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

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 :)

Can't Believe They're 7 Weeks

Much excitement for me yesterday... my blog has a follower! Hurrah! Yes, yes... it doesn't take much to please me as I am very sad and have no life *grin*

Weights for this week! As ever, take the accuracy of them with a little bit of a pinch of salt... I do try to catch then when they are sleepy, but it doesn't always come off!

Wendell

Birth 103g

1 week 217g

2 weeks 294g

3 weeks 362g

4 weeks 463g

5 weeks 593g

6 weeks 763g

7 weeks 907g

Kensey

Birth 91g

1 week  196g

2 weeks 255g

3 weeks 346g

4 weeks 437g

5 weeks 604g

6 weeks 777g

7 weeks 975g

Kenneth

Birth 94g

1 week 192g

2 weeks 274g

3 weeks 382g

4 weeks 480g

5 weeks 589g

6 weeks 757g

7 weeks 902g

Monty

Birth 90g

1 week  198g

2 weeks 290g

3 weeks 390g

4 weeks 524g

5 weeks 600g

6 weeks 792g

7 weeks 1012g

AnnElise

Birth 92g

1 week 188g

2 weeks 262g

3 weeks 338g

4 weeks 437g

5 weeks 539g

6 weeks 716g

7 weeks 897g

Hope

Birth 83g

1 week 182g

2 weeks 257g

3 weeks 340g

4 weeks 458g

5 weeks 562g

6 weeks 712g

7 weeks 832g

Moving House

I've been busying myself moving the blog over to this site. Blogger makes it pretty easy, and all is now moved over except the genetics posts... which I am going to review VERY carefully in the light of my blooper earlier in the week lol! I'm pretty sure everything I wrote is accurate, and I had just ('just' lol) missed an important fact when considering the orange-making gene, but I don't want to post anything that is wrong, so I'll check it all over before reposting those.

Also, I'm more 'aware' that this blog is public. On the private blog, I've whittered away to myself quite merrily in the knowledge that no-one can 'hear' me... but now they can. Also, what is it with the fact that anything you wrore more than about... ooh, two weeks ago? seems very embarrassing indeed? He he. Ah well. One can't make an omelette without breaking eggs, so they say, although what that has to do with kittens is anyone's guess.

Otherwise it's just more of the same here... playing with the kittens, watching the kittens, cuddling the kittens, tearing myself away from the kittens to earn a crust... lol. After my wobble yesterday, I feel bound to report that I have not heard Kenneth rattle in the past 24 hours, despite spending quite a lot of time with him, so I'm holding off on the vet visit for a couple of days to see what's what.

Also, a gripe. I've had a couple emails since going into hyper-advertising mode, and... well, people are very odd, aren't they? One mail said 'I'd like two females'- that's it, no hello, no let me tell you a little about myself, just that... as if I was a market stall and selling bananas! I replied politely of course, asking for a bit more info but got no reply and I'm not at all upset about that! I've had a couple other mails which I have replied to which have fizzled out when I've asked a few questions (nicely, I swear...) but seriously what do people expect, that I'll do them up neatly in brown paper and stick them in the mail???

And as for that, would anyone REALLY want a kitten from a breeder that showed NO interest in where or what the kittens might be going to? *shakes head sadly*

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.