The dreaded day has finally arrived and a very short while ago, my darling Blackberry left me which for me, is so very sad, but for Jason and Mandi, it's so very exciting to be taking home their new family member. It's always so lovely to see Jason and Mandi because they are simply 2 of the nicest people you could ever meet and Blackberry is going to be spoilt rotten and will have a truly wonderful home where I have no doubts in my mind at all that she will be loved and cared for as much as she has been here. She is also very lucky that she will have a big brother to play with called Siam and I am sure it won't be long before they are best of friends and getting into lots of mischief. About 15 minutes after Blackberry left, her sister was looking rather lonely and we will be giving Loganberry lots of special attention over the next few days although she still has her mum who still cuddles up with her and grooms her. It will now be a case of waiting to see which of our youngest cats she will choose to play with. I also received a lovely surprise by Jason and Mandi in the form of a bottle of Amarula and a bottle of Cointreau. These were such very good choices because Amarula is a South African liqueur and Jason and Mandi come from South Africa and they also adore our own glossy black Amarula. Cointreau was a very natural choice as from this day forth, Loganberry becomes Cointreau. The only photos in today's entry are of Blackberry because this is her "Special Day" and it was unfortunate that she refused to come out of the linen cupboard where she had been snoozing with her grandma.

I guess this means that we have come to the end of another Schimmel Kitten Diary. In fact, this is our final kitten diary for 2005 and I look back now and think it's nothing short of a miracle that our beautiful Berries are the strong, healthy, confident babies that they are today. We had such heartbreak at the start of this diary and by Day 10, I was just in total utter despair and felt such immense heartbreak and I truly couldn't see any light at the end of the tunnel. Despite having numerous tests done by our vets at the time, the only result that came back was that Sami was showing some e-coli present in her vagina, which in itself is obviously not normal as e-coli is found in the gut. However, this result still wouldn't have been the cause of our losses so we are none the wiser. It's so very sad because sometimes kittens die for no apparent reason (generally referred to as FKS - Fading Kitten Syndrome) and causes of kitten losses remain unknown which is very hard for any breeder to accept. To lose a baby is painful enough but to lose a baby without ever finding a reason is horrific. However, on Day 11, my remaining 2 Berries, Loganberry & Cointreau had turned the corner and started making massive weight gains and from that day onwards they just thrived and now 13 weeks later, one is now in her fabulous new home (well not quite yet I guess as Jason and Mandi will still be on the road travelling), and Loganberry is creating havoc in our own home. These 2 babies are very special indeed as they had it so tough at the beginning but they hung in there and fought and their courage, and our prayers prove that even when we are in our darkest hour, we should never give up hope. Thank you, from the bottom of my heart to my family for their support and help, to my friends for their advice, support and prayers, to my wonderful vet, Andy, and to anyone who has taken the time to read this diary and share the Berries first 13 weeks of life. Thank you to my very good friend Maureen as Maureen was the person who gave the Berries their fantastic names. Lastly, but certainly not least, many, many thanks to Jason and Mandi for giving one of my precious babies such warm, secure and loving home. For those of you who do follow the diaries regularly, hopefully you will be pleased to know that at some point next week we will have a new pregnancy diary on the web site for our next litter as we may be expecting babies in January, 2006...........................................