Category Archives: Group dynamics

Nov 3 2010

Ada and Alfred, 5 months

We got the latest picture of Ada and Alfred from their beloved matte. They are so pretty! Ada is blue (darker) and Alfred is a lilac point Siamese (lighter in color).

I suspected since they were three weeks old that Alfred was not lilac, but chocolate, and later I settled for caramel lilac, since his color was slightly different (warmer)  than his two lilac brothers’ and Leroy’s and Jossan’s lilac color, but I registered him as lilac. I am still not quite sure what his exact color is, in 1-2 years one can be certain if he is caramel lilac or “just” lilac.

Caramel color modifier was not registered in Sweden earlier, not for Siamese (but it is registered in England, for example, and the cats we imported from England that were caramel lilac/caramel blue got registered as lilac/blue in Sweden). Caramel modifier makes the diluted colors like blue and lilac a bit warmer in tone. Also, the fur gets a special metallic sheen, at blue based caramels. A chocolate or seal point Siamese that is a carrier of caramel modifier looks the same as the one who is not; caramel is not visible on undiluted colors.

I melt when I see Jossan’s babies pictures, they are our little furry babies also, and I am delighted to see them growing and hear that they are so much loved and taken care of.

We also got news about Ash (Archimedes). He weighs 3kg! A big guy! He was so tiny when he got sick, but he struggled like a lion and ate like he was the biggest feline on Earth after he recovered. Now he is one big and fluffy Siamese kitten, that is almost as big as his 3,8kg heavy Cornish Rex friend Misty.

Oct 28 2010

Mess

This is how it looked on the upper floor when we just moved in. Jossan and Leroy are exploring the new space.

And this is how the living room looks a week later. Maven likes to lie in boxes, but bags are also good. Soft plastic bags are dangerous for cats in the same way they are dangerous for small children and we are trying not to leave them around. This is a bag made of thicker and harder plastic.

I am sorry about the flash, Maven! (Though it is funny, those shiny eyes make Maven look like a little cat-robot!).

Here is a bigger picture of a small part of our mess:

Oct 27 2010

Visit to the humans owned by Archimedes and Misty

Three days ago we were so happy to visit Archimedes and Misty and their owners.
Those are two very happy and loved cats. Archimedes, pet name Ash, is so big now, we could not believe our eyes when we saw him! He is almost as big as Jossan and looks a lot like her. From some angles you can see that his head is larger and his proportions are typical for tomcats. Also, he has better shape of ears and a bit rounder eyes than Jossan, but from the pictures I took, if I did not know it was him, I’d think it was his mom!
Misty has the softest fur I have ever felt on a cat (she is a Cornish Rex) and is very mild and loving in nature. Ash is quite active and cute as he’s always been, completely comfortable around people; he is one little purring and playing machine. He greets everyone, as he greeted us, but I also think that he did recognize us. He showed us a lot of love, but at the same time he seemed very happy and content with his humans and Misty.
Look how nice they have it there!
Oct 22 2010

New house, week #1

We still do not have internet connection at our new home. The new house is beautiful, but right now everything is just messy. We have a pile of cardboard boxes and basics to dress and wash and go to work. The cats have everything, though. :)
 
The first day Maven was thrilled with the new house. Leroy was very excited and curious, too. Miii something in between curious and scared. Jossan and Albert were scared, but I took them in my arms and slowly carried them through parts of house showing them around while petting and kissing them. We won’t let them go everywhere at once. They have their ‘safe room’ where they spent the first 10 hours when we just came there, surrounded with their furniture and litter boxes and all they need, they can go and hide there if they want to feel safe. But, now they do not retreat there at all, they dare to go up and down the stairs and are less afraid.
 
The first night we hardly slept at all, since Maven seemed to have realized that that was not just a funny day out, and that we were sleeping there, probably even staying for longer time, so she cried all night. She was so sad, so sad.

The Siamese, on the other hand, realized it is not that bad after all, and slept next to us and also in their little beds between our bed and the radiator. Maven cried and came and lied next to my head, hugged me with her little paws, then cried again and ran around. Poor cat.

Second night was already much better, Maven cried only a little, and now they all are running around and playing as usual. They still did not get to see more than half of the house, we are waiting for them to feel at home here.

When one of the cats goes far and can not see the other cats, she/he calls for them. Most of the time all five go around like a pride of lions and explore their surroundings in cooperation. I hope to get an internet connection at home soon so that I can post some pictures.

Oct 8 2010

Fireplace

It is getting cold in Stockholm and we lighted a fire for the first time this autumn last week. Albert never saw a fire before and he was completely hypnotized by the view. And – the warmth! The sounds!

Later when the fireplace cooled down he jumped over the protection and put his head into the chimney. He looks like panda now. I managed to clean his body, but not around the eyes.

But this is how it looked when there was fire!

Last week we tested Leroy’s blood values, urea and creatinine, and everything was fine. We checked him once earlier, before he was paired with Hannah. We also tested Josssan before she was paired. I thought to test the cats every few years, because one can detect problems with kidneys well before the symptoms show. If the issues are detected early, a change in cat’s diet can prevent illness and a possible kidney failure. Siamese are not more predisposed to urinary tract diseases than the other cat races are, but I feel that if there is something one can do so that they can live long and healthy lives, I want to do it. And that includes occasional tests.

 

Sep 4 2010

Ada and Alfred in Linköping

Ada and Alfred moved together to Linköping, where they will live with one little girl and her mom. Alfred chose his matte when she visited the kittens and the little girl wanted Ada even before they met. I think that Ada and Alfred are a very good match, to live together, personality-wise. Also, they are very loved by their matte and her little daughter.

Alfred is very talkative (Antoine is the most talkative, but Alfred’s vocabulary was the most impressive one) and gentle, but also quite active (although I do not know who was not active, all seven kittens were very active and social from the start).

Ada was always so brave and curious and first with everything. A bit naughty, but so sweet. And the way she would look at you would make anyone melt. She and Archimedes (Albert a little as well) have the most amazing way to make an eye contact and simply hypnotize a person.

Funnily enough, I think that the other four have the better eye shape, according to the Siamese standard, since they are more almond-shaped. But, I notice on Albert that his eyes are getting much more almond-shaped than they used to be. It is exciting to see them grow and change.

On their way to their new home, 2 hours in the car, Alfred cried without stopping. But, upon arrival it did not take them a long time to make themselves feel at home. And, as you can see, they continued to develop their gardening skills that they started here.

Many thanks for the photos we got from their matte!

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Sep 1 2010

Antoine in Luleå

One of the lilac point boys, our little Antoine, was the first to move. He went with his new matte Agneta and her son Josef, who came to get him, all the way to Luleå (800km from Stockholm)!

Being our most talkative kitten (the lilac ones are real talkers), he had a lot of opinions during the travel, but after Uppsala he complained only when Agneta was changing the speed.

On their way to Luleå, they spent one night at her friend’s place, where Antoine promptly discovered everything there was to be discovered. The next day he arrived to his new home where he met Frasse (Frostuddens Frans Albert), a blue point 4-year old Siamese neuter guy. After a day or two of introduction, everything worked out fine for them, and look how the things are now! (Thank you Agneta for sending us pictures of your little darlings!)

Frasse is a real friend; he caught a mouse (a real one!) as a present for Antoine and is trying to get him to follow outside, but Antoine is too young for that.

Antoine talks when he wants something and when he visits the litter box, likes to lie in his matte‘s lap and is social with visitors. At first he sits still and observes them when they arrive, then he goes forward and greets them and socialize. He even falls asleep in their arms sometimes.

Antoine’s pet name has not been decided yet, he is called mostly Tjabo or KomKom for now.

Here is a picture of Antoine taken on August 27th.

He looks a lot like Jossan when she was small, but I think he will have more space between his ears, and they will be more open in the base. But the nose, eyes, chin, the whole face and the body lengths are exactly like his mom’s.

Aug 20 2010

Alessandro in Malmö

Our beautiful blue boy Alessandro has moved to Malmö. We prepared him for Skåne by teaching him to meow using only diphthongs.

His matte Ellinor came to Stockholm by plane and took him to Malmö also by plane, where everyone enjoyed listening to those diphthongs we taught him.

Alessandro’s new cat-friend is Skeletor, a neutered mixed breed guy, with a very special look and behavior.

Alessandro meets Skeletor

Alessandro did not appreciate Skeletor from the very first moment they met, but he liked his human a lot; he spat and yelled at poor Skeletor upon his arrival, but he spent the first night purring and hugging his human around her neck; as she put it – her little ‘spitting cobra/purring boa’ (‘spottkobra/kurrande pälsboa’). :)

The next day went much better for Alessandro’s inter-cat relations, and Skeletor and the little one seem to have a great time together. Watch and melt!

Many hugs to little Alessandro and Skeletor! Thank you, Ellinor, for taking such a good care of Alessandro and for sending us photos and the video!

(Cooming soon – Antoine in Luleå!)

Aug 15 2010

Twelve weeks (the next step – world domination)

Within next six days all of the kittens, except for Albert that is staying with us, are moving to their new homes.

Antoine is on his way to Luleå now (about 800km from here, traveling by car). His matte called us twice today and we know how the little one is doing.

He is our most talkative kitten, and I guess that there is a lot to talk about on such a long trip… they are spending the night at a family friend’s place and will arrive to Luleå tomorrow. Antoine is researching the car and his room (including the curtains) thoroughly and it is going quite well for him. It was very hard to separate from Antoine and there are five more kittens to leave! The feelings are mixed.

We are very proud of our little furry ‘babies’ and hope that they will live many healthy and happy years with their new families.

The next step – world domination:

Jul 25 2010

9 weeks

We’ve spent most of our time lately with Archimedes that got a reaction to their first vaccine. He seems to be on his way up, after a lot of help from us and some extra saline injections from the veterinaries. We did not have time to take the kittens’ individual pictures, all we do is attempting to stabilize and improve his condition.

He has no more higher temperature, his weight has stabilized and he started eating a bit himself. He is still more tired than the others, which is understandable, and we still feed him extra by hand.

Here is he in the middle, this evening, with his siblings. It was too dark to take a better picture with my poor camera. We are so happy he can be with his siblings all the time now. When he was feeling the worst, he went away from them and sat in one corner (more correctly – our Time Capsule, it is so warm and nice for a sick kitten). But we would always put him in his special bed and cover him with a small blanket so he would not lose too much energy on keeping his body temperature up. Poor baby, we hope he will get well soon.

Jul 23 2010

Archimedes against vaccine

It is a bit hard to type, since Archimedes is lying on my left arm and I cannot use it. He is resting on his pillow next to us right now, but he was sleeping next to his siblings in the afternoon (both he and they were very upset he was not there with them, so we put him back when they are resting. When they are running around and wrestling, we have to get him out of there, or protect him).

Here is he, to the right, sleeping next to Alfred (looking at the camera) and Ada this afternoon:

Archimedes’ body temperature goes up and down, and he is still tired, but we’ve managed to feed him regularly, so he got all the nutrients and water he needs. He weighs 30 gr more than before we went to the vet (saline certainly helped a lot). Leroy is licking him here, while Archimedes is resting on his pillow that we put on the sofa in the living room:

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Jul 17 2010

Kittens, 7,5 weeks old

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Our kittens got names after famous scientists whose first names start with ‘A’: Alessandro Volta, an Italian physicist; Archimedes of Syracuse, a Greek mathematician, physicist and astronomer; Albert Einstein, a theoretical physicist, philosopher and author; Augusta Ada King, Countess of Lovelace, a writer and the world’s first computer programmer; Augustin-Louis Cauchy, a French mathematician; Alfred Bernhard Nobel, a Swedish chemist, engineer and innovator and Antoine Lavoisier,  a French chemist.

We are happy with the new homes the kittens will be going to. Beside nice humans who will adore them, all of them will have a cat friend there.

Archimedes will live with Misty, a (now) 10 months old Cornish Rex; Alessandro will move in with Skeletor, a mixed breed with a behavior of an Oriental cat; Ada and Alfred will move together to their new home; Augustine will move to a new home where he will live with 5 years old Elora, and Antoine will move in with another Siamese guy, almost 4 years old Frasse. Albert will probably stay with us.

Here is a few pictures taken yesterday. Antoine and Alessandro were too fast to be caught on camera!

Jul 1 2010

Buy a kitten from us!

Edited, August 2010: all the kittens have moved to their new homes, except for Albert, the white Siamese, that we decided to keep. 

We found the best homes and humans for our kittens, or, actually - they found us. However it was, I know for certain that all of our little sweethearts are and will continue to be very loved and spoiled at their new owners. 

July 2010: Our homepage is up, and the ads are out.

Here is the link to the ‘Buy a kitten from us’ page – in Swedish, and here in English! The kittens can move to their new owners in the middle of August 2010 at earliest.

Jossan and kittens, four weeks old

Our kittens are delivered:

- At least 12 weeks old, weighing at least 1 kg

- With a pedigree, registered i SVERAK (FIFe)

- Vaccinated twice

- Dewormed

- Id-marked with a chip

- Had a health checkup within a week before they move to their new owner

- Insured against hidden defects for 3 years (not to be confused with the health and life insurance, you should insure your new kitten yourself, as soon as it moves in with you!)

- Given a lot of love, care and contact during their first 3 months of life

- Fed with high quality food (we prefer raw food for our cats, of the best quality)

- We will always be available to advise you and help you with our support and knowledge. Our love and care for kittens we breed started even before they were born, and will last as long as they live.

Jun 19 2010

Excursion to the living room

Today the kittens went for a walk in the living room, where all four big cats watched the small ones as they researched their surroundings.

“Where to go from here? What are these scary mini-plants?”

“Grandpa Leroy is here, that is good!”

“Oh, no! But, my bottom IS clean! The big cats clean it all the time!”

These two were sniffing the floor. Walnut wood, now that is weird!

The fireplace, their mom’s favorite place for mischief!

Jun 12 2010

Siamese kittens, 20 days old, sleeping

The tummies are full, and the kittens are all sleeping. Notice one small nose coming out of the pile in the background. :)

The tipi is becoming too small for Jossan and her seven kittens. We ordered a bigger tipi two weeks ago, but it hasn’t arrived yet. Jossan does not want her children to sleep in a cat bed without a roof. Instinctive fear of predator birds, we guess, and also, it is much warmer in the tipi than it would be in a bed without a roof. Jossan refuses to move into cardboard boxes with blankets inside; she likes luxurious stuff. Spoiled!

Jun 12 2010

‘You’re my Everest!’

The kittens are 20 days old today. They run out of their tipi as soon as we come into the room, and then they love to crawl around and interact with us when we lie in their play-pen (“kattungehage” in Swedish), the space around tipi that is fenced, about 130cm in diameter.

The brave blue girl, always the first to try new things, started climbing on the tipi yesterday, and Jocke was fast to capture it on camera:

And what happened then? Well, the little one did not know what to do and how to get down from the top of the tipi, so Jelena took it down.

Jun 4 2010

Little explorers

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This evening, the first time ever, the kittens have left the igloo on their own and took a short walk, led by two blue/chocolate girls and a lilac boy (mini Leroy, he is his grandfather’s little copy).

During the nights and when we are not in the apartment, there is a ‘wall’ in front of the igloo, so that the kittens cannot exit, only Jossan.