Prune Arrives

On New Year's Day I woke with a spring in my feet despite the cold and grim weather..... it was the day to go and collect Prune - finally!

When I first fell in love with the breed and would go dolally over photos and videos of them, it was dark coloured solids that I liked the best and became my ideal.....

I'd mated Noodle with a dark solid male hoping that within her litter I would be lucky enough to get a solid dark female...l.... but with only the one kitten born which though female and dark was not solid...being a tortie my hopeful dream of a solid dark was halted....

I was then luckily offered a female who was not only solid and dark but also had the same sold dark father and, so rather than wait for the off chance Noodle could produce me one next time, and also knowing that that next time would not be for quite a while (following her cesarean and the rearing of her first ever single kitten litter) I decided to accept her.

It meant that Noodle's first offspring would need to be sold to partially fund the purchase of the new kitten...Any wishful thoughts I might have had  of keeping her were well and truly off the table..... and having payed all of the fee and waiting for Prune to reach the right age, finally the day to fetch her had arrived!

The drive to Gloucester was made more pleasant for the company of a friend and not dampened by the horrendous rainfall....

Coming home... Noodle and Pot sniffed a new cat...Pot was excited but Noodle, whilst growing tired of her kitten also was instinctively protective and so began to swear and hiss.... at Prune and even at Pot. The next few hours were odd despite my Feliway plug in!

I woke during the night several times hearing a loud hiss, but all three cats were within half a metre of one another and the next day dawned to less aggressive hissing..... not all is rosy.... there is mistrust, some frustration, as well as downright anger.... but we will get there....

Pot's first consultation with the vet

Today marked the 9th week for Noodle's little girl... well, I say little... she weighed in today at just over 1kg... from her birth weight of 103grams that's very impressive and a big well done to her mummy for producing so much nourishing milk and to Pot for getting so stuck in to the raw food diet.

Having had her weight taken, her heart and lungs were listened to and her mouth and teeth checked. Whilst those tasks were accomplished the vet and I discussed the vaccine, and I decided that I would forgo the feline leukaemia part of the vaccine this early on and felt very happy indeed to know that if Pot's New Owner wanted her to have it later on, there is no reason why she could not have that part of the vaccine only given individually or added in at the next annual booster. He referred to it as a bolt on which made me smile. We both held her so that there was no chance of her wriggling during administration and brave girl Pot didn't even squeak when the jab was given!

Next she was then given her worming pill. She took this incredibly easily, all credit to Phil our vet for that great talent as I'd never ever seen it done that fast and without any kind of fuss.

Dabbed onto her head next with delicate fingers was a spot on treatment for safeguarding her against parasites.

We decided to wait to have the microchip inserted until 12th January when she has her 2nd vaccination.

While this was all going on, Noodle sat very calmly watching on. I love that she never takes her eyes off of her daughter and monitors her so closely.

All I needed to do was pay up!

I have managed to get some fabulous photos of my beautiful girls this week... this one in particular melts my heart.

RESERVED!

Today was a milestone in the life of Naked Sphynx Cat Hampshire as a cattery as we received our first visitor to see Noodle's kitten who as you know I have been calling Pot.

A very gorgeous & very funky lady called Kirsty arrived at our door and came in to meet us. We spent a wonderful couple of hours talking together; a time during which she was I think very able to see the kind of home environment that Noodle and her kitten live in.

It was a joy to see someone so enamoured with my little kitten. I felt instantly drawn to Kirsty and hope she felt some degree of connection to me too as I'd love it if she felt she wanted to kept in touch in future when she takes Pot home. You got it - Yes she has reserved her.

It is a funny kind of feeling... I knew that once Pot was seen that anyone would become smitten and so would wish to buy her, but until that actually happened I could think of Pot as still being mine.  Now that she is reserved though I must begin to think of her as belonging to another family and learn to disconnect a little. It is a transition that, if I am to become a longterm breeder, I must be able to cope with. Meanwhile I still have a few weeks left where she will still be in our care.

 Good job too since there is much still to do before Pot is ready. First she must have her vaccinations given 3 weeks apart...and be wormed, and have her microchip fitted. She has some more growing to do and is still enjoying suckling on mum, though strictly speaking the mother's milk is no longer her main source of food and is simply a comfort thing.


Congratulations Kirsty and Family and Congratulations to Pot. Soon you'll have a new family, a new home  and a new name!