Older Kitties

I had a lovely phone call the other day, from a lady I will just call J. now J had a Tonk,, adopted as an older cat, who passed away after a long and happy life. She was very much looking for an older kitty- a Tonk- but had had some conflicting advice from her vet. Could she have a chat to me, a breeder, so see what I thought? Of course she could. Any excuse to talk Tonk.

(And no- I didn't offer her my Indigo... lol! I wouldn't be without my Inds. I know a friend expressed an interest in her, and I did even think about it, but I just couldn't.)

Basically she wanted to know about Tonk rescue. She didn't want a kitten. Well I don't know if the readers here know it, but both the Tonk clubs- the Tonkinese Breed Club and the Tonkinese Cat Club- have a rescue service, with a named co-ordinator. This isn't for rehoming ex- breeding cats, that's up to the breeder. It's for purely pet cats that have lost their homes.

It may seem that this is unnecessary, after all, we have shelters. But as we all know, Tonks are a bit specialist. If someone went to an ordinary rescue, for a typical cat (no cat is 'ordinary' of course) then they might get a bit of a shock with a Tonk! And conversely, if one's heart was set on a Tonk, one could be waiting years and years, if one ever came along. It wouldn't work, hence the breed clubs' involvement.

They do such a good job, these clubs, so I thought I'd mention them. Older kitties rock. And they do not always advertise every kitty that is available, so if one wanted an older cat, and there was nothing on the website, it would be well worth contacting them anyway- you never know. Bear in mind the clubs are run by volunteers, so the sites sometimes don't reflect the current situation.

So this should be a first port of call. Sometimes there just isn't a suitable cat at the rescue though, so if you've tried that and have had no luck, there are other things to try.

This lady who phoned had been doing just that.  She said she was looking at ex breeding girls... but that her vet had warned her off.  Ex breeders, he said, were unhealthy and sick due to being forced to have litter after litter until they are worn out. They were then callously dumped at the end of their breeding life once they were of no further use, and so wouldn't have been much loved in the first place. And that such a cat would make a poor pet. And she wanted to know if this was correct.

As you can imagine, I couldn't disagree more!

There may be many reasons why an ex breeding girl may need a new home. The most obvious reason is that neutering can change a sexually mature cat's character, they may become more timid. Breeders' households are usually multi cat, and a timid cat may be picked on. They may suffer stress which can make them ill, just think of the worry I have had with Ava. Put simply, a newly neutered girl may no longer be cut out for the rough and tumble world of hormonal female cats. Surely the kindest thing to do would be to find her a lovely new home?

Perhaps that vet may be talking of unregistered breeders. I am sure there are many kitten farms out there who have little regard for their babies or Mamas, churning out litter after litter, and that is very sad indeed. But the breeders I know LOVE their cats. I know because of the way they talk about them, interact with them and care for them. I know because they can weigh up the merits of single protein versus mixed source foods,  know intricately the characters of all their cats and have boxes of cat toys that none of their horrors play with. (ahem!) They refer to themselves as 'Mummy'. (the shame!) They own a shelf of cat-related books and expensive litter trays because their little darlings are picky. They can talk about enrichment of the environment and spend half their income at the vet.

In short, you can just tell.

Good breeders will only breed once a year, and less if the cat seems to need a break. I don't deny that pregnancies are exhausting for the cat, but a breeder will always keep this in mind, and organise her breeding plan around the cat's needs. I didn't breed Inds this winter, and I don't regret that choice although I have missed having kittens about.

So in response to the vet, I would say raspberries to that! If you are reading this and considering an ex breeding cat, talk to the breeder, get a feel for how she feels about her cats, find out about that cat's quirks and character, ask why she needs a new home. Ask as many questions as you like. A good breeder won't mind, in fact she will have a long list to ask you- she won't be letting her baby go any old place you know!

And good luck, J, in finding your cat. We'd love you to pop back and tell us about it when you do!

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.

Tiny Belly

Indigo has! A very gentle dropping and roundness- you couldn't tell from a photo (and my camera is playing up again so apologies for the lack of pics lately) but I hold her and stroke her every day and I've noticed it. Of course she has baggier skin this year, and is a bit chunkier anyway so it might not be so obvious so soon.

Shall we do bump photos this year? I think so :) I'll start just as soon as she's got anything to show.

Speaking of shows... I actually made it to see one the other day, the Tonkinese Breed Club show in Bracknell. I didn't mention it before because I didn't want to jinx going... I'm not usually a superstitious person, but having lost out on the last three due to illness etc I was a bit wary!

I saw the lovely Monty, some descendents of Harry and lots of lovely cats, but mainly I was able to talk Tonk with lots of other breeders which was nice. Monty did very well and got another challenge certificate, but- and I didn't know this- it is from the same judge as gave him one before. So he still can't claim Champion status. The certificates need to be from different judges!

I've also joined the Tonkinese BREED club, which I've been meaning to do for a while. I'm now a member of both clubs. I don't think there's any others...

I think I've said it before, but I'm pretty ambivalent about the whole cats in cages thing (but I keep mine indoors and isn't that just one big cage? I am a hypocrite, I guess. Bear with me though whilst I unravel my thoughts a little...)

I like breeding within the structure- and the confines- of the GCCF because it gives set rules on what you should and shoudn't do, and these are almost always to the benefit of the cats. It would take a brave breeder to insist a kitten stayed for 13 weeks, for example, if we didn't HAVE to... when the non pedigree world expects kittens at 8 weeks. But the extended stay is good for mama and babies. If people didn't have to wait 13 weeks for their kitten to come home, they wouldn't would they, in the main, they'd go to the breeder down the road who churned them out callously at 6 weeks, and the decent breeders  would lose out. Kittens would be less socialised and less happy and the breeds would suffer as a result.

Shows ensure breeding animals are of a good type, so the breeds stay distinct and improve, rather than becoming... well, just expensive moggies, basically. The whole point of a pedigree cat is one that has been bred for a certain look and temperament, the opposite of a random bred cat which is, as the name suggests, random. I have no objection to moggies, if anyone is newly reading and doesn't know... I have two of my own :)

So the GCCF and shows are a good thing. I like the shows from that perspective, and its incredibly useful to see the cats, in terms of building up experience of colours and what is a good type and so on- I got a lot out of yesterday. But there's the part of me (I used to be a mildly hippy- activist type, reckon its that part!) that hates the cages and the fact we put our cats in then to be ogled by other people. I don't suppose it's much fun for the cats, although the cats themselves never seem scared as such. Mildly irritated, yes, and you aren't allowed to touch them (disease control) and they don't like that. Well the Tonks don't anyway, as they rub themselves against the bars and roll on their backs asking for a fuss.  But they don't... well they don't suffer, you know?

And reason tells me that if the downside of GCCF breeding is a cat having to spend a day in a cage every now and then, then surely it's better than the spoils of letting your free roaming cat get pregnant, exposing them to diseases and nasties. Not to mention the yearly problem of the shelters overflowing and the thousands and thousands of moggy kittens that simply end up being put to sleep because there aren't the homes.

I expect one day I'll want to show a cat of mine... but lets just say I haven't entirely resolved it in my own mind yet. I'm glad my own girl is a solid, and therefore ineligible... although the application for showing Tonk variants is being resubmitted, so she might not be ineligible for long!

Numbers

I was drawing up the kittens' 4 generation pedigrees last night, a somewhat complicated procedure involving lots of strings of numbers (the cats' registration numbers) and thus checking and rechecking that I have copied the numbers correctly. I'm not finished yet, it's kind of a work in progress lol.

It was really quite interesting though. I haven't looked at Indigo's and Harry's pedigrees for a while. Indigo is a 5th generation Tonkinese, so her pedigree is all Tonk, and all the breed numbers are 74 and variations thereof. Harry though, Harry is a 2nd generation Tonkinese, so his near ancestors contains both Burmese and Siamese influences. So there's a liberal sprinkling of 24s (Siamese), 27s (Burmese) and even a couple of 32s in there as well (Tabby/ Tortie/ Red/ Cream/ Apricot Siamese, as these colours were not originally accepted by Siamese breeders, hence the different number)

As to which generation the kittens are, it's the lower of the parent's generations, plus one. So they are 3rd generation Tonkinese. Their parents and grandparents are all Tonks, their great grandparents and their great great grandparents are Burmese, Siamese and Tonkinese.

All the cats have letters before their number, too. Now Tonkinese are a relatively new breed (although in the 'wild', they are as old as the hills... there are Tonkinese street cats wherever the Burmese and the Siamese are...) so there are different codes, and it all gets quite confusing. There's a brilliant guide at Mymystic Tonkinese but I'll try to summarise on here as well.

If the cat has a CSREF on its registration number, it is e on the reference register. It is either a first generation, second generation, or has a solid or pointed coat pattern- so both Indigo and Wendell have CSREF before their numbers. CSREF cats can be bred from, if also registered as active (Indigo is, Wendell is not) but they cannot be shown in pedigree classes.

If a cat has CSSR before it's numbers, it is on the supplementary register. This means that the cats ancestry for 3 generations consists of mink tonkinese, pointed and solid variant CSREF Tonkinese PLUS at least one ancestor from a back cross mating (Tonkinese with Burmese or Siamese, but only pre 1997, it's not allowed now) or a pre 1999 first cross mating (Burmese x Siamese) All the minks have a CSSR before their number (as does Harry, their father) because they have a Siamese and a Burmese as a great grandparent. CSSR kittens can be shown. They can also be bred from if also registered on the Active Register, which mine are not, of course.

and THEN, we have the registration CS, which is the full register- fourth generation and above mink Tonkinese and onwards. Indigo had a mink brother, who would have been CS. Don't let the name 'full register' fool you though... all the codes are properly GCCF registered pedigree Tonkinese cats.

Tonkinese are such a 'new' breed (see proviso above!) that CS registered cats seem to be the exception rather than the rule- there's only one CS Tonkinese cat on the REM litter's whole pedigree! Once you get further and further up the generational ladder, the gene pool available for mating gets smaller and smaller, so eventually you have to mate with lower generations with new bloodlines in order to keep the gene pool healthy.

Not that this will matter to ANYONE but me of course... I suspect I'm a bit of a nerd *grin*. What can I say, I find it interesting!

Still No Home For Kensey And AnnElise

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

So why am I worried? Dunno, really!

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

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

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

And breathe...

Profile Dip

So, I was sitting on the sofa the other day, spending quality time with the teenager (ok, playing Monopoly on the Wii!) with Kenneth taking a nap in my lap, and I suddenly thought to take a look at Kenneth's profile. As I've written about before, Indigo's main 'fault' in terms of the Tonkinese breed standard is she doesn't have a very definite profile dip- the bit that goes down, between the forehead and the nose. It's a bit too straight. Harry on the other hand, the stud Indie was mated to, has a very nice profile- well he would, wouldn't he, being a Grand Champion. Anyway, it suddenly struck me that I haven't had a good, objective look at the kittens' profiles to see how they have fared.

Kenneth's (above) is fine, incidentally, allowing for a bit of kitten fluffiness. You can see the plane of his forehead and the plane of his nose are roughly parallel, with the bit inbetween following a slightly different angle.

So anyway, yesterday I annoyed the kittens no end, trying to get a good look at (and pictures of!)  their faces sideways on. I managed three pictures, so better than nothing.

Wendell's (above) is the most like his Mama's... a bit straightish. His face in general really reminds me of Indigo's at the same age/ bit older... especially round the ears... a bit bat-like. Indigo's Mama's pedigree name was 'Jablook Batfink' so clearly the resemblance runs in the family hehe

AnnElise (below) has a very nice dip and she has a nicely defined whisker pinch as well. Or rather, I THINK she has... in fact, if I don't manage to find a new home for her, I may put her in for a show or two, to see if I'm right lol. The others are all OK as well.

Of course, this only matters in terms of the show standard... it makes no difference to the kittens' potential as family pets, their loving natures, their playfulness and so on, and I don't think any of the three homes we've currently found intends to show anyway. It's just, y'know, interesting. And useful to me, as a new breeder hoping to be rather less clueless at the end of having this litter!

Indikon

Well, my prefix has now been approved, and I am officially Indikon :)

I have been keeping a private blog for a few months now, documenting my Tonkinese cat Indigo's pregnancy and motherhood. Her kittens are currently four weeks old, and very lovely they are too! Over the next few weeks and months I will transfer the posts over to this public blog, and eventually, when I've caught up, update directly to here.

If you're reading for the first time, hello! My name is Beth, and I'm a new breeder of Tonkinese cats. This blog is meant to be a diary of breeding and cat ownership, a totally honest, warts and all account of all our antics and concerns here. So if Indigo widdles on my bath towel (the highlight of one post) I'll tell you all about it. You lucky things.

It's also intended to be a tool for our kittens' new families to keep up to date with their babies before they are old enough to come home. And of course I will be spending some time talking about my other cats too- I have four, and only one is a Tonk.

If you are a breeder yourself I might say things that you disagree with, I might do things you think are unnecessary or could be done differently, and you are welcome to post in the comments section and tell me so. In fact, I'm almost sure to so something unorthodox at some point! That's ok, I'm sure we all do things differently and I'm always open to a bit of advice- after all, this is new to me. Trolls and spammers beware though... comments will be moderated, so anything rude or hateful will be removed... it's not that kind of blog, and I don't have any use for Viagra, thanks!

I hope you enjoy reading.