| ~ These kittens have gone to their forever homes. ~ |
| Fenya's
Kitten Diary Spring 2012
This reads from the bottom up. New entries are added at the top so its easy to follow as they grow. |
| The music used on this page is Let Them Be Little by Billy Dean |
| These kittens are the progeny of our sire Polo and dam Fenya |
Update information from owners will be added to our "Where Are They Now" page.
| Fenya is now friends again with Magi
and Emma. She has been sleeping on the bed with Magi when she's not
calling for boys...spring is near.
March 3rd & 4th - This weekend the kittens 'March fourth' with their new families and we close this diary. Merlin went to his forever home on Saturday. He will join his new "big sister" Koota (from Maeve's Spring 2006 litter) We look forward to hearing how he wins her over, we know he will. He was very calm and sat on the sofa in his bed when his new owners arrived to pick him up. |
| Gwen and Arthur went home today. I have seen some photo's of the 'tailored for the cat' home they are going too. They have a huge new cat condo and will share their new "grandpa" Banzai's cat furniture, when they win his approval, including a wall system of running shelves. We look forward to seeing them enjoying their kitty paradise. |
| We are very happy and couldn't have asked for better
homes for our kittens. It is without sadness that we post these few
final photos of our sweetie pies....
Closing Stats #1 Gwen – is now Keiko and lives in Dartmouth, MA with brother Echo (Arthur) and a resident Siamese elder. #2 Arthur – is now Sake' and lives in Dartmouth, MA with sister Keiko (Gwen) and a resident Siamese elder. #3 Merlin – is now Nelson and lives in Waltham, MA with her her Black&Tan cousin Koota (Jade) from Maeve's Spring 2006 litter. |
Merlin |
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Merlin, "Stretch your neck out lifting your head as high as you can, close your eyes, and OMMMM" |
Gwen |
Gwen |
Gwen |
Arthur |
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Arthur's coloring still has us a bit perplexed. We look forward to seeing how his color matures. |
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| March 2nd - eleven weeks old - Woot, PawPaw's home....wait.....??? |
Gwen, "What is this white stuff?" |
Arthur, "Ahh, it feels cold!"...but he kept touching it and pulling away, lol. |
Merlin, "It got on my nose when I tried to sniff it." |
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| March 1st - The kittens are doing very will.
Gwen's tummy incision looks great and the boys look great too. Our
challenges is to keep them from getting to active. They like to wrestle
and bite and kick each other, not good for Gwen's tummy, lol. We find
using the sparkler works well with just dragging it on the floor. They
all watch it and take turns grabbing it, but no jumping. They are good
about resting a lot. They discovered the kitchen chairs. All the
cushions end up on the floor, lol. Arthur is doing his best trying to
figure out how to get from chair to table top. We don't allow kitten's
on the kitchen table so I hope he doesn't work this puzzle out too
quickly.
Gwen won over grumpy Aunty Em. She crawled into bed with her and Emma groomed her. |
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Merlin |
Arthur resting |
Arthur starting to hunch up to warn everyone it's his prize. |
Gwen
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Emma and a very satisfied Gwen Emma is our pet not of our breeding lines. |
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| February 29th - The kitten's arrived to the animal hospital at 8:00am. I stayed home with Keva as she decided to go into labor at the same time. Their pre-surgery blood work was good and they all had perfect procedures. They were done and ready for pick up in the early afternoon. My husband picked them up and brought them home. Some kittens react differently then others to the anesthetic and pain meds. For this litter all three were crazy little monsters. I have never seen kittens so hyped up. We decided being in the light was even more stimulating so momma and the kids went into my office with the lights off. My daughter and husband watched over them while I was in my room with Keva. After I got home from the hospital with Keva I spent some time with Gwen, Merlin, and Arthur. Arthur was pretty good he was resting on top the cat tree. Gwen and Merlin were bouncing all over the room, lol. I made my visit short and encouraged them to go to sleep for the night. I would not have been surprised if Gwen had abdominal swelling but this morning she looks great. The boys look great too. I allowed them out into the house. They are still a little bit crazy but I also see the sweet kittens returning, lol. Merlin had to be reminded not to bite. He never bites hard just playfully. It only took once and he was back to licking me. He just came in and gave me some kisses, then ran back to nap on the sofa, lol. I am now able to hold and kiss them all. Its nice to have them back to normal :) |
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Gwen's incision, The stuff on her skin around the tiny incision is surgical glue. |
Arthur and Gwen afternoon napping. |
Merlin napping too |
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| February 27th - A little bit of fun before the kittens head off tomorrow morning for their alter surgeries. Gwen was very happy to see my daughter when she came home from school. Gwen and Arthur are naturally nesting together. Its always nice to see them pair up the way they will go home. I honestly have not needed to give any encouragement in this area. Arthur is becoming famous for how he drapes himself all over us when he sleeps. I've added some photos of him sleeping with my daughter to illustrate how relaxed and trusting he is. Over the last few days Fenya has been disappearing. We discovered she is going upstairs to nap on my daughter's bed. I guess she feels her job is done, lol. |
Arthur & Merlin |
Gwen & Arthur |
Gwen and one of the boys |
Gwen, "You're home! I'm not leaving your side....until the boys distract me with play" |
Afternoon nap, Arthur on his back with Merlin and Gwen in the bed. |
Merlin & Arthur |
Arthur still asleep, lol |
| A really short clip
Click the logo to watch our video on youtube or go to our youtube channel |
Playing with the Minky before bedtime |
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Arthur & Gwen ready for the night |
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| February 26th - ten weeks old birthday photos |
| Arthur
Ten weeks of age |
Arthur |
Arthur |
Arthur |
Arthur |
Arthur |
Arthur |
Arthur hanging out |
Gwen & Arthur |
| Gwen
Gwen ten weeks of age |
Gwen |
Gwen |
Gwen |
Gwen |
Gwen |
Gwen |
Gwen |
Gwen and Arthur asleep |
| Merlin
Merlin |
Merlin |
Merlin |
Merlin |
Merlin |
Merlin |
Merlin |
Merlin |
Arthur & Merlin |
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| February 24th - ten weeks old - Gwen has become more social this week. She is smitten with my daughter who has been home from school. She just adores my daughter. She follows her and stares up at her, lol. She has become more vocal this week too. Gwen also likes to walk on the narrow edges of things. She will get up on the wood rungs of chairs, under the coffee table, and on the edges of the toy basket. Its a gray rainy day today. We will try for better birthday photos when we get a little bit more sunlight. |
Gwen basket balancing |
Gwen |
Arthur & Gwen |
Arthur, "I didn't dump the basket, it was already empty." |
Click the logo to watch our video on youtube or go to our youtube channel |
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| February 23rd - Today we went on a field trip for the kitten's first vet appointment. They all did great and Dr. Schaefer pronounced them all healthy. Merlin went first, he weighed 3.05 lbs and took his vaccination without notice. When returned to the carrier he wanted back out, lol. Gwen weighed 2.10 lbs and complained to the doctor when she squished her belly, lol. But she did great getting her shot. Arthur did well too. The doctor was sure he was bigger then Merlin, he may look larger but Merlin weighs a fraction more. Arthur was 3.04 lbs. He also took his vaccination without complaint. His heart was beating faster then his siblings showing he was not as cool and calm as he looked. When we arrived home he was first out of the carrier and too funny. He frolicked around the room trilling and touching all the toys. He was so happy to be home, lol. Merlin and Gwen jumped up on my desk and went right to sleep. It wasn't long before Arthur joined them. Momma licked everyone head to tail. They played and napped in their normal pattern. No one suffered any side effects from their vaccines. |
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Merlin, "Here we are waiting in the exam room. There's all kids of pictures of dogs in here, hrumph" |
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Merlin, "I weigh the most." |
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Merlin, "Hey, I'm not done visiting!" |
In the carrier ready for the ride home |
Gwen napping on the desk..... |
........And the boys napping. Arthur is on my lap and Merlin on my keyboard tray close to my hand. |
While the boys were playing with the sparkler Gwen sat inside the basket watching. After awhile when Arthur caught it he brought it over to Gwen and placed it in the basket next to her. He ran off to another toy. It was so sweet. |
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| February 19th -21st - Gwen and Arthur's family came to visit on Sunday. We learned in the future they will have a baby brother bird. We've put up all the feather toys and are concentrating on play that does not involve feathers. They love their momma's favorite fur attachment for the da bird wand. We also introduced the sparkler attachment. I wish I had video taped them playing with it for the first time. All three were clumped together chasing it and afraid to touch it. They were all synchronized, it was so cute. Now that they have caught it they take turns playing with it. This is the first I have seen Gwen sit back and watch the boys chase. For Gwen all the fun is in the chase, the boys like to chase, catch, and keep. Merlin just couldn't resist chasing to the point he would start panting. I'd have to hold him to make him rest and catch his breath. The sparkler beast is fast, fast, fast. Here are three videos of big kitty fun. |
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| Click the logo to watch our video on youtube or go to our youtube channel www.youtube.com/BlackandTanSiamese After watching the video click your back button on your tool bar to return to this page. |
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Click the logo to watch our video on youtube or go to our youtube channel |
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| February 17th -18th - nine weeks old - The kittens are working on learning the word "no". Office kits are learning not to spindle my papers, lol, chew toys only. They are doing a good job of learning. Arthur is so funny when he's laid out on my lap. He stretches himself all over and drapes his legs everywhere. Lots of birthday photos today. I use toys to get them to look toward the camera so many of these have big round eyes and some are rather intense looking expressions...its the toys, lol. Our washing maching is really noisy and when it turned on today I was sitting playing with the kittens. All three took off and ran back to the cat tree in the living room. I was sitting in the dining room on the floor. I called to them and Slowly Merlin came back to play, then Gwen went speeding through the hall into my office with her tail puffed and trilling as she flew. She turned and flew back through the hall to the living room, then back to the office again. I'm pretty sure she was testing the water to see if the noisy wash monster was going to grab her, lol. After three trips she and Merlin ran up the stairs and back down. Then she was satisfied the area was safe, it was too funny. Arthur came back just to watch Gwen, lol. Arthur definitely watches television. I've seen him stop playing several times to watch. |
| Arthur
9 weeks of age |
" My whiskers aren't quite as bad as Merlin's. I have a few long ones left." |
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Arthur grooming Merlin, who was sleeping, lol |
| Gwen
9 weeks of age |
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"Mirror, mirror on the wall who has the best whiskers of them all...I do!" *grin* |
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"Yeah, I got it!" |
Gwen & Merlin |
Gwen & Merlin |
| Merlin
9 weeks of age |
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"Call me MR. Stubbs" |
Gwen, "Gee your wet hair smells terrific" |
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| February 15th - Movies |
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Click the logo to watch our video on youtube or go to our youtube channel www.youtube.com/BlackandTanSiamese After watching the video click your back button on your tool bar to return to this page. |
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| February 14th - Happy Valentines Day |
Merlin |
Arthur |
Gwen ....if only she had looked at the camera it would have been perfect |
Arthur & Gwen |
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| February 12th -Our luxury model has been
vandalized, lol. This morning some of Arthur's whiskers on the left side
are broken off. Now that both boys have whiskers missing, Could someone
be whisker nibbling when grooming? I've seen all three
kittens grooming each other when they are snuggled together. This
doesn't hurt them at all and doesn't effect regrowth.
I was just editing a photo of Gwen and clearly all three have broken whiskers, lol. I'll have to watch more closely when they play fight and wrestle to see if they are biting at each others whiskers.
Gwen's broken and bent whiskers Gwen was so cute last night loving on my lap while we watched a dvd. I wish I had video taped her but the lights were low and it was too dark for the camera. I've been making a special effort to work on the human connecting with Arthur and Gwen. Merlin doesn't need it he is naturally drawn to people. Its wonderful to see Gwen and Arthur developing that same connection as they mature. |
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Arthur my diary helper |
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Merlin curled and Arthur helping me update the diary. |
Gwen |
Merlin |
Arthur and Gwen checking out my paperwork |
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Being a kitten is hard work - left to right- Gwen, Merlin, and Arthur |
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| February 11th - All three kitten's purr for us but Arthur has such a big purr that when he was on my lap, sleepy eyed, I decided to record him..... Enjoy! |
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Click the logo to watch our video on youtube or go to our youtube channel www.youtube.com/BlackandTanSiamese After watching the video click your back button on your tool bar to return to this page. |
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| February 10th - eight weeks old - The
kittens are getting big. Arthur likes to climb up into my lap when I'm
working and his siblings are asleep. He stretches out across my lap and
purrs big time. Thursday morning he stood in my lap and put his
paws up on my chest purring the whole time and rubbing his head against
me. He is very affectionate when
he wants loving. All three kitten like to arch up and meet our hand.
They also like to rub against legs. I have a feeling they are marking us
as property but it feels like love to me, lol. They all also like to
give kisses (licks). I took a couple of good birthday photos for each
kitten this time. Gwen's are still are not great but her eyes are open and
you can see how dark blue they are.
The other night my husband was watching a classic car auction while the kittens and I were playing and it just seemed so fitting to describe them this way....lol
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| Arthur
Eight week of age |
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As Arthur's eyes continue to develop they are starting to look like opals. |
Arthur's profile. |
| Gwen
Eight weeks of age |
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Gwen |
| Merlin
Eight weeks of age -note the wiskers, lol |
Almost all his whiskers are broken off on the on the left side and half are broken on the right. |
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Merlin |
Merlin |
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| February 9th - Just a quick little video showing how Arthur and Gwen are learning to leap after the bird. |
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Click the logo to watch our video on youtube or go to our youtube channel www.youtube.com/BlackandTanSiamese After watching the video click your back button on your tool bar to return to this page. |
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| February 8th - I'm sorry these entries were delayed. I lost my father this past week and I let the diary slip a bit. The kittens are doing a great job of keeping me busy and lifting my spirits. Its wonderful to have these little bundles of life and love all around me. Now that the kittens are looking upward we have begun the serous work of learning to bird. They are learning to leap up when it flies up. They are all serious haulers if they get the bird in their mouth they clamp tight and try to steal it away their own. All of them have growled with it in their mouth warning any sibling who comes to close, lol. Such a little growl so cute. They also make this little snapping pop noise with their mouth when they want a toy. |
I'm having trouble telling the boys apart in some of these photos, lol. I thought that was Arthur reaching up but his tail doesn't look right. Maybe its the angle. |
Gwen |
Arthur |
Gwen haulin' |
Gwen and Arthur |
Arthur |
Gwen and ....one of the boys, lol |
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Merlin, Arthur, and Gwen |
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Gwen and the boys |
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| February 7th - The kittens are working on their jumping. They have been wanting up on the sofa so badly. They can crawl up their cat furniture next to is and crawl across but they really want to jump up from the floor. They kept trying and failing so I turned the toy basket upside down next to the sofa. They use it as a step up, lol. In a couple of days they will have it all figured out and will make the jump on their own. Playing on the sofa makes them fuzzed out and sparky with static. | |
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Gwen & Arthur |
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Arthur in front |
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Arthur |
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Gwen |
Gwen |
Gwen all fuzzy with static from the sofa |
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Merlin |
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February 5th - The kittens had their first family visit when Merlin's owner's came this weekend. The kittens all behaved very well . They still startle a little with unexpected noises but recover quickly. After dinner I offered them a tiny bit of turkey meat. Gwen and Arthur didn't come near but Merlin had a great time licking it all over before eating it. |
Gwen, "What's that moving under the rug?" |
"There is goes." |
"Got you!" |
Arthur, "It flew up there!" |
Arthur and Gwen |
Merlin |
Mmmm turkey - Merlin |
I had to include this one of Mom and Merlin. His sits with his legs out to the side so his tummy is on the floor. |
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| February 3rd - seven weeks old -Tonight is our last weigh-in. Gwen didn't quite make 2 pounds but she is close enough and the boys are over 2 lbs. I've noticed that when I sit on the floor Gwen will come sit on me if I stretch my legs out. It reminds me so much of Great Grandma Maeve. She would always sit on my legs or hip. Getting a phot of Gwen with her eyes open is nearly impossible. She would be sitting looking at me with her big blue eyes every time I took a picture. In every picture her eyes are closed, lol. She has a blink response equal to my shutter speed, lol. Merlin is my little shadow. He will walk with me everywhere. I have to keep telling him to go play and I will be right back, lol. | |
| Gwen
Seven weeks of age - walking up my outstretched leg |
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Gwen sleek and pretty - "I'm growing up" |
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| Merlin
Seven weeks of age |
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Merlin |
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Merlin |
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Momma reaching through to get Merlin
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Then coming down on top of him, lol. You can see in this photo how speckled her mask has become. All her points are speckled right now. Her normal body temperature was raised during labor and all the fur that was affected by the warmth is lighter. Her normal dark mask will grow back with time. |
Gwen in profile |
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This was just too cute not to add. |
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Gwen and Arthur |
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Gwen and Merlin |
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bi-weekly weigh in... Gwen is 1 lb 14 ounces = 854 grams - up 43 grams Arthur is 2 lb 5 ounces = 1053 grams - up 57 grams Merlin is 2 lb 4.5 ounces = 1039 grams - up 57 grams |
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| January 31th - The kittens have been playing in the living room getting used to a wider environment with more unfamiliar noises. They have started using the Halloween kitty prance when playing. Its so funny to see two of them puff up their tails and ridge fur turn sidewise and hop threateningly at each other, then dissolve into a rolling wrestling match. We introduced larger toys. Momma was very excited to show them how to dispatch these evil beasts. Merlin loves the minky. He can really deliver a back footed repeating kick with passion and he does summersaults when wrestling with it. He is a bit of a goof when playing. Sometimes he sits on his haunches holding a toy and will just fall over backwards with a thud. Its all about the toy for him. Gwen operates on pure impulse power. She doesn't think she just acts. She can't help herself. I can see Merlin thinking a bit before engaging and Arthur thinks too much. It holds him back. He prefers to play one on one and won't join in the fray. I don't blame him, lol, I wouldn't want to get between Gwen and Merlin either. They so distroyed the feather of Da Bird, I switched to a mouse. They don't know to look up yet to follow the bird so the mouse works really well....when momma allows them to take it from her, lol. She has trouble resisting playing with it too. |
Gwen and one of the boys on the toy basket. |
That's momma in back talking to Arthur behind the sofa. You can see the tip of his toe, lol. |
Gwen's first impulse with this coffee table was to get up on the wood and walk it like a balance beam. She is a very well coordinated little package of muscle. |
Gwen, Merlin, and Arthur watching and thinking. He likes to watch TV too, lol. |
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bi-weekly weigh in... Gwen is 1 lb 12.5 ounces = 811 grams - up 78 grams Arthur is 2 lb 3 ounces = 996 grams - up 114 grams Merlin is 2 lb 2.5 ounces = 911 grams - up 57 grams |
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| January 30th - More then once I have had
comments made to me about my "fluffy coated" kittens. A recent
email discourse with a UK breeder, about this litter, brought some
of these comments. The gist of the email was about "what the genetics of
my cats were" and that my fluffy coated kittens indicated that they were
not purebred and had a long hair gene. These type of rumors
are as old as the breed and really work against saving these old lines
that were never modernized. All breeds, cat and dog, carry recessives
that go undetected for years until they pop up when two recessive
carriers come together. More on these recessives here. Page under
construction
My Siamese have never ever produced a long haired kitten/cat. There are four (long hair) mutations of the short hair gene in cats. They are all recessive to short hair. This means a short haired cat can carry one of these four mutations and not show they have it unless they are bred to a long hair cat or another long hair carrier. U C Davis Genetics Lab does testing to identify these genes that may be carried recessively. I know I shouldn't have let this breeder's comments get to me. This type of backbiting is counterproductive to preserving rare old style Siamese lines. To settle this now, I sent in a buckle swab, just like CSI, for Polo and Fenya. Each test costs $40.00 and I sent it next day UPS another $38.51, won't do that ever again, for a grand total of $118.51. Today I received the results.
Old style Siamese here in the US are bred to have both a sleek top coat and a soft under coat. Baby coats can look fluffy especially when they are learning about their environment and limitations. Under coats have shorter finer shafts. They are soft and fluffy to provide warmth. The top coat is the outer protective layer. The shaft is thicker (courser) and longer. Sometimes kittens puff up their fur a bit on purpose to look bigger and more imposing when playing. Kittens lose this baby coat by the time they are 6 months old. They grow in a beautiful soft adult Siamese coat. We breed Siamese to be the way they used to be before contemporary breeders pushed them to the current (painted on coat, no undercoat) extremes. |
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Puffed for attack play, Merlin and Gwen |
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| January 29th - Better photos to show eye color :) |
| Gwen
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| Arthur
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| January 27th - six weeks old - This morning when I came in Arthur climbed up to my lap and snuggled into the crook of my arm. He is such a sweetie. I'm happy to see him maturing and coming into his own. Momma Fen was so happy when I opened the doors and allowed the kittens to venture out. She was cooing and softly talking up a storm to them, encouraging them to come out. Gwen was first out and after a through sniffing of the rug in the hall she went on a full circle tour through the main rooms. I was really surprised that Arthur was second to come out and was not cautious at all. He sniffed the rug too and circled the hall checking it all out. He also went into the dining room but came right back to the hall. Merlin who is normally not intimidated by anything was slow to come out and very cautious. He hung back near the office doors. While they were playing in the hall momma was very excited and encouraging She talked a blue streak then hopped up and took off at full speed running into the living room, lol. She called to them from there. At first this behavior shocked them and they were a little unsettled. By the third time Gwen and Arthur went to see what she was going on about. They looked about a little and came back to the hall where I was sitting. Momma disappeared, I found her behind the sofa in the corner just sitting. Normally we have a family nest there for the kittens to nap in. I put a nest in for her. When I checked back she had Merlin in it by himself. Arthur was climbing the stairs and lil' Ms Gwen had to join him. She's a bit smaller so she really had to work to climb up the step. She kept slipping back until she tucked her butt against the newel post, lol. I've had the door open all day. They have spent most of their time in my office anyway. Birthday photos are not great. It was pouring rain all day and the light was just not enough to get rid of the red reflection in the eyes from the flash.. I'll try to get better photo with eye color in the next couple of days if we get some sun. | |
| Arthur
Arthur six weeks of age. |
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Arthur |
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Arthur |
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Arthur snuggled into this position on his own. He started out like this but totally on his back belly up, so sweet. |
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| Gwen
Gwen six weeks of age |
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She had her eyes open but every time I clicked the shutter she blinked. |
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Gwen |
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Merlin - Pretending he is the great and powerful Oz behind the curtain. He's working the wizard angle. |
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Gwen was first out, then Arthur, followed by a cautious Merlin. |
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Gwen going off through the dining room. |
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I'm all alone back here - Merlin |
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Gwen, "How'd you get up there Arthur?" |
Being littler Gwen struggled a bit but she tucked her butt against the post and worked at it until.... |
She made it up. Then she jumped from that high. |
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Washing up |
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Nursing while getting a bath.
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bi-weekly weigh in... Gwen is 1lb 9.8 ounces = 733 grams - up 71 grams Arthur is 1lb 15 ounces = 883 grams - up 78 grams Merlin is 1lb 14 ounces = 854 grams - up 71 grams |
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| January 26th - I realized today that I forgot to add Tuesdays weights. I added them as the last entry on Tuesday, sorry about that oversight. Tonight Gwen made it to the top of the tube. She was very proud. It didn't take her long to show the boys how she did it and they were up top too. Merlin decided the best way to get up into my lap when I'm sitting at my desk is to climb my leg like a tree. Everyone got their nails trimmed, lol. Litter box use has been spot on. They are such good babies. They all have embraced the moving toy. They want to explore and Fenya wants them to explore too. Tomorrow we will allow them to find their way out of the room and into the hall. | |
Gwen asleep in my waste paper basket |
The boys had to have their turn too. |
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Arthur |
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My momma's Fenya Guinness, my grandma's Finola Guinness, my Great Grandma is Maeve Guinness...does that make makes me a Guinness too? I'm for sure a Black&Tan! |
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Gwen - *Smack*---*Smack**Smack* |
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Gwen, "I like the string part".....Arthur does cautious prodding. |
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Gwen, "I got you bird." |
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| January 24th - Litter box use is going very well. So far we have had full compliance and no messes. Poor Fenya has to scruff a kitten and drag it to her to get them to be with her and get their baths, lol. They are way to busy playing when awake. |
Mom and the kits |
Gwen |
Gwen |
Momma where are you going? |
I'm coming too! |
You can't see me. |
Merlin |
Arthur |
Arthur |
Arthur |
Arthur & Merlin |
Merlin |
Merlin |
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Good Night! |
Click the logo to watch our video on youtube or go to our youtube channel www.youtube.com/BlackandTanSiamese After watching the video click your back button on your tool bar to return to this page. |
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bi-weekly weigh in... Gwen is 1lb 7.25 ounces = 662 grams - up 60.5 grams Arthur is 1lb 12.25 ounces = 804 grams - up 78 grams Merlin is 1lb 11.5 ounces = 783 grams - up 78 grams |
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| January 20th - five weeks old - With the winter weather our internet has been going in and out. I needed a full stream to send this update. I'm sorry its a bit late. I'm very happy to report all the kittens are now eating some kibble and drinking water. Gwen had her first kibble meal Friday night. They still nurse with momma and need to love and support for their development. Now we just have to process that food and learn how to master the litter box without stepping in things. Arthur did show us he knows what litter is for too when he left a wet spot of his own. We are starting to introduce toys that move. At first they are uncertain. Merlin was first to smack it, lol. It didn't smack him back so he is becoming braver with chasing. After seeing Merlin playing Arthur tried his paw at it. Gwen is still a bit uncertain but we can see her tensing as if she wants to grab it. At this age their eyes are still developing acuity. Every so often someone will walk into something. At this stage Merlin is Mr. Social. He calls out and runs to us when we come in to play. He is always right around my feet. All three kittens love to be held and crawl on laps. They enjoy it when we pet them and fuss over loving on them. My husband says Arthur is a 'mini me' to Polo...well they are father and son, lol. |
| Gwen
5 weeks of age |
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Gwen eats *YEAH* |
| Arthur
5 weeks of age |
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Arthur - I know too! |
| Merlin
5 weeks of age |
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Merlin asleep, lol |
This was too cute not to photograph from multiple angles. |
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bi-weekly weigh in... with the kibble are weight gains are nice again :) Gwen is 1lb 5.1 ounces = 601 grams - up 67.6 grams Arthur is 1lb 9.5 ounces = 726 grams - up 57 grams Merlin is 1lb 8.75 ounces = 704.6 grams - up 57 grams |
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| January 19th - We're making progress. I've added a video showing Arthur running about and playing yesterday. Merlin and Gwen began drinking water from the baby bowl. Gwen's still not sure of the kibble. Gwen has litter box use down and uses it every time. Before bedtime one of the boys was in front of the corner cabinet calling out. Momma and siblings circled around and by the time I got there whomever it was had peed in the weight basket, lol. It was tipped on its side so the rug and floor get a share too. His calls were to announce he could now go on his own, lol. I've kept a close watch on the boys so I can proactively show him the litter box if he needs it. I suspect it is Merlin with all the water he is drinking. This morning Gwen and Merlin had a drink of water. Then Merlin showed he knows where to go. He went into the big box and let his wet mark. Then he headed over to eat breakfast. Arthur was still on his perch so I set him next to Merlin so he could watch him eat. Arthur was a little uncertain at first but by the time Merlin was finished he stepped up and began eating too. He had a small meal but its a start. Gwen is not ready for kibble yet. | |
| At the beginning of this clip
you hear Arthur trilling happily, I talk back to him...sorry for the
baby voice and talk, lol.
Click the logo to watch our video on youtube or go to our youtube channel www.youtube.com/BlackandTanSiamese After watching the video click your back button on your tool bar to return to this page. |
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Merlin, "I don't need the baby box!" |
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Momma has Arthur in a head lock...playing |
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Gwen going up. All three kittens climb this far then come back down. They have not yet figured out how to switch over to the carpeted tube. |
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Arthur |
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Arthur's first kibble meal |
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Gwen and Arthur |
Gwen |
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| January 16th &17th - The kittens have
been checking out the litter boxes but they preferred to eat the litter
rather then show me who is using it properly, lol. When I would see them
eating it I'd tell them, no eating, brush their lips, and scratch with my
finger in the litter. With no recognition, I also tried placing them by
the food bowls. Nope they didn't want to snack on food, just litter.
Arthur stuck his nose into the water snorted out a bubble and ran for
his perch on the cat tree. Arthur still hangs back. I watched him run
over to Momma and try to play with her back foot. She treated him
harshly, maybe he bit to hard? I was sorry to see him punished for
playing. I gave him some love and tried to get him to play with me.
Later he climbed into the basket like Gwen. He fell asleep in it. Momma
came over and grabbed him by the scruff and dragged him out of the
basket. Maybe she is trying tough love to get him to be more active and
to mature? He does run around and play with his siblings but he also
likes to sit on my lap and watch what is going on. His favorite place to
sleep is on the first perch of the cat tree. We removed the nests from
the cabinet and closed the doors now that the kittens prefer to be out
in the room.
Arthur in the basket before momma grabbed him
Arthur watching Merlin and Gwen play Merlin is like his Momma he runs calling out to me when I come in the room and keeps talking until I acknowledge him, lol. Gwen waits for me to open the run and she makes a break for the opening. She wants so bad to expand her exploration. When I'm at my desk I slide the run over so they can come behind my desk and explore.
Today they fell asleep with momma right next to my chair. Last night Gwen showed me she is the one leaving the wet spots in the litter. She went again this morning. The boys watch her but I haven't seen either one use it yet.
I was very surprised last night when the kittens were getting ready to sleep, Merlin walked up to the food and started chowing down like he had always been eating. He ate quite alot for his first time. I watched him eat breakfast this morning too.
Merlin's first kibble meal Gwen puffed her fur up yesterday for the first time. I'm not sure what caused her to puff but she attacked momma afterward, lol. I saw her running after Merlin this morning with her tail puffed again. She has moved into puff mode, lol.
Gwen puffed Merlin and Gwen are asleep curled together while I'm typing. Arthur is sleeping on his perch. Merlin just woke up and came over to the run door and started calling to me. His cried woke Gwen up and she came running over to make sure he was okay. They are playing together now but every time she hears my chair groan she runs over to see if I'm going to move the run so she can come out, lol. |
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Arthur |
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Arthur, He poses so nicely :) |
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Arthur |
Arthur and Gwen |
We see a mouse! |
Got it! |
Merlin and Gwen - I see you! |
Merlin Chillin' lol |
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Merlin asleep |
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Gwen |
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bi-weekly weigh in... Gwen is 1lb 2.75 ounces = 534 grams - up 10.7 grams Arthur is 1lb 7 ounces = 669 grams - up 10.7 grams Merlin is 1lb 6.75 ounces = 647.7 grams - up 60.5 grams We see here in Merlin's weigh gain how much difference eating the baby cat kibble makes. |
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Under my desk on my empty laptop case, lol.
Merlin in front, Arthur nursing, and Gwen look back at us. |
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| January 15th - The kittens skills are growing quickly. Now that Gwen knows how to get up to the cat tree perch the boys have followed suit. Someone is using the litter box there are some small wet spots. I suspect its Gwen as she gets in it and cries like she is going to go. I haven't seen her actually leave anything yet. Momma and the kittens all want to be in the small nest at once in the cabinet, so I put the big nest back into the cabinet. They all pile in the small nest anyway, lol |
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Arthur sleeping up on the perch |
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Gwen likes to hunker down in the basket. |
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There she goes again |
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Sneakin' up on you mouse! |
Merlin, "Hello" |
Merlin |
Arthur asleep for the night |
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| January 13th - four weeks old - This morning the kittens were all sleeping when I came in to see them. When they awoke the boys went right to momma to nurse and Gwen zoomed around with glee. Calling out happy little meows as she played. She is so funny to watch. Nothing gets in her way and she doesn't give up. She has tried multiple times to climb the cat tree to get to the first level perch. She almost gets there and keeps trying. She loves toys and goes from one to the next. She was calling out quit a bit so I placed her in the litter box. She seemed to get the right idea. She would lift her tail and meow loudly but she's not quite ready. Gwen's crying started to disturb momma and she came and hauled her back to the nest. Gwen quickly zoomed out and started playing again, lol. When the boys were finished nursing Merlin went back to bed and Arthur climbed up into my lap where he fell asleep, lol. Lots of birthday photos today. The kittens can sometime look walleyed at this age. They haven't learned to focus both eyes all the time. | |||
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I changed out the nest inside the cabinet for a small one. Three kittens can fit but momma with them is too much, she did try, lol. |
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Waking up... |
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......and stretching? lol. |
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Breakfast boys - Merlin left and Arthur right |
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Gwen four weeks of age |
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Going up ...not quite |
Okay I can do this |
Going up ...not quite |
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Got it! |
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Gwen |
I like toys! |
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Arthur four weeks of age |
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Ellen Tracy your pajamas never looked so good as they do with a lilac point baby snuggling on them, lol |
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Arthur Zzzzzzzz |
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Merlin four weeks of age |
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Merlin |
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Merlin |
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Arthur |
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Hello |
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Arthur up.... |
....and over. |
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Arthur - I did it! |
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Merlin trying to get Momma's ear |
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Nursing left to right - Merlin, Arthur (lol), and Gwen |
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Merlin and Gwen. Momma Fen in back |
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Gwen and Arthur |
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Arthur |
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bi-weekly weigh in... Gwen is 1lb 2.4 ounces = 523 grams - up 53 grams Arthur is 1lb 7 ounces = 658 grams - up 60.5 grams Merlin is 1lb 4.6 ounces = 587 grams - up 60.5 grams |
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Gwen made it up on the first level perch. |
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| January 11th- Wow what a difference a few days make. The kittens are developing fast now. Last night when I came in to say good night Merlin came running out call to me. It was so heart warming, lol. I love when they decide they like me. They are venturing out more. Tomorrow we will set up the run to limit how far they can go until they are litter box trained. Will also add the training litter box with unscented plain clay litter and shallow training bowls with water and baby cat kibble. I keep the television on for an ambient noise level so the kittens don't become sensitive to noise. Tonight while Merlin was on my lap he started watching it. I don't know if he is a fan of NCIS yet though, lol. Some cats watch tv and some don't. |
Gwen |
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Merlin |
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Merlin front |
Arthur |
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| January 10th - Now that the kittens have all reached over one pound today will be our last daily weigh in. We will be weighting twice a week now. I switched the double bolster to be outside the cabinet and a single bolster inside so its easier for the kittens to crawl out and up and down. At this stage they are cautious and gentle. Their eyes are now focusing and they stare in awe with big saucer eyes and take in everything they see learning about us and their environment. |
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This photo pretty much illustrates what I saw today. Gwen forging the way for exploration. Merlin sort of behind her and Arthur holding down the fort....at the back of the fort. Arthur may surprise us one of these days. We've seen in other litters that sometimes the largest momma's boy takes the longest to mature. |
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What is this strange thing that has entered my home? |
| The kittens are working on bolstering their confidence. They are climbing on the bolsters around the bed, lol. Today while answering emails I saw Gwen do a full flip off the bolster into the nest. It may not have been intentional but its Gwen. She has started to paw at toys and has picked up a mouse and a ball in her mouth. I've tried to catch a photo of it but was a second too late. She is the lead adventuress in this litter. I have a feeling she may not hold the title for long once the boys become confident but she will be ready to take them on. She is an instigator when it come to biting and wrestling with them. Merlin is a bit of a clown. He wants so bad to be brave, it will come, but for now he comes out dragging his belly, lol. When he checks out a toy and his nose is tickled by it he shakes his head and has to do a through washing. He is a big licker. While he was licking my hand I felt he has in all his front teeth including the canines. Arthur seems to be a reserved poser, He sits up nicely and poses elegantly all the time. Momma is starting to teach them about not biting hard. They were biting her today and I heard a yip from a baby. She nipped him back so he would know how it feels. This is an important step for them learning to be gentle. |
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Gwen working on her toes, there is nothing cuter then a baby with toes in it's mouth, lol |
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Merlin coming up on the left |
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| January 10th
Evening weigh in...... Gwen is 1lb .5 ounces = 469.8 grams - up 3.6 grams - somebody is doing more running around then eating. This is why we move to by-weekly. An average is a better read of how they are doing as they become active. Arthur is 1lb 5 ounces = 597.9 grams - up 28.5 grams Merlin is 1lb 2.5 ounces = 526.7 grams - up 25 grams |
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Arthur with Gwen on the left and Merlin in back |
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Gwen about to take a bite of Merlin's cheek/neck. Poor Merlin is clueless or doesn't mind, lol. |
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Gwen and Arthur |
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Gwen, Merlin on his back, and Arthur |
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Click the logo to watch our video on youtube or go to our youtube channel www.youtube.com/BlackandTanSiamese After watching the video click your back button on your tool bar to return to this page. |
| January 9th
Evening weigh in...... Gwen is 1lb .4 ounces = 466.2 grams - up 21.4 grams Arthur is 1lb 4 ounces = 569.4 grams - up 17.8 grams Merlin is 1lb 1.6 ounces = 501.8 grams - up 17.8 grams |
| January 8th
Evening weigh in...... Gwen is 15.6 ounces = 444.8 grams - up 14.2 grams Arthur is 1lb 3.4 ounces = 551.6 grams - up 25 grams Merlin is 1lb 1 ounces = 484 grams - up 17.8 grams |
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| January 6th & 7th- three
weeks old - We had quite a bit of change. This week we lowered the
room temperature to 75 degrees. On Friday the 6th I changed out the nest
for a clean one. After that momma Fen was restless. She would pick up a
baby by the scruff and drag it out onto the floor. Just one baby and lie
near it. At first I thought maybe the nest had some smell on it or
something that made her not like the new bed. But then she would drag
the kitten back into the nest. I removed the nest warmer from under the
bed.
After she brought a kitten out a second time I placed a larger rug in front of the cabinet with a family nesting bed up against the cabinet floor and added a towel tucked under the in cabinet nest and draped into the outside bed. This way if momma left a baby out, when I wasn't in the room, it could crawl back in. I opened the left door and took the top off the opening of the cabinet. Once I opened it up a bit Fen settled down. We've left it open half way all night and Fen seems very comfortable. The morning of the 7th I opened the right door too. This morning momma Fen again grabbed Merlin by the scruff and brought him out to be in the bed. She laid down a couple of feet from him. After a few minutes she drug him back into the cabinet bed. I'm pretty sure she is trying to get them to explore and be more active. No one has ventured forth on their own so momma is trying to encourage them. Its interesting how the kittens features are changing as they grow. A week ago I thought Arthur's nose was shaped more rounded like Keva's but this week it looks much more like papa Polo's.
The new setup |
| Gwen
3 weeks of age |
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Gwen's profile |
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Arthur
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Arthur's profile |
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Merlin
Merlin 3 weeks of age |
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Merlin's profile |
This is what momma was doing during photos. She kept popping up trying to grab them and steal them back to the family nest. |
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January 7th Evening weigh in...... Gwen is 15.1 ounces = 430.6 grams - up 21.4 grams Arthur is 1lb 2.5 ounces = 526.7 grams - up 10.7 grams Merlin is 1lb .4 ounces = 466 grams - up 14.2 grams |
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January 6th Evening weigh in...... Gwen is 14.4 ounces = 409.3 grams - up 14.2 grams Arthur is 1lb 2.1 ounces = 516 grams - up 14.2 grams Merlin is 15.9 ounces = 452 grams - up 10.7 grams |
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| January 5th -
Evening weigh in...... Gwen is 13.9 ounces = 395 grams - up 17.8 grams Arthur is 1lb 1.6 ounces = 501.9 grams - up 25 grams Merlin is 15.5 ounces = 441.3 grams - up 25 grams |
| January 4th - This morning the kittens were able to track a dark mouse when I moved it back and forth. We can see more dark blue in their eyes when the light is good. The color will continue to change and definition will improve as they develop. We are starting to see warmer tones in Gwen's coat as expected for a seal. Arthur reached the one pound mark.Today the kittens have started to play wrestle and Gwen looks like she is getting ready to zoom in short playful bursts of speed. All inside the family nest. |
Gwen |
Merlin |
 Arthur |
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Evening weigh in...... Gwen is 13.25 ounces = 377.2 grams - up 7.1 grams Arthur is 1lb 0.75 ounces = 476.9 grams - up 25 grams Merlin is 14.6 ounces = 416.4 grams - up 17.8 grams |
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Arthur left, Merlin center, and Gwen in back |
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Arthur, Merlin, and Gwen |
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| January 3rd - |
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Evening weigh in...... Gwen is 13 ounces = 370 grams - up 14.2 grams Arthur is 15.9 ounces = 452 grams - up 21.4 grams Merlin is 14 ounces = 398.6 grams - up 21.4 grams |
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| January 2nd - |
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Arthur, Merlin, and Gwen |
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Evening weigh in...... Gwen is 12.5 ounces = 355.9 grams - up 14.2 grams Arthur is 15.1 ounces = 330.6 grams - up 25 grams Merlin is 13.3 ounces = 377.3 grams - up 7.1 grams |
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| January 1st - Rabbit rabbit rabbit - Happy New Year! You can see on Gwen's photo that we are starting to see the structure inside the eye. There is a bit of dark blue beginning to show. They still cannot really see yet. They can hear well and track noise but they can't focus on a toy yet. They are teething their first baby teeth. |
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Merlin, Arthur, and Gwen...the boys are always eating. |
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I can feel the tips of incisors cutting through as Merlin noms on my finger, lol. |
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Evening weigh in...... Gwen is 12 ounces = 341.6 grams - up 14.2 grams Arthur is 14.2 ounces = 305.7 grams - up 17.8 grams Merlin is 13 ounces = 370 grams - up 25 grams |
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Merlin |
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| December 31st -
Merlin, Arthur, & Gwen |
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Click the logo to watch our video on youtube or go to our youtube channel www.youtube.com/BlackandTanSiamese After watching the video click your back button on your tool bar to return to this page. |
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Evening weigh in...... Gwen is 11.5 ounces = 327.4 grams - up 17.8 grams Arthur is 13.75 ounces = 391.5 grams - up 17.8 grams Merlin is 12 ounces = 345 grams - up 14.2 grams |
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| December 30th - two weeks old - The kittens are growing and getting stronger. When they hear us talk in the room they all sit up and tilt their faces up listening to see if they can find us. Now that their necks are strong they are working on strengthening their legs and trying to keep them under their bodies. Gwen made up for her small weight gain yesterday by gaining the most today. |
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Gwen, Arthur, and Merlin You can see the difference in the color of their nose leather. Arthur's is still pink with a very light frost and Merlin's is becoming more chocolate. |
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Gwen at two weeks of age. |
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Arthur at two weeks of age. |
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Merlin at two weeks of age. |
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Merlin |
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Merlin being weighed |
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Evening weigh in...... Gwen is 10.9 ounces = 309.6 grams - up 21.4 grams Arthur is 13.1 ounces = 373.7 grams - up 17.8 grams Merlin is 11.6 ounces = 331 grams - up 17.8 grams |
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Merlin says, " Arfur's being quiet today so Gwen and I are doing all the talking for him." |
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Gwen, "Do you like my nails? Today's our birthday so we're all getting something special....What's a pedipurr?" |
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| December 29th - |
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Evening weigh in...... Gwen is 10.1 ounces = 309.6 grams - up 7.1 grams Arthur is 12.6 ounces = 359.4 grams - up 17.8 grams Merlin is 11 ounces = 313 grams - up 10.6 grams |
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| December 28th - Merlins nose is still a little darker then Arthur's and he is patiently waiting for his left eye to open all the way. Arthur has his eyes open now. He still has the biggest voice and is not afraid to sound the alarm if we take him out of the nest. We had to have multiple photo sessions with Arthur and took four times as many photos to get the one below, lol. His loud meows upset momma Fen. Gwen is relaxed as ever even sleeping in my hand. They all enjoy having their heads stroked and ears rubbed. Merlin did a good job of getting to the milk before Arthur today. |
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Gwen sleeping in my hand licking her arm, lol. |
Gwen 12 days old |
Arthur 12 days old |
Merlin 12 days old |
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Evening weigh in...... Gwen is 9.9 ounces = 281 grams - up 17.8 grams Arthur is 12 ounces = 341.6 grams - up 17.8 grams Merlin is 10.6 ounces = 302.5 grams - up 21.4 grams |
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| December 27th - |
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Evening weigh in...... Gwen is 9.25 ounces = 263.4 grams - up 10.7 grams Arthur is 11.4 ounces = 324 grams - up 21.4 grams Merlin is 9.9 ounces = 281 grams - up 14.2 grams |
Arthur tucked behind Momma's back legs |
Merlin & Gwen |
Merlin & Gwen |
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| December 26th - The kittens are gaining and
growing nicely. They're holding their heads up for longer periods of
time, doing the head bob. Merlin now has his right eye open and the left
just peeping the inside corner. Arthur's are a little less then half
open. Its starting to look like we may have three colors. Merlin's nose
is starting to show a hint of color but Arthur's is still pink.
Chocolate color is slow to come in though. Could it be Merlin a
chocolate and Arthur is the lilac? What do you think....?
Gwen, Merlin and Arthur |
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Evening weigh in...... Gwen is 8.9 ounces = 252.7 grams - up 17.8 grams Arthur is 10.6 ounces = 302.5 grams - up 14.2 grams Merlin is 9.4 ounces = 267 grams - up 17.8 grams |
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| December 25th - Merry Christmas!
Evening weigh in...... Gwen is 8.25 ounces = 235 grams - up 14.2 grams Arthur is 10.1 ounces = 288.3 grams - up 21.4 grams Merlin is 8.75 ounces = 249 grams - up 17.8 grams |
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| December 24th - T'was the night before Christmas and all through the house...... |
Gwen |
Arthur...look at that pudgy tummy! |
Merlin exclaimed, Meowy Crisp Mouse to all and to all a good night. |
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Arthur made up for taking the day off to sleep yesterday by gaining an entire ounce today. Evening weigh in...... Gwen is 7.8 ounces = 220.6 grams - up 14.2 grams Arthur is 9.4 ounces = 267 grams - up 28.5 grams Merlin is 8.1 ounces = 231.3 grams - up 10.6 grams |
Lt to Rt - Arthur, Gwen, and Merlin. Zzzzzzzzzz |
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| December 23rd - one week old -
In their first week all three of the kitten have more then doubled their
weight. This is a great start. Today the boys eyes are just barely
opening at the inner corners. Gwen's right eye is fully open. The eye is
not fully developed yet so she really can't see yet. At this stage there
is no visible pupil or blue iris. Arthur is making up for his not stop
eating by taking a bit of a break. His weigh is excellent over all so we
won't worry he hasn't gained as much the last couple of days.
The birthday photos are not great. Fenya was not happy I was stealing her children and to keep stress low I had to snap them quick. |
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Gwen |
Arthur |
Merlin |
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Arthur. Is she saying...
"Arthur look over this way at mummy"
Or is she saying... " Oh you are wicked, Give me back my sweet baby." |
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"Enough, I'm taking my baby Gwen back!" |
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Everyone gets a soothing bath after the photos. The soothing is for momma not the kits. |
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Evening weigh in...... Gwen is 7.25 ounces = 206.4 grams - up 17.8 grams Arthur is 8.375 ounces = 238.4 grams - up 7.1 grams Merlin is 7.75 ounces = 220.6 grams - up 14.2 grams |
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| December 22th - Gwen's eyes are starting to peep open at the inside corners. Both boys are starting to show a slight bit of color on the edge of their ears. All three called out to mom when I was holding them. Arthur was the loudest, Merlin the softest, and Gwen meows but not with the same force of concern that the boys do. The body color between Gwen and the boys is not very different. They should be showing more color if they were blue points. Sometimes with the chocolate family and the seal family we can see the lighter color of the chocolate coats. Gwen may just have a nice light body color. I'm thinking it looks like we have chocolate or lilac boys. Chocolate and lilac color is more sensitive to heat and takes longer to come in. With the boys noses being so pink still I am thinking they may be lilacs like their dad. It will take a couple more weeks to know for sure. |
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left to right Arthur, Merlin, and Gwen |
Gwen |
Merlin with his tail looking more proportional. |
Arthur |
This is Merlin showing the slight change of color on his ear edge. |
Momma Fenya taking a break. |
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Evening weigh in...... Gwen is 6.6 ounces = 188.6 grams - up 14.2 grams Arthur is 8.1 ounces = 231.3 grams - up 14.2 grams Merlin is 7.3 ounces = 206.4 grams - up 17.8 grams |
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| December 21th - The kittens all gained the exact same amount of weight. |
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Evening weigh in...... Gwen is 6.1 ounces = 174.4 grams - up 14.2 grams Arthur is 7.6 ounces = 217 grams - up 14.2 grams Merlin is 6.6 ounces = 188.6 grams - up 14.2 grams |
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| December 20th - This morning Fenya was digging in her bedding. I think she was either trying to cover the kittens to hide them or because she felt the linens needed a change. I took this as a good indication that she would welcome a change so we relocated to the corner cabinet nest. She accepted the change and is settled in. |
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We have nice weight gains again tonight. Arthur clearly loves eating. He has a big round full belly tonight. I think he ate more then his share today, lol. Evening weigh in...... Gwen is 5.6 ounces = 160 grams - up 14.2 grams Arthur is 7.1 ounces = 202.8 grams - up 21.4 grams Merlin is 6.1 ounces = 174.4 grams - up 14.2 grams |
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| December 19th - Gwen's nose is starting to color up
but the boys are staying light. Looks like Fenya is not seal dominant.
So what color will the boys be? They could be blue, chocolate, or lilac
point, time will tell.
Arthur is living up to his name. He is strong and powers his way around the kittens, especially when he wants to eat. We can see it in his weigh gain, lol. He calls out when I first pick him up but is comfortable in my hand. Gwen in contrast is very relaxed. When I pick her up she just hangs limp and is quite unmoved by it. Merlin is also comfortable being in my hand. The first few days he would give a breathy hiss when he sensed I sat down by the box. Intuitive as a Merlin should be, lol. Today he didn't mind at all and didn't even mew when I picked him up.
We have nice weight gains again tonight. Evening weigh in...... Gwen is 5.1 ounces = 146 grams - up 17.8 grams Arthur is 6.4 ounces = 160 grams - up 21.4 grams Merlin is 5.6 ounces = 142.4 grams - up 17.8 grams |
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| December 18th - The kittens continue to progress nicely. This morning as I watched them sleep and nurse I noticed the color is starting to show in Gwen's ear edge. She's going to be a seal point. I can't see any color yet in the boys. I noticed Merlin's tail is a little shorter then Gwen and Arthur's. I tried to get a photo with all three tails laid out straight but Arthur wouldn't allow me to drape his tail out, lol. | |||
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Evening weigh in...... Gwen is 4.5 ounces = 128 grams - up 10.7 grams Arthur is 5.6 ounces = 160 grams - up 25 grams Merlin is 5.0 ounces = 142.4 grams - up 21.4 grams |
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December 17th - Fenya has taken several walks
about the house just to make sure everything is fine. With her last
litter she was extremely over protective after the birth. This time she
has been fine with Mags and Emma our senior Siamese pets but not with
Keva. Before the birth she and Keva were best buddies. This is part of
the fluctuating hormones. For both Keva and Fenya's peace of mind we
will keep them separated until the kittens are older.
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| December 16th - BIRTH DAY -Fenya woke me up just after 7am telling me today is the day. She couldn't stop licking me, lol.
We will spend the day in my office/kitten room. Fenya is nesting in the
bath towels that are in her box. I also removed the beds and added
towels to the corner cabinet. She has gone into the corner twice but
prefers the box. A one inch bubble of fluid appears. She is very
agitated but is not having any obvious contractions. At 9:50am the
bubble broke. I've never seen a bubble like this before. I see no
evidence of a kitten. I believe this is the equivalent to her
"water breaking". I sit at the front of her box and rub
her tummy and stroke her face. She spends all her time grooming my hand.
I have to keep my palm toward her so protect my skin from her rough
tongue, lol. Unfortunately, My husband scheduled an appointment for our phone service to be changed today. This fall I made a couple of phone calls to a breeder in the UK. After the second call Verizon immediately called us and said we had to pay the $250.00 bill for the call or they would shut off our phone service. This was quite a shock since the call was less then an hour. This bill was totally our fault. I've never called outside the US and had no idea I have to have a special phone plan to do so. I didn't know long distance didn't include international calling. We paid the fee but the problem we have with Verizon is that they did not inform me before the calls were put through, no warning or confirmation. They didn't inform me after the first call that was very short. When we spoke to them about how they handled this they were not willing to work with us in any way. (This past summer Verizon demanded its workers receive compensation cuts while their profits soared. Oct Verizon reported profits of $1.38 billion for the quarter, up from $659 million last year, on revenues of $27.9 billion.) Not caring about your workers or customers is a bad way to do business in my opinion. We have dropped their home phone service. The new phone service tech called that he was coming early. I was able to show him to the service area in the basement and came back up to be with Fen. I have the French doors closed to keep the room temp up above 80 F. The tech had to ask me a couple of questions which upset Fen. She peered around her box toward him and growled. Poor girl I did my best to sooth her. Fen is a little bit of a drama queen and always has been. When I tried to trim her nails as a kitten she would scream and jerk her paw away as if I cut the quick ....before I even clipped her nail, lol. As things quieted down her contractions started. As the delivery progressed the phone guy came to the door again and called in to me. I tried to answer but Fenya started screaming. I called to him we were having kittens, lol. Fen screamed like a demon and the first kitten was out at 12:20 pm. Poor Fen was very stressed at my raising my voice to talk to the phone guy through the door but she set about taking care of her new baby. The baby squirmed and snuffled. I made sure the placenta was delivered and allowed mom to eat it, its rich with nutrients she needs and a natural part of this process. She cleaned up the kitten and I went and signed the phone guys paperwork and sent him on his way. Contraction have stopped and I'm not surprised with the stress she felt. I sit with her and calm her. She allows me to weigh the kitten, I think its a girl. For the next 4 hours we wait and rest. Kitten one is strong and vigorously moves about in search of a nipple to nurse. I hear little smacking noises when she finds one, lol. She latches on well. There is plenty of time for photos. Our next kitten doesn't come for over 6 hours.
At :4:30 I put a call into my Vets office to see what my options will be if labor does not begin again. I started worrying about this a half hour after kitten one was born. My option tonight will be to go to Tufts ER if necessary. I really want to avoid a c-section if we can. We can feel a kitten in the center of Fen's side moving about. No one seems to be in any real distress so we wait. My daughter comes in to sit with Fen. My hope is this will help to relax her. Fen likes to sit with my daughter when she is on her computer or playing the x-box. My daughter works on her school work until 6:30pm when Fenya yells again. Kitten two is presenting. I encourage Fen to turn so I can see and with a couple exclamations from Fen he is out. Fen begins licking him and taking care of him. He's moving :). She yells again and his placenta is expelled. Kitten two cries out. A nice healthy cry :), I'm relieved. Many times the "hold up" kitten is still born. She just finishes eating the placenta when she is distracted by the birth of kitten three. I hand kitten two to my daughter to rub dry with a terry cloth. Fenya yells again and I think kitten three is out. She is positioned so I can't see well. I see his head and he is moving :). Momma is working on cleaning him. She rotates around and expels the placenta. I can see now and I tear the cord free of the placenta pinching it with my fingernails to stop blood flow and breaking the connection because she is pulling the kitten by the cord as she works on the placenta. I pick kitten three up and rub his face with terry cloth until I hear him snuffle. I rub him and we place him back with Momma. We weigh kitten two and mark him red. We use non-toxic permanent markers to mark the kittens so we can tell them apart and measure their progress. One mark on the kittens back and one under their arm pit just in case mom licks the back mark clean off. Arm pits get less cleaning, lol. Kitten two is put back with the other kittens. As kitten three becomes fluffy we mark him blue. I think two and three are boys. I have been mistaken before with my first guess at sex so these may change but I think I have it right. We give them names just for the use of the diary. The kittens owners will give them their forever names when they go home. The
Stats at birth #1 12:20 pm white – Gwen – 92.5 grams (3.25 ounces) #2 6:30 pm red – Arthur – 106.8 grams (3.75 ounces) #3 6:40 pm blue – Merlin – 99.6 grams (3.5 ounces) If its not obvious these name come from the tales that are inspired by the Arthurian Legend. A new season of of the series Merlin starts on SYFY January 6th.
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| December 15th - Today is our first possible due
date. We have the room all set up and ready. I have a new antique corner
cabinet that we have made the bottom cabinet into a nesting area. I
found it at the Brimfield market this summer. I stripped and
painted it so its fresh and new. My husband built a raised platform to sit in
front of the cabinet so the doors can be partially open and the floor is
all the same height, more room for the family nest. I also have the
birthing box our Mom's are used to using so Fenya can choose which she
is comfortable with.
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| December 12th - Fenya is spending much of her time
lounging. She likes having her tummy rubbed. Here she is on her back
trying to unsuccessfully lick her tummy, lol.
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December 9th - Here are the first kitten images.
Playing with the contrast of the images I think I see more heads and
spines the those of two kittens? Its really hard to tell.
We haven't been able to feel the kitten's moving around very much but today one of them was being a gymnast while Fenya was relaxing with my daughter. She made this little video of its activity so you could share in the experience.
Click the logo to watch our video on youtube or go to our youtube channel www.youtube.com/BlackandTanSiamese After watching the video click your back button on your tool bar to return to this page. |
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| December 6th - Fenya went in to have her kitten count today. It looks like we have two. There maybe a third but not enough can be clearly seen to be sure. The x-ray images didn't transfer properly to the disc I have so I can't open them. I will try to add the x-rays in the future if I can get another copy. |
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| November 11th - Fenya's nipples appear to be pinking. This is a good sign that she could be pregnant. The change in hormone levels causes this color change. We will be looking for kittens to be born in mid December. |
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| October 11th, 2011 - Fenya is being bred to Polo this week. |
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| September - Fenya did not conceive a litter. She will be bred when she cycles again. The number one of cause of failed breeding is poor timing. I'm going to wait a few days after Fen begins estrus to make sure I wasn't a bit too eager when we bred her. |
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| August 15th, 2011 - Fenya is being bred to Polo this week |
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