Finding Noodle

 

Say 'Hello' to Noodle

This is Noodle - but this was not always her name. Her original owner had actually named her something else entirely - something I knew I simply couldn't keep.

The Pedigree name given by her breeder upon her her registration on the active register of TICA - The International Cat Association is Elizabeth Amber. . Being on the active register means a cat is sold un-neutered with breeding rights.

Finding Noodle 🐠 

Elizabeth Amber was sold to a lady named Louise, whose intent had been to begin a new breeding cattery to run alongside her already established Chihuahua business.

Background
Most pedigree kittens are most commonly sold registered inactive having been neutered usually at 8-10 weeks old by their breeders. It is more rare for a pedigree cat to be sold Active. When sold registered as active, the price tag is raised by several hundred pounds.

To further her cattery plans, at the same time as buying Elizabeth Amber Louise had also purchased an unrelated active registered male. But then, not long after taking her newly purchased kittens home Louise's circumstances altered rather drastically, meaning halting her cattery plans &, deciding in the best interests of the two kittens, recognising too that it would be easiest to re-sell them as kittens (albeit slightly older kittens) she advertised them for sale online. The first two photos used on this page were those which were used in the online ad I saw & to which I responded.

I was looking only for a female Sphynx kitten &, it felt at the time rather a shame since they had been purchased to be a breeding pair to separate them, however, Louise was happy to let the female go on her own although she did offer them at a discounted price as a pair. 

I paid the requested deposit & began preparing for the arrival of my new pet, fulfilling a long-held dream of owning a Sphynx cat. What was unexpected was buying an active female rather than a neuter. This  now though presented me with an unexpected opportunity, one I had thought beyond me as, while I had liked entertaining the possibility of breeding, I never ever thought I would have been able to afford to purchase at the much higher cost of a kitten on the active register. Louise’s circumstance change effectively gave me this possibility - should I take it? 

I looked at the advert again between the deposit & collection date. I noted that the male kitten was reduced after which he sold quickly. In fact he had already been collected when I arrived on August 20th, 2016 to collect my new ‘baby’.

Louise's home was only about an hour’s drive away.  I was shown into her kitchen-diner where there were two litters of waggly-tailed excitable Chihuahua puppies in pens. As I was invited to sit down my curious new kitten then appeared on the stairs. Louise immediately scooped her up & brought her over. Dear little kitten she immediately settled down for a cuddle on my chest.

We chatted a while as paperwork was exchanged & Louise told me that the little girl had seemed happier since the boy had gone (he may have been dominant??). This made me feel better about not finding a way of taking the two of them (despite my not wanting a boy!) Just as we were almost ready to depart I asked Louise what name she had given to the kitten thinking perhaps I should keep it if she was already used to it. Louise's reply was so unexpected; she told me 'Fluffikins'. Tongue in cheek of course for a completely bald cat, &, while I do enjoy a dry humour, the name was not at all to my taste. My curiosity was piqued by her humour though so I asked what the boy had been named; to which she replied  'Noodle'

I didn’t immediately catch on to any humour, so asked why Noodle? Her answer; "Well, because he is NOOD!" Now, that did make me smile!

We left, me & my new Sphynx 18mweek old kitten to begin our adventures together.  I decided as a drove that I would re-christen her with the name Noodle, loving that it gave her an intact connection to both Louise & her would-have-been consort.

Who could resist?
'Fluffikins' - aka Noodle

While I had coveted photos online of Sphynx cats for some while before deciding that finding a way to have one might be helpful for my mental health which was at the time at a very bad juncture,  having collected my kitten I was not at all prepared for the massive fall I would subsequently go on to experience .

Quite literally I fell head over heels, deeply in love overnight. Oh my, this dinky little lady was so endearing & ever so very snuggly & warm. Rather than be timid in a new home she actually swaggered making herself right at home, never once getting lost & never once having an accident - even though her little legs had to get her from upstairs to down, all the way through the downstairs to the downstairs bathroom extension where her litter tray was placed. 

That first day & night with her were amazing. I was dying to bath her & in particular to clean her very dirty ears, but I didn't feel it would be good to do any of that during her first few days so we just spent time getting to know one another (more accurately perhaps would be to say she trained me to do her bidding!)

I'd bought a little cat cave with a white furry faux sheepskin interior and cushion (in Asda) before she'd got here which thankfully she liked right away. She required quite a bit of sleep that first day, perhaps unsurprising since she had been living in a very busy household, then had a car journey with a new (strange!) mum followed by a whole new home to explore.  I let her be, watching her in her little cave which I'd cunningly placed within reach & in direct line of sight. I looked on & adore her as she slept. I fell ever deeper in love with her cute wrinkly face.

Day 1 - It's been a long day!

So cute!

After a day or two, Noodle’s energy levels picked up so I gave her her first bath here. Unfortunately, this did not prove to be successful & was to become the very bottom end of a rather steep learning curve. All those You Tube videos of Sphynx cats loving their baths I’d been fixating over came to a screaming halt. I felt lied to!!!! This cat did not like water! 

I had decided it would be a good idea to bath her in the kitchen sink. It represented a sensible place - high up so easy on my back, with solid surfaces so that everything I 'd need would be within easy reach which would leave her free to play in the water. As I say, I had all these expectations having watched endless Sphynx Cat bathing videos. Her royal ladyship, however, made it abundantly clear that this set up was not acceptable. Not at all. We did I guess manage a clean-up of sorts, but my inexperience certainly hadn't helped matters. 

Having tried this once it would be at least another week before trying again which gave me 7 days to research. I learned that apparently a deeper depth with water up to her chest/neck would calm her. That alone put to bed any further ideas of using the kitchen sink again (or of looking after my back).

So what to do....I didn’t have an actual bath in my house & while they are lovely, at the time I could not see how a wet-room shower upstairs or down was going to cut the mustard. The solution I came up with to have this deeper water was to use is a trug-tub filled up using the shower hose. It works pretty well even if not so good for my back to be sat on the floor scrunched up or trying to tip it to empty it while controlling the flow

I have moved on a lot since after trying that set up for months.  Nowadays I simply use the shower handset while being sat on the floor, just showering the water over the cat to initially wet them & then to rinse them off after a scrub. It IS NOT true. A Sphynx cat does not just love having a bath. At least none that I have had, try as I might to facilitate this love of water. At best my adults have come to tolerate this grooming necessity but none are the bath babies I’d imagined they would be.  

Anyway, while we eventually got to a stage where baths were grudgingly accepted - Noodle's mucky ears were often an issue in those early days. In particular the right ear seemed to accumulate or produce much more black grunge than the left side did. A vet check of any new pet is important & we too headed off to see the vet within a few days of her arrival where I was able to ask for their help with this.

The grunge was sampled & looked at under a microscope as they vet thought it might be ear mite. Close inspection proved that to be negative. I was given prescription ear drops which quickly did the trick to clear things up. She had them once or twice more over the next year or two but she improved no end. 

Sphynx ears can & do can get very dirty, & the same can apply to their skin. In furred cats, the oils produced are groomed to coat each hair to condition & waterproof it but for the Sphynx, this oil sits upon the skin & will block the pore (& get onto all of your soft furnishings!)

I keep on top of ear cleaning using EpiOtic (a suitable ear cleaner) as part of the bath-time routine. I also use PetKin ear wipes in the interim when needed. 

Please see the Product Recommendations page listing products I use & can recommend 

as well as some that I have come across that I haven't yet used - or won’t use again. 

Self-Suckling

When Noodle is in the midst of one of her soppiest purr sessions she turns her felt into a typical cat curl poison but she tucks her head further around stretching it toward her side. In this position she will begin to suckle on the skin of her own tummy. At the same time, she puts her arms out in front of her kneading the air but it’s in the same way that a newborn kitten does on the mothers breast area as they feed which serves to encourage her milk flow. 

Some cats do continue to suckle in adulthood. It is not a sign that they were taken from their mother too soon. I have had several cats who do this suckling & kneading throughout their lives albeit this is the first time I’ve seen it done on their own skin as Noodle would do..  I feel this suckling is a bit like thumb sucking & children & is simply a form of self -soothing showing the cat has extreme contentment & happiness expressing total trust in their surroundings. Perhaps unconsciously this act returns them to similar feelings they would have experienced of deep well-being when feeding from their mother? Maybe when they do it in adulthood it is like having a warm cuddle with their mum?

Ziggy, who was my first ever cat in the early 80’s, a black moggy, used to do it sucking on anything made of nylon fabric. Luckily for her nylon bedspreads were quite 'the thing to have' in any ‘working-class’ home at that time. Maybe the bedding she & her siblings shared with their mum at birth was lined with one of these bed spreads as her most favoured fabric was the thinest material that would have been softly draped down the sides of a bed. She would suckle for ages & ages moving herself along as an area she had been suckling became too wet. The bed spreads became 'stained' with stiff little oval patches of dried-on cat saliva.  My mum didn't half used to moan about it!

Filbert was a big ol' roughty-toughty ex-feral farm tomcat I’d taken in off the dairy farm we lived at. He would have been born in a barn, probably tucked in to a den between straw bales. He used to suckle too choosing for himself a bright yellow acrylic jumper that I used to wear (stylish I know!) For his whole life with us that jumper was always placed on a chair as his bed & he would lay & purr happily (when he home between his hunting missions that could last for several days). When in just the right mood he would engage in a deep-down soppy suckle session which would last for absolutely ages & knead the heck out of that jumper. 

Lily, my lilac pointed siamese, would also suckle. She would do this for about 10-20 minutes each night at bedtime with her head pushed right up into the crook of my neck & shoulder (mostly favouring the right hand side). Independent & aloof in the daytime, at night she would wait for me to get into bed & settle down then saunter herself up the bed, flopping down into the space above my shoulder. Pushing her head in tight & hard she would begin purring her head off (very loudly when so close to my ear) suckling my hair. Once finished & in the some she would get up, move back down to the end of the bed where she would settle down for her night of beauty sleep. She never ever did this suckling to anyone else. 

I miss that feeling & that little girl so very much. Like the bond I had with Noodle, she & I were close too. I'd had her since she was 11 months old. She died aged just 4 having been knocked down by a passing police car. I was bereft. 

All of my beloved cats including the non-sucklers are described on the page Loved & Remembered.

Feline Fashion

As a keen knitter, I decided that I would make a little jumper for my naked kitten, however, without a pattern & with a very wriggly playful kitten it was hard to get any decent measurements or to form a decent plan or pattern shape, let alone even to knit without her helping. 

I knitted the multicolour jumper shown in the photos below from instinct/guesswork for its shape and size. It was a little short and anyway it did not fit for long.

My human knitted me a jumper!

Looking out from bed

Wiped out after all the cat-walk modelling

Other places I like to keep warm

It wasn't long after that that I found people online who handmade clothing that was much better fitting and designed specifically for Sphynx cats. Below are the first cosy clothes purchased. They were available tailored to Noodle's actual measurements and purchased on Etsy. I late purchased a very lovely knitting pattern which I adapted a little & which hugged over the ‘rump’ beautifully. To be honest my cats seem happier without clothing. They have heat mats & blankets & live in a warm home so I know they’re fine. If your home is not warm Ior particularly draughty through its worth making/investment in clothing.  It does also help with avoiding some of the stains Sphynx cats make due to their naked skin but I prefer a happy cat so stains just get washed. Have lots of blankets and throws.

Snuggly, girly in her after bath/ bedtime fleece

She'll grow into it - Her bought too big onesie!

Noodle in her 1st Christmas outfit (made to measure!). The pale pink fleece has white snowflakes on it. She also got a heat mat to sleep on too. Toasty!

Family & Friends

I've got a small but lovely family and they soon came to meet Noodle. A couple of my favourite snaps are included below of those first meetings. I've also taken Noodle on two 'holidays" going off to stay with my mum. She likes it at my mums flat where out of the windows she can see birds, other cats and lots of squirrels too.... Noodle is no trouble at all with travelling and, once again, there have been no accidents even when in a strange place (meaning my mum is kept relatively happy!)

Meeting Ari (my daughter in law)

Meeting Tia (my granddaughter)

She & Smiling T