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 62 - August 19, 2004
Our Potters are doing very well but are causing their mum a lot of grief. At the moment, Cacao is spending more time during the day away from her babies than she is with them. She really does need a break and they are so very demanding of her time as you can see by one of the photos below! I was a little annoyed today to find even more of my chair had been ripped to shreds with yellow foam all over the floor. I really don't know why I even bother to sweep/clean up when they make such a mess within minutes of having a clean room. The babies had quite a bit of fun wrestling on the dining room table late last night as well as today. It's really nice to see them out and about in the main part of the house.



Day 61 - August 18, 2004
By late yesterday afternoon, I was thrilled to see that our babies had become so much more braver. The Siamese babies were running up and down the stairs and the hallway then back into the downstairs part of the room. Harry would always poke his head around the door first though to see if he felt it was "safe" to come through, however Ron and Hermione were just zooming around everywhere. Even Madam Hooch and McGonagall were happy to sit out and play in the cat run while Kahlua was in there. I'm so relieved as normally I break in the "house socialisation" much more gently than I have this time around. The problem is that the Potters seem so much more timid than any other litter we've had. None of our other litters have been like this when confronted with our other cats etc. It's for this reason that I decided to get tough with them and force them to interact with the household with seemingly no protection from either myself or their mum. It seemed a bit cruel but at 8 1/2 weeks of age, they need to be used to other animals and general household activities. While ever they were in the back room with the glass doors shut, they were happy to put up with anything that went on in the house, but for some reason, when the door was opened, they all panicked and became incredibly nervous. Thank goodness it seemed to have worked without backfiring and turning them all into nervous wrecks. I'm sure that over the next couple of weeks, their confidence will grow and all will be fine. The majority of these babies are going to homes where there are already established cats in the household so it's so very, very important that they are well and truly used to other cats before leaving me. I didn't name each individual photo this time around as I was trying to save myself some time and also because even I am finding it rather difficult to tell Hermione and Ron apart when I look at their faces.




Day 60 - August 17, 2004
Well I can now confirm that Hermione is our bravest baby of all. As soon as I came downstairs this morning, I opened up the kitten room door (after hubby had fed the Potters). The Potters took some tentative steps into the main dining/lounge area, saw Sambuca and Drambuie and bolted back to "their" room for safety, all except for Hermione. She simply strolled through the house, exploring different areas and then climbed up onto the sofa, sat on a pillow and surveyed her new territory. The door will be left open for most of the day and the Potters are going to have no choice but to get used to the fact that other cats live here and they are going to either sink or swim so to speak. Cacao is enjoying the fact that she has more space and when she goes on her walkabouts, she periodically goes looking for the babies and when she finds them, she grooms the tops of their heads and then walks away again. I guess this is her way of reassuring them that even though she's not there constantly, she is never really that far away. When the Potters had their main "play time" today, I was pleased to see them all venture into the main part and do some exploring.

Day 59 - August 16, 2004
Today is our wedding anniversary and the last 2 of my R's left me today so it's been a day of ups and downs. Again the Potters were given access to the whole of the downstairs and again, Harry was the baby who really was the most unsure. Ron, Hermione and McGonagall were quite okay with the situation. What didn't help with Madam Hooch is that Tia Maria growled and hissed at her which obviously petrified her and sent her running straight into the back room looking her most bushiest. I really need to concentrate on getting the Potters out and about a bit more and socialising a lot more which is what I'll be doing from here onwards. They are still spending a lot of time out in the cat run. Cacao is still calling (rather loudly) and she's still been spending time away from her babies as I think she still looks rather tired and not at her best. I'm hoping that time away from the demands of the Potters will soon help to sort her out.

Day 58 - August 15, 2004
I learnt today that Harry really is a big scaredy baby, followed by Madam Hooch. Neither of those 2 are particularly comfortable with other cats at the moment and they both actually have little sessions where they scare each other! At the moment I'm calling them my Bush Babies as they seem to have very busy tails and their hair standing on end quite a bit when they are walking around. This tells me that it's time to open up the back room and allow them to wander around the downstairs part of the house and allow the older cats to "check out" the Potters. They were allowed 2 hours of this yesterday and it didn't go too badly. Some of the Potters were much more comfortable with the freedom than others.

Day 57 - August 14, 2004
Diary entries for the next couple of days will be relatively short. Reason being is that the Olympics has now started and swimming is always held first. Being an Aussie and having great swimmers like Thorpe and Hackett means I'm glued to the TV for the next few days or so. Our Potters had some wonderful visits today with their new owners, Debbie/Gary (Madam Hooch) and John (McGonagall). It was lovely to meet the owners as I hadn't previously met they and they are all lovely people. There is still very little interest in wet food so I've just about given up on it. I personally feel that tinned/pouch/foil food should only ever be given as a treat anyway and as dry biscuits are their main diet, the Potters will be sticking with that and the mixture I make up for them. Madam Hooch and Hermione can both now climb up the tree in the cat run. Hermione was able to get back down on her own whereas Madam Hooch half climbs, half falls down! I'm sure with practice she will get much better.

Day 56 - August 13, 2004 (8 weeks old today)
Our Potters are now 8 weeks old and thriving. I've had both Hermione and McGonagall sharing my chair with me quite a bit today. As usual, the room was a disaster zone yet again as there was even more foam from my chair all over the floor! I've been having a bit more success with other foods in the last 24-48 hours. I've been mixing very small amounts of tinned/foil food in with their milk mixture and they've all been eating it. Once they realised it was either that or nothing, they suddenly changed their minds about how they didn't really object that much. I really do doubt though that they will ever be fond of any wet foods and dry food will always be their preference. Cacao is looking rather shattered at the moment and looking very thin which I don't like to see. She was like this with her first litter as well and the problem is that she gives everything she has to her babies and it's obviously quite draining on her. I'm going to start moving her away from them for part of the day now I think as she really could do with a break. Our little ones are booked in for the first set of vaccinations on Friday next week and I do hope that it will go well. While I think of it, I must tell you all that I can now confirm that Ron, Harry and Hermione are definitely Seal Points and not Blue Points as originally thought and the babies' registration form will be sent in on Monday of next week. The Potters didn't want to co-operate for photo sessions today and totally objected to coming out of the carrier.