Nocello is an Oriental Black and we count our blessings every day this baby is with us. She went to hell and back during the first 10 weeks or so of her life and there were times when we honestly did not believe she would actually make it through another day. I remember an exhausting time full of hand feeding 2 hourly, supplementing, vet visits, constant worry and monitoring, yet despite everything, Nocello proved that she was a little fighter and defied all odds and is a fully grown girl who is doing incredibly well. They often say that the tiny ones have the most courage, and Nocello is a perfect example of courage. The battles she went through as a tiny baby were quite scary and I will never know just how she found the strength to carry on, but she did.

Her pedigree name is Aboriginal, meaning "Little Waters" and to me, that described our little angel perfectly. She is little, but it is those little waters that flow so fast and branch out into massive rivers, and that is our Nocello. Her pet name is following the theme of all of our cat's pet names, a liqueur. In her case, a Walnut Liqueur, which is like ambrosia.

Carrying on the tradition of her mother, Ch Schimmel Shesadream, and her grandmother, Gr Pr & CHA Chinasea Aria, Nocello is already showing signs of being a wonderfully, beautiful, Oriental Black girl with lovely balance. She has gorgeous green, expressive eyes, and typical of the rest of her family, she can be extremely mischievous, and quite often, a little terror. She also has the most amazing climbing ability. From a very young age, she would scale our wire barrier doors and just swing to and fro, and climb up and down. We often call her a little monkey because she can certainly climb equally as well as any gibbon. In actual fact, if I were being truthful, I would have to say she can be a totally vile child with a stubborness I have never seen before. If Cello dosen't want to do something, then you can not force her. She is even worse than her mother and her Aunt and that does scare me at times :)

On April 2, 2007 Cells was taken to our vets so that Jo could examine her and listen to her heart and weigh her. You can imagine my surprise when at 6 1/2 months of age she weighed in at 2.2 kilograms! I think it is safe to say that Cello has progressed in leaps and bounds and her outward appearance shows no signs whatsoever of anything being wrong. Time will tell. If we find that there are "problems", then she will be spayed, and she will live out her life here in the Schimmel home, as yet another Schimmel "loafer" (to borrow a word from my mate Teen). God is the only one who knows what life will bring for Nocello but we hope and pray, whether her life is that of a breeding queen, or that of a neuter, it will be a very long and happy one, and we are just grateful to have her here in our lives and our hearts.