Pardalis Ocicats

This was a very easy one to train! I put a square of carpet down and as soon as Lexi or Fizz put a paw on it they got a click and a treat. We progressed quickly to them sitting on the mat to get a treat. This is so useful! The mat goes down when I’m in the kitchen and they’re under my feet, and gone are the days when they were clambering onto the dining table as soon we sat down to eat. Now I just throw the mat down and they both run and sit on it as good as gold! I just give them a treat for the first sit on the mat and then perhaps just once or twice more during the 10-15 minute session. Lexi will sometimes get a bit bored and fed up with waiting for the next treat so she’ll wander off but at least she’s not on the table, while Fizz has been known to sit there for ages after we’ve got up and cleared the table, she’ll do anything for food that one!

We knew putting up a Christmas tree would be like a red rag to a bull………..the box came down from the loft, no sooner was the top off than both Lexi and Fizz dived in. We managed to put the bits together while they played in the empty box but Lexi soon saw we’d got her a new climbing frame! All that time I’d spent plumping out the branches just for her to squash them flat again! Fizz was mainly content to sit at the bottom batting the decorations that were wobbling around thanks to Lexi’s antics. Amazingly no decorations actually got broken even though 2 of the branches completely snapped and were wrecked. Ah well, it was an old tree and I wanted a replacement anyway

My cats live here, they’re here to stay.
You don’t like pets?….. be on your way!
They share my home, my food, my space
this is their home, this is their place.

You will find cat hair on the floor,
they will meet you at the door.
They may request a little pat,
a simple ‘no’ will settle that.

It gripes me when I hear you say
“just how is it you live this way?
They smell, they shed, they’re in the way..”
WHO ASKED YOU? is all I can say..

They love me more than anyone,
my voice is like the rising sun,
they merely have to hear me say
‘C’mon , time to go to sleep or play’

then meows are said and faces grin,
they bounce and hop and make a din.
They never say ‘no time for you’,
they’re always there, to GO and DO.

and if I’m sad? They’re by my side
and if I’m mad? they circle wide
and if I laugh, they laugh with me
they understand, they always see.

so once again, I say to you
come visit me, but know this too..

My cats live here, they’re here to stay.
you don’t like pets, be on your way.
they share my home, my food, my space
this is their home, this is their place..

———— Author Unknown

Last Saturday was the cat world’s equivalent of Crufts at the Birmingham NEC. An expensive day out by the time you’ve bought entry tickets and paid the extortionate £8 to park but a very enjoyable show.

Ocicats on show as exhibition only were Tia, a chocolate, (Fizz’s mum) and Jazzy, a chocolate Classic pattern. Stacie Shorten (Ameeka Cats) had put them in the same pen to show the two very different patterns that exist within the Ocicat breed. The pen constantly had people oohing and aahing at them, many who’d never come across an Ocicat before. One overheard comment was how they were the best looking cats in the show, one I couldn’t agree with more, but then I am biased! Stupidly I’d forgotten to recharge the battery in my camera so unfortunately no photo to share here.

Unfortunately there were only two other Ocicats in the show, one was our Fizz’s dad who made Grand Champion that day. Congrats Skipper! Our two have now got one Champion and two Grand champions in their parentage.

Yesterday I was 90% sure Lexi had already started to call, she’s only 5 1/2 months, just a baby herself still. Strangely, she’s been making the same noise Purdy makes just before she throws up, resulting in my dashing to put her in the kitchen - just in case - for the first few times until I cottoned on!  She also rolled around on her back a lot. Today I’m 100% sure she’s calling, she’s been howling most of her waking hours and also sticking her bum in the air and paddling her back legs.  I’ve told her she’ll have to keep them crossed for another 7 months yet!!

Fizz has been here just one week but already it seems like she’s been here forever. She’s quite placid compared to Lexi but more vocal and wants more cuddles whereas Lexi’s happy just bouncing off the walls! Her tummy was a bit upset for a day after we got her home but we put that down to the long journey home and stress of leaving her lovely home to live in our madhouse. We also made the mistake of leaving the two of them together the first night. So, for the following few nights we took Fizz to bed with us. She was as good as gold, hardly knew she was there. She’d snuggle right up into our neck and barely move all night.

Saturday night we had Lexi with us and Fizz slept in the conservatory with a friend who was staying the night. She’s a cat lover so was more than happy to share her bed with her. We thought that’d help Fizz get used to sleeping there in future. Well, Fizz and friend had a lovely, uninterrupted sleep while we were entertained all night with Lexi’s antics! At 2am she wanted to play fetch with her toy mouse, I had to hide it under my pillow! Then she found a cord hanging out of the wardrobe and played noisily with that for ages. Then she’d bounce onto the bed purring loudly and sit on us licking our faces and nuzzling us to wake up and play.

It was barely dawn when she decided to use her litter tray and stink us out……..needless to say, we were bleary eyed the next day and resolved that it was time for Fizz and Lexi to start sleeping in the same room overnight. They’d already been eating out of the same bowl for a couple of days which was a good sign but they’d yet to sleep curled up together or mutually groom. Last night they did both!!

We traveled up to Lincoln today to collect Ameeka Alabama Fizz. A small bundle of Tawny spots you can hold in one hand and who loves nothing more than snuggling up and being cuddled - adorable! It had been a hard decision choosing between the chocolate and the tawny but I’m sure we made the right one. She was so placid being held that, as she was meowing so much in the car, I got into the back seat with her, took her out of the carry cage and cuddled her all the way home - all 2+ hours of it.

Lexi’s a bit put out by her arrival and hisses at her at every opportunity but she did that with the dog for a few days too and now they’re best friends so I’m sure that they’ll be playing and sleeping together by the end of the week. The rest of the menagerie seem very accepting of her which is a relief. Just got Lexi to work on …………..

Last weekend we drove up to Lincoln to choose between 2 female cats in a large litter. They were Tia’s babies. Tia was the beautiful chocolate Ocicat we saw at a show that helped us decide that Ocicats were definitely the breed for us. The fact that she was hanging upside down in her owner’s arms (Stacie and Ian Shorten of Ameeka) and purring like a traction engine amongst all the hustle and bustle was a deciding factor, aside from her striking good looks of course! Now, 6 months later here we were amongst her beautiful babies, (she had 6 boys and 2 girls) having to choose between the chocolate and tawny girls. Both had the wonderful Ocicat character so there was nothing to choose between them there. But the tawny had such beautiful facial markings, both wild looking and so expressive, that we swayed towards her. Her coat is still a little fuzzy but in a few weeks she’ll be as smooth and silky as Lexi is now. She has an excellent pedigree, with both parents being bred at Thickthorn. Her pedigree name is Ameeka Alabama Fizz and we’ll collect her mid October.

We went to the Ocicat club show today. Often at the GCCF shows you can count the number of Ocicats being shown on one hand so it was nice to see a few more at a show dedicated to the breed. It was a much smaller show than others we’d been to of course but that made it friendlier and it was lovely to meet a few more breeders and catch up with some we already knew. Stacie (Ameeka) was exhibiting her classic patterned Jazzy and got some nice positive comments from the judges. Can’t wait to start exhibiting Lexi now!

Just before we got Lexi I ordered the Karen Pryor book about clicker training for cats. Knowing that Ocicats are highly intelligent and eager to learn I bought it more for me, so I could learn how to train a cat. Not much point getting it for Lexi as, clever though she is, she can’t read…..yet! The basis is very easy, you get a clicker (I’m currently using an empty mini stapler) and use it to teach the cat that a click earns a treat.

So far we’ve had a handful of sessions and she now comes to me when I call and follows a target around the room for clicks and treats. Today I thought I’d jump ahead a bit and see if I could get her to sit on command and it was a total doddle! I held a tiny piece of ham in my clenched fist just behind her head and as she automatically dropped her haunches down to see what I’d got I clicked and gave her the ham. Less than 5 attempts later she was sitting on command. I wonder how long it’d take to teach her to do the dusting………..