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.

Kitten Diaries

Cacao

June 2004

Birth

Week 1

Week 2

Week 3

Week 4

Week 5

Week 6

Week 7

Week 8

Week 9

Week 10

Week 11

Week 12

Week 13

Cacao's 2nd Kitten Diary - June 2004 to October 2004

Day 27 - July 15, 2004
The box has finally gone at long last! When I first went into the kitten room this morning, to my surprise, the Potters were sleeping in the box part of their scratch post and no one was in the kitten box at all. I took this as a very good sign that they'd had enough of being little babies and wanted a new house. I removed the box and all it's bedding and have put a large, soft cat bed down on the floor for them which they really seem to prefer. Every time I went back into the room, the Potters were all in the large bed with their mum so I'm really happy now that they are starting to grow up a bit. I was amazed to see that Madam Hooch and McGonagall can now also scramble up to the sofa bed and sit on top of their little scratch centre. Harry also was seen walking along the top of the ottoman so it looks like our babies are now going to start creating havoc. Every single baby has the bad habit of climbing up my legs now so quite a lot of my time is spent removing babies who are swinging from my legs as I walk. The best option is to actually sit on the floor in the kitten room and let them all just come up an sit on my lap because at least that way, my legs are left alone. Weaning is still going slowly, however this morning, I actually managed to get Ron to have some licks of the mixture for the first time since we started so that was very encouraging.




Day 26 - July 14, 2004
Madam Hooch, or Zoom Baby as I have gotten into the bad habit of calling her, really made me laugh when I was weaning the Potters this morning. I had Ron on my lap, trying to show him that the food is good and I wasn't really trying to poison him, when she suddenly came running out from behind the box at full speed towards me. The problem of course was that she didn't even see the saucer of mixture in front of her so she ran straight through the saucer, mixture went everywhere and it didn't even slow her down. She continued to run, leaving a trail of dripping food behind her, until she reached her destination which was unfortunately my lap and promptly proceeded to climb on me to have a cuddle and soaked me in the process. Weaning is still going okay. No major developments but I have decided that as both Ron and Madam Hooch are are smallest babies, I'm going to concentrate more on those 2 than the other 3. Particularly as the other 3 will all eat from the saucer once they've had a bit of encouragement. Whenever I stand up to leave the room now, the Potters all follow very closely on my heels and make it very difficult for me to get out the door. By the time next week comes, I shall be leaving their door open so they have the full run of the upstairs hallway (I will block off the stairs access), as the R's will be living downstairs permanently by next week.





Day 25 - July 13, 2004
WOOOOOHHHHHHHOOOOOOOOOO!! 3 of the Potters will now lap their kitten mixture from a saucer so I'm over the moon. Of course when I first go in there, they still need to lick the mixture from my fingers for a few seconds and then they will go to the saucer but I'm really pleased. The babies that are eating from the saucer are: Harry (naturally), McGonagall and Hermione so I just need to work a bit harder with Hooch who did actually lick it from my fingers but wouldn't touch the saucer, and Ron who isn't interested yet at all. I'm still amazed at how loud the Potters are. They squeal as soon as they see me, they squeal when they are running around playing and they are only ever quiet when they are feeding or when they are asleep which fortunately it still quite a lot. McGonagall was showing me how clever she was today by climbing my leg from my ankle right up past my knee. Naturally I gave her a cuddle and told her I was very impressed with her climbing skills, before going to clean up all the scratches where her very fine claws have dug into me. They're at that age now where I really need to remember to wear very thick trousers when I'm with them because their claws are lethal. They are still running around like mad and they are really getting into their little kitten games with each other now and are learning how to play which is always very fascinating. One of the R's new owners and I were on the phone today discussing the babies and how sad it must be when they leave me to go to their new homes which is so very true, however, one consolation is that I am lucky enough to have the babies for what I consider to be the most important time of their lives. I can watch them being born and then watch their changes and developments from tiny little babies who barely move, into lively, loving, active kittens and the changes are so miraculous so I do think I get to see the best part of it all. You may notice that I've now added the baby's names to their photos when you click on the large images. I had an email today from one of the Potter's possible new owners and she had sent me one of the photos asking if the baby in the photo was who she thought it was. I've been really slack in not putting their names on the images so I'm making a concerted effort to start doing that as of today so at least you will all know which baby is which :)





Day 24 - July 12, 2004
Weaning is going very slowly with the Potters but as I've only tried about 3 times with them, it's no surprise. I have no doubts at all in my mind that they will pick it up very quickly. After a very busy weekend, things are starting to get back to normal a little so I'm hoping that daily updates will be done as per usual now. Cacao really loves weaning time because she gets to finish off whatever the babies don't eat. I do remove her from the room though during the weaning meal times because it's very difficult to try and wean babies with mum around. The Potters are at the stage now where they are learning how to play which is really lovely. I've seen some little wrestling matches going on and Madam Hooch had me in hysterics last night. Out of all the babies she is the "zoommiest" one of all. In other words, while everyone else is moving at a normal pace, Madam Hooch constantly moves at full speed and last night she was even practicing her stalking technique which was incredibly funny. I was very impressed actually because at only 23 days old, she was already learning how to hunt her litter mates.