Expected Litter out of Schimmel Double Intention x Ch Aportent Mixedminx

Babies have been born. Please Click Here for Toussaint's Kitten Diary.

This will be the last entry in Toussaint's pregnancy diary as she is due between October 8th and October 10, so there's not really that long at all to go now. During the day time, Toussaint spends her time in the room with Graham where she can have some peace and quiet away from our other cats, then of an evening, she is in our bedroom all night long. She has her own kitten box now which she appears to be very happy with and she is spending a lot of time in there during the day. This way, we can monitor her progress day and evening. Last night, Graham and I were both a bit concerned because up until then, we still hadn't felt any babies move at all and we did discuss whether or not we should actually take her to the vets for an ultrasound to see what is going on. My problem with this is, that if the babies are not alive, then all an ultrasound will do is show that, she would still have to deliver them regardless, and it's not worth putting her through the stress of a visit to the vets. However, at some ridiculous early hour of the morning (I was waiting to do the next syringe feed for little Boule), we were delighted to not only feel babies kicking, but they were also moving in "waves" along her body. So obviously, they had just been snoozing before. Toussaint is still very well in herself and she is a very happy girl indeed now that she is sharing her mum and dad's bed again. As it stands at the moment, I am still hoping for no more than 3 or 4 babies as that will be a lovely size for her first time mum but I guess we will know soon enough. Please check back from Sunday onwards to find our whether or not we have news on the new arrivals.

Many apologies for missing last week's entry. The birth of Drambuie's babies had created an awful lot of extra work and I have just been running out of time. Toussaint is doing amazingly well and we are having no problems with her at all. As you should be able to tell by today's photos, she is positive blooming and so far, she is taking the pregnancy in her stride and is still not bothered by her condition at all. Her appetite is now incredibly large but that is no surprise with only a couple of weeks remaining. She's recently become very loving towards Ice and he has been wonderful with her. They sleep curled up on the chair together (I kicked him off to take photos for today), and he is constantly grooming her which is really lovely. Of course when he isn't grooming her, she is on my shoulders grooming me. Some things never change. I'm really starting to get excited now about the colours she will produce and how many Siamese we will get in comparison with Orientals.

I'm really pleased with how well Toussaint is progressing with her pregnancy so far. She is positively blooming and she is also expanding quite a lot now, however, unlike Drambuie, this is not as noticeable with Toussaint because she is such an incredibly long cat. The extra weight she is carrying is distributed very evenly and she is looking really good. Her appetite is quite good, although she is not eating anywhere as much as Drambuie is at the moment but she is also being fed extra meals, away from the other cats. The one thing that does surprise me is that I did think that as it's Toussaint's first pregnancy, she would become extremely clingy. She and I are extremely close and I felt she might have spent a lot more time with me, however, she's still not phased by her current condition and just gets along with life as per normal. This is a good thing because hopefully this means when it comes time to give birth, she will just get on and do it without relying on me for assistance. I'm actually getting quite excited now at the thought of little Toussaint's being born into the world :)

Toussaint is doing extremely well and is most definitely pregnant :) So far though, she is not bothered at all, and to her, life is normal as per usual. The only slight change in her is the fact that her appetite is now starting to increase, but other than that, she is behaving exactly as per normal. Her litter will be an exciting one due to the variety of colours we can be expecting. I am hoping for a Tortie Point Siamese in there somewhere, mainly because I've not ever bred a Tortie since our first Siamese litter. I'm not sure if you can tell by the photos below, but Toussaint's stomach is slightly more rounded now and is starting to expand. I personally would not be expecting any more than about 3 babies, mainly because Sheridans is the sire and while he produces massive babies for us, he doesn't produce lots of babies and to be honest, 3 babies for a first time mum would be a lovely amount. As I type this entry, Toussaint is currently sitting on my chair behind me, giving me just one inch of space to sit on at the front of the chair as per usual.

You may notice that there are no photos for this honeymoon, and also that this entry is almost identical to the entry for Drambuie's honeymoon. The reason for this is that both girls had their honeymoon at exactly the same time, although to different husbands obviously. We felt that it would be better to do it this way for a couple of reasons One of which being that this is the first time that Sheridans and Galliano have been housed right next door to each other in the same, large stud house and rather than spark off any disputes between our boys, we felt things would go a lot smoother if they each had a bride at the same time. Also, this will be Toussaint's first litter, so we made the decision to put Toussaint with Sheridans who is experienced, and Drambuie with Galliano because Drambuie is an experienced queen. I did wonder if it would feel "different" as this is the first time we have done a mating from a Champion mother, but I have to say, it feels exactly the same as any other expected litter. At 18 months of age, Toussaint is a "mature" bride as our other queens have always been mated prior to become 12 months of age. However, Toussaint had other ideas and refused to come into call, so rather than worry about sending her on her honeymoon, we decided to put her on the show bench instead. We are really looking forward to this litter because Sheridans has an amazing personality and Toussaint's temperament is faultless which means that we should have some babies in this litter with fabulous personalities. As for colours, well, the standard Oriental Reds and Blacks, with the slight possibility of Havana's, as well as Torties. We are expecting Toussaint's litter to be a mixture of Siamese as well as Orientals which will be lovely, particularly as Drambuie's litter will not have any Siamese at all. Providing that the honeymoon has been successful, we can hopefully look forward to some Oriental and Siamese kittens approximately October 8, 2006. Please check back in 3 weeks' time for confirmation of Toussaint's pregnancy.