Two Blues

So our first visitors had chosen Liesl and Marta. Next came K and her family. No hissing this time, fortunately! K's two girls were to choose their new pets, and Louis(a) (lol) was very quickly chosen. He was very charming, batting a pen about and darting around on the floor that he completely sold himself. Nicely done, little man. (Little lady. Oh I wish I knew for sure which he/she was!!!!)

A sibling for him was a trickier matter. The other kittens were continuing their snooze so it was difficult to pick- no-one was really standing out. Dad had rather fallen for Brigitta, but in the end Gretl was chosen.

So the blues are off home together, and very nice too, they do make an attractive pair.

As an aside, aren't their eyes lovely at this age? Big baby blues... mmmmm!

Stop Press!

Brigitta has also found her home. Her people visited today and rang tonight, having decided yes, they would like her.

I am astounded by how quick its all been this year!

EDIT- Bother, bother, bother, no she hasn't... they changed their mind. Brigitta is still available.

Yesterday...

The first visit! The kittens were sleeping, draped over Mama when our visitors arrived, but when Gretl saw them, she hissed! Yes, hissed! Little minx! Which of course woke up the others and they all hissed too and Brigitta floofed up her tail (so cute) and they were Not Happy At All.

Liesl, totally glazed over, seconds before she fell asleep today

Marta, already there! Awwww!

Indigo just lay there though, totally unconcerned, and after a minute or two, the kittens calmed down and decided they didn't mind the visitors at all (which goes to show how important the mother's temperament is)... gazed at them dopily for a few minutes and all dropped back off to sleep again! They weren't at all interested in playing or running around, just snoozing.

Oh well, sleepy kittens are very nice to cuddle after all, and the kittens seemed very amenable to this activity (lol) so our visitors had a nice snuggle with the kittens that they decided to make theirs- Liesl and Marta. Hurrah! I know they will be very happy with these two lovely girls.

Thanks for your visit S and family, and for understanding about the hissing. Funny little kittens. I hope you'll come and visit the girls soon and see them in a more congenial mood! It's funny... our visit today saw them bouncing, playing and *gasp* taking themselves to the litter box on their own, totally at ease with our guests from the off. I guess they really were just tired the other day.

Tired!

The kittens have been very, very sleepy today. I mean, that wouldn't normally be a problem but... today was our first visiting day. I'm afraid most of our visitors only saw snoozing kittens rather than playing kittens! Thank goodness I have this blog to prove that they do indeed move!

It didn't seem to deter people though, as all but one have now found their family :) And someone is coming tomorrow to see Brigitta and several messages are yet to be answered in my mailbox with regard to kittens so I don't suppose she'll be unclaimed for that much longer.

There seems to be a shortage of Tonkinese kittens available at the moment or more people than usual searching for Tonks- either way the two are not matching up and I'm getting emails and phone calls aplenty this time round. Some don't go any further than that of course- one person wanted a red or apricot point and apart from my dabbling into Torties last year I'm not able to breed those colours. Others were looking for Tonks of paticular colours, or pointed Tonks.

I'm also very fortunate for my number to have been passed on to several people by my colleague Hilary (Hylily, Monty's owner) as she has placed all her kittens. I much appreciate it, thank you. Of course I have in return put out a few feelers for other people who I couldn't help (is there a breeder reading this who has a lilac?) in the hope of finding them their kitten. Do you know, that is one of the nice things about the 'Tonk community' in my opinion... people know and help each other. Perhaps because there's really not that many of us?

So all in all a good day, and I'll write more about it in due course. Next year, though, I think I'll leave the kittens till they are just a little older before I advertise them. I'm going to have to check, but this litter just seem so... well so young compared to last year's. But I think last years visits were slightly later in the main (only Wendell and Monty went early) which might account for it, that and this litter being generally slightly less mature anyway. And by the time we came to the last visit, it was clear that Indigo had had enough... she kept trying to drag the kittens off into a secluded corner and was getting quite meowy and anxious. Next time I will restrict visits to one or two a day. Poor Mama cat, she was very good, but by the time our last guest left, she was definitely unsettled and stayed so for the rest of the afternoon- making me feel extra guilty, of course!

An Unexpected Pleasure

Well, this weekend we will be saying goodbye to Kensey and AnnElise. Regular readers will know they were due home last week, but because of unexpected (but harmless) vaccine reactions they had to stick around for a bit.

But it's been absolutely lovely having them here. Having an entire litter- that was hard work. But just having the two? It's taken me right back to the days when Ava and Sofia were small. Happy memories. All the pleasure of kittens, without the sheer hard work of having a herd of them. It's been almost as if they were mine...

But of course they aren't mine, and these past few days I've been trying to distance myself from the kittens a little bit. They've still had their share of cuddles, and I haven't neglected them in any way of course, but mentally I've been detatching more. It's easy to see why, when breeders don't place a kitten when young,  the kitten often ends up becoming a permanenet resident... one gets attached very very easily.

The teenager is definitely ready for them to move on, however! He was rather fond of Wendell, and I had to remind him several times he wasn't staying. This week though, he wasn't best pleased when the kittens literally ate his homework. Oops!

Settling Down

I've recieved a nice email from Hope's family :)

'Well Hope (we might call her Lisl)  has been rather scared and hid first under the bed and then under the bath, but then she came out after a while...

...We put her on the bed and I woke in the morning to find her nestled into my arm (she must have been sleeping there for a while), and then she just put her face right next to mine and looked into my eyes - she is adorable. She is still rather worried and cries a lot, but she is also so super cuddly and affectionate it's unbelievable and purrs really loudly.'

Awwww! Good on you Hope (Lisl, I mean!)

Updates

Jacob and Jonah (Wendell and Monty) settling in. Photo by C F

Forgot to update on Alfie (Kenneth) yesterday. He's eating fine, and he's fine the other end too, settling down nicely into his new home.

I had another update from Jacob (Wendell) and Jonah's (Monty's) new home as well- they have cast off any shyness and are right at home. Love the photo above, doesn't it look as though Jonah has a big smirk on his face? LOL

So it sounds as though all three boyus have fitted seamlessly into their new lives... brilliant!

Hope's new family are hoping to collect her Monday afternoon, depending on what time their plane gets in. Of course I have no idea what the planes are goig to be like in the next little while, with all the disasters happening in Japan and the Pacific Rim at the moment. If their plane is delayed, they will have to pick up another day because....

... later on Monday, I will be taking Kensey back to the vet to have his lump looked at again. And I will be taking his sister with him because she's only gone and developed a reaction as well. *rolls eyes*

Today Kensey's lump is no bigger, but it doesn't look smaller either. Which is pretty consistent with a vaccine reaction lump. It should go away over time. AnnElise's came up yesterday- her new family noticed it, so I can pinpoint the time it came up almost to the hour... I checked her over that morning (and Hope, who is fine) and no lump, mid afternoon when her family visited we were feeling her back and thinking is it? Or is that just the microchip? and by evening it definitely was a lump. Same as Kensey's, no pain, no 'heat' etc etc.

I've been looking up about vaccine site reactions though... Apparently, this kind of lump is quite common, will typically occur up to 12 days after a vaccine is given -mine were vaccinated  for the last time 11 days ago- and they tend to go away without treatment, without any lasting effect. In fact, much of the available information suggests that whisking Kensey to the vet the same day might have been somewhat of an overreaction (me? surely not!) and that veterinary attention is only really needed if the lump hasn't disappeared several months later. Whoops! What can I say, I like to err on the side of caution where my kittens are concerned!!!

Oh well, you live and learn. I'll look into it more of course, as it doesn't hurt to be informed, and this is a new one on me... I'd heard they might get wobbly tums after the jabs, but not come across lumpy necks! Even though I've been googling, though, I'm pleased to report I have managed NOT to scare myself silly with what-if's and extremely rare and unlikely conditions this time. I'm learning! By the time we have our next litter, I will be as chilled as anything. Yeah, and pigs might indeed fly...

Kenneth, Home.

Photo by S P

I shouldn't call him Kenneth, his name is now Alfie!

Anyway Alfie is doing very well. He was out of the carrier for a wander not long after he got home last night and the update this morning is he's been exploting and playing a lot. Still waiting on him eating and using the litter tray- perhaps it's all still a bit exciting?

Monty and Wendell are settling in nicely too. They've been exploring, have found all the nice dark corners to dash into and now they are starting to be a bit more brave and coming out for longer. Sounds like they are coming around nicely, too.

Bye Bye Boys!

Monty being adorable.

Wendell and Monty went this morning, and Kenneth has just gone this evening! So that just leaves Kensey and his sisters. He and AnnElise are with us till Saturday, and I have the pleasure of Hope's company till the middle of next week. It's purely chance it's worked out that way, but it's nice to have the leavings spread out a bit, I think, and less stressful for Indigo. Not that she seemed at all stressed earlier, snuggling into Kenneth's carrier and looking as if SHE was the one leaving today!!!

So we are down to three. The house seems dead quiet, now. It's odd to think that three/four kittens is a normal sized litter...

Wendell Wednesday... for the last time!

Wendell has turned into a grade A snuggler of late! He's still bonkers, though.

Wendell and Monty are leaving us tomorrow morning- the first of the kittens to go. Goodbye sweet boys.

Kitten Food

I've had some people asking what they should feed their kittens and how often and so on... so here's a blog post devoted to that!

The kittens will come home with samples of both the dry food they have been eating here, and the canned food as well, and I'd advise you to keep them on this food for the first few days until they have settled down a bit- it's familiar, it's comforting, it's not going to put any strain on their systems in those first few days.

They will be used to having kibble freely available, water freely available, and three wet food meals a day. When your kitten comes home they will be ok on two wet meals a day, morning and evening, as long as the kibble bowl is topped up. Fresh water must be available at all times.

After that... it's up to you, and your kitten. They have individual preferences, for example AnnElise really isn't bothered about the wet food at all. Monty isn't terribly fussed either. Kensey and Wendell, on the other hand, absolutely love it and will scoff until the plate is clear. My own adult cats are mostly dry food fed, but because they like the canned stuff they have a meal of this in the evening. You'll soon find what works for you and your kitten.

Wet food, once out, has a limited freshness, so I'd remove what is left uneaten on the plate after about half an hour, and chuck it away. You can keep stuff that's still in the sachet/ can for about 24 hours in the fridge, covered over. As for how much to put out, it depends very much on the kitten... at the moment I'm putting down about 200g for the six of them, (two sachets, or half a can) of which four are eating a good meal, one is ignoring it and one has a few bites then wanders off. They eat about 2/3 to3/4 of this (??) and then mama polishes off the rest. Obviously in three weeks they will be having more. So perhaps try 50g/ half a sachet per kitten to start with, and build up from there if they look like they want more.

You can use any kitten brand you like, as long as it says it's a 'complete' food. Be careful here... you can buy what looks like a really nice food only to find it's a 'complementary' food... thing is people don't realise this and feed it to their cats all the time, leading to all sorts of (serious) issues for the poor cat who isn't getting all the vitamins and minerals it needs to be healthy. This is doubly important for a kitten who has to grow as well.

When switching your kitten over from the sample food I'll give you to the food you have chosen, do it slowly. With the kibble, start with 25% new stuff mixed with 75% of ther old. Then the next day half and half and so on. It's a little more difficult to do this with the canned stuff, and you have to change that all at once of course, so do this first, then switch the kibble after that. If you switch everything all at once, you might find your kitten has runny poop for a day or two!

I would advise you to buy a kitten specific formulation as well, as it has a higher percentage of fat and protein, but if you have older cats do keep an eye on their weight! Kitten food is highly palatable and your older puss might be sneaking  regular treats from the kitten's bowl! My Ava had terrible trouble reaching an acceptable weight (she was less than 6lbs as a fully grown cat) and stayed on kitten kibble far longer than strictly speaking necessary in order to get her weight up. It worked... she's now 71/2 lbs and still a slim cat but not all skin and bones! Unfortunately her sister's weight went up too, this is why Sofia is a tubby cat! I couldn't feed them seperately as Ava wouldn't eat without her sister!

Also if you have an older cat, don't expect him to share his food bowl with the kitten or even feed in the same spot as the kitten... cats can get very territorial about their food. Feed them a little distance from each other, or ideally, in a seperate room at first, and don't strain their budding relationship any!

I hope that's helped, but if anyone has more questions about food, please do ask!

Coming Home

I had an email last night from one of the kittens' new families asking me about the date they will be ready so she can organise some time off- 'caternity leave' lol! I can only apologise, I meant to put the date on here ages ago and what with one thing and another, totally forgot!!!

So all things being well, the date they can come home from is THURSDAY 10th MARCH. Or any time the week after that :)

I've also got to do some blog entries for new families about food and litter and stuff, and I really ought to get on with it, there only being three weeks left!

Yay!

(Photo by S.A)

As I said in my blog yesterday, I was expecting some visitors Sunday afternoon. I didn't want to say anything more yesterday... we seem to have had our fair share of bad luck of late, no sense in tempting fate to send any more!

S and I have been emailing for a week or so, and I had a really good feeling about her. I told her all about Indigo's skin complaint and she was sympathetic, still keen to visit, but content to wait until Indigo was feeling better... well like I said, I just 'knew' she was a good cat-loving person that I'd be happy to send one of my kittens to.

When they arrived, the kittens were snoozing in a pile on the sofa. Before too long, Kensey was up and bouncing and jumping and showing off his lovely playful nature. AnnElise decided to take a more chilled out approach, rolling on her back for tummy rubs (see picture, above!) and generally being very charming. Pretty much their personalities in a nutshell, really!

Now I hope S won't mind me sharing, but she recently lost a dearly loved cat, Z, to kidney failure, and had decided the time had come to look for another cat. Not to replace Z, of course, no cat could ever do that, but there was a kitten- shaped space there, needing to be filled. The time was right to get another cat. Or two... as S and her partner decided they would like to make BOTH AnnElise and Kensey their cats!

It's all worked out in just the best way, hasn't it? S had to make a longish journey here, and so could only come to visit on weekends... well, I've had a LOT of interest in the kittens this week and could have had visits most nights if it hadn't been for Indigo's allergy. The kittens might not have still been available under normal circumstances, or might have gone seperately... I can't help but feel it was somehow meant to be.

I am thrilled, of course. Not only for AnnElise and Kensey going off to a new life together, but because that means ALL of my kittens now have good, loving homes lined up for them for when they are old enough in a few weeks time. Which is all a breeder could ask for really, isn't it? I feel satisfied... very satisfied indeed :)

Bwahahahahahah

hahaha... ahahahaha... hang on,  you're laughing AT me not with me...

Ok, so the kittens all love Mama's pipe cleaner toys...

When they get hold of one, they like to keep it to themselves. So, they growl to warn their siblings off. Not in an aggressive way, just in a 'MY toy, paws off!' kind of way. And it is SO CUTE. And, you know, about the un-scariest thing imagineable, and of course I have to scoop them up and kiss them for being so adorable which isn't exactly the effect they were aiming for.

It's tough being a poor misunderstood kitten, you know *grin*

Just a quick post today because we have a viewing later... whoohoo!

Where Did You Come From?



Well, I jumped on the printer, balanced precariously on the ream of paper to get to the top of the unit, climbed over without falling off and crawled in through the cable hole, of course... surprise!

The kittens' vaccination appointment is on Thursday, not Tuesday as I'd thought. Bother. I didn't fancy waiting that long to get Indie seen, frankly, so I've made another appointment for just her tomorrow on her own. One lady who was planning on visiting soon has agreed to wait a bit, (she was ever so nice about it, bless her!) and the people who were visiting today haven't called to confirm, they don't have my address yet, and if I'm honest, I hope they don't want to come because I'm going to put them off. They were looking at several litters so in all probability if I cancel they will end up picking another pair of kittens, but that can't be helped, Indigo is more important and I reckon a stress free day today and tomorrow, plus the vet in the evening, is the best thing right now.

Still No Home For Kensey And AnnElise

Now, I know I've still got five and a half weeks till they are ready to go. That's over a month... loads of time. And I know that it's a 'good' time of year to have kittens available, before the inevitable kitten season descends. AND I even have a back up plan in case one or both of them end up staying for a little longer, which is to poke my toes into the world of showing.

So why am I worried? Dunno, really!

Over the past few weeks I've had five or six people expressing an interest in a kitten... and each one has come to nothing. So frustrating! Yesterday I was waiting in for a visit, and they called last minute to say they'd chosen someone else's kitten (another Tonk, so fair enough) and wouldn't be over after all. Which is fine, they wanted a kitten ASAP and the one they chose would be ready next week. Frustrating for me though... ah well, at least the house got tidied!

I've had a couple of other disappointments as well, a few emails that didn't go anywhere, and another approach from someone wanting a kitten on the active register, who like the last one didn't reply to my email asking a few questions about their plans/ setup for breeding, and no response. Now this annoys me- for one thing it's rude. I'm a bit old fashioned I'm afraid, and manners cost nothing! For another, surely one would expect questions to be asked! Breeding is a lot of fun, but it's also Hard Work for the breeder, it's hard on Mama cat, and things can go wrong. It's not just a question of sticking a box under the bed and leaving mama cat to it, selling them off a few weeks later to anyone who will take one! And thirdly, presumably the lack of response means they have actually found a breeder, somewhere, who will give them a kitten on the active register with no questions asked... very, very worrying indeed.

Oops, that turned into a bit of a rant didn't it? Sorry! But Indigo's breeders asked me a shedload of questions, and then they discussed it with another breeder and were totally honest with me about their own experiences with Indigo's litter- one kitten stillborn, one kitten not finding a home, so they kept her... and several emails and a visit later, they decided to let me have Indigo. But it wasn't 'easy'... although they were very nice about it.

And breathe...

More Homes!

We had a couple of visits last night.

Firstly, S and his partner came, with a boy in mind, and they chose Kenneth. Actually, it would be more accurate to say that Kenneth chose them. I'd given the kittens their tea, and when S arrived, most of them had opted to sleep it off... under the sofa. Kenneth was napping on the mini cat tree though, and most amenable to some attention.

Both the girls were up and about before long, but it took some time to coax the sleepy boys out from their snoozing spot. (It was a bit embarassing actually- note to self: feed the kittens earlier when we are next expecting visitors!) Eventually, they all made an appearance, but Kenneth had already worked his charms. S and partner left to discuss it, but rang less than 20  minutes later to confirm that Kenneth was indeed their kitten.

I believe S's partner works partly from home, and even better than that is that they are planning on getting another kitten to be his buddy :) Fantastic!

Later on,  E came along with her partner and a friend to look at the girls. E had a special Siamese girl when growing up, and didn't want to 'replace' her... and in looking for a similar breed came across the Tonkinese. She had a terrible time deciding between the two girls, but eventually decided Hope was the kitten for her.

Hope will also be lucky enough to have a buddy... a friendly and playful big brother Boo who is in need of a companion. Perfect. Given Hope's adoration of Theo, I'm sure she'll be very happy!

As for me I'm delighted that they are both going to have not only adoring human slaves, but feline buddies as well... I really couldn't ask for more.

Indigo was also on fine form, playing with the visitors, and got lots of compliments... which made me ridiculously proud. If I do say it myself, she IS a lovely cat, (well, when she isn't being a pest!) she's playful and affectionate and very pretty. And although I mentioned her allergy to both lots of visitors, (she has three spots lol) neither groups seemed to have noticed or were concerned. I suspect I notice it much more than anyone else, Indigo isn't bothered, and certainly I worry much more than I suspect is strictly necessary. Can't help it... she's my darling.

Anyway, after saying confidently yesterday on here that all the kittens were litter trained, I noticed a puddle AND a poo on the large cat tree this morning. Whoops!

So Pleased

Monty, smug!

We had our first visit today... and I'm delighted to announce that both Wendell and Monty have found their forever home. Together!

C has been interested in these kittens for ages and came over today to look at them. I hope she won't mind me sharing that she's waited a long time for the 'right' time for kittens, and... well I just had a good feeling about it all. I was ridiculously nervous though, and probably yammered on something awful, (I could hear my mouth going on and on while my brain was thinking oh Beth, DO shut up!) but the kittens were charming and playful and showed their lovely natures off very well.

Of course there were several mishaps along the way. Kensey did an impressively big and stinky poop in the litter tray, (at least it was in the tray! Could have been worse!) naturally managing to step in it and track poop across the floor, so he had to be whisked off for a foot wash half way lol. And right at the beginning, they were startled by the doorbell and fled en masse under the sofa, but they were soon coaxed out. I was really pleased about that because what with Kenneth's chest and everything, I haven't had that many people over and was concerned they would be shy. Yeah, I know, Tonkinese, shy? I really should have known better!

Anyway, Wendell was picked first, and then Monty and I am SO PLEASED! I know they are going to have a fantastic life with C and her partner, and for them to be going together is just the icing on the cake.

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*