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 7 weeks old now!

The Dancers have been having an absolute ball of a time today running throughout the house with all the other babies. I have to laugh at Lambada and Tango though because they look so very funny as they are running about and they always chase Sheridans as soon as they see him. I have no idea why Sheridans runs from them but he is certainly getting a lot of exercise. Lambada also keeps going up to Galliano when Galliano is standing at the food bowls, and he walks underneath him, put his mouth up and starts searching for nipples. No matter how many times I have explained to Lambada that Galliano has no milk for him, he still insists on trying. Poor Galliano is horrified at this and has no idea how to react to this little black creature nuzzling at him. Bolero, Calypso & Salsa are making the most of having so much more space and you wouldn't believe the wrestling matches that have been taking place between our 3 Red babies. They also have been exploring the front hallway and the lounge room. At least with the Reds, unlike the Blacks, I never lose them because it's always so easy to spot their vibrant colour. On more than one occasion today I've had to go searching for the Black babies because I've not been able to see them. It is good though to see all 5 of our Dancers enjoying themselves and their freedom.

At this stage, there are no photos yet because the babies are all sound asleep on their bed and I think that sleeping photos can tend to become rather boring so when they are awake this afternoon, I will try and get some pics to add to the entry. I just wanted to get the entry online because if I don't do it now while it's quiet, I never will!

This entry isn't about the Dancers at all but is actually about names. I had an email yesterday from one of our babies' new owners with regards to all the different names the kittens have and I think that when I mentioned their "official names" in the diary entries recently that perhaps I've now confused some of you. What I've done in this entry is explain the naming situation of Schimmel babies.

When we have litters, unlike some breeders, I actually give the babies names while they are with me because even though they don't stay with me, I could never refer to a baby as an "it" or "hey you", so that's why they end up with names like the Dancers, or the Chocolate Bars. I choose a different theme for each litter. I refer to the babies by these names for the 13 weeks they are here.

Now all the babies will obviously get given new pet names (the names that you, their new owners will be calling them once you have them) when they move in with you because you are not going to want to call them by the names that I chose while they are here with me. I do say to owners that if you've chosen their pet names before you come to pick your babies up, let me know and I will include their pet names on their pedigree certificates as well.

Then the babies must have official names which is their registered name. Each baby we breed is registered with the GCCF (Governing Council of the Cat Fancy). The GCCF is the official governing body in the UK. The other governing body in the UK is FB (Felis Britannica). Our prefix which is SCHIMMEL is registered with the GCCF. So what happens when a litter is born, is that we register each baby with the GCCF and we have to request a registered name for each baby. These names must all begin with our prefix. So each baby will all be called: Schimmel Something or Other.

An example of this is Drambuie. When Drambuie was born, her litter theme was the "Warriors" and Drambuie was called Calisto for the first 13 weeks of her life, then she became Drambuie which is her pet name and what we call her, however her official name which is what she is entered in shows as, and what is on the pedigree certificates is: Schimmel Shesadream.

Kittens with radiator beds are happy kittens, particularly the Dancers. They were most upset with me for removing their radiator bed yesterday morning to wash it and when I put it back on that same afternoon, they were overjoyed. I think that Lambada and Tango were the happiest of all because to be fair, they were having difficult getting down off the tubs as they are smaller than everyone else. I have now told them (and all the babies) that if they don't want to lose their bed again, perhaps they should try and keep it a bit cleaner. Mind you, I am sure my words fell on large, deaf ears. One rather odd thing that I've noticed about the Dancers is that they all like to use the litter tray at the same time. Normally, a Red Dancer will decide to go to the toilet and get into the tray and within minutes of him doing that, the other Dancers all follow suit and I end up with 5 babies all stuffed inside the tray going to the toilet at the same time. I do not know why they do this but they are very similar to a bunch of giggling girls at a nightclub all going to the loo at once to gossip.

I'm going to be curious to see (hopefully?) photos of our Dancers when they are a year old to see how they turned out because when I look at them now, there is such a difference in size/bone structure between the Red Dancers and the Black Dancers. One of the fun parts of breeding is watching my babies mature and develop in the 13-14 weeks that they are with me and I think it's fascinating that you can get such different babies in one litter. At this stage though, the 5 Dancers' personalities are all very similar and they are all outgoing, confident little babies which I am really pleased about. Mind you, this does make it difficult at times to tell Calypso, Bolero & Salsa apart as they all look so very similar and because their personalities are the same, I do have to look at them very closely to determine who is who.

The Dancers have been so incredibly active all morning. They are actually sound asleep now and the room is so peaceful which is why I'm rushing to get the entries online whilst I still have a bit of time to myself. When they are all awake and playing it's very difficult to try and get anything done in the back room at all. Lambada & Tango are the smallest of all 11 babies, however this does not stop them from doing anything at all. They have no qualms about getting into the thick of the battles and if anything, Lambada is probably now the bravest of all Dancers as so far, he is phased by absolutely nothing at all. Lambada also now eats dry kitten biscuits! While Marie & Rowland were here last night, all 3 of us witnessed him eating the biscuits for the first time ever. It was really great that his owners were here to witness his first dry food meal and they also managed to get a photo of it :) Now we just have to get Tango to eat it as well and then I'll be happy as he is the only one who still won't touch the kitten biscuits.

Many thanks to Bolero's owner, Jacqui, for pointing out (to the entire world) today that my wording with regards to Lambada eating the biscuits made it seem as if the biscuits were eating Lambada! I've now changed this so that I don't look quite as insane as I actually am.

Apologies for not getting the entries online until the following day but today was very hectic. Lambada and Bolero gave me such a giggle today as Sheridans & Tia Lusso were visiting the kitten room to check out who all these new kittens were. Despite Lusso's growls at the babies, Lambada was not phased at all, he kept going up to Lusso and putting his face right in hers. On more that one occasion he started nuzzling underneath up looking for nipples which she was most unimpressed with. Undaunted, he then though he'd give Sheridans a go and the look of surprise on Sheridans face was simply priceless. Sheridans was trying to be a great big scary man by running at the babies but he got such a shock when Lambada ran after him and then chased him out of the room. Sheridans then came back about 10 minutes later and this time, it was Bolero who chased him out of the room. It was really funny to watch this great big boy running away from 2 small kittens. Lambada had some cuddles with his new owners last night. Marie and Rowland hadn't seen him for a couple of weeks now and whilst I don't personally notice it, they both noticed he had grown quite a bit which is really great. He did put on a good display of his athletic skills by climbing the scratch post, jumping on the radiator bed, only to miss the bed, catch the end of it and swing back off it onto the floor.

The photos are all rather boring and very similar today as we are all tired after yesterday's exciting event called the Schimmel Cats Photo Shoot. As said in the other entries today, it's not really much of an entry at all and is in fact, rather boring. I did have good intentions to take lots of photos of the babies playing again but by the time I finished all the litter trays and other household bits and pieces, they had gone back to sleep and have remained so ever since. At least while they are sleeping I have the opportunity to get the diaries online without having to stop every 5 minutes to remove the Dancers from my legs which they still insist on climbing on a daily basis.