Sweet Sisters

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

Sweet sisters... but appalling photos! Sorry about that. Darker cats are always harder to photograph than lighter ones, and I'm a very amateur photographer at the best of times...

Anyway. Here's Sofia, chilling. You can't see her eyes, but she's giving me that slitty eyed look of trust that cats do when they are comfortable in your presence.

Below is Ava, kittyloafing and purring her stripes off. My lovely girls.

Two Seperate Households...

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

Indigo and Theo, taken this morning. They cuddle, groom, sleep peacefully together and are genuinely fond of each other... the picture of cat harmony. And...

Ava, Sofia and Theo, taken last night, again all coexisting peacefully in the same space. They groom each other, cuddle up together, again having a close knit relationship.

So why do Sofia and Indigo hate each other so much???? It's baffling. Neither cat is simply an antisocial cat, (I could understand it if they were!) both have close relationships with at least one other cat in the household, they just don't like each other. At all.

Currently, I am maintaining two seperate households of cats, with Theo flitting between the two. At nighttime, Indigo is shut in the living room and Ava, Sofia and Theo have the run of the bedroom, long hallway, kitchen and bathroom. The morning sees the bedroom door shut, and Indigo (and Theo, usually) has the hall and bathroom and kitchen as well as the living room. The afternoon sees Ava and Sofia taking another turn, and the evening it's Indigo's time again. And so we go on. Both rooms have food, water and litter, cat furniture, soft spaces to sleep, high places to climb and plenty of toys, so even when restricted to the one room the cats have all that they need.

Re-integration of the cats takes a lot of hard work, here... and the smallest thing takes us back to the start again. Indigo going off to stud, for example. We were just starting to re-integrate, when Indie developed her allergy, and because of the concern over what it might be, I kept her seperate from the other cats. Well by the time the lab tests came back clear she was quite far along in her pregnancy anyway and it wasn't worth integrating them only to seperate again in a couple of weeks- it takes longer than that to do so anyway!

I'm starting to feel that it isn't worth 'forcing' the cats to integrate. It's a pain in the butt having to keep them seperate, but it's a good deal more peaceful, and the cats don't seem to mind. Moreover, Indigo has not had any incidences of inappropriate urination at all since keeping them seperate. I did forget to scoop her box one night (I scoop them twice a day, usually) and she did a big steaming turd on my nice clean washing, (sorry, potential cat owners... they do gross things occasionally!) but then she's always been finicky about not using a dirty box. My fault for forgetting to scoop. But the 'marking' has all but stopped since she 's had her own territory that her rival does not access.

So perhaps that's what's going to work for us- two seperate households, so that both my dominant, clashing girls have a space they can call their own. We'll see.

One Extra

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

Indigo has nine nipples!

She has! Apart from the eight standard ones, in pairs along her belly, on her right side, between the top two and the bottom two is an extra. It looks perfectly normal, feels normal (I was washing them gently the other day) it's just there- an extra one.

I would make some quip about how I hope she doesn't have one kitten for each nipple, but I've heard of Tonks who have had large litters of eight and nine so I don't think I'll tempt fate... we'll have a rather smaller litter than that, thanks, Fate, if you're listening!

In other news, Indigo does now have a third wave of spots... one on each ear, a couple elsewhere but the majority this time are at the base of her tail. Thumps. Head. On. Desk. Still painless though, thank goodness! I've changed my washing powder, cleaners, stopped using any perfumes... you name it I've changed it and still she's getting these allergic reactions... I don't know what to do next.

In Need Of A Bath!

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

Because the collar's on, Indigo can't clean herself properly, which is really annoying her. I've been trying to help out, but whenever Indigo sees me advancing with the cotton wool and warm water she goes and hides. Weeks of washing her head with hibiscrub or salt water have taught her that a human advancing with cotton balls is Not A Nice Thing, poor baby!

As a result she's getting a bit crusty, especially round her bottom, nipples and face... poor Indigo! I mean she doesn't look terrible, she looks fine, but cats are uber-clean animals so she probably feels quite nasty. She goes to clean herself and just ends up licking the side of the comfy collar! I'm sure she'd feel a lot better if she'd just allow me to help her out a bit, but there you go, I don't want to upset her any more than she is already.

Fortunately, Indigo's wound has been healing rapidly- the scab that had formed has now fallen off, leaving a red shiny patch below, about the size of a ten pence piece (you can see why the vet thought it might be ringworm at first...) The skin is still a bit crusty so I'm keeping the collar on a few more days to just further the healing process a little more and I'll probably take it off after this weekend. She has a few more spots coming (dammit!) but hopefully she won't scrape those as much. And hopefully her hair will grow back on the side of her face... it is growing back on the bald bits on her head.

What a nightmare! And I still have no idea what's causing this allergy.

Who's The Daddy?

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

It's Harry!

Harry, or Grand Champion Fecheldee Harry, to give him his proper title, is apricot with a tonkinese (intermediete) coat. He's very handsome and cuddly with a lovely nature, and Indigo was quite happy in his company- even when she was hiding in his bed she didn't hiss or yowl at him, and- well obviously they got on a whole lot better than that after a day or two *grin*

Apricot is a colour we haven't covered yet, genetically speaking, but it's red (orange), diluted to cream and caramelised to apricot. You'll have to take my word for that for the moment! We'll cover dilution and caramel eventually on here.

Which means there are eight possibilities, kitten- wise. These are:

Female, lilac tortie, tonkinese coat
Female, lilac tortie, solid coat
Female, (lilac-based) caramel tortie, tonkinese coat
Female, (lilac-based) caramel tortie, solid coat
Male, lilac, tonkinese coat
Male, lilac, solid coat
Male, (lilac-based) caramel, tonkinese coat
Male, (lilac based) caramel, solid coat

They all have an equal likelihood, so a 1 in 8 chance. Of course this is an average, so we might get two of one, none of another... it's the luck of the draw. And it may be many weeks- months in the case of the caramels, before their colouration becomes apparent. It will be interesting to see what we do get.

Update 06/01/11 Ha ha! I got my genetics wrong, and instead of a litter of lilacs, we have a litter of blues! This is because although Dad cat is cream, he also has the underlying colour the cream masks, (blue, in Harry's case), and has passed that onto his kittens of course! I'd totally overlooked that. I do feel a bit of a prune!

7 week bump

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

And here she is showing off her bump from beneath (yes, the carpet needs a serious vacuuming session...

 

Wriggle

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

I was sitting on the sofa yesterday. Indigo had assumed 'the position'... lying on her back, draped over my rather voluminous belly, so as to maximise tummy rubbing potential. I was rather absentmindedly rubbing her belly whilst giving much of my attention to a re-read of 'Hercule Poirot's Christmas'. And then I felt a little wriggle.

I thought I'd imagined it at first... but then it came again, and again. I watched her belly and there it was, the tiniest movement of a kitten. Awwwwwwwwwwwww!

I guess she's seven weeks now, the kitties are big enough and strong enough to be felt moving about. It was rather lovely. I can't believe that in just over two weeks, we'll have a litter of baby kitties. I really must savour these last few weeks with just Indigo while she's so very cuddly and wanting to be on my lap all the time- I expect she'll be FAR too busy for cuddles after that!

Edited- here's a piccie of Indigo assuming 'the position', the strange cat!

Oh, Rats!

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

Indigo managed to get out of her comfycollar last night. And naturally she's managed to scratch off the scab whilst it was off, so her head is now raw and bloody again. So we're back to the beginning!

Thumps. Head. On. Desk.

Oh and to make things worse, she now has two new spots... oddly on the outside of her ears, one on each ear! This allergy is the most perplexing- and frustrating- thing.

I Love...

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

...his glorious floofy coat.

And his sweet, open expression. My blue point Birman boy is just adorable. He's patient, playful and affectionate. What's not to love? (well OK the occasional hairball notwithstanding...)

Forgiven

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

Ok, so she caved and decided she doesn't hate me THAT much... after all there were cuddles on offer :)

Collared!

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

Indigo had a patch of spots at the side of her face a while back. The spots she got elsewhere at the same time have cleared up, but this patch is obviously in prime itching territory, and Indigo KEEPS scratching off the scab and making her head bleed. She's making the wound worse and worse as she goes- as you can see above it's looking rather sore. I'm worried it will get infected, and she'll end up back on the antibiotics- again.

So I bought this.

I did think that I would get her a Buster Collar- one of those clear plastic ones. So I had a search online and found this... from comfycollars.co.uk. It's an inflatable, adjustable collar which does the same job as a Buster, but is apparently less traumatic for the animal. I remember when my girls were neutered, they had the greatest trouble getting to their food bowls and I really wasn't happy about this given that Indigo is pregnant... but this collar doesn't interfere with her eating.

It cost slightly over £12, but it is of course reuseable so I will be able to add it to my kitty medicine box after Indigo is done with it. My dealings with the company were excellent I must say, fast delivery and I managed to check the wrong delivery option... they noticed, informed me and refunded the extra I'd paid before I even noticed my mistake. Many companies wouldn't have been that honest, or refunded the money, given that it was my error not theirs, so it was really really nice!

Anyway, it arrived today, and after some struggle I managed to get it on Indigo.

She is furious with me! But she can't scratch her head... she even tried with her back paws and she can't do that either... so all in all a good result!

Musical Cat

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

I was whistling yesterday, and Ava was absolutely fascinated.

First she meowed after every note.

Then she meowed at the same time as I whistled.

Eventually she got bored and wandered off.

I have no idea whether she was saying 'what you doing' or 'let me join in' or 'shut up that racket NOW!' but it was pretty awesome. Of course I've whistled at her again since, so see if she'd repeat the performance, and of course she's just looked at me like I'm daft, so I guess it was a one off... but it was very very cute.

Thlurrrrrp!

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

6 week bump

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

6-ish weeks anyway. Isn't it lovely?

Indigo's bump is mostly at the sides, her abdomen isn't THAT much lower than beforehand. But she looks like a pregnant cat, certainly.

Only three and a bit weeks to go :)

Indie As A Kitten

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

Well, about 6 months I think here. Just about fitting on the kitten tree but only just!

As you can see she was quite rotund, bless her. She was a chubby little kitten, only slimming out as a mature cat. She's still got that 'kittenish' look to her face here as well.

I can't remember what she was looking at. I did think to myself 'probably shooting hate rays at Sofia', but Indie didn't start getting challenging in that way until she was sexually mature. In fact she had been known to snuggle up with Ava quite happily *sigh* and respected Sofia's Top Cat position without murmur. I shall probably bore everyone silly saying this but it really is a good idea to neuter your cats if they aren't breeding animals... Indigo was much more mellow before her hormones kicked in!

It sounds daft, but I don't have that many pictures of her when she was small... because, like most Tonkinese, she never stayed still enough for me to take her photo! I have a better camera now though, so hoping to get lots of her kittens.

Not Just Any Old Purr

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

I was sitting at my computer the other day, when I heard a most unusual sound. It took me a while to work out what it was, but eventually located the sound : Theo purring.

Theo adores my teenage son, and yesterday he was rubbing his head ecstatically over 'his boy' and purring- and when I say purring he was really giving it some welly, I thought it was traffic outside! It was odd because Theo doesn't purr. Well he does, but it's a silent rumble, a purr that can be felt rather than heard. He's always been that way, rubbing his chin you can feel an appreciative vibration, but I've never heard him purr out loud like that before!

The lad assures me that Theo purring aloud isn't a new thing, that he's done it heaps of times before... just not for me, ever. It's funny how cats have preferences. Indigo now, Indie is 'my' cat and she doesn't have the time of day for the teenager at all. Theo, though, has always adored him even as a tiny kitten, follows him around like a dog, winds round ankles and now apparently purrs for him too. Huh!

I don't really mind- it's quite sweet. Theo sleeps on my bed, but when the lad had proper flu (swine flu, as it happens)  a couple summers ago (as did I, at the same time) Theo insisted on sleeping under the teen's bed until he was better. He's not done that before and he hasn't done it since, but when the lad was really poorly, Theo wanted to be there.

It was very touching, and an illustration I think of the complex and loving relationship children and animals can have. Theo likes me well enough, I'm sure, but he saves his best purr for his boy.

Introducing... Sofia

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

Sofie as a kitten- already you can see how much more confident she was than her shy sister.
Sofia is the reason I have cats. I love black cats, and when I went to see her litter, I wanted 'a black girl and a sister, please'. I didn't mind what colour the sister was... but I did want my black cat! Seems daft when you consider that Ava is a highly desirable, and rather unusual, grey tabby smoke!

I will admit to being very green about cat ownership in those days and totally oblivious to the fact that the price I paid for Sofia- £150- was far more than the usual price of a black moggy kitten. Was I had? Not a chance... I adore both these sisters and they were the best decision I ever made.

Sofia, also called Sofie, Sofe and Portly Puss (she's a little overweight!) is the Grande Dame of the cat community. She can quell Theo with a smack, Ava with a glare and even Indigo's posturing doesn't move her any, not that Indigo doesn't try her best. She and Indigo do not get on: both believe they are top cat and neither are prepared to back down. They are kept mostly separate, which makes life a great deal easier... for me!

Sofia loves the feather wand, being brushed, a good chin scratch and as for catnip... oh yes! She's not vocal, the only time I ever heard her meow was at the vets with a thermometer stuck somewhere unmentionable, and frankly I'd have meowed too! She does have a lovely purr though. What is it that's so satisfying about a cat purring? I'll occasionally wake up in the night so find Sofia sitting on my head, rumbling away, which makes me very happy.

Ah, happy thoughts! Anyway that's Sofia. She's rather reserved and aloof, and then suddenly unexpectedly friendly...  I love her very much.

Update: 5 weeks

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

Indigo would NOT look at the camera for me. LOL.

Ok, so she's (over) 5 weeks pregnant now and it's all going rather well. She's gently rounded, but not big or slowing down any as of yet. Nose is frequently in the food bowl, and the nausea that troubled her in earlier pregnancy no longer seems to be an issue.

Allergy wise... I just don't know. The second wave of spots are now receding, but I'm not saying anything more about it, as when the first lot were receding, that's when she got the second flush of them! I've been speaking to another breeder who has been very helpful... (thank you very much!) one of her cats had a similar sounding reaction- it was an allergy to penicillin. Now I simply can't work out where Indigo would have had penicillin- she hasn't had it prescribed, the other breeder suggested mouldy bread but Indigo doesn't go out to scavenge in rubbish heaps and the like... it's a mystery!

Still, she's off the antibiotics now (NOT penicillin, I might add!) and where the first lot of spots were, the hair seems to be regrowing, so she isn't going to be bald! LOL.

You can see on the side of her face the only patch that's bothering her now... two or three swellings very close together, which of course she's scratched, and they've bled and scabbed and she's scratched them again... the last time she scratched them off was this morning hence they are looking VERY sore today. the vet suggested she may need an antibiotic again if it gets infected, but to be honest, i'm not that keen on her being on antibiotics any longer than is strictly necessary given she's just BEEN on them for two weeks. So I'm bathing with slightly salty water for now and hoping it heals up on its own.

Other than that she seems quite content, very cuddly indeed but still wanting to play as well. She's such a lovely cat!

Circular

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

Well, he was when I dashed for the camera anyway... but it's still cute with the leg out :)

He's Fine

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

Theo perked up yesterday not long after I'd posted and had a long and involved game of chase with Indigo all ovee the living room, hallway and ... me. Grr! And he was fine this morning too. One of the cats (not Indigo, who sleeps seperately) had a loose bowel motion sometime in the night (yes, I know, you get all the good stuff on this blog, try to contain your excitement) and I suspect that might have been Theo but he seems right as rain today.

Worry over! Well, until the next time!

Theo Tuesday

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

Theo, atop the largest cat tree, his favourite perch

I'm keeping a close eye on Theo today. He seems quiet, and I'm concerned he might be heading for one of his funny turns again.*sigh*

Usually when he's unwell, he doesn't perch in his high spot. He stays low and hides in corners or in hidden places- under the clothes airer is a favourite. He also sits in a semi kittyloaf, tucked in but still taking the weight on his paws and (presumably) not on his wobbly digestive system. He looks pained and bewildered as cats do when they are unwell.

Theo isn't doing any of those things yet. He's still up high, for one thing. But there's something about his attitude that makes me wonder. He's slept all day (again not unheard of, but...) and hasn't moaned at me to go on his daily walk yet. In fact he hasn't come out of the bedroom yet. Hmm.

I hope I'm wrong. Still, if he is ill again he'll be having further tests this time to try and get to the bottom of it, so if he is it might ultimately be a positive thing. I just hate it when any of my cats are poorly.

Lab results...

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

Clear! No ringworm or the other things they tested for. None of the cultures grew anything over the past two weeks.

Which is great, great news. But Indigo still has spots, in fact she has some new ones over the past few days, and the vet is baffled and rather nonplussed as to how to proceed from here.

It's an allergy, well, probably, but to what? I feel as though I ought to know, somehow, and I don't.

The spots don't seem to be bothering her any, so given that she's expecting we agreed to wait and see. But I hate her being 'not right' and feeling like I can't do anything about it.

Cats In High Places

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

When you have indoor cats (as I do) and when space is kind of limited (as it is here) then you have to give very careful consideration to the needs of your cats. It's simply not good enough to confine a cat, or multiple cats, in a small space and not to make sure the environment is cat friendly.

Cats like to be high up, and they like to hide and have privacy and they like to scratch, and so no indoor home is complete without a cat 'tree' or two... or in our case, five! It's well worth making room in your house for one of these, and really, the bigger the better. All of my trees are well used by my feline family and they are an important part of enriching the environment for an indoor cat.

Above is a picture of Sofia on the top third of our biggest tree, her favourite. This giant has a 60x60 cm base and almost reaches the ceiling and it is FABULOUS. The cats can also reach the top of the wardrobe from it, complete with cat beds. Theo likes to be up high on this post, whilst Ava prefers the cubby hole, she feels nice and secure in there whilst still being able to see all around her. It IS a big piece of kit when space is limited, but I've never regretted buying it. If you really don't have the room, there are lots of smaller ones available.

We have a slightly smaller floor to ceiling tree in another room, which leads to 4m of bookshelves to stalk about on, Theo and Indigo are big fans of this one. In the same room is a medium sized tree with cubbyholes. We also have a small tree that the cats mainly use as a scratching post, although all the trees have sisal posts for claw sharpening.

The last tree is in storage at the moment but I will soon get it out- it's a diddly little kitten sized tree that's seen all my cats through kittenhood and they have all loved it. Can't wait to see it used by our own kittens!

Of course cat trees are only a part of enrichment for an indoor cat, but I have found them invaluable. It's well worth getting one (or two, or... er... five)

Bump

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

I don't know why they say an expectant cat won't be any bigger until about 6 weeks. By my reckoning, Indigo is at max. 4 and a half weeks and already has a noticeable bump.

Ok, I admit I took a series of photographs and picked the two where her bump is most noticeable. Some of the other pictures weren't as obvious. But she looks bigger to me already.

Maybe it's because Tonks have fairly short fur. Perhaps if it were one of the longer haired breeds, or a shorthair such as a British or an exotic, which have longer fur than Tonkinese, it wouldn't be noticeable.

I'm not concerned, every cat is different and of course I don't know the size of the litter yet. And of course it might not be related to litter size- she might just be portly *grin* Perhaps Indigo is liking the kitten food just a shade too much? She certainly seens to have her nose in the food bowl pretty regularly!

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...

So, When's She Due?

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

There's many different ways of predicting a due date for cats. The one I'm using states that 65 days after the first observed mating is the day.

Now I don't know when Indigo first mated. However she and her beau were both spotted washing themselves, typical post mating behaviour, on the morning of Tuesday 5th October. So I'm taking that as the first mating day. It won't be much before that, as Indigo stayed hiding in her bed for the first little while and wasn't left with the stud.

So using that as a starting point, the kittens are due on Thursday 9th December. Hurrah!

Of course that's pure guesswork. The answer is that feline pregnancy, just like in humans, can vary depending on the cat, from 60 days to 69 of them... and that the kittens, like babies, will come when they are ready to. But it's nice to have a date to look forward to, and to be able to clear the calendar in readiness.

Not A Show Cat, But...

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

Another picture of Her Cuddliness- and my untidy living room. Whoops!

Because Indigo is a solid variant, she isn't eligible to be shown- only tonkinese (mink, intermediate) coat patterns can be shown.  Personally I think this rule is daft- Tonkinese cats come in three colourpoint patterns (solid, tonkinese and pointed) and because of the genetics none can actually be bred out. (Yes, we'll look at colourpoint at a later date!) Furthermore solid and pointed cats are eligible for breeding- so why not the show bench? Seems daft to me, but anyway...

Showing is one of the ways one can get recognition of the quality of one's cats, winning awards (rosettes) is a good indicator that one's cat is a good example of the breed. Of course that hasn't stopped me either going to shows to see other Tonks for myself, or taking along Indigo's photo for others to comment on, so I've been able to get SOME feedback from other Tonk owners and breeders.

And really, they've been very nice, with some lovely comments about her head (shape and proportions and so on) and also her pedigree is very good, I'm told- yes, i've taken that along too! Of course *I* think she's beautiful, but it's nice to hear others think so too. You know new-ish mothers, who bore you to death about their offspring? I'm worse.... much much worse. What can I say, I love my cats and I like to talk about them :)

The only fault, as far as I've gathered, is that Indigo only has a very slight nose break. If you look at the picture above you can see there is only a very slight dip between her forehead and nose. I mean, she does HAVE a nose break, her profile isn't siamese-straight, but ideally it would be a little stronger.

But all in all, it seems she is a good example of the breed, and ought to produce good quality kittens. To see the Tonkinese breed standard, please click HERE

Indigo Update

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

As this blog is supposed to be mainly about Indigo's pregnancy and kittens, I thought I'd best update on how she's doing.

The scabs on her head have fallen off now, leaving slightly rough skin underneath- hopefully that will continue to heal. Unfortunately, she's developed a small number of new lumps. Two on her neck and two on her face. It's most frustrating, as I'm not using any perfumes or sprays or soaps, thinking it might be something like that that's bothering her... but there's obviously SOMETHING. Grr!

She's been suffering a little nausea from time to time, she's been sick once more and is occasionally a little gaggy. At the same time she's been eating loads, nose permanently in the food bowl, so I've started to move her gradually over to kitten food. Theo has been most interested in this change! She's also got a very slight roundness to her belly now that wasn't there before.

She's very very cuddly still. Now Tonks are known for having two 'settings'- one being active and involved in everything and bouncing around everywhere like mad things, and the second is contented purring lap cat. Over the past few weeks we've had less mad thing and much more cuddliness, although she still has her moments of madness!

It's kind of so-so at the moment, really. I wish her allergy situation was resolved, but she seems pretty healthy despite all that.