Schimmel Siamese & Oriental Cats are Oriental cat breeders based in Oxford, UK. We sometimes have Oriental and Siamese kittens for sale. We also have 2 Oriental Stud Cats and online kitten diaries.

We are 11 weeks old today!

Day 76 - October 9, 2005

Today's entries are almost all the same and are extremely short with no photos. The reason for this is that Graham and I left at 4am this morning to drive to Cheshire to pick up our fabulous new Oriental Black Tortie breeding girl. As it has been such a long journey and the remainder of my day needs to be spent with bonding with our new girl, and making sure she is not stressed or unhappy. It is so very different for me to be on the "other side of things" and bringing home a new girl myself. All the advice and common sense that I'm forever telling our own new owners has quite literally gone from my mind.

I think our Chocolate Bars were more affected by this morning's confinement than any of the other babies because they are so used to having the run of the house so there were most displeased with not being allowed out of the back room until the adult humans arrived home from their long journey. Whispa and Buttons were not even interested in eating their meal that I gave them upon our return, they just wanted their freedom. Twix and Crunchie on the other hand will never turn down a plate of food and once they had fully satisfied their hunger, like everyone else, they ran out the door and have remained in the other parts of the house ever since.

Day 75 - October 8, 2005

We received the Chocolate Bars registration paperwork back this morning so that now means that with just 3 weeks to go I'd best make a start on all the kitten owner paperwork which is the boring side of breeding. It's been a really nice day for Buttons today as she has had visits from her new owners, Diane & Spencer (they are also having Tango). The babies were all sleeping when their mum and dad arrived and I had to wake them up just so they could have some cuddles with their babies. Unfortunately, Buttons was much more interested in going back to sleep than he was in his new parents. It's fairly safe to say that last night was the absolute last time the babies are given access during dinner because they were all over us and constantly jumping up on the table again. You can see by a couple of the photos below that Twix didn't hesitate to have some nibbles at the remains.

Day 74 - October 7, 2005

I have now come to the conclusion that allowing the babies to run throughout the house during dinner time was probably not the best idea in the world. Normally when we eat dinner, we put all of our cats in the upstairs part of the house so we can eat in peace, however, the babies remain downstairs and can go where ever they like. This has worked out really well up until the point where the babies started growing. The more they have grown, the more they can reach by jumping up on things. You can imagine my surprise when I was enjoying a meal of chicken and pasta when a seal coloured paw popped up onto the table and hooked a piece of pasta from my plate!!! It was Whispa and she had climbed up the tablecloth unbeknownst to me and then put her paw in my dinner. I removed her, put her back on the floor, when Buttons then jumped up onto one of the chairs and jumped straight up onto the table almost landing in my dinner. I then pushed the chair far away from the table so if the babies jumped up on it, they wouldn't be able to get to the table. The Chocolate Bars were really intrigued by this whole "meal" situation and couldn't understand why I didn't want them on the table.

Day 73 - October 6, 2005

I think this would have to be the first week in ages that so far I'm managing to get photos in each entry however I did cheat a bit and took these images last night and not today. Actually, I think that if I put photos in, then the new owners won't mind that there isn't as much text. I do love doing the diaries, but some days, there really isn't a great deal to write about. I must confess to spoiling Whispa more than the other Chocolate Bars. I don't know why but there is something about her that really appeals to me and I'm forever picking her up and carrying her around the house which is probably a very bad habit to get into! Of an evening, I always pick her up and take her upstairs to bed during visiting times and let her snuggle with me. She really is a sweetheart. Twix is becoming a real little "man" now, probably more so than Crunchie actually. It seems as if overnight, Twix has got that real male look and stance about him. Buttons & Crunchie at this stage are happy to fit in with the crowd and it doesn't matter who wants to play with them, they are always willing and ready to get involved.

Day 72 - October 5, 2005

Just like Mrs T, Whispa spent quite a bit of time on the bed with us for cuddles last night during visiting time. His brother and sisters weren't interested in visiting us as they were having way too much fun chasing each other up and down the hallway and in and out of the bathroom. It's hard to believe that 4 tiny babies can make so much noise when they are running about and playing. I had to laugh at Crunchie yesterday when he was running through the lounge room because he was being chased by Twix and because he was in such a hurry, he was paying no attention to where he was going and ran straight into the lounge. Fortunately, the lounge was soft and he was not hurt. He got his own back later on Twix though by chasing him straight into one of the water bowls!

Day 71 - October 4, 2005

Now here's a question I don't have an answer to. Why is it, when the babies are given free reign and full house access all day and night, do I find them all sound asleep at about midnight, all on the tub in the back room? One would think that as they can now sleep wherever they want of an evening, they would pick other places yet every single baby returns to the back room when it's time to sleep for the night. I guess that this is their "security blanket" room. I must admit that it does make it easier when it comes to trying to count them if they have already put themselves in bed. I've been keeping a close eye on Whispa today because as when she was playing games with Calypso on the sofa, I spotted her about to climb up the curtains and I am not prepared to encourage this bad habit. We've not had a curtain climber yet in 11 litters and I don't plan on Whispa being the first. Admittedly, she was trying to get away from Calypso at the time and I guess that going up was as good a choice as any when someone is "after" you. The sofa and the dining table/chairs are the main play rooms for the babies although, more often than not today, whenever I have been upstairs, it hasn't been unusual to encounter some of the Chocolate Bars up there.

Day 70 - October 3, 2005 - 10 weeks old today!

The time is really starting to fly by now and it's difficult me to accept that in just 26 days time, our Chocolate Bars will be leaving us, all except for Buttons who won't be leaving until approximately November 11 as he will be sharing his home with Tango. We are lucky that we will have him an extra couple of weeks. Today's photos are really quite bad because the babies will simply not stay still long enough to have their photos taken. I spent most of my time following them around the dining/lounge area in the hopes that I could get a decent photo but it wasn't to be. Just to prove that I really have lost the plot now, last night, I was doing a baby count of the Chocolate Bars and the T's just to make sure everyone was still okay and I was missing a baby. I searched everywhere, to no avail, I even dragged Graham and our daughter down to help me look and still nothing. Then I thought rather than try to count the Siamese, I should make a note of each baby that I could see and then ascertain who was missing. I went through the list twice and it didn't make sense to me. Eventually, it occurred to me that I was looking for 6 Siamese babies and we only have 5 Siamese babies! Where I got 6 from I have no idea but I had spent 20 minutes panicking over a missing baby that didn't exist in the first place. As you can tell by the photos below, the Chocolate Bars are getting into anything and everything throughout the house and are having lots of fun exploring places that they really shouldn't be. Whispa, bless her, managed to knock down a clock ornament yesterday afternoon from one of the units but fortunately, it remained in one piece.