Still here

... but having more problems with pictures. Ho hum.


We are all fine. I would like to say super busy, and that's why I haven't been blogging, but that wouldn't be true. Lazy is more like it! I passed my course with a really pleasing mark, and since then have been in a state of total lethargy lol... really it isn't good enough.


The thing with blogging is when it is a daily thing, you do it daily and it is habit. Once you stop, it's harder to start.


A quick run down of the news here:


1) Theo has regained all his weight and remains healthy. Indigo, and surprisingly, LUCY, are overweight, so Lucy is no longer on the kitten food and both the Tonks are on a controlled (supplemented for Lucy) diet after getting the OK from my vet. The aim is for Lucy to stay the same-ish weight for a bit, while she grows into it, and for Inds to lose some. But...


2) Indigo is calling, so am considering my options here, it is a little earlier than I had anticipated. Inds generally loses weight through the pregnancy, birth and nursing process, but t's a tricky one because she had that interrupted labour last time and being overweight does increase the risk of birth issues. It's likely to be her last litter, and to be honest I am in two minds about neutering her now because...


3) The govt is in the early stages of consultation for new legislation which will make it extremely difficult for small breeders like me to remain breeding. It is based heavily on dog- breeding, which doesn't translate so well to what happens with cats. With proposed fees for inspections, licenses and so on, plus a limit of three litters per queen (the expectation being that you then rehome them) there is no way I will be able to compete with larger operations. Nor will I want to. The day of the small hobby breeder is numbered, perhaps?


Anyway will go more into those at some point once I've had a proper think.  Hope you are all well, and thank you S.S for the kick up the bottom to actually post!

Oh dear!

Someone got out of bed the wrong side...

Anything you want to talk about, Lucy?

The Narnia litter are six months old! Lucy is definitely showing some teenage sass these days. She's getting a fair few growls from the older cats at the moment mainly due to her habit of prancing up and bopping them on the nose! Indigo has practically done feeding her now, as she can never be sure whether presenting her tummy will cause Lucy to snuggle in or attack! No self respecting Mama would put up with that, so when Lucy snuffles about wanting milk, more often than not she'll get a smack on the nose.

She's still super cuddly though and spends lots of time snuggling with the older cats and with her humans, her favourite place is at the top of the cat tree and she's shown interest in going outside... so I may well end up with another cat who goes for 'walkies'! She sees Theo going out every day and she's curious, more curious than any of the others. So we'll see.

It's about this time I start to think about our next breeding, and with Theo doing so well now I've started to think it might be a reality this year. Indigo will be ready by the autumn, and I'm considering sending her back to Louis (Lucy's dad) as the chocolates simply enchanted me. Lucy- well it seems insane to be considering Lucy, she's still such a baby! Ideally I'd like to wait till Lucy is at least a year old before mating her (so she'd be 15 months or more before her first litter) and not put her on the Ovarid till after her first litter but it very much depends on when she starts calling. She could start any time now and I can't keep her calling for six or more months. Apart from the fact that it is not at all good for them, I suspect my relationship with the neighbours might go downhill a bit *grin*


So I'm crossing my fingers she isn't going to be an early developer. You can be as sassy and teenager as you like, Lucy, but no howling for a boyfriend yet y'hear me??






   

Gains

Lucy is currently tipping the scales at 3.25 kg, that's just over 7lbs, the same weight as Ava despite being significantly smaller. She's only 5.5 months, and looks it, plenty of growing still to do. Tonks are often rather solid cats with a dense musculature which can mean they weigh more than they look like they ought to. Ava on the other hand has always been a skinny Minnie. Funny how different they are!




In other news, Theo has hit 4kg! 4.12 kg to be precise. Whooooooooo!!!! For new readers, my boy has inflammatory bowel disease and was very poorly indeed the first months of this year. He lost a LOT of weight and was just skin and bone. Ideally he needs to put on another half a kilo to be back to where he was, which is pretty much spot on for his size, but he went down to about 3.3 of them. Scary.


He's now low-normal for his size, so even if he levels out here it's fine, but I'd love it if he got back to nearer where he was before his illness kicked in badly.




The vet has said we can try to introduce a wet food into his special diet. We've decided on a totally novel protein, so Theo has just scoffed his first can of VENISON prescription cat food, the spoiled mog. Of course, it's hideously expensive *rolls eyes* but y'know. He was so happy, he loves his wet food and it's been six months or so since he had any and then it was just plain chicken for several months before that. If he's happy, I'm happy, I'm just so thankful that he's alive.






OMG, I have just realised that little Lucy, now, weighs just about the same as Theo at his most poorly... Lucy is about half the size of Theo. Just shows how poorly he was, I guess.

Back!

Hello!


Goodness, it's been a while. Course is now finished and I am off now till September, which in reality means ploughing through at least some of the 12+ texts I need to study next year to get a bit of a head start. I've also been putting in a good deal of time at the allotment. It is now starting to resemble an allotment again, rather than a jungle. Gardening is a damn job, I tell you, especially when your allotment neighbours consistently win best plot and things in the yearly competition. I always feel I have to be apologising for dragging down the neighbourhood!


So, the mogs...


Littlest and most impatient first! Lucy-Lu. Oh my goodness we love this kitten. She has completely changed the dynamic of our cat-family. Watch this clip...


Yup, that is all five cats, all in the same room, and no-one is intimidating, swearing at or otherwise behaving antisocially towards anyone else, although the look Inds is giving Sofia is, I admit, rather unsisterly. Even scaredy cat Ava has joined the family (albeit under the table on a dining chair) and as for Sofia she's rolling around and exposing her tummy barely a metre away from Indigo's perch. It's really quite fascinating to watch them becoming a community, and it wouldn't have progressed to this level without Lucy.


Of course, Lucy is 5 1/2 months now, and soon she will be hitting kitty adolescence, which might rock our worlds a little bit... we'll have to wait and see if the peace lasts! For the moment though, she's just a little girl and everything is new and exciting. I can't do anything without a little cream and chocolate head poking its way in and 'helping'. Today it was podding broad beans, and of course every pod had to be inspected and sniffed. I can report that Lucy found whilst the empty pods made excellent toys, they really didn't taste so nice.


Theo... oh Theo puzzles me, he's been sick an awful lot this week, most days at least once, but he's also put on a bit of weight. I think he's OK, he's getting lots of hairballs and knots so I guess he's shedding which he usually does earlier in the spring, around March, but perhaps everything is late for him this year because of his illness? That would account for some of the little gifts he keeps leaving about.


The three girls are fine. Indigo is still completely involved in her mummy role, but she has been coming for more cuddles recently. Usually though, she just gets settled and Lucy comes and jumps on her, so she gets up again and the moment is lost. Ava and Sofia have definitely benefitted from Indigo being occupied and are using the whole house now rather than having strictly defined territories. They are both canny things though, waiting till the others are asleep to get some undivided attention, which they love.


Anyway that's us. I'll try and get another post up this weekend. No excuse now I'm officially on  a break... now where are those books???

Drumroll please...

A little while ago now Caspian finally got round to telling his people what his forever name is.


It's TEDDY!!!!!!!!


Awww! How lovely is that? It really suits him too, he's so soft and cuddly.


I really will be back soon... just on the last few days of my course now. Well, until September, when a new one starts!

Getting Along

I belong to several Tonkinese/ breeder- related internet groups, and a question was asked on one of them about how the different cats in the household get on. So I got to thinking about the complex relationships my lot have, and how Lucy's coming has changed the dynamic.


They do say in a multi-cat household there is often an ambassador cat, that gets on well with everyone and essentially holds the community together. That's Theo in ours, although I do wonder whether Lucy might end up fulfilling that role too. Far too soon to tell with her of course, and as she will reach sexual maturity will probably be rather more volatile, but she's very different to how Indigo was as a kitten (except in the naughtiness stakes) so who knows. Everyone likes her though, so it's a good start!


Anyway, hre's a little bit about each relationship. No photos, am cameraless at the moment.


Ava and Sofia


Ava and Sofia are littermates- sisters. They are friendly and very occasionally snuggle, although neither of them are especially demonstrative cats. They will show their affection by occupying the same space, for example either end of the bed. They squabble occasionally. Sofia always wins.


Ava and Theo
Ava tends to stay out of Theo's way. Theo likes to chase and pester, like an irritating little brother, and Ava is a quiet little puss who just wants to be left alone. Theo is very fond of Ava though, and will groom her when she lets him.


Ava and Indigo
These two don't really interact. Indigo tends to pick on Ava (everyone does! Poor Ava is the bottom of the pecking order) so Ava tends to stay out of her way. It's a shame, as they were very fond of each other when Indigo was a kitten. Ava doesn't have any interest in the kittens when Inds has them.


Ava and Lucy
Ava and Lucy are cautiously friendly. Lots of mutual nose/ butt sniffs and I've even seen a bit of snuggling but it hasn't lasted long. Either Ava gets creeped out or Lucy bounces up, being a kitten she rarely stays still for more than a second anyway. Either way, Ava ends up making a run for it.


Poor Ava! But she's a happy little soul fortunately, and very sweet.







Sofia and Theo
These two squabble apparently to their mutual satisfaction, as they are also quite affectionate towards each other but not super- close. They were very close before Theo basely deserted her for Indigo, I don't think Sofia has ever quite forgiven either of them!


Sofia and Indigo
HATE HATE HATE!!!! Well, kind of. These two are the reason I kept two separate spaces in one small flat for over a year, before I decided it was ridiculous and put my foot down. Reintroduction took a long time but it was (mostly) successful. These days it is more of a mild antagonism, but let's just say I can't see them becoming best buds any time soon. Sofia has nothing to do with Indigo's kittens when she has a litter- Indigo would probably kill her!


Sofia and Lucy
They play together, much to Indigo's consternation. Chasing games, mostly, up and down the hall. No snuggling as yet, I think Lucy would but I suspect Sofia would bop her on the nose if she tried.


Theo and Indigo
True love! Lots and lots of snuggling, with the occasional lovers' tiff followed by more snuggling. These two are very sweet together. Theo also loves the kittens, when Inds has them, and will snuggle, wash and play with them.


Theo and Lucy
Lucy thinks Uncle Theo is won-der-ful. Theo is quite fond of Lucy but will administer the occasional smack when he thinks Lucy is being too impertinent... like when she is pouncing on his tail. He's a bit sensitive about his tail. Unfortunately every kitten without exception thinks it


Indigo and Lucy
Obviously being mother and daughter these two are very bonded. Indigo is kept very busy having a bad daughter to look after, and has zero time to misbehave herself, but she doesn't seem to mind, and where one is, the other is close by.

Violins

Lucy gets some cuddle time in with her favourite Uncle

Gah! That cold I couldn't shift, that some of you noticed from before the babies came home? The one that's been coming and going for several months now but wasn't ever bad enough to 'bother' the doctor with? Yes, well. It now appears to have morphed into a gigantic chest infection! Steroids, antibiotics, several inhalers... you name it I'm on it at the moment, and feeling mighty sorry for myself as well. Can I hear the sound of a tiny violin there? I am much gratified, thank you!


So, right at the moment, Lucy and Theo look pretty similar in colouration, so I thought I'd try and keep a record of how Lucy's colour changes. As an adult, she ought to resemble the majority of her siblings as babies, if you see what I mean... not precisely but her colour should darken to that sort of milky chocolate on her back, with her belly that creamy colour and obviously the darker points as she has now but they will extend a little about the mask etc. Theo is done changing colour now, as a mature cat, so he will do nicely for comparison purposes (as well as clearly making a very nice fluffy pillow)

I tried to get a picture of both sets of eyes to illustrate the mink/ pointed colour difference (Theo is a pointed cat, although not of the Tonk variety) however Theo wasn't up for that this time round. I just like the photo and you can see Lucy's eyes are going a nice aqua now.

Yes, I kiss that little face about a zillion times a day...

The other day there was some very brief (less than a minute) Ava-Lucy snuggling and ear cleanage going on. Awesome! Lucy and Sofia have played together too. Indigo doesn't know what to make of it all. Keeping a kitten has totally rocked her world... she seems happy and occupied with a kitten to fuss over, and certainly for none other than her own daughter would she have ceded her place as centre of attention and chief troublemaker but I do wonder what she thinks about it all!