The start of a new year

2013 didn't get off to the best of starts - I have been in and out of hospital and this is the first opportunity to catch up on the doings of the cat household.
Basil arrived at the end of last year and has settled in well. We are now waiting to see if he's caught on to his reason for being here. Sofia has taken on the task of training him in his manly duties and gave him a black eye in the process. I hope we aren't going to get a reputation for encouraging domestic violence.
The young girls, Andromeda and Cordelia, are fast friends and spend much of their free time serenading the neighbourhood with the cat version of "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun". They are just going to have to be patient and wait their turns.


Andromeda and Cordelia





Basil

The warmer weather is encouraging the mob to sunbathe and supervise our efforts at gardening.
Hopefully the summer will see new babies in the Bardsong camp. Watch the website for details.

Another year nearly over

Time has slipped past yet again and so much has happened.
Raya's kittens grew slowly and eventually left home. The little fawn tabby girl, Andromeda, has stayed here with us. My friend Lisa allowed me the privilege of adopting one of her kittens - a lovely little cinnamon girl we named Cordelia.
Raya has struggled to regain condition after having her babies and, after a long chat with my vet friend, I reached the hard decision to spey her. I don't think that she or I could face going through all that again.
So we are now top heavy with neuters.
My latest arrival is an somewhat unexpected addition - his name is Basil and he is, hopefully, going to be the future father of the next few Bardsong litters.

Hemlock Colour of Magic aka Basil

As you can see he's a beautiful lad and a great, big, daft lump.
It will be interesting to see what we get from him next year sometime.

The way of good intentions

Again it's been months since I updated this blog and i have no idea where the time has gone.

Claudia's babies all left home, including the little havana lad we were intending to keep.

He turned out to be just not suitable to stay as a future stud so we found him a lovely pet home

Raya then went out to stud and it became quickly obvious that she was "in working order"

Her babies arrived on 20th June, after a long and difficult labour. She gave birth to 6 kittens, unfortunately one was stillborn.

So we have 5 babies- nothing at all like anything I've bred before. They have been very slow to grow and extemely slow to wean. Strange as Mum only has 3 working nipples and I've been doing a lot of the feeding. The up side is that , as they've been handled much more that normal, they are pretty unshockable.

They are 6 weeks old today and I shall start looking for new slaves for them shortly.

I have one "special needs" kitten who will be looking for a very special home - and if the right one doesn't come along he will stay here with us.
More later :0))))

Cats and wet weather

The long and the short of it is that they don't mix !!!!The girls are ensconced in the conservatory, with their new cat climber, and refusing to venture outside in the torrential rain. Who can blame them?

The kittens are 11 weeks old and poor Claudia is struggling to keep up with them. She's going to be neutered and have a well earned retirement. She has produced 3 fabulous litters for us and deserves to rest on her laurels.

The babies are a hyperactive bunch and have 2 speeds- mach 1 or asleep :0)))

They all have lovely homes to go to and the next 2 weeks will fly by.

Then time for a Spring clean I think.

Time is moving on

The babies are now 9 weeks old and have just had their 1st vaccinations and vet check. All passed with flying colours.
Raya has gone to stud, so we now have the wait to see if she is pregnant - exciting and nerve wracking at the same time.
Both Rosie and Sofia are calling with monotonous regularity. Neither of them can be mated yet - it's too soon (for me if not for them lol).
The kittens are starting to show their personalities - so interesting to see how they develop.
Hugo (known as Huggy Bear or the Hungry Hippo) is very definitely "The Cat Who Walked By Himself". Although he plays with the others he is also quite often found off doing things by himself- he's a remakably busy little lad. Not a bad trait in a potential stud cat.
They have turned into a really bonny bunch - it's so hard to part with them. Mind you I won't be saying that in about an hours time, when they've kicked yet another load of cat litter all over the floor and eaten the page in the paper with my unfinished crossword puzzle on it!!!

Fleas on speed

We had kitten visitors at the weekend and, I'm pleased to say that, it looks as if all the babies have new families waiting for them.

This is the first time that I haven't needed to advertise any of them.

I find the visits stressful - not because our potential slaves are difficult but because I worry that they won't love our babies as much as we do.

The kittens played to the gallery and generally rampaged around and were charming and endearing - so much nicer than fast asleep or shy and hiding.

Two of the girls are going together and their new Mum is very excited. One little lass is going to house with other cats already there, so she won't be lonely. The tabby lad is going to a home where his new mum and dad will be home all the time and the havana boy is staying here.

The last little tabby girl is on hold for someone but may become available later - but it's too early to start worrying about that at the moment- but she is the only one who doesn't yet have a pet name.

The babies are tearing around the office as I type this- they look like fleas on speed.

Moving Day

The kittens are 3 weeks old today and have just been evicted from the wardrobe, after complaints about the noise from the neighbours (that means me).

They are now exploring their new environment in the large kitten pen.

Claudia has her paws full scooping them up and replacing them in their sleeping quarters.

It's amazing how quickly they adapt to the extra space.

In another week or so I expect we'll have to put the top on the pen to stop them climbing out.

Something else to look forward to :0)))