Tag Archives: Jossan

Oct 9 2011

Jossan, October 2011

I look at Jossan in amazement every day. This little, slender cat that weighs 3kg and still looks like a kitten is mom of 11 big kittens. She is still my baby and looks the same as she did 3 years ago. She is turning 4 in December this year.

This is a picture of her in our corridor, taken by our friend Daniel Brolund. He took it really fast; he entered the house at the same moment as she exited the room. She was so surprised to see him coming in.

I like the reflex in the mirror that shows her perfect profile. She is so beautiful!

Jun 23 2011

7 weeks pictures. And the tree.

The individual pictures from the Monday photo session are now uploaded here.

And the cat tree… it was so much fun for the small cats to get the whole new tall furniture! We did not put anything that tall in their room earlier since they are small and not scared of anything, but yesterday we bought them the furniture with a lot of funny parts, 165 cm tall. We padded the space around it with a lot of pillows. The kittens went crazy, climbing, jumping and behaving like little monkeys. Jossan was not happy at all. She gave us that look – ‘Are you completely insane!?’

In the morning we found all the kittens sleeping in the cat house with the pillows put over the entrance. Jossan lured them in and dragged the pillows and blocked the small ones from exiting the tipi! :D Jossan is such a clever cat and a good mom. She never ceases to impress me.

Jocke took a cool video of the tree, seen from a kitten’s perspective:

More pictures from yesterday and today:

Belle peeking

Beatrice, boldly going where no kitten has gone before

Your tail! My tail? Wait...

Jun 8 2011

5 weeks photo session

We took a few pictures of the kittens two days ago. Jossan wanted to be a model as well.

Seal point Siamese kitten, 5 weeks old and her lilac point mom

The kittens have very long legs; disproportionally long legs, and that looks really funny. Here is one picture of the white boy, a bit blurry, but you’ll get what I mean with ‘very long legs’…

More pictures coming soon.

May 15 2011

B litter, day #13

Here is a mom and her kitten! Jossan, the lioness.

We tried to take some individual pictures of the kittens today. It did not get better with time, Jossan still gets crazy when we take the small ones out for a photo session and make sounds with the camera and the flash… not a happy cat! We try to make it quick and not disturb the kittens and the mom too much! Here are the pictures and a little bit about each kitten.

Blue point girl

White boy

Seal point girl

White girl
May 14 2011

Albert wants in!

There is a reason that our cattery name is La Voix. Siamese in general are more talkative than other cats, and our Siamese are very vocal when they want something. Leroy especially has a very strong voice that almost all of his and Jossan’s offspring got. It is not like our cats are yelling or being loud often. But they do express their opinions loud and clear!

Albert loves to be close to the kittens. They are very small and have one room where they can be left alone with their mom. Other cats can come and join them when we are there, and they like to sit and watch the small ones.

When we get up in the mornings, this is where Albert is, telling us that he wants to go in and see his siblings!!!

Let me in!!!

And today he sat in there for a long time, watching his mom and the small wonders and then, very carefully and gently, he sat in with them in the tipi! He was there for a few minutes, then I took him out so that Jossan could stretch a bit. He was melting with love, he adores them!

Mom, I'm your baby, too!

We also have a big kitten house that we got from Germany, but it is too soon for them to move in there. They have to be better at crawling first. They must be close to their mom where it is warm, and she prefers small spaces with roof, she feels that they are warm and safe there. I’ve learnt a lot from my cat about what is good for kittens.

Bliss!

We are very happy with Albert’s temper and I hope that his future kittens will get it from him. He is almost one year old, fertile and very capable as a tomcat, but he is not spraying at all and he is seldom restless. He is very cuddly with us, especially with me. He can be upset and yell sometimes, but that is when we do something wrong.

May 2 2011

The B-litter is here. Sorrow and joy.

We did not sleep last night.

Jossan went into a labor late yesterday evening. We experienced a shock and great sadness early in the delivery. It took a long time for Jossan to deliver the first kitten, and its intestines were out. Other than that, it was alive and normal sized and looking kitten. I called a pet clinic and talked to a veterinary. The defect was major, and the only thing to do was to drive there and have them put the little one to sleep as soon as possible. I cried on the phone but understood we must do this, and stay composed, since the delivery had just started. The veterinary said that the kitten will feel no pain.

We wrapped the kitten gently in a towel so it would not freeze, and put it in an open box that Joakim held under his jacket and kept it warm while driving to the veterinary. There they confirmed that nothing can be done and the kitten was put to sleep with a high dose of sleeping medication. It is so sad, I am still crying while typing this. We named the kitten Alan, after Alan Turing, a brilliant person with a tragic destiny. The first baby kitten born yesterday is a little angel now and feels no pain.

It was hard for Joakim to drive with the kitten, and it was hard for me to stay with Jossan and help her deliver the next kitten. It took some time, and she was upset and looked for the first one. I did not know if this was a defect that all of them will have, will something else be wrong, are they still alive…

I kissed and petted Jossan during the whole delivery. She was in pain, but she curled next to me on the floor, on a pile of clean towels and blankets, and pushed, supporting herself on my body and hands.

The next one arrived at 00:25, and still crying and scared as I was, I managed to help Jossan clean the kitten and cut the umbilical cord. The kitten was perfect, big and healthy, but I could not be happy or relax after the first shock.

Jossan delivered three more healthy big kittens, the last one at 3:30 AM and I was not sure if there were more, so we waited until 6AM and then cleaned everything, put the new sheets in a clean tipi, tucked everyone in and went to sleep. I took vacation this week, but Joakim is working.

Today I am starting to feel more joy about the B-litter. I am also very happy that Jossan does not know what happened and is such a good mom to the four kittens she is nursing now. They are beautiful. I think that 3 are boys and one is a girl. There is one Foreign White, one lilac or Foreign White and two are blue or seal or chocolate. But I am not sure yet, the colors can be determined with certainty when they are three weeks old, and sometimes even later.

SE*La Voix B-litter, 1 day old

The weight and time of arrival for the surviving kittens, born on May 2, 2011:

00:25 girl 100gr

00:55 boy 104gr

02:00 probably boy 102gr

03:20 boy 94gr

Around noon they already weighed 104, 106, 108 and 112gr. Jossan has a lot of milk, and they all are quite happy to eat and sleep all the time!

Apr 30 2011

Jossan, day 65

Jossan is very big and close to delivery. The kittens will arrive probably tomorrow or on Wednesday at latest. She eats well, but she gets hiccups after every meal. It is not easy with a belly full of kittens!

She is less nervous than the first time. We have arranged one room for her and the upcoming litter and she does seem happy with the tipis and other furniture. The new things from Germany did not arrive yet, but the kittens will not leave the small tipi for the first two weeks, so that is fine. We hope that the delivery goes well!

Apr 21 2011

Three generations

"Mom, you are almost as big as grandpa!"

Jossan, Albert and Leroy were resting on their favorite blanket  last evening.

Jossan is much smaller than Leroy otherwise, but now her weight went from 2,9kg before the pregnancy to 4,1kg. There is about 10-13 days to go. I think that there may be six kittens this time, but I do not know for sure. Jossan’s weight gain was about the same as before, a bit lower, but that could do with a two days error in the estimated time of arrival.

So exciting! Yesterday I’ve ordered a new kitten house and cushions from Germany, made out of a new high quality material that has no loops so that the claws of small kittens can not get stuck in them, and it is also washable in 60 degrees. http://eng.katzen-deko.de/

I cannot wait for the kittens to arrive!

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 26 2011

Jossan is dating again!

Jossan (S*Me-Na-Yak Call Me Josephine Brown) is dating again!

Her date is – Goofy, IC S*Edo Créma de Luxe, the dad of the A-litter! Although Albert and Goofy have different looks, there are similarities; Albert is white like his dad and moves and has a body language that is pretty much the same! That was quite amazing to see, I did not remember from before how Goofy moved and cuddled. He was mostly stunned and excited when we introduced him to Jossan last year, so he did not interact with us a lot.

Here is a picture of Goofy and his brother Musse we took when we left Jossan in Sala, about 1 hour 15 minutes drive from Stockholm, two days ago.

It was a bit funny; the first time we were there, about a year ago, Jossan seemed to be scared, and hid immediately. But now – she jumped on the kitchen table, behaved as if Sofie’s apartment was her summer house or something. She apparently recognized where she was and she was not displeased. After a few minutes we let Goofy in and he started singing and flirting with Jossan. Then we gave them some privacy and left. We got a message from Goofy’s owner yesterday, she witnessed one mating and heard another!

We miss Jossan, but we do not miss her yelling and calling for a guy. She (as the most of cats) calls a lot when in heat. Also, Albert had to be separated from her, and it was not fun for anyone, but he has such a nice temper and we have a big house, and enough cats so that everyone has a company. Albert is still small, but he changes from Dr Jekyll to Mr Hyde when he feels that Jossan is going in heat. Then he is all stud, 110%, calling and following Jossan. But when his mom is not in heat, or when she is away, he is a little baby, playing with his toys and cuddling with us all the time.

We hope that this time we are as lucky as last year, that Jossan has a problem-free pregnancy and nursing period, and above all – that she remains healthy and gets healthy babies. If all goes well, the delivery will be around the 4th of May.

Feb 12 2011

1st prize!

Last week we won the 1:st prize on Siameslinjens (our cat club) photo competition for our ‘Birdwatching’ picture! 42 photos were sent in, some of them very nice. I was so happy! It is one of those pictures I had to take very fast, in order to seize the moment when the cats were sitting so nicely in the window, equidistant, like little ornaments shaped as cats.

I had the light in the background, could not use the flash, did not have much time to focus, but it was a nice situation and a not so bad composition. The judge’s motivation for awarding the 1:st prize to this photo was “för sin utpräglade vardagssurrealism” (“for its striking surrealism of everyday life”).

We are very happy! :)

Dec 18 2010

Albert property laws

This is Albert’s first Christmas and he is delighted with all the ornaments! He likes to drag and carry them around, and chew on the branches.

I’ve tried real tree, plastic tree, hoping he will leave something alone, but, nope – he likes it all, nothing is safe and everything is tasty.

Every morning the poor Christmas tree is disintegrated and the ornaments lie all over the living room.

The worst was when he just discovered the beauty of everything that goes with Christmas.  Now, two weeks later, Albert is a bit less creative with his constant rearrangements of our living space, but still not uncreative enough, to put it that way…

I am helping!

Tasty!

How do you mean - I can't eat that?

Yes, I can!

Why are you here? That is mine!

You too! Go away! Mine!

Crowded? No! There is always enough space to fit me! And - more glitter!

 

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 18 2010

Moving soon

The moving company truck is coming in 8 hours. We still have so much to pack and also, we have to disassemble some pretty big pieces of furniture. We have 2 more weeks to move, but then we have to do it ourselves, by car. We are trying to pack as much as we can now.

The cats are helping, of course!

Miii is checking if everything is closed properly.

‘You are not leaving without me!’

Leroy is tired, he has been helping us all day. Albert and Jossan are taking a nap as well:

I am tired and just now I wish I were one of my cats…

Back to packing!

Oct 13 2010

Packing (or -’helping paws’)

After every box we pack we have to make sure that no cat somehow jumped in and tried to hide. Cats like boxes. Albert is smaller and a bit hard to notice. Here, we documented how at one occasion Jossan helped us find him and, also, tried to pull him out of the box he managed to break into!

“I see you!” (Jossan managed to locate Albert)

“Mau mau mauuu” (“Get out!”)

“Mrauauauauuauuu” (“I am getting him out! Look, matte!”)

And then I took Albert out of the box which we closed again and put under another box that he cannot break into (or so we believe…).

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.

 

Jun 14 2010

Leroy and the kittens

Grandfather Leroy was curious, excited and a bit scared from the day one, but now when the kittens started crawling around he really likes to jump in the play-pen to lick and watch them.

He even went into the tipi when Jossan left them for a minute and licked the ones who slept there.

We were very cautious with Leroy being around the kittens, since he is male (although neutered), and the small ones took away his Jossan from him, but he is behaving well so far, and we are always close when he is with them.

He was a very good father when Jossan was small and brought her up, so we guess he will be a good grandfather also. Only, when Jossan arrived, she was three months old. These kittens are small and very fragile.

Still, he is very careful around them and when they attack him in huge numbers, he moves to another place.

May 23 2010

Seven kittens

Jossan gave birth to seven kittens. The delivery went fine.

One kitten went out with legs first, the rest of them head-first.

Strong contractions started 22:30. We weighed the kittens and wrote down the time they were born. We cut all the umbilical cords, cleaned their faces, mouths and noses and stimulated the breathing by massaging them gently with a dry towel. All of them were quite active from the start, we experienced no problems there.

0:19 #1     98 g male
0:40 #2    102 g female
0:55 #3    94 g male
1:38 #4    94 g male
1:46 #5    96 g female
2:58 #6   98 g female
3:07 #7   86 g male

We are very tired, it is 5AM in Stockholm and we are going to sleep now. More pictures tomorrow.

I have no idea which colors they are, they all were whitish and wet. I am not that sure about the gender either. The weight and time of the delivery are correct.