Goodbye, Girls

Three of our girls have left! Brigitta left last night and Louisa and Gretl left this morning. I would say the house is quiet without them, but with Indigo still having a full on yowl-fest (in heat!) it really isn't. And no, she's not calling for her kittens... she's calling for a boyfriend!!! Kittens? What kittens? Nature is entirely heartless.

In nature, Indigo would probably go out and get pregnant again at this point. Of course I won't let her do that, so when she starts her next call I will be ready with the Ovarid. She needs a good break from the stresses of nursing and kittens in general. Cats are baby making machines if you let them... but it doesn't do their health any favours to allow a cat to repeatedly breed, and the GCCF does not allow it of course.

I read the other day that in the Siamese/ Burmese/ Tonkinese type breeds the kittens have the nursing reflex for far longer than other breeds do, which part explains why these breeds are slightly more disposed towards wool chewing. My chewer is Theo though, and Indigo doesn't so generalisations are just that, not hard and fast rules. Anyway, Indigo fed four of them this morning, she was feeding five as Brigitta was collected yesterday, basically she'd let them go on doing it for a lot longer if they were still here! I expect she'll still feed the remaining two, several times a day probably, till they leave, but it's just for comfort. She isn't producing much milk now, her belly is flat and its clearly not enough to stop her going into heat again.

So anyway, we are down to two. Marta is perched on top of the computer, giving me slitty love eyes.  Liesl is batting a toy around the floor. All most normal. Inds, on the other hand, is licking my son's homework folder... How she has such well adjusted kittens is beyond me, she's a weirdo!

Missing You

Bye Freddie (yes, this was the best of a VERY bad series of photos... Freds would rather lick the camera than pose for it)

Bye Kurt! Kurt on the other hand has the pose down to perfection!

Settling in is always a little precarious. I never feel entirely comfortable until 1) the kitten has used the litter tray and 2) had something to eat. And by default I guess, 3) if they are hiding, which is normal, that they have come out for short periods of time.

Well I know that Kurt has used the litter tray and had a brief explore about, so that's all going brilliantly, thanks M for letting me know! I don't know about Freddie but he seemed very confident whilst I was at his new house. I haven't seen any horrified 'OMG kitten has piddled on my children's school shoes' messages on D's Facebook, only nice ones about what to call him and how much they love him... so that all seems to be going OK as well. Apparently he isn't to be Jack any more. I'll let you know what he does eventually get called!

So all seems to be going pretty well with my boys. Hurrah!

Oh and Indigo is calling. Joy of joys... she can't have the Pill yet, not until the kittens go, so we're in for a couple of very noisy days. Apologetic bottle of vino to the neighbours I'm thinking!!!

Poor Cats!

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

My home has damp issues, and when I moved here ten or so years ago, mould issues too. I painted the whole place with anti mould stuff several years ago, and that, combined with nice new UPVC windows replacing the rattly old aluminium frames, it's kept under control. Winter is, of course, the worst time, what with the clothes being dried indoors and so on.

It occurred to me a dehumidifier might help, so off I went and bought one, and since yesterday it has sucked several litres of water out of the air, and that's on a fairly damp setting of 70% humidity- 60% being more usual. Frightening, really, that the air inside is that damp.

Anyway, back to the cats. The point of this post is that despite deliberately choosing a low noise machine, so as not to freak out the cat population, mine are all terrified of the darn thing. I switch it on and the room empties within seconds.

I did, however, see Theo giving it a cautious sniff earlier... and Sofia decided that noise or not, she wanted to nap on my bed thank you, and so crept back in while the machine was whirring (yes, my cats are allowed on my bed... I have no shame) so I think it will be ok, given time, patience and regular use.

None of the cats have ever suffered with respiratory issues, but they don't like noise. I'm a pretty quiet person myself, which isn't necessarily a bad thing, but I am aware that my kittens will be going off to homes that will probably be noisier. So hopefully things like the whirr of the dehumidifier will accustom them to rather more noise.

And the same goes for the older cats. I can't see any of them ever coming to terms with the vacuum cleaner though...

Home!

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

"Oh. I see the noisy one is back then..."

Noise being the operative word. Indigo started to howl the moment I put her in the carrier, and kept it up the whole two hours' journey home. You'd think she'd have gotten bored and given up, but in fact she seemed to redouble her efforts round about the Dartford Bridge mark.

Since being home, she's been calling a lot... I have read that cats coming back from stud can still be in heat, so I'm trying not to be despondant about it... it doesn't necessarily mean she isn't pregnant. In between the calling, she's been letting me know exactly what she thinks of me for taking her away from her boyfriend. Tonkinese... well they aren't as vociferous as the Siamese are, but most Foreign cats like a good chat as a rule. If you are looking for a quiet cat, a Tonk is definitely not for you.

I've kept the cats mostly seperate from her and will do for a couple of days. Indigo... well she's a bit stinky at the moment... stud cat, kitty love, whatever it is, she smells fairly potent and I don't want to freak out the other cats. Although I did forget to shut a door earlier and they all came face to face with no hissing or other unpleasantnesses, so all appears to be well.

All my cats are safely home... I'm happy. Now it's just a waiting game to see if the visit was successful or not... and I sent off my prefix application to the GCCF today as well. Wish us luck on both counts!