Little warriors!

These 4 little soldiers visited the vet today, along with mum. We were stopped going there and leaving several times as folk spotted and wanted to admire them with photo calls made by the vets receptionists. Best Hollywood smiles by the lads! 

In with the vet, mum had her go first, glands, heart, lungs, tummy, limbs, feet, ears, eyes & teeth all passed muster and she then was weighed before receiving her vaccination. This actually was slightly overdue as her anniversary fell while she was pregnant and therefore she couldn’t have had it then.

Settling her back in her carrier, now our attention turned to her sons. Humphrey went first and was examined all over. He & his tackle were thoroughly examined, and pronounced perfect. He weighed in at 995g so almost at a kilo! Go Humpty! Now was the bit where he needed to be brave and he was given his vaccine (minus leukaemia) , followed by the larger puncture wound created by the microchip implant. He didn’t make much fuss and was given a kiss and a hug and returned to the carrier.

Next up, kitten 2 (as the vet records show) was checked over. He has a slight conjunctivitis in one eye which we will bathe with salt solution to get rid of that. He weighed  990g. Next he received his vaccine, then microchip, snuggled for being brave (small yell only) and returned to the box. 

Kitten 3 was also perfect, weighed 805g, but was not so brave about his jab or chip. He bled for a minute of two so had longer hugs while I pressed the wound with a gauze pad. 

Last but not least kitten 4 as perfect as his brothers weighed in at exactly 900g and made the most fuss about the vaccine and chip. Again some bleeding which soon was stopped while we snuggled and the. we were free to pay & go. 

I’d not fed them before we left so they were very ready indeed to eat when we got back. Then, having filled those bellies, they bypassed the toys and all retired to sleep off their adventure. 

They may be a little subdued for a day or so having had their vaccines, and just like when we have a jab, the injection & implant site will be a little tender but they will perk right up and be right as rain in a day or so. 

As I’ve been writing, the lads have had another feed & are currently playing with their favourite box, and a selection of balls! 

Regarding my choosing to withhold the leukaemia element of the vaccine: As a breeder, because there have been reports of kittens having severe reactions to this vaccine which can sometimes lead to death I choose not to take the risk with my kittens. However, having the vaccine is a matter of choice. When they leave us to go on to their new family, they will be indoor animals, so it’s very unlikely that they will encounter the virus. However, should their new family wish for their kitten to receive this part of the vaccine as early as possible, it is important to know that it can be administered independently by their own vet at any time. 

The vaccine is re-given every three years, so, if new families decide to wait until their annual booster is due when the kitten has reached 12 months of age the vet can administer it then. 

I’ve been hunting high & low at home while the boys slept for my microchip scanner. I seem to have lost it. I did see it when Prune was pregnant and I remember thinking then that I’ll need to charge it up soon, but now I don’t know where it is. Do you ever go round and round relooking in places that you’ve already looked in two or three times already? Well, that’s been me today. I’ve also been looking in places it’s very unlikely to be, but, 3 hours of looking while I tidied and cleaned, it is unfound. I feel frustrated and annoyed that I cannot think where I’ve stashed it. 

Exciting news!

 Well, here we are on busy Wednesday, so far I’ve got the kittens are now all bathed. Their bath waters were all much less grimy than it was when they had their first bath at 6 weeks. Next, baby wipes out and their claws were cleaned , but I decided that they didn’t quite need them clipping just yet - they won a small reprieve there. Next ear cleaning and again, they were much cleaner than they were on the first occasion. Humphrey was bathed first, he was very calm and sedate. Next came the collarless blue who was a little less still. Next was the kitten who had had the green collar on, he wiggled as did the kitten who had had the lilac band. They each have a clean, different coloured adjustable collar on . I will see how they go today with these. I’m very conscious that they’re designed for use with fur babies and so if their skin looks like it’s in danger of being abraded I will remove them and use the snag free hair bands again which are very soft. I have plenty more of those! 

No sweet 🌹 Rose, I shall not reveal which colour collar I’ve replaced with which! That’s my little secret (for now!) . 

The collars are important for the vet tomorrow as he must keep a separate medical record for each kitten. At the moment, when I booked the appointments in I just called them kittens 1- 4. Tomorrow each record will have data added, such as the health data and weights, the individual batch number of their vaccinations and the microchip that’s implanted. So having kittens identifiable as they work is vital, particularly as since Covid owners cannot do into the consultation rooms with their pets. So kitten 1 tomorrow may be noted as colour solid black and bear his name, Humphrey while another example might be kitten 2 will be solid blue no collar, kitten 3 solid blue red collar, kitten 4 solid blue purple collar . Even if they have different collars by the time they go back again (they will I’m certain!), and each will be then have been given his name I’m sure, their records having notes such as this will help keep their health records correct for their new families.

So, exciting news I promised you, and ….🥁 …🥁 …🥁 … I’m ready to deliver! Although no reservation fee has as yet been paid, Im thrilled so reveal that each little lad now has the offer on the table of a fabulous & perfect new home to go to! 

Humphrey (black) is set to be a future breeding cat doing his bit to ensure that future generations of Sphynx cats will carry the healthy genetics this cattery insists upon forward helping to assure the breed’s strong future without genetic heart defects. As I do not keep any male myself, he is going to be in the cattery where his mum Prune came from. What’s fabulous is that that cattery which has two males, one who is Prunes Dad, the other is her “husband” so the new generations that Humphrey will sure carry a bit of both the those fine gents forward. 

The blue brothers are each going to their respective new families over the next three days and will (with the permissions given) be able to have their names revealed. 

I believe that the right families have come forward for these beautiful kittens and that each will have fabulous lives and change those of the families that are being adopted into. I’m delighted. Thank you all for choosing Naked Sphynx Cat Hampshire Cattery . 

For now, here’s a rather attractive snap of a snack being grabbed at while mum was busy minding her own business having a groom! 🤣 She is so patient, she carried on anyway! 

Bank holiday. It’s been bonkers

Though to look at these boys now sleeping soundly in a heap piled up their warmth against my forearm as I type, you wouldn’t think that only moments before they were at play. 

I was unwell during the night and was up and down so the boys were very disturbed and didn’t know that it wasn’t playtime. By 5:30am as I was almost ready to sleep, I looked over and heard the boys tucking into their first meal of the day. Bless Prune, she is still allowing her sons to suckle at will. She will get up and walk away when she has had enough but this litter I’ve not (yet) seen her laying like the Egyptian Sphinx white her tummy down to stop them gaining access. She is in heat too, the first since having them and so is a little unsettled herself. I’m so proud of this girl and her gentle ways. 

I was allowed a small amount of sleep before the chaps demanded MEAT and so their wish was my command and off to the kitchen we did trot. I am so amused as those tiny legs run like the clappers so excited are they for food, eager to be first there. They further make me laugh when feeding them in different ways…if I give two bowls between the four they are at first head down to the nearest bowl that there’s room for their heads in. So eager that 3 heads are in one bowl while the one who didn’t fit moves along and has a whole bowl! I move one body along. As I stand guard (lest the adults think it’s a feast they are invited to) I watch as the food piles shrink. But so do the kittens and I then see various changes of who is at which bowl… the grass is not always greener, and having moved over , he now has no space at his original bowl! If I put 4 bowls and place 1 kitten at each, heads go down, but once again, after they’ve chomped enough to satisfy the immediate need to feed, they want to check what the other has and start sharing or shifting about. The important bit is that they all eat their fill, one by one wandering off to the litter trays, before, running amok in amongst the toys. 

There is a clear favourite toy. A cardboard box that I taped closed and cut two doorways into. They like to ambush one another either with one springing out from inside or perhaps from the vantage point on the roof as one brother emerges. They also like to chase a ball. I have laminate flooring so the ball runs easily and makes a great sound. They enjoy tweety bird, a caged bird powered by a battery to jiggle and tweet! Mum has been bringing them mice. I adore this instinct she has to wean her children from her milk by providing mice. How does she recognise that a toy mouse represents what would in the natural world be perfect food for her kittens? I’ve watched moggie mums bring mice for their offspring and sit with it trapped while they learned how to deal with it, so what Prune does is totally natural, but as she has never seen a mouse or hunted her own food, the fact that insi ct drives her to feed them mice, even if they are toy ones, is incredible. I love watching a kitten then toy with the mouse it’s been given. 

Having had playtime, they retire… now they’re mobile and have explored they soon abandoned the beds in the lounge having discovered the heat mats on my bed where the adults choose to go. Snuggling under a blanket on their own, sometimes sleeping in a pair or in a pile of all 4. A little grooming maybe and they soon nod off. 

Sometimes during their slumber Prune might wake them. She’ll maternally decide (for some reason) that it’s time she groomed them. She’ll set about her task, but now less thoroughly than she did when they were small, usually concerned with just one or maybe two of them m. They immediately roll over offering their “bits’ and she will still toilet them. Then having woken one or two she will wander off and groom herself. However, now she has roused a kitten(s) still dozy but maybe awake enough to think of a belly the most roused will want to nurse. Making his way to mum and choosing his position he immediately begins his ecstatic purring which, if she roused two with her rasping tongue, will signal him to join his brother at the milk bar. If we are lucky, they’ll soon doze off again - maybe for a bit. But probably they’ll go off to play…

When they wake one by one in the mornings they’ll start to play. First it might be a nip of an ear or tail either that of a brother or one of the adults. It’s a case of any attention is good attention. They get better reactions from a brother of course and soon they fight, run up and down my bed leaping, wrestling and biting (sometimes my toes!) or if it’s later in the day then they come find where I am or go off to engage in play with the toys or if I even look like I’m walking toward the kitchen will run like crazy to tell me they’re really, awfully hungry.  

They’ve a big week ahead now that they’re 7 weeks old. Their first vet visit is on Thursday when they will be exactly 8 weeks. So, Wednesday will be a bath day, their skin, ears and claws cleaned & trimmed. 

Thursday they’ll be health checked, then vaccinated and have their chips implanted. The puncture wound made takes a few days to heal and this is why I have them implanted at the 8 weeks rather than the 12 week appointment as I want them totally healed before they go to their new families thus reducing any possible chance for infection. It’s unlikely I know, but I need to be absolutely certain. 

They may be a bit out of sorts for a day or two after the vaccinations but soon perk up. Just as well as the first viewings are happening on Friday and Saturday. It’s thrilling to be introducing them to new families who come ready to pour their love upon them and for me seeing which kitten steals whose heart. 

Humphrey, the black kitten was a “pre-order” as a dear friend who is also a breeder of good standing and whom I trust. She wanted a black boy of direct lineage to her original Sphynx called Charlie. Charlie was the stud used with Noodle but he is now retired and advancing in years. Prune is his daughter. So this grandson is reserved, but who will be chosen next?