Plenty Of Room At The Inn

 

 

This is the cats' other present- a lovely wooden cat cubby thingummyjig with a useless but adorable verandah. I picked it up for half price sometime in the summer. Merry Christmas, mogs.

 

I set it up yesterday morning. So naturally the cats have all given it a wide berth. Bag of washing, shopping, something breakable? Snoopervision from every whiskered being in the house. Something specifically FOR the cats? Ignore, ignore, ignore. But of course. *rolls eyes*

 

I suspect there might be more interest tomorrow though. Santa's gonna sprinkle it with catnip tonight. That ought to get the girls going at any rate. Ho, Ho, Ho!

 

Merry Christmas everyone!

Merry Christmas

Theo approves of his new reindeer cat bed

 

 

Indigo takes a turn

In fact they have all slept in this bed since I got it out a week ago, so I am declaring it a success. They have another present too.... a bigger one... I can't wait till they see it!
Merry Christmas from us all here :)

Ten things about Sofia

Sweet silly Sofie!

1) She loves to drink out of taps. Any tap will do. Yes, they have several dishes of water available at all times... lol

2) She also loves to hang out in the sink. I clean my sink a lot, it's usually hairy!

3) If you leave an unattended glass, she will drink from it. If it's too empty for her to get to the water, she'll stick her paw in and lick the water from that. Sometimes she'll knock it over, accidentally, whereupon she'll run away, with a 'wasn't me' air, but frequently will return- spilled water is easily drinkable!

4) If I am in the bath, she likes me to trickle water onto her head (are you sensing a watery theme here? I'll write some non-watery things next)

5) Sofia's first name was Batman, they thought she was a boy. Needless to say I didn't keep that name!

6) Sofia loves to rub her head against you and wrap your leg in her tail. She's not cuddly, but she's very affectionate.

7) Unless it's slipped my mind, I think Sofia is the only one I've never had a health worry with- all her appointments have been routine matters. She's a bit portly but that's all. No, Fate, i am not asking for any health issues thank you...

8) Sofia's a demon with the feather teaser. She loves to play.

9) She was the runt of the litter, noticeably smaller than her siblings. You wouldn't guess to look at her now!

10) Sofia trills sometimes, and purrs loudly, but rarely have I heard her meow. The first time she did was when she was having her temperature taken. Rectally. I don't blame her for protesting, really!

What Book?

Weren't reading that, were you? Thought not...

Once again, we are the House of Plague and have taken to our beds. Indigo is very happy about this state of affairs, and has spent much of her time snuggled in beside me. Or on me, or more likely on my book! It can't be comfortable...

Things are calmish, though. The living room is back in service, so the cats have a bit more breathing space. Inds isn't happy about going into her room at night, and a nightly 'chase' ensues, followed by indignant meowing when she finds herself incarcerated. She'll get used to it soon, I'm sure. I feel bad, but the other cats are more relaxed, they were starting to show signs of stress- the beginnings of a peeathon, and Theo started chewing far more than he usually does- including right through my favourite bra!!!

I am starting to think 'kitten' again now, not sure if I'm going to mate Inds soon after Christmas, or in the autumn. Probably I will wait till the autumn as summer is always a busier time for me, but we will see. It's nice having them in the winter. The past two Decembers we've had little fat squeaking sausages around, it seems very odd not to be doing so this year, and January and February always seems to be a good time for placing kittens in homes, as there are fewer of them available. I miss not having them now. But I'm glad of it, given our general state of germiness!

Ok, heading back to my pit. Hope everyone is having a better week than we are :)

Cooped Up

 

Rawr!

 

What?

 

I'm in the process of decorating my living room. Painting and decorating is not a skill of mine, so there has been much muttering and general chaos while I've blundered my way through it all.

 

The cats have had no access to the living room, and... well I am more than ready for that to change. They've all been more or less living in my room. Indigo has been getting very possessive of me at night- none of the other cats have dared to get on the bed, because Indigo curls, troll like, under the covers, waiting to see off any interlopers as noisily as she dares. Indigo is perfectly Ok having less space and not being sequestered in the living room overnight, in fact she probably thinks it's brilliant to be in my bedroom at night, I don't think she misses her own space one bit, but none of the other cats are happy with the arrangement. And I'm definitely not happy with 3am yowls and howls, they seem so much worse than daytime ones for some reason.

 

Poor Ava is also getting the raw end of the deal, as she isn't getting a break from Indigo. She's just been keeping out of her way, which means she's been keeping out of MY way too. I've been making a point of seeking her out for some fuss, but then along comes Indigo and off runs Ava. Although they are currently within a metre of each other and not fighting.

 

All in all though, I'm pleased at how they've all managed- plan B was to take Inds to the kennels for a few days, they would have space this time of year, but that hasn't been necessary. Which is good, really! Much better than where we were last month, anyway.

 

I was speaking to a friend of the boyfriend the other day. P has a couple of Bengal cats. One is a very dominant personality, much like Inds, the other shy and nervous, much like Ava. He asked how many cat toilets we had, which is 6 so we're OK there, but also how many feeding stations. We have two, plus seperate water, which I thought was OK for 4 cats given three of them eat happily from the same bowl (and then there's Indigo. lol) but he suggested adding another. Interesting, I may try that. Worth a go eh?

Just About

returning to the land of the living. Yesterday was the first day in about three weeks where my brain has actually felt like a brain, and not a tangled mass of unravelled knitting.

We've been ill, and it's all been rather unpleasant. 'Something viral', including protracted snuffles and- er- bathroom issues. To be honest I always feel a bit outraged when I succumb to anything like a vomiting bug, I always think surely I'm too old for this malarkey? It's like getting a spot- such things should be relegated to the realms of childhood and adolescence and not be allowed to spill over into adult life!

Anyway enough of that. There's been exciting times for the cats. I have two biggish rooms, side by side, those who have had a kitten from me will have been in the biggest room, which used to be my living room. The smaller one next to it was my bedroom. Well, I've switched them over. The new living room is empty, or rather at the moment it is full of boards as a plasterer does his thing- it's had soundproofing put into the ceiling. There's going to be a point to this ramble, so bear with me...

 

Sofia and Indigo shooting hate rays at each other... but at least they aren't fighting...

The hope is that this will cut down on any potential noise issues with the neighbours. The new lounge is surrounded by my bedroom and my L-shaped hallway, it does not border onto anyone else bar at the ceiling, which now has a false ceiling and a nice thick layer of rockwool in it to mop up sound. Frankly, I couldn't afford to have the room soundproofed properly, such an undertaking would have cost many thousands of pounds, and it isn't as though I plan on using it as a studio or anything! Furthermore, this new living room is under the upstairs neighbours' living room, meaning that when Indigo howls at night, the noise won't be in their bedroom nd disturb their sleep.

And now I come to the point: this has all been rather disturbing for the cats and they've all reacted in their own way to it, but the cat it has possibly made the most difference to is Ava. Once I'd opened up my bedroom to Indigo, Ava had taken to living in the hallway, she wouldn't have come into the living room, 'Indigo's room', at any cost, and for a while it looked as though she'd been ousted from the bedroom too, except at night. But switching the rooms about has had the effect of wiping the slate clean, terratorially. All the cats, including Ava (eventually) now use both the bedroom and the living room.

Indigo has felt the loss of 'her' territory, and has been a bit difficult, but rather less bumptious, which is altogether a Good Thing given that none of them currently have access to the living room at all and have to put up with each other 24/7. Once it's ready, Indigo will be put back in the living room at night though. She's in my room currently, and while she isn't fighting all night as she would usually have done, she is being a little territorial and yesterday left me a little 'gift' on a pile of clean towels. She absolutely knew what she'd done though, and ran and hid when I shouted and pointed and stomped my feet- she hasn't done it again.

So there you go... all you need to do to bring peace into a multi cat household, at least temporarily, is totally rearrange your living space, or alternatively move house. Simple eh? *rolls eyes*. I wonder if the peace will last?

 

bwahahahahah... you've got a hope, lady!

Service will resume...

Well, I don't know when it will resume. Because we have something nasty and viral and have seen more of our local hospital in the past 5 days than we have in the past ten years- the boy is worse than me I hasten to add. Possibly a bad case of norovirus, possibly not but anyway. Not pleasant. To make matters worse, the boy fell (fainted?) weds night and as he did so trapped his hand in the door. He needs an op to repair the damage but he can't have it at the moment as he's too poorly. Bad times.

I am extremely grateful we don't have kittens on the way- previous litters have been born early December. Not because we can infect the cats- we can't, not with noro, but because kittens take a lot of care and frankly I'm not up to taking care of me and the boy, let alone a parcel of newborn kittens.

Cats are all well, Theo is fine, although rather disgruntled as he hasn't been walked for days. Poor Theo!

Right. Well, I got out of bed at 1, it's now nearly 4, and I'm dropping with exhaustion, so time for a nice little snooze for me I think! See you soon...ish!

Sick Day

Poor old Theo! He's having one of his funny turns, and keeps being sick. And because he's, frankly, a bit thick, as soon as he is sick, and starts to feel a bit better, he heads to the food bowl again. So today I've cleaned up more sick than I thought possible to fit into one medium sized cat.

He sounds like a football rattle, vomiting, so that made sure I was thoroughly awake at 5am, which is when he started. Thanks boy.

Poor old Theo. He does look sorry for himself.

The teenager is also sick, so I've been somewhat occupied today. I don't think I would have made a good nurse- vomit, sweaty brows and the like really not being my thing!

Losing It

Several days ago, I did a bad thing.

I came home from the school run, to find yet another steaming turd in the middle of my bed, and an Indigo smugly washing her paws next to it. I'm sorry to admit I then proceeded to do all the things one is Never Supposed To Do When Dealing With A Cat.

I shouted and swore. I picked her up, and none too gently either. I pushed her nose into the poop. I smacked her behind. I put the poop into the litter box, grabbed her again, and pulled her paw through the litter over the poop. I generally behaved like a big bully. Indigo ran and hid, and avoided me for the rest of the day.

Yes, I am appalled I lost my temper. No, I don't recommend this as a training technique for cats. Please don't do this. For the rest of the day Indigo was actually frightened of me, and I hated to have abused my size and power in that way. By the evening she was back to her normal snuggly self, but that's scarcely the point.

But the next day? Poop in the litter box. And the next, and the next (today). Don't tell me cats can't understand cause and effect. This one can.

Yesterday she tried to test me. In full view, she got onto my bed and squatted down, one eye on me to see what I would do... standing up and using a slightly raised voice sent her packing though- she tried this twice and then clearly thought better of it, took herself off to the litter tray and peed in there. She got a cuddle and a treat for her troubles. Today I saw her eyeing me/ the bed thoughtfully before trotting off to the litter tray and peeing in there. I've put her in the living room whenever I've been out, and we've had a non weed and pooed on bed for 3 days now- after a month of daily boil washes.

I'm not sure what to make of all this if I'm honest. My concern is that- ok Indigo will test me repeatedly I am sure... so when she figures out that I'm not going to go bonkers again will she go right back to her old ways? At worst, this is a momentary lull, but I'm not knocking it.

I already know that the best way to deal with Indigo is to mimic her. If she's following Sofia round, posturing, if I then follow HER around, puff my shoulders up and hiss, catlike, she doesn't like that ONE BIT and stops her own aggression. Thinking about it, I'm not surprised such an overt show of dominance and aggression (from me) 'worked'- if only temporarily.

I'm just not sure how to best translate that into an ongoing response- because clearly I'm not about to start crapping on my bed.

Sigh... why is this one such very hard work???

What To Do

Written a few days ago. Then I thought better of posting it. Then I thought better of not posting it... so here we go. Advice very much appreciated

Indigo is a lovely, lovely cat. I adore her. But... she's difficult. She's always been difficult. She's a jarring element and has been since a kitten, I often joke that if Indigo had been my first cat she'd have been an only cat but the fact of the matter is, she'd probably be fine as an only cat. People, she adores, her own kittens? Loves them. Other cats, not so much.

Earlier this year, Theo had a phase where he seemed very low, kind of depressed. He perked up again and is now OK, but I was concerned enough to research the issue and even consider finding him a quieter home. Now Ava's health is in question, although she, too, seems better now. But that's two of my cats reacting to a stressful living situation by getting sick, and whilst I hate to admit it, I think the cause is Indigo.

She is just so aggressive towards the other two girls. As I type this it is half past nine in the morning, I let her out of the living room at 8 am today and she's already gone for Sofia three times and Ava once, Theo has taken refuge in the boy's room and the boy and I are feeling cross and jangly. Integrating them has helped with the level of out and out agression, it IS better than it used to be, but Indigo is now indulging in regular territorial/ stress related behaviours, such as weeing- and pooping- on my bed. As in every day.

I've got feliway diffusers in several rooms, Rescue Remedy in their water, and seperate eating and toilet facilities, but it isn't helping. And now my neighbours are complaining about the noise she makes- she yowls when she's facing off with another cat and she is Very Loud. Oh they haven't been nasty about it, but isn't fair they should have to be disturbed in their own home. Something has to be done.

My friend has offered giving Indigo a trial living with her. I said I'd never ever rehome one of my cats... but I am seriously considering it. I must stress that it isn't the 'ideal' home for Indigo in that it has three young children, and she'd have access to outside, but I am questioning if she would do better there than here. I would obviously then be able to visit or advise. Or I could try and find her another home, but then I'd have to make a clean break with her- at least at my friend's I can visit!

Possible solutions- and issues with those:

1) Keep Indigo, neuter her, and see if she settles down.
The problem here is that I don't believe she will settle down. Not to that extent. She won't be hormonal, and that will help, but the fact will still remain that she just doesn't like other cats (unless they are her own kittens. Or Theo.) She's currently on the Pill, so without the worst of her hormones... she's still aggressive. I'm just not confident neutering would work, and once neutered, that's goodbye to breeding for me.

2) Keep Indigo, breed her, keep a kitten, neuter Indigo, hope for the best.
All the problems inherent in 1) but with the addition of another cat- not really a solution! Indigo turns into a normal cat when she has kittens though, she doesn't wee inappropriately, she isn't hyper-agressive, etc etc...

3) Keep Indigo, neuter her, and buy another kitten.
Not going to happen. The point of keeping another, home bred kitten is that I could integrate the baby with my other cats from the very start. Indigo came to my house and promptly spent 3 weeks in isolation, so strenuously did she object to the other cats. We reached an uneasy truce, but an ideal start it was NOT. Bringing in another strange cat to an already unstable mix would be foolish.

4) Neuter Indigo and rehome her
It might not work. Indigo is needy and anxious and very attached to me, would she sabotage it? Would the three children be just too much for her? Would I end up taking back a stressed and resentful kitty with behaviours ten times worse than they currently are?

5) Breed Indigo,  keep a kitten, neuter Indigo and rehome her.
As 4, but then I'd have the additional complication of another cat. And it just seems so horrid, like I'd be 'replacing' Indigo. And there's no guarantee she'd have a girl, let alone a girl suitable for breeding.

6) Breed Indigo, keep a kitten, neuter Indigo and rehome her with one of her kittens
Hang the cost  (because I wouldn't charge for the kitten, naturally) this might be the best solution, the presence of her kitten at her new home would calm her, distract the children (why bother a skittish old Mama when there's a friendly baby to play with?) and meet her need for company, because she DOES love her babies and she DOES love Theo, too. But again, as 4, but only then I would have SIX cats... both kittens would have to be rehomed.

7) Medication.
Try to get some kind of sedative for Indigo in the short term, just to calm everything down here a bit. If necessary, medicate Theo and/ or Ava as well. Just till everyone chills out a bit more. Ugh, I have BIG issues with this as you may well imagine! It isn't really an option for me. If they are that stressed, a chemical cosh isn't the answer.

Or, I suppose:

8) Do nothing, and carry on as normal.

If anyone has any advice to give me, I'd gladly hear it. I really don't know what to do. Indigo's place here seems unworkable as things currently stand, but...

I love her. And I don't want her to go.

Ignore The Mess

... but there are FOUR cats in this picture and no-one is attempting to murder anyone else...

Can you see them?

Ava and Indigo on the bed, Theo in the cat tree 'hammock', Sofia up the top. I am absolutely astounded. What is more, they've been like it for over two hours now...

I've never quite lost hope for Ava and Indigo, you know. They used to snuggle, before Indigo got big and bolshy, and Ava used to call to Indigo a lot when they were seperated. I've seen them sniffing each other a lot recently. I've also seen Inds being an outrageous bully so I don't set that much store by a few sniffs, but it wasn't long ago when Indigo would shriek and posture on the merest sight of any other cat (bar Theo) so we have moved on. Somewhat. Ava would love to be friends I suspect. We'll see.

Results Say...

She hasn't got anything... no FIV, no FeLV, no coronavirus... essentially she's a healthy cat, thank goodness :)

Her white blood cells are still too low though. But there isn't anything nasty going on that could cause this. Possibly stress... but the vet said that even rehoming her may not solve the problem as she'd pine for her sister- probably for me, too, she's rather attached to me. And rehoming her seems terribly drastic.

So I don't know what to do about that really. It's a four cat household, so..? The vet said 'I'm guessing she's the one at the bottom of the pecking order?' and yes, she is, she always has been, I guess I underestimated how stressful that was for her. But even now I know, I don't really know what to do about it.

We've got Feliway plug ins and plenty of places to hide and snooze... Anyone got anything else to suggest?

Say Cheese

The blood tests have gone off, but I do have some good news. Despite not having eaten anything for 12 hours (for the blood test), Ava is still showing a weight gain on last time and is now nearly 6.9 lbs... almost at the bottom of the 'normal' range for a cat her size. Whoop! Really pleased, all that sneaking her extra cheese and cat treats is paying off. Yes I KNOW that isn't exactly healthy for a cat, but frankly I don't care- I don't think obesity is a big concern for her right at the moment!

Anyway two lots of blood are packaged nicely up and by tonight will be winging their way to two seperate labs, one locally to look at her white blood calls, and one in Glasgow, I believe (!) to rule out the big cat 'nasties'- FeLV, FIV and coronavirus.(FIP) Results back in a week, I hope.

OMG!

Ok, it's a rubbish photo, but I would like to draw your attention to the fact that I have three cats- Indigo, Sofia and Theo, in close proximity and no-one is trying to murder anyone else...

This state of affairs won't last. Indigo is in heat, and is currently wandering restlessly around howling her whiskers off- she can be SO noisy, this kitty. And that is all she is focused on. Sofia could not exist as far as she is concerned. All she can think of doing is shouting her head off and grabbig the attention of all the intact Toms (and some that are not, eh Theo??) in the neighbourhood, who then proceed to pee up my wall in an attempt to woo her. Tell me why I have cats again? Horrid beasts!

Sofia is totally baffled by this and has taken to following Indigo about, staring at her, trying to provoke her into doing something... and Inds won't, she's off on some higher plane (or down in the gutter thinking filthy thoughts more likely given the way she's flirting and presenting at Theo) and isn't playing ball.

It's all absolutely hilarious. I'm sure Inds will go back to her usual posturing in a few days, but it sure is nice to have a break from their usual 'disagreements'.

Ava is back at the vet tomorrow. I don't know when I'll have the results as this lot have to go off to another lab... but I'll be sure to let you know as soon as I can.

Ugh!

If I ever find out *cough- Theo* who it was who PIDDLED ON MY SHOES earlier *Theo* I may well have to turn him into a furry hearthrug... *ahem... Theo*

Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

 I will shove them in the washing machine and hope for the best. Really though they are getting a bit old now and I suspect they might fall apart!

Bony Cat

Is still looking bony. Vets next week, and I can't wait to get this next test done and maybe get some answers...

She's looking like an abject little scrap isn't she? But you have to believe me when I say she is still her sweet, cuddly self. She doesn't seem ill. She obviously is though, must be, she looks like a skeleton  :'( It's apparent she isn't eating much now, her poops are small and she doesn't get excited and rush to the food bowls at wet food time. She'll eat out of my hand though (yes, I am a sucker) and I've been trying to slot high cal treats into her when the others aren't looking

I wonder if she'll eat kitten food? She never has before... She's never been one for the boiled chicken either but perhaps she will now? If I sprinkle it with cheese she might, she loves cheese and yes, I KNOW that's people food and not cat food, but look at her!!!!

She won't eat alone either. Sigh. I can see all my other cats are going to get super obese...

Staring Down The Enemy

Lots of fighting today... just when I'd been lulled into a false sense of security!

Sleepy Kitties

 

 

Yup... they both got kisses for being so adorable...

Snuggle

Aaaaaand then she went and weed on the bed. Thanks, Inds! Ok I had my anti Indigo protective mat on, but even so she is horrid. (and snuggly...)

Ava The Brave

 

Ava enters the room with caution- will a whirling dervish appear out of nowhere and see her off?

 

 

 

Ava decides all is well, and comes into the living room! Hurrah! Scuse the sock on the floor...

 

 

She's getting very brave. The pictures do show off how skinny she's getting though, and I know I keep saying it but she's quite fluffy as well, so even skinnier than she looks. :( I'll be glad to get that second test done.

Winning

 

I'm still in charge...

Things are calmer on the whole integration front. There are still multiple bust-ups per day but they are shorter lived and far less likely to turn nasty.

The moggy sisters' boundaries have extended. Sofia will come into the living room now, and I've even seen shy Ava in the hallway. Admittedly she's most comfortable, they both are, when Inds is in her room for the night, when they don't have to watch out for a nasty look or a spitting face off, but they are all shaking down together nicely.

It feels like we are winning, slowly but surely.

Theo, on the other hand, is indulging in a veritable spray-fest, so I must target him for some particular attention. On that note, I'd best take him out for his walk as the skies are looking grey.

......... and I thought I'd posted this already! Skies now blue and sunny! Another walk, Theo?

Spoke too soon...

Sigh...

Ava is apparently NOT fine. Her bloods did show a slight anomaly in that her white blood cell count is low. Not dangerously low, but lower than it ought to be. She's got to go back in 4 weeks for a repeat test and this time it will be sent off to the lab for her cells to be more closely scrutinised.

It could be nothing. It could be something nasty. We'll have to wait and see.

Incidentally that decides it- until we know what's going on with Ava, Inds won't be going off to be mated- we WILL NOT be having a litter of kittens this winter. Many apologies to anyone who was hoping we might (I know there was one person at least) and to regulars who like to read the kitten diaries! Perhaps a mating next spring or summer, but not in the near future.

I'll still be posting, though! So don't forget to check back.

Ava was back at the vet today, and, surprisingly, she had made a small gain. Hurrah! She also had a full bowel, so it's difficult to tell whether that was the cause!

The fullness of her bowel was a good thing, it shows there's not a lot wrong with her digestion, she's eating and it is clearly being processed as it should. So much to the good. It also meant that the vet couldn't feel her kidneys, and what with that and the fact that she's really feeling very bony now, I agreed to a full blood array of the kind Indigo had when she had her collapsing fit last year. And a urine test. I'm waiting on the results now, but I'm not really expecting any kind of anomaly... Ava's only symptom is skinniness, she's not appearing to be ill in any other way.

Fingers crossed.

Hold your breath...

Last night both Sofia and Ava poked their heads into the living room. Inds soon saw them off, but it felt like progress...

TODAY, on being released from the living room, instead of immediately chasing Sofia up the cat tree, Indigo stood near her, within whacking distance, but no whacking commenced. Instead they had a mutual sniffing session and then just sat next to each other. I was amazed. Indigo then hissed a bit and walked off and Sofia- SOFIA- gave her a thwap on the way lol.

Ten minutes later, Inds turned into hellcat again, chased Sofia up the cat tree and was back to her normal hissy growly self. Oh well, baby steps!

3, 2, 1...

 

Round 637...

Trapped!

 

Indigo has taken to 'trapping' one of the girls- almost always Sofia- in some high place, then sitting, troll-like, underneath. Which effectively means Sofia can't get down without being attacked.

 

 

 

Horrid little brute. Isn't she looking smug here?

 

Honestly, Indigo is being a pain. I've clipped her claws, so she can't do a lot of damage, but even so, it's pretty unpleasant at the moment, and all the cats are relieved when, at night, she gets put into the living room and the door shut. 

 

Reintegration is going swimmingly then. Someone tell me why I started this?????

Uh oh

 

This is not the companionable scene it looks...

 

*glare*

*hiss*

*spit*

and other unmentionable language...

 

Indigo makes herself as big and as intimidating as possible by hunching herself up and yowling

 

This is a typical scene, Indigo is always the aggressor. But she doesn't get it all her own way. In the above scene, Sofia lay there and growled, glared, spat etc, in response to Indigo's most unladylike language, but she wasn't about to budge. Indeed it was Indigo in the end who had to back down, slinking off to the bed to wash herself in an attempt to preserve her dignity.

 

Sofia rarely backs down... she just holds her ground and growls.

 

I have to say my sympathies are entirely with Sofia, and I'm glad she's holding her own. There were some nasty fights yesterday though, and I'm going to need to clip claws, well Indigo's claws anyway. Today seems calmer, although of course I couldn't leave any of them alone together. Indigo and Ava even had a tentative butt-sniffing session earlier, which was remarkably friendly considering, but then Indigo spoiled the mood.

 

Speaking of Ava, she's lost a further 200g, despite me attempting to feed her up :( Vets next week, she's getting a bit bony now despite seeming fit and well. 200g in a month is a lot to lose for a cat who was thin to begin with...

My Bed

(with apologies to Tracey Emin!)

 

Well they may be occupying the same space...

 

 

But the attitude is far from sisterly!

 

 



Well, much as I'd love to say how swimmingly well its all going, and how they are all snuggled up together happily, well frankly no, it isn't. But, you know, it's OK. Indigo is starting as many stand offs as she can, but the other two are holding their ground and not letting her bully them.

There have been yowls, growls and hisses aplenty. Purrs have been a bit few and far between though. Hoping for a few more of them soon.

8 hours in...

... and there's been a fair bit of bad language and some stand-offs... but no actual blood.

Yet.

Stand by for another thrilling installment tomorrow!

Ummmmm!

 

 

Yes... that's Ava and Sofia, in 'Indigo's' room....

 

We've been on holiday, and Ava and Sofia, as the well behaved residents of the household, were permitted to stay at home while I was away. (Ok, so one of them puked on my bed, but that's small beans compared to what Indigo managed the one- only- time I left HER. *shudder*) They were given the run of the house, and they loved it. It's made me feel bad all over again for keeping them confined.

 

And to be honest, it's very awkward pandering to the whims of one awkward Tonk. I mean, I don't mind, but it's a pain, and I'd rather not. She isn't the only one in this household!

 

So, when Inds and Theo come home from the cattery tomorrow, I'm going to have another shot at reintroducing them all. Indigo has been making concerted efforts to get into my room of late, and stakes out the shut door... and Sofia does the same when Inds door is shut. Ava calls to Indigo through the door, and... oh I don't know. Maybe they've all grown up enough now to get along better?

 

So tomorrow, I'm off to stock up on the Feliway, collect the cats, and... see. I'll still seperate them at night and if I go out, and I expect Indigo will spend most of the day under my bed anyway. Sofia will spend it up the cat tree, and if they both spend a few hours sans food, then they can both live with that lol.

 

You just know it's all going to go wrong, don't you?

 

We'll see.

 



 

Hot Days Are For Snoozing

Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

A Real Tartar

Ok, no she isn't, she's my lovely snuggly puss who spends nighttimes curled up on my chest purring happily. But she does have tartar, and in her not too distant future, assuming it carries on building up, lies a trip to the vet, a general anaesthesia, and a jolly good scrape of the teeth to get it all off. Poor Ava.

(and poor me- dental treatment isn't covered by insurance!)

I'm not surprised one of the cats is needing this, it's an incredibly common issue in cats which is of course why the insurance companies won't cover it. As cats get older, too, they are more likely to need treatment, which means as my cat population ages, trips like the above will occur again. No, I'm just surprised its Ava! Indigo now, Inds has had a grumbling, mild (and I do mean mild) gingivitis for a while now, (Tonks are one of the breeds rather prone to this) and I would have expected it to be her to have teeth issues. Theo has a teeny patch of gingivitis on one side too, just round one tooth. But Ava has never had any hint of teeth issues.

But there- humans need the dentist every now and then and so it seems do mogs. Oh well, when they need the treatment they will have it. Inds gingivitis isn't affecting her at present, it looks mildly sore, but they aren't swollen, bleeding or- clearly- interfering with her eating in any way (lol) so she's fine, and Ava's tartar will be monitored and dealt with when appropriate. Theo seems OK. As for Sofia's? Practically perfect in every way. Perfect teeth, perfect gums, absolutely beautiful.

Breeding

You know, I think I've worked out why I'm so reluctant to decide about when to breed Indigo.

First time round, of course she had that allergy issue. Eventually it was traced to a food allergy, I changed her food, things were OK again, but not until she'd had lots of fuss and bother having a head scrape (to rule out ringworm) and extra flea treatments that she didn't need, and I'm sure having a head full of spots wasn't pleasant for her. She had to wear that collar for ages to stop her scratching one patch in particular. She still runs a mile when she sees the collar. She also had morning sickness.

Then last time, well she seemed to be ill from start to finish! First off she had an eye issue, then morning sickness so bad I ended up rushing her to the vet, and from then on it seemed a long run of digestive issues, ear issues, suspected urinary issues... you name it, she had it. She was skinny and lethargic and I was worried. The vet suspected a low level virus that had lowered her immune system that she just couldn't pick up from whilst raising seven kittens- as soon as they had moved on she became her old self (and indeed is now 2lbs plus overweight...)

And I understand that ok, the allergy issues are sorted now, so that won't re-occur, and the morning sickness, while worrying, really is transient. It bothers her for less than a week. And the virus? Well that was just sheer bad luck, and there's no reason to believe that will happen again. But still.

I've seen other breeders comment that after every litter they swear they will never do it again, and that's what I'm feeling now. It just feels so... odd... wrong, possibly... to put one's darling cat through all the stresses of pregnancy when so much can, and does, go wrong. Fortunately, for prospective owners at least, the lure of kittens is too great. There will be more Indikon kittens, of course there will be, just as there are in other catteries. But right now I'm feeling like dragging my heels a bit.

Visitors

I like small children, but I couldn't eat a whole one...

Ugh! It's been a dull, hot, heavy, oppressive day today. I wish it would just storm and get it over with.

We had some small guests round earlier, boys of six and four and their almost one year old sister. Baby G was particularly taken with Indigo, crawling after her enthusiastically. Indigo wasn't so keen. She didn't seem to be able to reconcile her need to poke her nose into EVERYthing to her obvious wish to retreat to a dark cormer somewhere (of which she had plenty available). So she'd approach the baby to look at her, then back off in alarm when G laughed and moved towards her. Eventually she sat in a cardboard box on the dining table, ears and eyes poked over the top, snoopervising.

Theo socialised for about half an hour, before retiring to the bedroom, where the other two were, to snooze for the rest of the visit!

I still haven't decided what to do kitten wise this year. The teenager is all for more kittens, as soon as possible, naturally!

A Weighty Issue

Continuing on the weight theme today. I took the other two to the vet just now. Ava has lost some weight, unfortunately. This time last year she was 7.3lbs. Now she's 6.6lbs. Thing is, she looks like quite a pudgy puss doesn't she? It's all floof. She could do with being another pound or so heavier in actual fact.

Ava is a middle sized cat, she ought to weigh about 7-9 lbs. (more for a male) So she's less than would be considered normal, but she's been as little as five, and for a cat her size that is very little indeed- her same sized sister is nearly twice that. And we know about Indigo. At 5lbs, she was literally skin and bone, and I was very very worried about her. That was a long time ago, but even so...

It's not time to worry yet. But I do have to keep a special eye on her, and take her back in six weeks or so.

Sofia is still overweight, but stable, at 9.7 pounds she's overweight but not to the point Indigo has managed it, and more importantly she was almost exactly the same as she was this time last year, she isn't fluctuating at all. I can live with that. Yes she's overweight, but not by a lot, and given she shares her food supply with her skinnymalinky sister I'd be reluctant to rock the boat in case Ava stopped eating.

Why are all my cats so awkward??? Theo is my only normal sized cat. He eats when he is hungry, doesn't when he is not, and maintains a stable, healthy weight. *rolls eyes*

Oh well, I suppose in the wild, Ava would have died young as a result of her bout of rodent ulcers when she was younger, and Indigo and Sofia would be thin enough through repeated litters. It's an unnatural life this indoor one, for all its good aspects.

Oh Indigo!

Indigo refuses to acknowledge this slur on her character...

Ahem! Well Indigo and Theo have been to the vet and been jabbed, and are both sleeping off their ordeal indignantly. I am the recipient of frequent dirty looks from both of them. Oh well!

Indigo has a few nasty surprises coming. When she was weighed... oh crikey... well I knew she'd put on weight. What I didn't know was quite how much. She was just over 8lbs at last weigh in- a normal weight. This time? Nearly 11 of them...

Oops... people keep asking me if she's expecting, and she looks like she is too, with it all around her middle. Can't be healthy can it.

So it's diet time for Madam, her crunchies will be carefully monitored, wet food is off the menu and as for treats, they are strictly forbidden. No more Temptations for you, Miss Indigo- not until you've lost some of that middle!

Tonight will be interesting- she gets a treat before bed, basically my way of getting her to stay in the living room so I can shut the door and let the girls out. I am expecting tears before bedtime, (mine, probably) and Indigo can howl VERY loudly when she chooses to...



Good morning!

Indigo disagrees... Monday mornings are never 'good'...

So, I haven't been here for a while! No excuses really, but you know how life sometimes just seems to catch up with you? Well mine caught up with me hard, and I feel like I've been chasing my tail for the past couple of weeks.

The teenager is in the process of transferring from a special school to a mainstream one, so I've been involved in lots of Transition work too, driving the lad around from school to school- its been an exciting time. I'm pleased to say it's all gone very well but all the pickups and dropoffs have been time, as well as petrol- consuming.

The kitchen obviously disrupted things a lot, and I've been trying to finish a big art project and get an essay written and in. The artwork got delivered Wednesday, and the essay yesterday, nothing like leaving things to the last minute eh? We had a minor flea outbreak and I had to treat the house- (Indigo comes up in scabby lumps when she's being bitten as she's allergic to flea saliva- the cats were all up to date on their flea treatments but they can live for a long time in cracks and crevices, well unless one kills them *evil cackle* Indorex is brilliant stuff. Are you itching yet? Ugh, hate fleas!!!) Oh, and on Friday the teenager managed to break his toe!

Anyway, what with all these things, I've rather neglected the blog, but it's the school holidays now and I have less to do, hurrah!

This week, all the cats are due their yearly jabs. Two on Thursday, two tomorrow. I will not be anyone's favourite human for a while I suspect. Still, it's got to be done.

Hope your Monday is a good one!



Hello!

We are here and ok, home again, some technology issues have meant I havent been able to post :) New post soon, I hope. Chat soon!

Missing Them

Well the kitchen is being done, and several small snags mean that I haven't been able to bring the cats home yet. Indigo and Theo are enjoying an extended stay in the cattery, whilst Ava and Sofia are at my mother's.

And I want to bring them all home again! But you know, all the drilling and noise and mess... they'd hate it, and it's much better for them to be having a holiday elsewhere. But I'll still be happier when they are home again!

Apparently Inds and Theo are fine. They have a very comfy pen with an inside bit with comfy beds and another inside bit but with more fresh air and a bench, lots of toys etc. They are allowed to stalk up the corridoors every day which they do with great delight and a small amount of hissing at the other cats in their pens on Indigo's part (who give as good as they get I am sure) and Theo just stalks around swishing his floofy tail.

At my mother's, Sofia has surprised me by scarcely coming out from under the bed! I've had to move all the litter, food and water upstairs because she's not come out. Ava, on the other hand, my nervous, scaredy Ava, is right at home. Funny cats.

Shouldn't be too much longer. But that's why there are no posts... there are no cats here to post ABOUT.

When Will You Marry?

(Sorry about the gap between posts-  a family bereavement and other 'stuff'. You know how it is.)

So the time of year has come when I'm thinking hard about who to mate Indigo to next, and equally importantly, when.

Because it's complicated this year. Firstly time wise. My friend gets married in the spring and I am in the bridal party. I can't have a due date cat around that time, or kittens that are too young. I can't have kittens that are due to go home because I won't be about to facilitate that. I could have small-ish, still just about nest- bound kittens or older, independent kittens (both times with an experienced- with- baby- kittens person housesitting) but I wouldn't want to leave toilet training kittens. And given Indigo's illness last year, I wouldn't want to leave a pregnant cat, certainly not in the early stages.

It's ridiculous... I'm only going away overnight, but it's feeling like a military operation! And I KNOW they would be fine with someone else for a night or even a weekend, but... well, you know.

The other option of course is to not have kittens this winter at all, mate her in the Spring and have summer babies but again that would require careful timing because I take a summer holiday. Or I could skip a year entirely. (the idea doesn't appeal...)

The next thing is with whom to mate my girl. Now the problem with Indigo is that as a 5th generation Tonk, she's actually related to quite a few of the local (and by local I mean within a 3 hour drive... lol...) studs, and that won't do at all! I rang up about a stud last week, only to realise it was her grandfather! Not sure how I had missed that!

There's not a lot of choice, is what I am saying.

Now she's had two lovely litters. Her first one, with GrCh Fecheldee Harry, are now what- 18 months?- so its possible to see what they are like as adults, and I'm delighted with them. Good quality, robust cats with no health issues (that have been reported to me, anyway) who obviously give their families a lot of pleasure. So a repeat mating with Harry is a definite possibility, he's obviously a good match for Inds. And he's a proven stud, and a Grand Champion, all to the good.

Harry's an apricot mink, so those kittens could be blue, lilac or caramel (boys), all three in tortoiseshell (girls) and in mink or solid. My instinct is, if I mate Indigo this autumn, to use Harry again.

But then over at Tonkadello, they have a new up and coming stud, Louis. Now Louis isn't available yet, he's only a baby still, born, I think, in February, but by next year he will be available. Now the big selling point for me with Louis is that he is a first generation Tonk, ie his parents will be a Siamese and a Burmese. He represents an entirely new bloodline, (and many thanks to the dedicated breeders who made that happen...) and that would be a good balance for Indigo's 5th generation blood. The Tonk gene pool is small, and it just isn't healthy to get too small.

Mating Indigo to Louis will be a bit of a leap into the unknown as he won't have been a stud for long by the time Inds needs to come, but to be honest that's how it was with Monty too and that worked out really well- my Von Trapps were adorable. So if I waited until the Spring, I'd probably want to use Louis, if he was ready.

These kittens would be chocolate and lilac, if he carries dilute, (which his people may not know until he's had a few litters of course!!) in mink and solid. And yes... if I got a chocolate mink girl of a decent quality I would definitely consider keeping her. There's no hurry to keep a kitten, Inds is three now- I guess she'll have another three litters all being well (which you can't bank on) But latter litters are smaller, fewer kittens mean less choice and you can't guarantee even a female, let alone a female of good type, and then there's the question of your own colour preferences etc. So leaving it to the last litter, never a good plan.

As always I am merely rambling, and your opinions would be very interesting indeed :) Oh- sorry about the pretentious title today, but I love Gauguin and it seemed apt!

Mojo

Although I wish this handsome young man was one of mine, either a resident or one I'd bred, he isn't. This is Tallica Mojito, Amanda's (reader, commenter) tonk.

Mojo was thought to be a chocolate solid, but Amanda thinks he looks more like a chocolate mink, so has given me permission to post his piccies on here to see... and hopefully as he grows there will be more pictures and we can see what he eventually settles into.

Mojo is currently only 5 months, so plenty of time to settle into his final colouration... remember the shenanigans over the REM litter when they turned about one? And C reports that Jacob has recently lightened, whilst Jonah has darkened into their (presumably) final colour. in fact it can take a Tonk several years to settle into their final colour and even then colour can keep on developing- mature browns, for example, can get very dark indeed.

Mojo's body colour now. I have not had chocolates here, so I couldn't say one way or another. His body is still pretty pale, but chocolates are pale anyway, he has a lovely creamy belly but it isn't almost white, as I've seen in a mink, but that could be the light.

His eyes look pretty aqua though, which would be more typical of a mink.

For comparison, here are Pasha and CoCo (Liesl and Brigitta) at 2(ish) months- Pasha, front, is a brown mink and CoCo a solid, but their eye colour is pretty much the same. By three months though, the eye colour is starting to look pretty different. You can't really see from this pic, but CoCo is a lot darker in the body.

Here's Bailey, a brown solid like CoCo, a month or so later:

You can see his eyes are already starting to look green/ greeny-yellow compared to Pasha's, below... Pasha is a mink and had very nice aqua eyes at 3 months...

Back to Mojo! Those eyes look much more like Pasha's than they do Bailey's don't they? If I had to guess, now, and with all the usual provisos about really not being terribly good at colouring kittens, I'd say he was a chocolate mink. But as always, opinions welcomed! M, your Dylan is a chocolate mink isn't he, is Mojo similar in colouration or is he darker-??

Blue, Blue, Blue...

And more blue! L and L's family sent me some new pictures today, and this is Lottie... no doubt about that in this pic is there? She's a blue! A blue solid Tonkinese. No question. Funny the effect of different lighting isn't it?

(I'm ridiculously pleased...)

Here's Lola, blue mink Tonkinese. You can see her points are the same colour as her sister's, yet her body colour is lighter and warmer.

Aren't they beautiful pictures? Lottie and Lola, now that they are neutered, (reminder, if you haven't, now is the time!)  have started being allowed out for supervised garden time, and by the looks of it are loving it!

And just for comparison, here's Theo, my blue point Birman. Now try to imagine his colouration in a Tonkinese body, and minus the white paws, and this would be a blue point Tonkinese.

There are three different colourpoint patterns in the Tonk breed, solid, mink and (confusingly) pointed. Indigo can't have pointed kittens, for which I am eternally grateful because can you imagine the confusion I'd get into trying to sort out THREE different point possibilities rather than just the two? Colours are bad enough!

Blue or lilac?

Now you know me... I am the first to admit that colouring kittens? Not something I would list as an achievement. I do seem to have a particular issue with lilacs- I think they are blues. Apparently I can't recognise a lilac if it jumped up and purred at me.

But I think I could be forgiven for the confusion here.

I mean, that's a blue kitten, right? That's absolutely a blue kitten. (if anything its sister Lola who is looking a bit lilac-y there, and that's a whole nother post!)

Haha...

That is not a blue kitten. It is a lilac kitten, or rather, a lilac cat, because at the grand old age of 6 months, I suppose they would be terribly offended to be thought of as babies (they will always be babies to me!) Lottie, here, looks just like Mama Indigo.

And again, I would say that was a lilac cat too. As an aside, not sure how old they are here, but I'm assuming they've both stayed smallish cats- they were both small as kittens weren't they? Well, the whole litter was smallish but Lottie and Lola were the smallest of the lot! Maybe not though- Bailey, who was average sized (but the biggest in the Von Trapp litter) is getting to be quite a big cat, I think Sulley might be as well. But my diddiest kitten from the REM litter, Lisl (Hope) stayed small, so I assume L and L will do so too.

I don't half go on... back to colour now...

But here? Here she looks more blue.... but not as blue as I would have expected given her earlier pictures. But still blue!

As I said yesterday, and as you can see in the picture above as well, they have a sufficiently different eye colour now to let us assume Lola is indeed mink and Lottie is a solid (so I am improving!!!) but oooooh I am undecided about Lottie's colour now. Grr!

Any opinions? Lottie and Lola's family don't mind a bit (remember Lottie has already distinguished herself by being undecided as to whether she was male or female for many weeks, she was thought to bea girl, then a boy and she was going to be called Charlie as in Charlie and Lola!) but it is a source of never ending frustration to me to not have this whole colour thing a little more secure in my mind than I currently do.

*grin*

But they are beautiful, and this post has given me an excellent excuse to post more lovely Lottie and Lola pictures. Which is always a good thing! You must be very proud of them K and family- I know I am.