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)))

The song of the day !!!!!

Just has to be "Hey Fatty bom bom" !
These babies are porkers. Just shows what a good mum Claudia is - even though she's an absolute nightmare to feed.
As fast as I find something the daft bat will eat she decides to go off it.
I spend more time shopping for her than the rest of the cat clan put together (and definitely more time than shopping for us).
I've barely heard a squeak from these kittens- always a sign that they are content and have full tummies. Claudia, on the other hand, has absolutely no compunction about waking me in the wee small hours, by standing on my chest, and demanding yet more food.
Still, only another 2 weeks to go before I can evict the whole bunch from my wardrobe and relocate them in the lounge.
I have to say that they are gorgeous (call me biased if you like) but I am tempted to keep the lot of them - mind you, ask me again in a few weeks and I may well have changed my mind.

We have babies

Bang on time Claudia's final litter has arrived. She waited until just after midnight on Friday 10th (her due date) to produce 6 beautiful kittens.

She did the lot herself- most unusual, as the girls are generally more interested in cleaning themselves up than tending newborns.

All that was left for me to do was offer moral support and change the bedding when it was all over and done with.

She has 3 tabbies (classic I think) 2 girls and a boy, and 3 solids- 2 cinnamon girls and an havana boy.

She is highly protective and isn't making it easy for me to check their weights or get pictures.

She is eating for England and , as the babies are quiet, I assume that they are a content bunch too.

More news once I've caught up on my sleep.

Snow- what snow?

We're not supposed to be having the white stuff- but there it is anyway !!!!!!
How lucky is that ?
The cats view it with huge suspicion and demand that the heating be turned up to the maximum.
They have heated beds and radiators - I have thermal undies and extra jumpers. There's something not quite right here.
Raya has taken to sleeping in our bed, as close to me as she can get. I must admit I'm quite grateful for the shared body heat and the odd hot flush is also quite welcome.
I'm really pleased that my trip to Holland has been done- travelling any distance once the ice and snow arrives is not my idea of fun.
Good news on the kitten front. All the reports, from the various new slaves, are indicating that kittens and humans are well pleased with one another - such a relief.
Claudia is as fat as a house- just another couple of weeks to go. I will have to turn out the wardrobe at the weekend and get things prepared - how quickly it all seems to come round again.

A new Era

The last of the kittens left for their new homes on Saturday and I packed my bags for my trip to Holland on Monday.

It took nearly as long to get to Harwich by train as it did to get to Holland on the ferry - but at least I travelled overnight and managed to get some sleep.I finally met the lovely Raya's breeder, Desiree Knoop, and all the family (both human and furry).It was a very quick visit, as we were booked on the afternoon sailing. I can't thank her enough for letting me bring this little sweetie to the UK.

After a long and tiring day we got back here at 10.30 Tuesday night -only thanks to the fact that my good friends John and Judy picked us up from Harwich and drove us home.

Raya and I spent the night getting acquainted - I hope tonight means more sleep and less of her jumping on my head and "chatting".

One more sleep