens... one for each boob, and no, nine is not unheard of! (though very uncommon... thank goodness!)

It's been a great year, and it's been a pleasure to share my cats and kittens with you. Thanks for reading :)

Registration

FINALLY got round to sending off the registration form today, after agonising over the colours this past week. I've been looking at Kenneth and wondering if he's caramel too, but decided he looked far more like Monty than Kensey. Ditto AnnElise, but she's down as a blue, too. Of course, colours can be changed, everyone who breeds Tonks, especially mixed caramel/ non caramel litters will be well aware that kittens can take a long time to determine, and many a breeder has taken their apparently blue or lilac kitten to a show only to meet with fierce discussion from judges and other breeders as to whether it really is a Caramel! But I've done my best, anyway!

Only just in time, too. Processing can take up to 4 weeks, and I have them here with me still for.... oooh, about four and a half! Nothing like leaving it to the last minute eh, but like I say I was agonising over the colour... I really wanted to get it 'right'. I had to do the form twice, as I made an error on the first and there's no room for correction on the form, plus it's confusing and that's how mistakes are made. I suppose i'm lucky I only had to do it twice!

Anyway, off went the form, the mating certificate from stud Harry's breeders (proving I mated Indigo with another registered Tonkinese and not a random tomcat from up the road!) and the fee, and I shall look forward to getting six 'pink slips' through in the mail... My first Tonkinese, all registered and official. I feel very proud.

On a less pleasant note, this is my poor Indigo's head. The lesions extend into her ears, and over both outer ears, and as you can see are red, raw and sore. Those of you who have seen her recently will appreciate just how quickly this has flared up. She's had a collar on for 24 hours now, and I THINK they haven't worsened any in that time, (because she can't scratch them, probably) and I'm hoping the collar plus the soothing gel will break the itch-scratch-bleed- scab- itch cycle and let them start to heal. Plus we have the vet on Tuesday. I'm hoping now she's only nursing sporadically there will be more options for her. And I'm busily researching preservative and dye free food for the big switcheroo once the kittens have moved on.

 Kenneth's new family were due to visit him tomorrow, but they very kindly contacted me after yesterday's blog entry to ask if I'd rather they postpone. Considering I expect they are dying to see Kenneth again, it was very kind and I did appreciate it- thank you very much S and D!

I had someone coming over tomorrow to look at AnnElise and Kensey, but I've let them know what's going on as well... they may well wish to cancel too. We'll see how it goes. Of course the worry (apart from my concern for Indigo which is, of course, the most important thing!) is that this might dissuade people from taking a kitten from me- understandably, of course, but fairly hard lines for me as the kittens are fine!

There are two other people currently interested as well, (one in the pair, one in AnnElise) and I've let them know about Indigo's head, and offered to help find them another Tonk litter if they wanted as well... I figured that was the right thing to do, but really, of course, I'd like to stomp my feet like a little child and shout IT'S NOT FAIR! After two weeks of not a lot, suddenly I get a rush of genuine interest in the kittens... and this happens!!!!!

Ah well, that's breeding for you, things go wrong and you just have to deal with them. *grin* I feel a bit better after my virtual stomp, anyway!

Indikon

Well, my prefix has now been approved, and I am officially Indikon :)

I have been keeping a private blog for a few months now, documenting my Tonkinese cat Indigo's pregnancy and motherhood. Her kittens are currently four weeks old, and very lovely they are too! Over the next few weeks and months I will transfer the posts over to this public blog, and eventually, when I've caught up, update directly to here.

If you're reading for the first time, hello! My name is Beth, and I'm a new breeder of Tonkinese cats. This blog is meant to be a diary of breeding and cat ownership, a totally honest, warts and all account of all our antics and concerns here. So if Indigo widdles on my bath towel (the highlight of one post) I'll tell you all about it. You lucky things.

It's also intended to be a tool for our kittens' new families to keep up to date with their babies before they are old enough to come home. And of course I will be spending some time talking about my other cats too- I have four, and only one is a Tonk.

If you are a breeder yourself I might say things that you disagree with, I might do things you think are unnecessary or could be done differently, and you are welcome to post in the comments section and tell me so. In fact, I'm almost sure to so something unorthodox at some point! That's ok, I'm sure we all do things differently and I'm always open to a bit of advice- after all, this is new to me. Trolls and spammers beware though... comments will be moderated, so anything rude or hateful will be removed... it's not that kind of blog, and I don't have any use for Viagra, thanks!

I hope you enjoy reading.

Indikon

Originally posted on my private blog- posted to http://indikon-tonkinese.blogspot.com/ on 06/01/11

Indigo, kittyloafing.

Exciting news for me! My prefix has been approved, and I am officially INDIKON. Which is Indigo, in Greek. I'm advised the paperwork will be sent sometime in the new year as the post is too busy now, which is fair enough, but I can use the prefix as of now. Hurrah!

It's also not the name at the top of this blog, that was rejected pretty early on as too similar to another prefix name. I thought it would be, but worth a try eh? This is why this is a private blog to date- even if the name of choice is eventually approved, one can't 'use' it until it is, for obvious reasons, of course. So sometime in the New Year, I will start a new, public blog and transfer all these posts over.

Indigo looks stunning at the moment, she really does. She's taking motherhood very seriously and for the first week or so only left the babies to eat and use the litter tray. She's venturing out now, we had our first post birth sit on my lap cuddle the other day, and here she is on the sofa, relaxing, but keeping a sharp eye on the nest all the same.

She didn't tolerate Theo in the same room for a few days (Theo sat in the kitchen and howled poor boy!) but has now even let him into the nest briefly for a quick sniff of the babies.

AND... I'm reluctant to type this in case it all goes pear shaped, but Indigo's 'allergy'? She's not had any new spots since the kittens were born. Before then, actually. None at all. So I'm starting to think it was hormonal and not an allergy after all. I poked fate a little by mentioning this to another breeder on the phone, and she hasn't developed any more, so I'm feeling positive enough to type it here.

On the weight gain front, all the kittens made better gain yesterday. Kensey made 12g, which again isn't outstanding but it's much much better than he has been doing. I'm in two minds whether or not to supplement him today. Perhaps I'll give him one feed.

I had a brainwave the other day and thought I'd start giving Indigo Nutri-plus gel again- I started giving her this during pregnancy, but she doesn't like it so it was a struggle, and of course the allergy/ hormonal thingy kicked in and I was having to interfere with her so much to pill her and wash her head and so on, the nutrigel was dropped. But I thought maybe she'd accept it better now and it stimulates the appetite so she'd eat more and hopefully then so could the kittens. Perhaps I could hide it in her food. Do you think I could FIND the dratted stuff though? Of course not. It's not with the kittening supplies, not in the cat medicine box... darn it!

So I went online last night and ordered some more of the stuff. Then I remembered Coral (Fecheldee) telling me about nutri-drops... and they can be given to kittens. Which might help to support them a little, not that they are 'struggling' as such, but you know. So I ordered some of that, and then I remembered reading about Kaogel being good for upset tummies and I thought oh well, if Theo has another funny spell, that might help and so on and so on, well anyway, I managed to spend quite a lot. Oops! If you are reading this thinking does this woman spend every day fussing and worrying about her cats then... you'd be pretty spot on, actually. :) I'm sure all the meds will come in handy at some point.

Well, I'm off out in a bit... Christmas eve and all that. Merry Christmas!