Pardalis Ocicats

The kittens are finally in their purpose built own room and relishing the extra space to create havoc in!  And we can be happy in the knowledge that when we can’t be there to supervise them, they’re in as safe an environment as possible with no cables to chew or blind cords to get tangled up in. Meanwhile the chaos of our kitchen being rebuilt alongside them doesn’t seem to faze them at all and certainly doesn’t interrupt their snoozes!

They continue to put on weight and are eating healthily.  A favourite pastime is shimmying up the tall scratch post, and seeing how long they can balance on the top. When the radiator’s on, they like to climb into one of the baskets under the bench and curl up together, all safely snug and warm purring like little tractors.

I’m sorry to say that one of Lexi’s beautiful kittens died on Wednesday.  He’d lost a little weight overnight so I monitored him during the day and watched him feed.  As the day went on he seemed to weaken and feed less even with help and encouragement and the offer of formula milk to top him up.  He’d lost more weight by the evening and sadly quickly faded and died.  It’s horrible to lose a newborn like that, especially when he seemed to be thriving up to that day. RIP little one.

The other kittens continue to put on weight and are growing well, are opening their eyes and we’re just awaiting the arrival of their ears

Lexi woke up on Thursday morning full of miaows.  She was restless all day, if a door was shut she wanted to go through, as soon as she’d gone through she’d turn around and come right back in! Uno, her boy from her first litter, was getting a lot of attention and non-stop washing, as if she was having a trial run for the birth and had suddenly remembered that he was once her kitten

It was very frustrating for me as I realised she was going into labour but she just wouldn’t settle, I wanted her to have some rest, she didn’t sleep all day.  She’d go into the nice cosy box we’d set in the corner of our bedroom, rummage around a bit, sit for a while, then off she’d trot downstairs again only to go through the door routine once more!

Then it dawned on me that once she’d gone through a door she was wanting Uno to follow her, and if he didn’t that was why she was coming back.  So I let him go up with her and she was happy with that but he didn’t want to sit in her box with her, he wanted to explore and play and everytime he moved she’d move with him, give him another wash, follow him around.  He soon got bored and let himself out of the bedroom (he’s a great one for opening doors!) so I put Fizz upstairs with Lexi to keep her company, but that wasn’t good enough, it had to be Uno!

Eventually she went into labour so Uno had to get out of the way.  The first kitten took its time coming, it was breech, but once that one had come into the world the second was only minutes behind.  In all she had four, all Classics, beautiful clear markings, 3 tawnies, 1 chocolate.  Once they were all dry we weighed them quickly as we transferred mum and babes into a new cosy clean bed and attempted to sex them.  One girl, three boys?  Not sure…..jury’s still out.  Days later and we’re now thinking 1 boy, 3 girls!  Or maybe they’re all boys but one’s better endowed :-))

All excellent weights and very even, just a few grams between them still a few days later, and they’re gaining fast. They seem to be a very contented and quieter than our previous litters. They squeak rather than squawk

Meanwhile Uno transferred his attentions back to Fizz :-)  Must be his aftershave!

The cats have unpacked their toy mice and found their favourite beds in our new house.  We’ve moved to a mid-Bedfordshire village, just ten miles up the road from where we were before.  The cats all settled in really quickly once they realised that food, water, beds and cuddles were as before, just in different surroundings :-) 

Kolo doesn’t venture very far outside, though we were sure he’d be disappearing for ages to the neighbouring stud farm.  The weather’s probably got a lot to do with it though and maybe he’ll explore the fields more once summer comes.  We were worried how Purdy, our old girl, her eyesight failing, would settle, but she’s amazed us all and even taken to using the litter tray instead of braving the elements. 

As for the Ocis, they just want to explore every corner and help us unpack.  The boxes and bubble wrap brought them endless fun, as far as they’re concerned we can move again if it means more boxes to play in!

Now we’re settled we’ve taken Lexi to visit a new boyfriend.  He’s a very handsome tawny Ocicat Classic and we’re looking forward to a Classic litter being born in January. 

Saturday saw the 4th Championship Show.  For the second year running we teamed up with the Tabby Cat Club who also held assessment classes for the Ocicat Classic, meaning Lexi was able to gain two more merits at the one show!  She had some wonderful comments from the judges - “A pretty girl of very good type”, “lovely bright green eyes”, “clear classic markings of bright warm chocolate…very clear contrast” “excellent temperament and condition” and “A real Ocicat”.

Our Fizz did us proud on her first show outing as an adult by gaining her first challenge certificate, 2 more and she can earn the title of Champion. Both our girls did well in their side classes too with a mixture of 1st and 2nd places.

Florence, Lexi’s daughter, brought her strokers Lorraine and David so they could witness her gaining her first Grand certificate.  Not content with just being called Premier Pardalis Genesis, she’s aiming high for the Grand Premier title

New homes have been found for all of Fizz’s rainbow litter.  We’ve been very lucky to find such wonderful homes for them all and I just know they’re all going to be spoilt rotten!!  Three left yesterday and it’s already very quiet around here!  I’m looking forward to seeing their photos as they grow and will keep posting them as they arrive in the new owners album.  We need a few kitten free months now while we prepare to move house.  We’re not going too far but we’ve some busy times ahead! I’ll hopefully be able to get to a few more shows with Fizz and Lexi once we’re settled starting, of course, with the Ocicat Club Show at Alcester on 3rd October.

Belated CONGRATULATIONS to Thickthorn Meadowsaffron!! Many thanks to Ron and Barbara Darby of Silversmoke for entrusting us with Saffi’s beautiful daughter Lexi.  Saffi’s good looks are being passed down and Florence (Pardalis Genesis), her granddaughter is already doing well on the show bench and has gained her Premier title. Hopefully, once the Ocicat Classic has reached Championship status, Lexi herself, will be up there with her title winning relatives

Premier Pardalis Genesis, aka Florence, won her well deserved Premier title at the Midland Counties Cat Club show on Sunday.  Florence is Lexi’s daughter and has been doing us proud at all the shows she’s been to, having been shown from a young kitten.  She won three open classes in her first three shows as an adult (from nine months) which wins her the Premier title. Well done Florence!!!

Lexi and Uno have now both achieved 4 merits each to help move the Ocicat Classic breed recognition on to the next stage.  Uno got the final one needed at the Suffolk and Norfolk Cat Club show yesterday.

A total of six cats have now gained the required number of merits for us to complete the preliminary stage and put in the application for the next and final stage.  The next stage will take longer as more Ocicat Classics and breeders will need to be involved, but the commitment is there and hopefully it won’t be too long before this beautiful breed can be shown on equal footing alongside their Ocicat siblings.

I was woken at 1am on Friday morning by a rustle coming from the litter tray.  I rolled over thinking ‘hope it’s not a smelly one’.  Then I heard a squeek.  I jumped out of bed and looked in all the obvious places that I’d prepared to give Fizz a choice of where to give birth.  The nice cosy cardboard box by my bed,  the Sturdi where the kittens and mum usually spend their first 3 weeks until they get too active and are ready to come downstairs, and the kneehole in the dressing table.  But no, madam had decided the covered litter tray was the place to be!

I lifted Fizz and a wet kitten out and transferred them both to the cardboard box.  The poor little mite had bits of litter all stuck to her!  Luckily it was clean litter :-)  I brushed off what I could while Fizz had her second kitten in the comfort of the box.  A total of 5 were born by 2.30am.  All good weights, not much difference between them all.

They’re all putting weight on nicely and finding their lungs!  Fizz is a great mum, she’s only left them to stretch her legs a few times and she covers them with the blanket when she’s gone.  We’ve got a black silver and a lilac (maybe lilac silver) boys and chocolate, blue and blue silver girls.  It’s lovely to have them all different and such a nice variety of colours.  Well done Fizz!