Pardalis Ocicats

We’d put a barrier up on the kitten pen so Lexi could come and go but the kittens were kept in safe while they’re still small.  The last couple of days one or two have managed to climb over but only wanted to do it when one of us was sat by the pen.  Today the biggest 4 climbed over so I thought I might as well take that barrier down and let them explore.

They were having great fun exploring the conservatory and settled down with Lexi for a feed at the bottom of the big cat tree. When I came back in later to put food down for them all I realised one of the kittens was missing.  I looked everywhere!  I pulled the desk out and had the room upside down.  I convinced myself she must have escaped through my legs when I left the room an hour or so earlier, even though I’d been really careful. I’d had the back door open for a while and started to really worry that, as I couldn’t find her in the house, she must have got out somehow. I spent 2 hours looking for her, I think I looked everywhere at least 6 times. then phoned Graham in a panic.  He asked if she could have got inside the settee. Doubt it I said, don’t think there’s a way in……….it’s a bed settee, and where the back joins the seat there’s a tiny gap.  So I gingerly opened it and found her looking really comfortable nestled in the spare bedding without a care in the world!!  Phew!

I dare say they’ll give me a few more scares over the coming weeks and then I get to do it all again with Fizz’s litter!  She’s pinked up nicely and should be due around 12th August.

Yesterday we decided to bring the kittens downstairs. They’ve got a nice roomy pen now and will stay in there until they’re ready to explore a bit further. We’ve also started weaning, just tiny amounts to see if they’re ready. After a few sucks at a saucer of mashed kitten food I put one of them in the litter tray and scratched her paw in the tray. A few seconds later she performed! She promptly sat back down in it and poor Lexi and had even more mess to clean up! Ah well, they’ll get the hang of it soon enough.  We’re half way there with trying to get them to eat solid food and litter train - they’re eating the litter (glad I switched to a non-clumping paper-based sort!)

Since Fizz got back from her ‘honeymoon’ she’s been non-stop miaowing. Poor little girl’s had a lot to put up with lately. She’s not allowed upstairs while Lexi and her kittens are there as Lexi is very protective. Fizz’s tendency to growl at Lexi since she’s had the kittens doesn’t endear her to Lexi either at the moment, so we’re keeping them apart until the kittens are older. Two females with raging hormones don’t mix well!

At the weekend we were sitting at our patio table enjoying the sunshine and Fizz was miaowing at us from the conservatory. We felt sorry for her and were saying we’d have her outside on our laps if we could be sure she wouldn’t jump down. I remembered a cheap harness I’d bought when we first got the Ocicats, the idea being we’d walk them to the garage playroom or outside run. I’d tried it on Lexi once when we first got her but she hated it and I never persevered. I thought it might be a good idea to try it on Fizz so she could sit outside with us but we’d feel happier knowing she couldn’t go far. She was an absolute star and just accepted the harness being put on. Needless to say she didn’t stay on our laps for long, there was far too much to explore! She rolled now and again when she remembered it was there, but was so engrossed in swatting flies and poking her nose into the flower pots that she was barely aware of the harness. It was lovely to see her enjoying the garden safely, and it probably won’t be long before she’s fetching it herself and demanding ‘walkies’!

There’s a short video of Fizz’s first garden walk here http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=H7KNqozBrRY

Lexi’s kittens are now 9 days old and all putting on weight at a steady rate, so far so good!

No eyes open yet though the little ears are starting to unfurl. I can just about tell them apart, the classic pattern does differ slightly between the 4 and 2 are boys which helps too I’m pretty sure the rest are all girls. The 2 spotteds look to have a lovely clear pattern though it’s early days yet.  One is slightly smaller than the other and has lighter spots so they’re not too difficult to tell apart.

Fizz went off to stud at the weekend, we chose Curry again as he proved a worthy suitor for Lexi She came off call pretty soon after so that looks promising! If she’s pregnant her litter will be due around 12th August so we’ll have 2 sets of kittens for a few weeks until Lexi’s leave for their new homes.

On Monday evening Lexi was starting to use one of the nesting boxes in the conservatory more, she was meowing a bit more than usual but I still thought she was just gearing up for the birth in the next day or two. She seemed to have picked one of the boxes upstairs in our bedroom as her birthing box, so when she curled up in the box downstairs with Fizz in there too, I never thought she was about to have them.

I had the TV on, Graham was in the kitchen when I heard a little squeaky noise. I thought it was something Graham was doing in the kitchen or that he had the TV on in there. When he came back to the lounge a minute or so later the noise continued and as I got up to see what it was it sounded more like a bird. Then I saw a new born kitten writhing about on the wooden floor in the conservatory with Lexi on the sofa nearby, wide-eyed as if to say “what’s happening to me?”! I yelled for Graham to get the towels, heat pad, hot water bottle and all the other paraphernalia from the bedroom where I’d been convinced she’d give birth, grabbed a clean towel from the conservatory birthing box she’d obviously decided she wasn’t going to use, and started the dry the baby.

Lexi had dealt with the cord and placenta but not attempted to lick the kitten dry. Another was coming almost straight away so she didn’t have enough time to it. We managed to coax her into the box by putting a heat pad in and another was swiftly born. Again, she managed to chew the cord and break the sac and give the kitten a half-hearted lick before tucking into the placenta. Then she was more concerned about cleaning up the mess and washing herself than drying the kitten and this pattern followed for the rest of the births. So we ended up with all six snuggled together on a warmed hot water bottle under a towel while we rubbed them gently. Just an hour later all 6 were born and she looked like she’d finished.

We let her clean herself, made her comfortable with fresh bedding and gave her the babies back. She’s been wonderfully attentive ever since, they’re all feeding well and have put on weight at the expected rate. They’re all so cute!! All chocolate in colour, 4 Classics, which is amazing, and we’re so pleased with all the squeaky, furry bundles and very proud of Lexi.

Just a few days to go now and lying down normally is out of the question. Lexi’s got a few choices of birthing boxes dotted around and she’s busy inspecting them all and trying them out for size. Fizz is getting lots of lilcks from her, she can’t walk by without getting a wash I think Lexi is using her for practice!

Lexi’s getting bigger every day, I weighed her again today and she’s put on nearly 1.5 kg in total. Fizz has put on 0.5kg herself just by eating the Royal Canin queen food as well! That won’t do her any harm as we hope to put her with a suitable stud on her next call.

It’s been a pleasure to see Lexi and Fizz out in the specially built enclosure enjoying the recent warm weather, chasing flies and watching the birds. Graham made it as a lean-to on our shed using mostly old pieces of wood we already had and wire meshing. It’s in a nice shady part of the garden though it gets a little sun in the odd corner so they can choose to the sit in the sun or the shade. We’ve put walkways round 2 sides and a nice sturdy tree branch leading up to it for scratching on or climbing and part of a wooden bench we no longer wanted in the garden offers more sitting and watching or hide and seek places. At least when we’re in the garden enjoying the weather, they can be near us and see what we’re doing. It’s not as good as allowing them the freedom of an enclosed garden but our garden would be very difficult to make totally enclosed without chopping down a lot of mature shrubs, so it’s the next best thing. As it’s down the far end of the garden we pop the cats into a carrier to take them down there.  Though now they know what’s coming I only have to fetch the carrier and open the lid and they jump straight in! Once we’ve sorted out the shed and made it safe we’ll put a cat flap on so they can explore that too.

We went off on holiday not sure if she had ‘taken’ but on our return she’d ‘pinked up’ and not called and now has the first hint of a bump. All being well we’ll have some little furry bundles around 3rd June. Lexi is blooming and eating us out of house and home! She’s still bouncing around and the only noticeable change is she’s less willing to wrestle with Fizz and just clumps her around the head when she gets too boisterous! We hope there’ll be some Classic patterned kittens amongst this, her first, litter. Lexi is only the 2nd Classic patterned Ocicat to be registered with the GCCF for breeding so this litter will be very special to us.

Having called every fortnight since before she was 5 1/2 months old we thought that Lexi had probably decided she was ready for her first litter. We chose Curry, a cinnamon spotted Ocicat, to be her first boyfriend as he’s known to carry the Classic pattern. This doesn’t guarantee a litter of Classic patterned cats by any means but will hopefully increase the chances.

At first she didn’t want to know and wouldn’t let him touch her, but it seems she just needed a bit of romancing as by day 2 she was fine and ready to come home by day 3 which was great!  We’d missed her so much!  Fizz had been wandering around the house meowing and looking for her when she was gone and we were looking forward to seeing her reaction when Lexi came back. We didn’t get what we’d expected!  Fizz hissed and spat at poor Lexi who looked just as perplexed at her reaction as we were.  We put it down to scent, Fizz couldn’t get past the male cat smell on Lexi to realise it was her best pal. It took a couple of days but they’re fine again now and Fizz is back to using Lexi as a pillow instead of a punch bag!

We just have to sit back and wait to see if she actually is pregnant though if my intuition is anything to go by I’ve a strong feeling we’ll have our first litter to look forward to early in June