T'was the night before Christmas

OK so that's a slight exaggeration but it's only a couple of "sleeps" to go.
The "big" kittens have left home and the "little" ones are bent on creating havoc.
This week has been particularly busy, with extra childminding duties.
Tomorrow is the BIG SHOP - if I don't manage to get it tomorrow we are going without !!!!!!
Needless to say I am far better prepared to cater for the cats than for us.
After all it is a matter of priorities.
I just have 2 babies to find homes for and I am hoping that Christmas money will mean renewed interest in the New Year.
The new heated cat beds I ordered have arrived- impressive service, particularly for this time of year. I really wasn't expecting them to get here until 2012.
Someone asked me if I bought presents for the cats - why?
They steal the envelopes that the Christmas cards come in and have a whale of a time making "snow". Just hope that no one sent us money as they may well have eaten it :0)))

Never say never

So much for all my good intentions.

I always said that if I bred an havana girl, from one of my cinnamon girls, I would keep her.

Well I bred one havana girl and I've let her go in favour of keeping a caramel girl.

Don't ask why, just accept that I've lost the plot big time and should probably be locked up.

She's a little heartbreaker and her pedigree name is to be Bardsong Dreamcatcher - known as Constance.

All, bar two, of the current litters are booked and we will , hopefully, be a kitten free zone in early January.

Connie will be company for Raya when she gets here from Holland and I hope the girls will be best of friends.

Time wasters

It's amazing that when you have kittens people think it's perfectly acceptable to waste your time.
In between the emailers, (who just want to collect photos) the visitors,(who want a free cuppa) and those who make appointments to visit that they have no intention of keeping - I am totally FED UP!!!!!!
I have met some truly lovely people during my cat breeding time - some have bought kittens from us and some haven't - but it never fails to amaze me the number of total idiots there are out there.
My big babies have had their final jabs and vet check and we start all over again with the younger lot next week.
This weekend is taken up with kitten visitors - let's hope they all turn up or I may be forced to rant again.
If anyone needs a wall stripped of paper I have 7 willing volunteers living in my lounge - but if you need paper removing above the dado rail you might have to provide scaffolding.

As time goes by

All my good intentions have gone out of the window yet again.
Rosie's babies are 9 weeks old and have just had their first encounter with our vet, Jane.
They have been passed fit and given their 1st vaccinations - they were not very impressed by the whole process and expressed their collective disapproval by going on a 2 hour rampage around the lounge.
Sofia's offspring are nearly 6 weeks old and have relocated to my office. My hopes of the 2 girls bringing up their babies side by side were dashed when they both made it abundantly clear that they weren't having another mum or babies in the same room.
OK- back to the drawing board and some rearranging of furniture.
Unfortunately the small ones have discovered how to get out of their, carefully modified and "cat proof", pen and spend a lot of time doing the "wall of death" around my office. I have nicknamed one of the havana boys "boomerang" due to the speed with which he manages to get back out as fast as I capture him and put him in with his siblings. Whoever takes him on is going to have their hands full.
My life consists of feeding, washing up and cleaning out litter trays - entirely my own fault, I know. The big ones will be leaving us before Christmas but the younger ones won't go until after the New Year. Somehow I don't think we'll be putting a tree up this year.

Busy, Busy, Busy

I haven't written on my blog for absolutely ages.
Things became very traumatic and upsetting for a while- but seem to be calming down (or at least changing tack).
Claudia's daughter Rosie gave birth to beautiful babies in September- very prematurely. We ended up with a 3 am trip to the vet to release a stuck kitten, who unfortunately didn't make it.
having said that - we still ended up with 7 little (and I mean little) darlings. It has been an uphill struggle as, if being premature wasn't enough to cope with, Rosie only had 4 working nipples.
You don't have to be Einstein to discover that 7 into 4 doesn't go!!! So human Mummy had to pick up the slack. The babies have now been with us for nearly 4 weeks and have just discovered "proper food" - so weaning and all the attendant joys has started.
On Sunday Sofia gave birth to 6 babies - so I have, yet again, had to relinquish my wardrobe to a tetchy mummy cat and her brood.
It's a bit like Alice's Tea party as they move their offspring from place to place- and I move them back again.
More info and Photos as I get the time.

Self indulgence

After a very long and heartbreaking few months I hope things are on the up. Losing Jags and then Birdie losing her babies and having to be neutered brought me to the point of throwing in my hand and giving up breeding. My cats are precious and I love them all dearly. Their welfare comes first - even when it means making the hard decision to rehome a cat because it's not happy here.

Things seem to be improving (I'm keeping everything crossed as I type that phrase) and I have decided to fulfill a long held dream of mine. I am in the process of buying a cinnamon and white bi-colour girl from a breeder in Holland

She became, unexpectedly available and I was able to persuade her breeder to allow her to come to the UK. Even though the import regulations are changing next year she is going to have to stay with her Mum until January.
This is a huge lesson in patience for me- but one I went through before when I brought Claudia over here.
I am so excited and grateful for this opportunity - let's hope that my mob love her as much as I already do.

Bye bye Princess

The lovely Mimi left us yesterday for her new home.
I had rather hoped that spaying her would calm her fiery temperament, but that wasn't the case.
It became very evident that Mimi craved the kind of attention that only a single cat household would provide.
We have had several people come to visit - any one of whom would have taken her, but we had to wait for absolutely the right home to come along.
Fingers crossed that this has arrived in the shape of Chantal and her family.
They are commited to giving her the one to one attention she craves and treating her like a princess.
I rather wish they'd adopt me.

Bye Bye Babies

How quickly it all comes round. The babies are off to their new homes this weekend.

They have been vaccinated and vet checked and they have woven their magic with our vet, Jane, who was VERY impressed with their turn of speed and agility.

3 or 4 of them are leaving this weekend and one later next week.

That just leaves us with the one little girl who is off to Switzerland and has to stay here for a further 5 weeks, until her pet passport procedure is complete.

I think it will be very hard to say goodbye to her after such a long stay.

Her new Mum is coming over to collect her and it will be nice to meet up in the flesh after all these phone calls and emails.

Birdie is making a marvelous recovery from her traumatic time and will soon be fit enough to rejoin the other adults - giving me back my bed and hopefully a decent nights sleep.

The times they are a changing !!!!

We are a very sad household at the moment.
Birdie was expecting a litter of kittens to Bill but developed complications late in her pregnancy.
She went to term but her kittens were all born dead and she was found to have a life threatening infection in her womb.
On the advice of our vet she was promptly neutered and seems to be making a good recovery.
This just leaves us with one adult female to breed from (the lovely Claudia) and she is still nursing babies.
The two older of our adolescent girls are Bill's daughters, which left poor Bill pretty redundant and frustrated.
This has prompted the very hard decision to let him go.
My preferrence would have been to neuter him and let him stay here as a layabout but his contribution to the cinnamon gene pool is too valuable to waste. He is only a young lad and has a couple of good breeding years ahead of him yet.
He has gone to live with a friend of mine who will use him on her girls and keep him safe - we then have the option to bring him back, either as a stud boy or a neuter, when we have either enough work for him or space for another loafer.

8 weeks old tomorrow

I can't believe how the time has flown. This lot are due their 1st jabs next week.

They are a lively bunch and our lounge has been turned into the "wall of death". They fight, play, eat and sleep - not necessarily in that order.

As I type this they are passed out, in a heap, on the pouffe in the lounge, basking in the sunshine.

Claudia is having a well earned snack and hoping to keep out of the way for an hour or two (poor girl).

The big cats are dozing in the shelter of the conservatory - although it's sunny here the wind has a distinct nip to it. I just hope that the weather man is right and that it's going to feel warmer as the week goes on.

Time Marches On

I really don't know where the time goes to !!!!
Claudia's babies have been rampaging around the lounge for a couple of weeks now and are becoming a real handful.
They are still penned at night - to prevent them being stepped on in the dark - but the rest of the time they are free to do as they please.
Their favourite place is the radiator bed - it's a bit of a sqash for 6 of them plus Mum. I just hope the radiator bracket can take the strain.
Yesterday Mimi was neutered. Her kittens were lovely and we had hoped to repeat the mating one more time - but she had other ideas. Still she deserves to have a nice life as a lazy, bossy girl.
The adult cats are still adjusting to the loss of Jags and they are having to reassess the pecking order in the household. It still seems very strange not to have him around - such a quiet but positive presence.
I collected his ashes yesterday - they had been place in a beautiful casket, with his name engraved on a brass plaque. I now have to find a suitable place for it - too sad to think about at the moment.

The end of an Era

Sadly, on Saturday 9 th April I finally had to make the decision I have been dreading for months and end my beautiful Jaguarr's suffering. My lovely boy had been poorly for some time but took a sudden turn for the worse. I had a talk with my lovely vet, Lieben, and we decided that it was time to let Jags go. He went to sleep in my arms - it was very quick and peaceful. It seems very strange without him and the others seem to be aware that he's not coming back. They are a very subdued bunch at the moment. Jags was my babysitter- we used to give him the newcomers to look after- sure in the knowledge that he would show them the ropes and take care of the introductions to the other residents. I can't imagine ever having another cat like him - he was truly special. RIP my man.

All Change

Spring has sprung and we have been changing things around. Claudia's babies have been evicted from my wardrobe and are now ensconced in the "lobster pot" kitten pen in the lounge. This has room for them to exercise their little legs in comparative safety. The young girls have gone out into the outside run for the first time- they are not impressed with the great outdoors and are hissing at one another and anything that moves in view. They'll calm down soon (I hope). Bill is annoying the neighbours - well one set anyway. I'm not sure how they know it's him, what with next doors chickens, the seagulls and the magpies, various dogs and the odd stray cat - all adding to the general racket (that of course doesn't include the local primary school or the football teams on the rec). I'm just pleased to be able to sleep without a cat on my head.

The babies have landed!!!!!

In the wee small hours of Wednesday morning Claudia produced 6 beautiful babies.

This is her 2nd litter to Bill and they look ready to out do the last lot- they are lovely.

This time we appear to have 2 cinnamon boys, 2 cinnamon girls and 2 cinnamon (spotty tabby) girls.

Claudia is a brilliant Mum (at least for the moment) and her babies are fat, contented little slugs.

The adolescent girls are almost dying with curiosity and desperately want to get into our bedroom to meet the newcomers. I'm not sure quite how the lovely Claudia would take to that - so I'm keeping them away.

Despite the fact that it's hard work it's lovely to have babies here again.

Ups and Downs

The last week or so has been a challenge - one which I hope isn't going to be repeated too often.
Jags was making steady progress after taking his custom made and very expensive medication.
He was eating well, gaining weight and his bowels were pretty normal (what a lovely subject).
I weighed him on Monday and he's lost some weight and, as he was having his booster vaccination on Tuesday, I mentioned it to my vet Jane.
She said to just keep a close eye on him.
He then opted to abandon the adolescent girls and go back out with the "grown ups".
This morning he looked sp depressed and under the weather that I weighed him again and took him back to the vets.
His weight had dropped alarmingly and he has a temperature.
The consensus of opinion is that he is going to suffer from this condition for the rest of his life and he will have periodic flare ups which will require more agressive treatment to bring them under control.
Not absolutely sure how I feel about putting him through all this.

Happy families

I have been particularly busy- and not just with cats.

Jags has finally finished his medication and is slowly putting on weight.

Birdie is in full call, having had a break since last summer - and, oh boy, do we know all about it.

Thank goodness the local primary school is having building work done, at least it blocks out some of the racket she's making.

Sofia is following in her mum Mimi's shoes and has also come into call at the tender age of 5 1/2 months.

What is it with these girls?

I just need Tilly to start and we'll have the complete set.

My son Matthew and my daughter-in-law Jenny have presented me with a granddaughter. Her name is Annabelle Grace and she was born on 7/2/2011.

It makes a change to have human babies around instead of kittens.

I somehow don't think she's going to be as easy to raise as a litter of kittens- but at least she won't be climbing the curtains.

Tears and Tantrums

Time has run away from me again and I've haven't updated my blog for a good while.

My lovely Jags has been seriously ill and for a while all his progress seemed to be backwards. Hence the title- lots of tears.

Fingers crossed he's on the mend and , although slow, he is making progress.

I know he feels better as he is being a pest and wants to go out with the others, which he can't do until his medication is finished.

Our newest arrival, Tilly, is making her presence felt. She is the tiniest thing with a personality 5 times her size :0)))

Rosie has had her first call at the tender age of 7 months- and, just like her mum Claudia, she is a piddler. The soft furnishings have taken a beating and she is banned from our bedroom (much to her disgust).

The tantrums haven't been mine- someone that I once considered a good friend had decided to wage a vendetta against me and is trying to make my life difficult.

Ho hum- some people really need to get a life of their own and stop playing stupid games.

The big girls are now in a race to see who calls first and gets to go and play with the lovely Bill.

More news later.