Category Archives: Sleeping

Jul 18 2011

11 weeks (part 1)

The kittens turned 11 weeks today! They are so big now. Next week they are getting their second vaccine and in two-four weeks they will be moving to their new homes. The feelings are mixed. They are all moving to very good homes and we are looking forward to see how it goes for them in the future.

This is how the beginning of our evening with the kittens looked like (it is Stockholm, and summer, it is still not completely dark yet).

In the living room, Leroy was sleeping on one of his sheep

While in another room, the kittens were slowly waking up from their afternoon nap (Bea, Blanche and Jossan is behind them)

Balthazar and Belle, on another highest part of the cat tree

"You were saying?"

May 5 2011

Day #4 (and why Siamese kittens are born white)

It is hard to see the gender of the kittens when they are this small, but now I think that there is only one boy, white or lilac, and three girls – one white, and two dark ones – seal or blue or chocolate. But we cannot be certain either about gender or color until they are about three weeks old.

In a few days they will start opening their eyes. For now they are just getting rounder. :)

Siamese kittens are born white. They may look all white and pink to you on the pictures, but you probably notice that some of them have started getting dark ear edges and nose tips. They will fully develop their point color as they get older.

The pointed Siamese pattern is a result of the partial albinism gene. The point restricted pattern is bound to an enzyme which, when exposed to temperatures above 37°C, causes the hair root to produce little or no pigment for the growing hair. That is why the Siamese kittens are born completely white – it is very warm in mom’s belly!

The neck and the body of the cat are warmer and don’t develop any or little pigment at adult Siamese. Their point color is restricted to the areas of the body that are cooler, such as the face, ears, legs, and tail. But, if your Siamese is a bit overweight, a layer of fat works as an insulator and the cat can become darker in its body also!

May 3 2011

B-litter, day #2

The kittens are almost two days old and they are growing before our eyes.

We weighed them this evening and three of them went 20 gr up already and one went up 28gr! Jossan is so proud of them, and the big cats come and sit and watch the small ones few times per day, from a meter or two of distance.

I wonder what Albert is thinking… he is so excited, and scared and curious at the same time. He can just sit and calmly watch his mom and his small siblings for hours.

Apr 9 2011

25 days to go

Jocke took a few pretty pictures of Jossan today. Her tummy is a bit shaved because of the ultrasound exam. Pretty cat! :*

Look at that profile!

Also, we got some exciting news from Norway. Three weeks after Arwen’s and Albert’s date, there are the signs! Arwen’s tummy is getting rounder, and her nipples turned a stronger shade of pink. Look at the pretty tummy pictures here!

Mar 27 2011

Cats in the sun

Jossan, Miii and Albert are resting in the sun. Albert is hardly visible, he fits the background so well.

There is 38 days left until the kittens arrive, if everything goes well. Jossan is going up in weight just fine, 430gr since the start of the pregnancy.

She was clumsy and quite active lately and played and rolled on the floor with the toys, and even fell once (10 days ago) from a shelf, but she still continued going up in weight really well and shows no signs of discomfort at all. We are going for a checkup and an ultrasound exam in 2 days (on Tuesday).

 

Feb 6 2011

Everybody loves sheep

A month ago we bought a sheep-shaped soft pillow that caused a lot of excitement in our cat group. It is funny with cats. Sometimes you buy them a toy you are certain they will love, but they do not care about it all. At other times, some, in your eyes, very boring thing becomes an immediate hit. We thought they might like the sheep, but we did not expect that it will be so popular. (We bought the sheep in Chilli, they have a store close to where we live).

Maven was the first to hug, pet and take care of her sheep friend. She would clean herself, walk all over the sheep, put it in the right shape and then sleep on it or beside it.

But, then, Leroy also liked the sheep. He was jealous of Maven and stole the sheep whenever he could.

Leroy also loves the sheep

Then the other cats wanted the sheep as well.

After a few weeks of occasional quarreling about the sheep, we went and bought them 3 more sheep! One in beige color as the first one, and two white ones.  Of course, NO ONE wanted any sheep when there were so many around, but after a few days, everyone loves sheep again.

Jossan licking the sheep goodnight

Everyone loves sheep!

Siamese and the white sheep

 

Nov 9 2010

A cat and a mouse

Maven really likes our new house, it is big and it is messy (for now). Oh, joy!

Maven is a black smoke cat (her fur is warm in tone in the autumn, since she spends a lot of time in the sun in the summer, and the fur gets lighter), and here you can also see that the bottom half of her fur is completely white! (The silver gene makes it white). If we would shave off the tips of Maven fur, she would be mostly white! :)

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!

May 8 2010

Big Jossan

BEFORE…

Some time ago, this is how the Siamese used to lie together, on a pile in one of their beds:

Please, notice: Jossan is the smallest one, lying in the middle of the pile.

AND, NOW…

This is how they look together today (sorry, Miii, you are out of the picture and out of our bed…)

Pregnant Jossan, much bigger than before, is hugging Leroy:

Apr 10 2010

The signs

We think that Jossan is pregnant!

She sleeps a lot and is much calmer since she came back from Goofy. She threw up twice in the mornings last week, and she almost never throws up. Last week her nipples became pink in color. She started gaining weight.

So exciting!

We bought her food for kittens and she takes some yogurt and milk for cats daily. Otherwise she eats as usual; 3 different kinds of dry food are always in the bowls. The cats also eat either raw beef, canned chicken breast or canned tuna daily.

Sep 17 2009

White thiefs

The Siamese routinely steal the blanket now. We need another one. I’m sick of waking up freezing with two white cats looking at me like: “WTF, don’t disturb us human”.

They should really be nicer and more thankful for all the food we give them, the sand they spread over the apartment, the toys that lie everywhere and don’t get me started on that kitty-furniture on which they lie to watch over their servants. But we really don’t deserve better.

We pay to become slaves and somehow think it’s all worth it. Adorable fuzzy little furballs :)

Jul 24 2009

Cat pile

LeroyJossanAngel

This picture could not have been taken before one week stay at a cat hostel. Spending time together on a much less space than usual does wonders for their love for each other. Every time we got them back from there they were nicer towards each other.

Our cats always stay at Solgläntans kattpensionat when we are out of town for a longer time. One day they can be without us. Two – four days they can be at home with a cat-sitter. Usually our friend Thomas takes care of the little ones. He sits and codes on his computer and they let him. :)

They take good care of our and other kitties in Solgläntans. They are cat enthusiasts that also take care of homeless cats and find them good homes. That is their primary area of engagement. If you live in Stockholm area and need a good place to leave your kitty while on vacation, we warmly recommend Solgläntans kattpensionat.

Jun 19 2009

Jossan yawns!

 JossanYawns

This picture is the first proof caught on camera that Josephine and Angel started tolerating each other. The sisters got separated when they were 12 weeks old and met again a year later, when Angel moved to our place. Jossan was very jealous at start, but it has been getting better really fast.

So, everyone is either yawning or sleeping, but I can’t. It has been sunny outside for a few hours now. During the summer we get a bit of darkness here, between 11PM and 02AM, now when the day is longest. If I miss that window to fall asleep, I just turn into a non-sleeping zombie and in the worst case do not sleep at all until the next dark period. If I am lucky, I fall asleep around 4AM. Well, not today. :/