Prune & Oz appear to be getting on well. 

First time matings are often awkward and difficult for both the male & female. Luckily for Pru, Oz has had some experience however, she is rather clueless.

There are signs that Oz has had several attempts as Pru has some bite marks on her neck but none that have been successful as yet. 

The mechanics of feline matings:

The bite is normal and part of “the mechanics” of the feline sexual act as the male grips the female in his attempts to control & keep her still.  During the coupling she should instinctively move her tail to one side as she crouches into the ‘frog pose’ allowing him room & access. 

The mating itself happens very quickly and it can be noisy as she will almost immediately holler and swear deep in her throat as he withdraws from her. She may even turn to attack him for his troubles! This yell and anger in her is caused by the anatomy of the male cat who has a sharp barb on the end of his penis which, as he withdraws, catches & triggers the female to release her egg. 

Having inadvertently hurt & angered her he will move away speedily since she no longer wants him near her. She will now roll onto her side and back writhing about for several minutes. This assists in allowing the egg to meet and be coated by the sperm.

Matings take place several times over several days, each successful coupling releasing a new egg. Though not all eggs will be viable or will be fertilised. 

The female cat who has access to several males can mate with several different tomcats during a heat cycle and therefore she can be pregnant by different partners at the same time. 

With this in mind, due to matings taking place over several days while she is in “calling”  the kittens in her litter at the time of birth (63-65 days after first mating) may not only have different fathers but will also be at very slightly different stages of growth. This might account then for a smaller kitten born in the litter who may well have been conceived later on in the “calling”.

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Back to Pru & Oz.....

We do not think that any of the mating attempts yesterday were successful but Oz is persistent so I hope that today will be day 1 of the 63-65 days of pregnancy (btw, he will be the only father of her kittens😁)

Prune’s first HCM Scanning & Matings

Yesterday was a monumental day in which a lot of miles were covered in order to ensure that Prunella Prudence and that the mate earmarked for her as a mate were heart fit & suitable candidates to parent the next generations of Sphynx cat’s.

Prune and I set off at 9am leaving Noodle home alone which is not something I like to do.

We were headed first to Gloucester in order to rendezvous with our friend Sarah and then to travel onward together to Chesterfield.

Arriving in good time, Pru and I transferred to Sarah’s car where with her stud cat Oz we went onward together now to Chesterfield where we were booked in at the Hairless Hearts UK HCM scanning clinic with cardiologist Vicky Ironside.

We arrived early, which was fine since we had allowed ourselves plenty of travel time in case of traffic hold ups.

Pru’s heart was duly examined. I’m delighted to say that she is now certified as being without sign of HCM disease. The same is also true of  Sarah’s Oz. For NSCH this is great news as is the fact that  Prunella obligingly went into heat the day before we travelled, thus, with both cats scanning clear, I was able to leave Pru with Sarah so that the two could mate ASAP.

We arrived back to Dursley at 6:30pm unloaded cats and carriers and getting back in my own vehicle I drove on home now quite alone, arriving back at just before 9pm. Phew.

Update

It’s been a while since we posted, and honestly it’s with good reason, so here’s what’s happened since our last post:

After little Wonky sadly died, we were left with one female kitten to raise, she was named Nebula by her new family who I’m delighted to say, are the same family who had purchased “Pot” Noodle’s first kitten - The monicker Pot became Gamora; or Mora for short.

Where do the names Gamora & Nebula come from? Well, Gamora & Nebula are sisters in a Marvel comic strip

As before Nebula was raised on a raw diet which suited her well. She quickly adopted use of a litter tray and as soon as she got mobile had no hesitation in making the whole house her territory.

The 12 weeks we enjoyed with Nebby were full of fun. I had suddenly sold my house and packing to move and even made the move to the new home (still in Hampshire) with her. All three ladies coped very well with this. There was never any little accidents nor problems of any kind.. once we were in and doors closed, I simply opened the crate door and let them explore. They found there food, water and litter trays and all the little spots were they would find patches of sunlight to bathe in or radiators to sit upon!

What was really lovely for me throughout it all was to witness Prune, who was at first rather terrified of the kittens I had brought home with me, become such a natural ‘mother’. On day one, she would stand on her hind legs like a meerkat to view Noodle laying in her box with these squeaking kittens from afar, jumpy & assessing how much of a danger they might be to her... but as each day passed the meerkat stance became not one of watching for danger, but one of nosiness. She soon tested the waters going nearer and nearer until at last she was beside Noodle and her baby all the time watching Noodle mothering with such interest. She began to help out, cleaning and licking the kitten as she had seen Noodle do. As the weeks passed Prune & Nebula became inseparable. It was truly delightful to see. They are in fact half sisters with the same paternal genes and I wondered has this somehow made the bond happen so naturally? Is there an instinctual recognition there?

As you can see Prune & Nebula were thick as the proverbial thieves!

This natural bonding showed itself again when Nebula went to her new home, by now, of course fully weened. There she met her big sister for the first time and as you would expect there was hissing from Mora at this stranger in her home. Nebula had so such issues and did all she could to say hello.

On day 4 something quite magical happened, she was suckling on Mora as if she was her mother. She never suckled Prune when she was here, and Mora is neutered and has never mothered, but she allowed Nebby to suckle from then on and the pairing of these two has been extraordinarily successful. I’m told there is no squabbling at all... is it that these two sisters who share the same parents but we’re born a year apart somehow recognised each other? The kinship with her half sister Prune and now with her full sister seems to suggest they may do.