Pardalis Ocicats

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………..

Lexi had her first visit to our converted garage where we’ve constructed a safe, secure and fun place for her to be when we’re not home. We probably won’t use it much until we get our second kitten so they can be company for each other, but it’s handy to have somewhere we can put them when we can’t have them in the house for any reason.

There’s a short video of her enjoying her visit on the gallery page.

When we put the ladder up to the highest section we thought a kitten’s little legs would never manage to clamber up it but she proved us wrong!

Lexi’s been here just over a week now and is very much part of our family. She’s getting more and more confident and will now tolerate Basil being in the same room without leaping onto the nearest chair to be higher than he is. I’m trying to type this while she’s climbing all over the keyboard, not an easy task but she’s so sweet with it I can’t tell her off! Today she’s tried to climb up a wall after a fly, knocking over a vase in the process. I’d just cleared up that mess when she knocked a plant off a stand, going after the same pesky fly! She seems to have just 2 modes, full speed or fast asleep!

Today we collected our very first Ocicat kitten, Silversmoke Pocahontas, a chocolate Classic, from Ron and Barbara Darby down in Kent. Lexi, as we’ve named her, settled in brilliantly and much quicker than we’d anticipated. She’s a whirlwind bundle of fun and such a little beauty! We just melt when she looks at us with those almond eyes. As she settled in so well, we introduced her to our other two cats the same day.

Kolo, our red tabby, puffed himself up just so she knew who was boss. Just a couple of hours later, she was playing with his tail! Purdy had been a bit more of a worry as she’s 16 and we didn’t want to upset her, but she’s been wonderful and Lexi took to her right away. She wasn’t quite so impressed, however, with our Jack Russell, Basil, she’s got a very loud growl for a little’un!

Cats are Wonderful Friends
Author Unknown

Gentle eyes that see so much,
paws that have the quiet touch,
Purrs to signal all is well
and show more love than words could tell.
Graceful movements touched with pride,
a calming presence by our side –
A friendship that takes time to grow –
Small wonder why we love them so.