Just A Quickie

*snigger* *ahem*

I recieved a text this morning. it read:

'Rampant mating all over the place'

'Nuff said, frankly!

Good News... And Bad News.

Well, Indigo is getting on very well with her stud. No matings have been seen, but potential matings have been heard, which is precisely what happened last year. She has a couple more days there anyway, so if they haven't mated yet, there's still plenty of time. Regardless, she seems perfectly happy there so that's the main thing.

The less good news is that one of the breeder's cats gave birth Tuesday, and sadly one of the kittens didn't make it. It got stuck in the birth canal and was stillborn. It's brought back to me how precarious and fragile this breeding thing is. My sincere condolences.

I haven't lost a kitten yet, having only bred the one litter, but it's fairly inevitable it will happen one day. I know I will be very upset when it does, and I don't suppose it gets any easier the more times it happens, even with experienced and regular breeders. Indigo's litter had a stillborn sibling in it, and the experience was so upsetting it was part of the reason her breeders decided not to breed again.

However the rest of the litter are doing well. Healthy kittens are a joy and a delight, and the best salve for the loss of their sibling, I suspect. Hopefully I shall be able to have a peek at them when I collect Indigo, if Mama cat will let me. I love them at the fat squirming sausage stage. Well, I love them at all stages, let's be honest!

Just a couple of days now till Inds comes home...

Peaceful

I took Indigo to stud yesterday. He seemed to be pretty interested in her, sniffing at the carrier, and she didn't hiss at him or anything, which with Indigo is a good sign! I am therefore hopeful! I should know if the mating has been successful in 3-4 weeks.

With Indigo gone, peace has descended on the house. Not only is it blissfully quiet, without Indigo screaming for a mate, but the doors can all be left open without fighting, Theo can use the litter box unmolested and there's no kitty bad language in ther corridoors.

Ava and Sofia have reacted totally differently to Indigo's absence. Sofia has spent all day in the living room, rubbing all over the surfaces in a way that will get me into trouble with Indigo next week as she re-marks... but Ava so far hasn't dared to come into 'Indigo's' room.

Sofia has spent much of today, when not rubbing her head everywhere, sitting at the top of my computer chair, purring, which has helped actually, Indigo is such a loving cat that I'm bound to miss her a lot, but a purring Sofie is really very pleasant too. I suppose I should have kept the cats quarters totally seperate as usual, but I couldn't resist the chance to let the cats go where they like for once. A holiday for them, if you will. After all, Indigo will be enjoying herself...!

Snap!

She's a good girl really. Mere hours after I posted the last post yesterday, and conveniently before the vets closed, she decided to start howling. I was able to ring and make an appointment for lunchtime for her tests, and we'll be going off to stud tomorrow.

She's fine, in good health, a little portly but we knew that already. More importantly though, the SNAP test showed she is FeLV and FIV free, and can therefore be taken to stud. The studs are tested regularly too, and seeing as queens are indoor cats usually, and studs always, (well outdoors secure heated pens, anyway...) the risk of infection is low. I've never heard of a case, in fact.

Poor Indigo, the vets was a little traumatic for her. Several emergency cases had come in and so the wait for her appointment was rather long, with a waiting room full of stressed people, barking dogs and so on. I'd popped a towel in her carrier for her to snuggle on but she had got so scared she'd burrowed right under it, well it's muggy today and I had to keep checking her to make sure she wasn't overheating. Then the poor vet couldn't find a vein, so she had to have a patch on her neck shaved, and... well all in all it was a bit stressful for the poor thing.

By the time we got home she hadn't called for several hours, and she didn''t call for another hour or two after that. Stress can cause a cat to come out of call, so I decided not to push my luck and drive to the stud today- it's a longish drive anyway and time was ticking on. She's called again since we came home so that's OK. Tomorrow will still be within 48 hours of her starting to call, and that's plenty of time.

It's all rather exciting, really!

Frustrated

Taking a cat to stud isn't as simple as bundling her in the car. First you have to be sure she's really calling. Then she has to go for a SNAP test- a blood test for FIV and FeLV. Some vets do this in house but mine don't-they send it to a lab. More delay. And then you have to find a time that is convenient for both you and the stud owner to get her there. With a breed like the Tonkinese, you may have to travel a long way and of course that's not always possible.

Last year both my and the stud owner's conflicting commitments meant that I ended up taking Indigo very early in the morning (I left home at 6am!) on day 4 of her call- not ideal, one is supposed to get there asap. She still got pregnant, and I suspect if the same thing happened this year she would again, but for older queens (and 'older' in cat breeding is only around 5...) those few days might make all the difference. Or the queen (breeding female, also called the dam) might take a few days to adjust by which time she would have come out of call.

Indigo has made several hopeful noises in the last 24 hours- noises that have made me think oooh- about to start calling, but she hasn't made that distinctive cat calling noise. I'll know it when I hear it. She's also peed in several non litterbox locations. But I can't do anything about it until she actually starts to howl.

I'm hoping that happens either today or tomorrow. If she starts Sunday, the next time I can get her to the stud is Thursday lunchtime, which really is pushing it. So what's the betting Sunday will be the day?

Come on Inds... don't keep me waiting!

Mere Pence, Really...

Gah!!!!! Just paid nearly £200 at the pet website Zooplus for some cat necessities- food, litter and ok, maybe a few toys. A roller ball thing, and a spinny thing and a waggly glove. I have a cat toy addiction... I'm always bringing this and that home for the cats, and they usually treat it with a most feline disdain! Still I live in hope.

That reminds me of a post I want to write actually... but for now I'll just sit down and recover from the shock- or rather 'shock' as it's always that much- of the bill!

Oh Indigo!!!

Inds honey...

You know he's neutered, right???

Yesterday I nearly cried laughing at some of Indigo's antics. Having ignored Theo's half hearted 'advances' all week she clearly decided that he was the closest she was going to get so some action and decided to work all her womanly wiles on him.

Oh my goodness...

She writhed and moaned and presented her rear end and rolled about in an utterly wanton manner again and again and again to the bewilderment of poor Theo, who bore being followed and pestered like a gentleman but nevertheless spent a good deal of yesterday hiding in the teenager's room! Oh, she was terrible, she even followed him into the litter box (she got a smack for that- not from me, I mean, from Theo!)

In short, she behaved like an absolute hussy from dawn to dusk! She yowled herself nearly hoarse (she's very croaky today) and the amount of rolling about she was doing I'm surprised she doesn't have friction burn.

But today, she seems to be coming out of call. Less howling, lots of eating (she's not eaten much at all whilst on heat, which is fairly normal) and she's spent a lot of time today needing to be cuddled and reassured. It's a tough old life you know... these heat cycles do take it out of a female cat. Poor old Indigo. Never mind puss, babies soon with any luck!

Photos...

... well actually, my excuse for their being no photos. That being when I went to upload some earlier, I noticed Indigo had peed on the cable... right at the end of the cable too, so I dare not just clean it off and hope for the best, it might ruin my camera! So I've sent off for another one.

And that, my friends, sets the tone for the week we're having. Wee everywhere, including practically on my lap the other day which I was NOT happy about, plus the clean washing twice, and the noise as well, dear God! Still, this is day 5 now, so she should stop yowling very soon. Aaaahhhhh...

Of course it won't be long till she starts again, but I've spoken to the stud's owner, and we've made our arrangements... so she'll be yowling somewhere a couple of counties away. Even Indigo isn't THAT loud.

Just saying...

It really is amazing how something so small can make such a big noise... constantly. Indigo is definitely in heat and has been going at it hammer and tongs in her bid to attract a mate. You can hear her from outside, through a closed window.

Theo, who was slightly later than he ought to be neutered, and who seems to have the urge if not the ability, has been spraying everywhere. I suspect this is attempting to give Indigo 'sexy' messages, but Inds isn't fooled, he hasn't got the bits to smell right any more! My house on the other hand is decidedly less than fragrant!

Poor old Theo, he does try... he lollops after her like an overgrown kitten and he's even straddled her a couple of times(unless she smacks him first) and then... doesn't know what do. Poor old clueless Theo!

Calling

I think she is!

I was going to write an entirely different blog post today (it will wait!) but this morning I've heard Inds making the familiar foghorn noise several times. It's fairly unmistakable.

She won't go off to stud this cycle, after being on Ovarid you are supposed to let them have one complete call before going. But she should yowl for a week or so, have a week or two off and then call again- hopefully.

We're in for a noisy few days!

Alfie's Sister

As promised, a quick update on Alfie, who now has a sister, Paloma, a Bengal. Paloma is a little bit older than Alfie but lots smaller, as Alfie seems to have turned into a big powerful mancat somewhere along the lines... I stil think of him as a kitten, but he isn't of course!

Alfie and Paloma's family say the first few weeks were really difficult- Alfie was fine but Paloma was seriously aggressive, but she's coming round nicely now and they play together, groom each other, and Alfie, whilst still ultra cuddly and affectionate, isn't 'needy' in the same way. I know exactly what they mean!

I'm a big believer that cats need feline company, and it's not so that I can persuade people to take a sibling pair! It really does make for happier, healthier cats. So I'm thrilled that Alfie and Paloma are rapidly becoming best buddies :)

Jacob and Jonah Go On Holiday

To Grandma's, where they had a lovely time! And very cleverly sent me their own letter/ progress report hehe.

Unfortunately, I am not nearly so clever, and can't work out how to take the pictures off the letter and get them on here... so you will just have to imagine...

Two very handsome boys, one dark, the other paler, but obviously a pair. One sleek and lithe, the other bigger and more muscular... and perhaps with a very slight tummy, eh Jonah? Your Mama is the same!

Two lads looking calm and contented together in their carrier, roaming around the house mischeviously, playing, sun-soaking, bird watching and bed snuggling. And finally home after a lovely week.

Sounds like a great holiday eh? Thanks for the update boys!

Massage

Three of my cats have a traditional cat dignity. Ava and Sofia, whilst perfectly amiable and affectionate, do not like to be picked up at all. Theo tolerates it, but it's not something he enjoys as such, or would seek out. Unfortunately he's just so fluffy I can't resist.

Indigo is not like that. Indigo can be picked up, tipped upside down, roughhoused and otherwise mauled (gently! lol)with impunity, in fact she likes it, and will seek such hands on treatment of her own volition. Which is why it didn't surprise me in the slightest when Alfie's family sent me this video of him enjoying a massage...

Apparently this is one of his favourite things ever! LOL! I'm loving 0.38 where he does that blissed out slow blink!

What a big powerful cat Alfie has turned into hasn't he? Apparently he's a very muscular 7kg now, which is more than my Theo even, and nearly twice as much as his new sister Paloma, who is built on a more miniature scale. I'll update on that soon but they are getting on well.

Incidentally, I am confusing myself no end trying to file posts under the Indikon kittens' old names, took me ages today to remember that Alfie was once 'Kenneth'. So I'll be filing under their proper names from now on. I'm sure anyone searching will soon realise that Alfie and Kenneth are one and the same cat, for example, if they read back far enough. If I then wanted to use Alfie as a name I'd file it as 'Indikon Alfie'- the pedigree name.

Only just in- Jacob and Jonah's summer holiday. Stay tuned!

Wanna Sniff My Butt?

LOL... ok, not MY butt, but anyone with cats, or dogs, or most animals really, will know that they regularly communicate by poking their noses up into each other's rear ends. In cats this is usually followed by the flehmen reaction, a sort of open mouthed silent panting which kind of enables the cat to 'taste' the smell, and as such get more information from it.

Anyhow, I'm observing Indigo as closely as I can this time, so as to see if there are any reliable ways to tell if she's shortly to go on heat. And it may be wishful thinking on my part, but there's been an awful lot of bottom sniffing from Theo of late!

Theo is an inveterate sniffer anyway, and he's neutered, so he won't be interested in the way a stud would, but nevertheless, he's quite sensitive to changes in the other cats. Regular readers of the blog will remember that it was Theo who alerted me to the change in Indigo's behaviour last winter- and later that night she had her kittens. He got there long before me. So naturally I am wondering if he might guide me this time too?