Pardalis Ocicats

Uno is relishing his position as the ‘big’ kitten.  He’s only ten weeks older than Fizz’s kittens but he looks enormous against them! He loves to wrestle them and bounds towards them, knocks them over then grabs them in a headlock and nibbles their ears :-)  They squeak a bit if he gets too rough….. Fizz doesn’t seem too worried and just watches with a bemused look on her face.  She wasn’t too happy to find Uno still here when she first came downstairs with her kittens but from the looks of things she’s accepted him as one of hers!

Uno had a trip to the vet this week, to be neutered. He was starting to take an unhealthy interest in his mum.  So, while he’s still a little young to actually sire a litter, we weren’t going to take any chances!

Lexi’s kittens have all found their new homes now.  We made sure Lexi saw each one go into it’s carrier in the hope she’d have some understanding of where they’d disappeared to.  In some cases she got into the carrier first to make sure it was suitable :-)  All her kittens went to lovely homes and we’re looking forward to hearing how they’re settling and seeing photos of them as they grow.  One, Florence, a chocolate spotted girl, is going to be shown and will be at the Ocicat Club Show in October which will be very exciting for both the new owner, who hasn’t shown before, and us of course!

Uno is staying.  He’s our first born, a Classic boy, who we’ve recently discovered is in fact Cinammon and not Chocolate in colour.  He’s wormed his way into all our hearts and is now the responsibility of our eldest son!

Fizz’s kittens are now downstairs.  They started on solid food a couple of days ago and all seem to have got the hang of it really quickly.  We’ve even had some success with the litter tray so we’re really pleased with their progress.

Fizz’s four babies are very robust and getting quite tubby!  It makes all the difference having just the four to look after and plenty of milk.  They’re a good couple of days ahead, weight-wise, compared to the heaviest of Lexi’s litter at this stage.  We’ve decided to go for an Olympic theme when we name this litter but haven’t got as far as thinking of any actual names.  Well, except one that my son named when he looked to see what sex it was - Linford…. I don’t think I need to explain why :-)  I’ve a dreadful feeling that name’s going to stick!! Funnily enough he’s the noisiest.  I tend to leave him until last when I weigh and check them each day as he kicks up such a stink!!

Fizz kept pulling up the corner of her bed covering and I couldn’t understand why.  Then, after the first couple of days I realised she was making a ridge so the kittens didn’t wander away.  Since I’ve placed a towel or another blanket around her making a safe cocoon, she’s perfectly happy and hasn’t disturbed the bedding since.  They’re very active kittens and she was getting upset when one would insist on walking round behind her and squawking when it realised there weren’t any teats on her back!

Well, she might have kept us waiting but it was worth it in the end!  Having spent every night since Sunday sleeping with one eye open so as not to miss the happy event, should she pick some unearthly hour to give birth, Fizz finally had her kittens yesterday evening.  From early morning she’d been in and out of her specially prepared box miaowing loudly but she chose to wait until Graham was home from work and we’d had dinner before she went into labour (very civilised!)  She took her time, giving birth to the four over a span of nearly two hours.  Unlike Lexi, who shot hers out at a speed of knots!  We enjoyed this birth more as we had time to inspect and enjoy each kitten as it was born, and it was cleaned and dry before the next popped out.  The first born came tail first and took a while to free herself from the birth canal.  I was just contemplating getting out the rubber gloves and giving her a hand, when she finally slithered out herself!!  The remaining three all came out nice and easily, head first.  We settled the little family into nice clean, warm quarters and they’re all purring along nicely.

We’ve got 2 tawnies and 2 chocolates, all spotted, a boy and girl in each colour which will make identifying them easier!  So we know she carries chocolate but have yet to see, from subsequent litters, whether or not she does indeed carry the classic or dilute genes.

Fizz is due to give birth any day now.  We’ve been on tenterhooks since Sunday which was day 63.  She’s been spending the nights in our room for a while now and has been confined there since the weekend.  Needless to say we’ve not slept that well the last few nights, fully expecting her to into labour in the middle of the night!  Instead, she’s been purring in our ears and sitting on us - no fun with a belly full of babies, she weighs a ton! I’ve been spending as much time as possible with her, working from my laptop so I can keep an eye on things.  The suspense is killing me, can’t wait to see how many there are, especially to see what colours she produces as the potential is there for all 6 and she no doubt carries the classic pattern too.  Hopefully there’ll be a birth announcement very soon!

I guess there’s always one in every litter!  In our case it’s the largest male, the first born.  We’ve nicknamed him Uno in honour of that. He’s the one who’s always the first to stick his nose in to see what you’re doing.  The first to greet us in the morning. If I feel a kitten sitting on my foot while I’m at the computer, it’s Uno.  If there’s one climbing up my back - Uno again. If there’s a crash, it’s him.  First to the dinner bowl - Uno.  He’s usually the first to wake up when they’ve all had a snooze too, then he’ll nibble on the nearest kitten’s ears and the back of it’s neck until he or she wakes up and plays with him.  Needless to say we’ve all got a really soft spot for him.  He might not have the best Classic pattern but he’s a very handsome boy nonetheless and a superb colour.

On Sunday there was a clatter and crash coming from the conservatory. We went to investigate, only to find a bowl of biscuits scattered to all four corners of the room. We just assumed it was Uno…….. Probably aiming to jump on one of his sibling’s backs and landing on the bowl instead. After clearing up he proved us right by limping very badly.  He’d obviously had a bad landing and done himself a mischief.  He had a nap, and when he woke up he wouldn’t put any weight on one of his front paws at all.  It didn’t seem to worry him, he still dive-bombed the others and made it first as usual to the food bowl.  Later we noticed he was sitting with it at a very strange angle and it seemed to be limp from the joint downwards.

He was still limping in the morning so I took him to the vet.  He thought it could be a folding fracture above the joint, one of the two bones he could feel was fine but he wasn’t sure about the other without an x-ray.  Two hours and £93 later I was told he didn’t have any broken bones at all and to let nature take it’s course! I was also told he’d been sedated and that he’d be sleepy and wobbly on his legs for a while. As soon as he got home I placed him on the beanbag where the others were napping expecting him to curl up with them and sleep of the sedation.  He had other ideas, a few nips of ears and jumping on unsuspecting kitten’s backs he soon had them all tearing around the house again.  He was even putting some weight on the bad leg - Monkey!  He couldn’t have done that a few hours earlier and saved me £93 !!! I watched him for a while for wobbliness but gave up after he’d jumped in and out of the waste paper basket waiting for another kitten to walk by and get jumped on, he was going to be just fine!

Fizz is growing fast, she looks as large as Lexi did at this stage so, as she was one of a litter of 8 and Curry sired 6 for Lexi, there’s a good chance we’ve got another large litter on the way.  So long as they’re all strong and healthy I don’t care how many there are.  She’s spent every night sharing our bed since Lexi’s litter was born and before I actually drag myself out to the shower each morning we spend some ’special’ time together.  I really enjoy that time when it’s quiet and no other cats demand my attention.  I’ve been giving her a short Reiki session each morning and I’m sure she knows it’s good for her, and positions herself so the kittens she’s carrying get the benefit.  She purrs like a traction engine the whole time.

Where does the time go?  The kittens are running around the house, getting under our feet and being gorgeous, furry bundles.  They’re getting lots of visitors, even the neighbours grandkids are getting dragged in to help the socialising.  We’ve got homes for all bar 2 now, both Classic patterned, one girl, one boy.  The girl is a mini-Lexi, just as beautiful.  The boy doesn’t have the best of patterns but is a very lovely creamy chocolate colour and has the most wonderful purrsonality.  He’s the first to greet us, always wanting to see what we’re doing.  If one’s climbing up my back, helping me clean the litter trays or trying to read what I’m typing on the computer -it’s him!  If there’s a clatter, something’s fallen over, it’s him!  He’s naughty, he’s cute and he’s very, very, loveable and I really won’t mind if I can’t find a suitable home for him……I know I need to be sensible though, if I keep every kitten that steals my heart I’ll have to keep them all! These are the two we’re still looking for homes for, they can’t leave before 2nd September so plenty of time yet.

We’d put a barrier up on the kitten pen so Lexi could come and go but the kittens were kept in safe while they’re still small.  The last couple of days one or two have managed to climb over but only wanted to do it when one of us was sat by the pen.  Today the biggest 4 climbed over so I thought I might as well take that barrier down and let them explore.

They were having great fun exploring the conservatory and settled down with Lexi for a feed at the bottom of the big cat tree. When I came back in later to put food down for them all I realised one of the kittens was missing.  I looked everywhere!  I pulled the desk out and had the room upside down.  I convinced myself she must have escaped through my legs when I left the room an hour or so earlier, even though I’d been really careful. I’d had the back door open for a while and started to really worry that, as I couldn’t find her in the house, she must have got out somehow. I spent 2 hours looking for her, I think I looked everywhere at least 6 times. then phoned Graham in a panic.  He asked if she could have got inside the settee. Doubt it I said, don’t think there’s a way in……….it’s a bed settee, and where the back joins the seat there’s a tiny gap.  So I gingerly opened it and found her looking really comfortable nestled in the spare bedding without a care in the world!!  Phew!

I dare say they’ll give me a few more scares over the coming weeks and then I get to do it all again with Fizz’s litter!  She’s pinked up nicely and should be due around 12th August.

Yesterday we decided to bring the kittens downstairs. They’ve got a nice roomy pen now and will stay in there until they’re ready to explore a bit further. We’ve also started weaning, just tiny amounts to see if they’re ready. After a few sucks at a saucer of mashed kitten food I put one of them in the litter tray and scratched her paw in the tray. A few seconds later she performed! She promptly sat back down in it and poor Lexi and had even more mess to clean up! Ah well, they’ll get the hang of it soon enough.  We’re half way there with trying to get them to eat solid food and litter train - they’re eating the litter (glad I switched to a non-clumping paper-based sort!)