Day 54 - August 23, 2007

There are no kitten diaries for today because we left the house at about 11:30am and didn't arrive back home until about 5pm so all the babies were fed just before we left, and then again as soon as we came home but obviously they all have countless bowls of kitten biscuits in their rooms. None of the babies appeared to have destroyed anything in our absence which was a relief :)

Day 53 - August 22, 2007

Due to an email I had from one of our kitten families yesterday, I would like to clarify 2 points regarding our Nuts. Firstly, yes, their registrations should definitely be back in time for when the babies leave, even if I don't register the litter just yet. Provided they are registered by 10 weeks of age, then there is no reason that their paperwork will not be back. The worry was that I had previously mentioned about not registering the babies yet due to Pecan's pattern, and there were concerns that this meant the babies registrations would not be back in time. Secondly, yes they will be registered with the GCCF, the same as the rest of our litters for 2007. It is from next year onwards that all Schimmel kittens will be registered with TICA instead of the GCCF. Our Nuts really are such funny little people and the older they get, the more chaotic they tend to become. All 4 of our Nuts have their father's determination and strength of character which is not really a bad thing and while they are all incredibly similar in their personalities, just like every other litter, each baby has their own special personality quirks. For example, Pistachio loves to have his flanks and his tummy tickled and this is something he will put up with for hours on end. He's also a very soft and loving boy just like Ashanti. Then there is Macadamia and he is the "thinker" in the litter, he is also the one who loves the company of the rest of the kittens and Macadamia is a happy little soul. If he has kittens to play with, and mum's to love him, then all is right in his world. Cashew can be a bit of a poser, and he can also be a little terror when it comes to stalking and pouncing on the rest of the gang. He is not as large as Pecan but he is quite stubborn and incredibly agile. Pecan, well, he loves to explore, he is incredibly brave and he's also quite a patient young chap because he is forever putting up with me picking him up to examine his pattern and he never wriggles or complains. He will possibly eat his new mum and dad out of house and home and despite being still slightly lighter in weight than Pistachio, he absolutely loves his food.

Day 52 - August 21, 2007

Many apologies as there are no photos today because I've just not had any time at all sorry and even though it's only half way through the day, I still have an awful lot to get through this afternoon.

We have now made a decision regarding our Nuts and vaccinations. If you have read our kitten diaries for our older babies, you will be no doubt aware that put back all the babies' vaccinations until the younger ones were ready to be vaccinated and we had everyone done at the same time. In some ways, this was a good thing, in other ways, it has caused a couple of problems, the largest of which being that many of our kitten families are now not getting their older babies until they are 4 months of age and slightly older. I know, from having spoken with many of our kitten families that waiting all that longer for their babies has been difficult. Due to this, we have decided that our Nuts are going to be vaccinated when they should, at 9 weeks of age, as will the Detectives and the Water Babies. This now means that our Nuts first set of kitten vaccinations will be approximately September 3. Their 2nd set of vaccinations will be approximately September 24, meaning that our Nuts will be able to leave home at the "normal" age, any time from September 30 onwards. Of course this does mean I had better make up my mind, one way or the other, about Pecan's pattern. I can say that the more I look at him, and his diminishing pattern, and the more I look closely at the individual hairs on his coat, the more inclined I am to believe he is a Brown Oriental Ticked Tabby. It's actually quite nice to have a Ticked, and a Spotted, in the same litter :)

Day 51 - August 20, 2007

Yes I did manage to take individual photos of our children today and fortunately, they were much better behaved than 3 of our Water Babies were :) Normally, at this point in the babies' lives, I would be filling in the registration form to send off so that it would be back in plenty of time for our new owners. Unfortunately however, these babies will not be registered for quite a while yet solely because of Pecan. I have no doubts at all that Pistachio is definitely a Blue Spotted Tabby. This is extremely evident and whilst there is still more linkage than I would like to see in a Spotted, there is plenty of time for it to break up but he is certainly a Spotted. Obviously, Cashew is an Oriental Black and Macadamia is a Seal Tabby Point Siamese, so there are no worries with any of those 3 babies. This brings me to Pecan.........................the older he gets, the more confusing his pattern is becoming so much so that at this point in time, I'm thinking along the lines of him possibly ending up a Ticked Tabby. His spots are definitely starting to disappear. There is no way on earth he is a Classic, and as we know, Mackerels in Orientals do not exist. This really does only leave me with Ticked. In which case, that would be interesting, our first Oriental Ticked Tabby. Now I could of course register the babies and then if his pattern were to change, it would be a case of re-registering Pecan but that is not a road I wish to go down, particularly as there is a possibility that his new family may put him on the show bench (please, please, TICA or FB only!!!!) in which case, we can't afford to make any mistakes when it comes to registering him. It's very interesting and I'm rather desperately hoping that Teen of Maroochydore Siamese & Orientals will read this entry, look at the photos and give me her own opinions.

Day 50 - August 19, 2007

I didn't get any diary entries online yesterday as I had a bit of a "lazy" day and then today I didn't get a chance to do any photos because by the time I'd finished all the floors, it was time to do the tropical aquarium. We set aside 2 days every month for the fish tank and it's on these days that the water is removed, replaced, the filters replaced, the pump pulled apart and cleaned out etc. etc. and as you can probably imagine, this is quite a large job so by the time that was finished, there was barely enough time to get entries online, let alone photos. I'm hoping to make up for this tomorrow with individual photos of our babies.

I am truly delighted with our Nuts progress at 7 weeks of age. Each of our 4 children are doing everything that they should be at this age and it's wonderful to see them becoming so independent now. Pistachio and Pecan still have a constant battle in the weight department each day to see who is the biggest of the 2 babies. For the past few days Pistachio has been winning, however, may well change as up until this point they have been taking it in turns as to who is the largest. Out of the 2, Pistachio loves his food more than Pecan does. Pecan would much rather create mischief than go running to the plate at meal times whereas even in the middle of play, if a plate of food is put down, Pistachio heads straight for the food, regardless of what else he may have been doing at the time. Cashew and Macadamia are certainly not as big as their 2 tabby brothers, but they are doing very well and I'm more than happy with both of them. Macadamia is the athlete in the family as he is the one most inclined to climb to the very top of everything he can, or to balance as he walks along the tops of furniture that he really shouldn't be on. Cashew is more interested in wrestling and pouncing than he is with anything else in life. As far as he is concerned, life is about having fun, and annoying the rest of the babies wherever possible but he does have such a charming way about him.

Day 49 - August 18, 2007

There is no entry for today.