minahtoburmese

Kittens are one week old now!

2011-05-28T14:01:00.000-07:00

Well doesn't time fly? It's amazing to think that this time lst Saturday we were still waiting for Sassy to have her babies, and here I am a week later, posting the first update about how they're all getting on!

There was great excitement on Thursday when I noticed that one of the browns had opened one of its eyes already. Tht's quite early; I wouldn't normally expect that to happen until they were about a week old. The others are now beginning to show signs of eyes opening but this little one was very advanced. So as a result, he (I think!) has been christened Bandit.

I've been weighing them every day to make sure they are putting on weight and you can see from the weight chart that they have all gone over the 100gm mark and are progressing nicely. I'm having to keep an eye on the littlest browns as they are beginning to be pushed away from the best bits of the milk bar by their bigger siblings. I don't want to start top-up feeds just yet but will do so if they continue to put on less weight in comparison to the rest.

Not really much more to say as they don't do very much in the early days, but meanwhile here is a photo of Bandit.

New kittens arrive!

2011-05-22T14:05:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone!

It's been such a long time since I last posted a blog. So much has happened, especially with Pixie, the little brown kitten which I kept from Sassy's litter last year. She has been in a couple of shows, and won 1st and Best of Breed in both her Open classes, which was thrilling. She's now 10 months old... doesn't time fly!

Anyway, Sassy has just given birth to her latest litter of kittens. She went on "honeymoon" with a lovely lilac boy, Ch Typha Buffoon Billy, owned by my good friends Rosie and Barrie. The kittens arrived this afternoon, smack bang on time. There are 3 browns and 3 chocolates, and I think there are 2 females and one male in each colour. However I reserve the right to change this as it can be quite difficult to assign gender to them so young :-)

They are all a good weight, ranging from 66 - 90 grams at birth. Keep an eye on the kitten pages where I'll be updating the site weekly with their weight gain, and photos, of course! Apart from visitors to the website being able to keep an eye on them too, it's a really important way of ensuring that I can monitor them easily, as sudden weight loss is one of the early signs of potential problems. I believe it's also helpful for anyone thinking of purchasing one - or more! - of the kittens from me, as it's so important to be completely open about the kittens' development.

Anyway, I'll be posting regularly about the new kittens so please come back and check for updates from time to time!

Gill

Happy birthday Pickle!

2010-11-17T13:46:00.001-08:00

Today is Pickle's 17th birthday! Sadly I wasn't at home much with him but we've had lots of cuddles this evening and he's played with some toys and had some posh chicken food. He might even get to snuggle up with me in the bed tonight too! The kittens are all over him but he just lets them play until he's fed up then he just moves away :-)

I haven't blogged for a while but the kittens have grown so much as you might have seen from the kitten pages. I hope you've enjoyed the videos which Philip has been filming, and have managed to get an idea just how gorgeous this whole litter is. They should all be leaving for new homes in the next couple of weeks. One is staying at home - the one who was the smallest right at the start has grown into a very lovely little girl and I hope she will do well on the show bench in the future. One of the others is also going to be shown as well, just to see how she does.

I'll post a summary of their show career as they go along!

In the meanwhile - happy birthday again to Pickle :-)

Quality kitten time

2010-09-29T04:43:00.000-07:00

Well today I've got the day off work so it's nice to spend some quality time with the kittens. It's great to see how much they've developed and how much progress they're making. For example:

the Weeny girl has started climbing into the dish of dry kitten food - intended for Sassy - and is attempting to eat it, so she seems to have bypassed the stage of trying it soft and squishy first! Perhaps that's why she's suddenly had a weight increase and is now ove the 300gm mark... they are all using the litter tray, and I haven't even spent any time training them for that. Perhaps they're just watching Sassy... they climb in and out of the kitten pen all the time, and are now wobbling their way all round the ground floor of the house...

They are all having antibiotics and eye ointment to get over the respiratory infection an all seem very healthy - no more sticky eyes when they wake up. We've got to continue that for another few days although they now know what's coming and it's getting more difficult!

Anyway, it's good that following the tragedy at the weekend they all seem to be doing well - long may it continue!

More soon....

Tragedy

2010-09-24T22:16:00.000-07:00

Dear friends

I am very sad to announce that the choccie boy kitten died early this morning, Saturday 25 September aged 4 weeks and 2 days. Without a postmortem on him I don't know the cause, but from the symptoms I suspect pneumonia. To think that 24 hours ago he was eating and playing... he was in my arms snug and warm at his moment of crossing the Rainbow Bridge. Prayers please for this little life that had such a big impact in so short a time.

RIP.

The kittens bid for freedom!

2010-09-23T12:29:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone...

well the kittens are 4 weeks old today. Yesterday when I got home and let Sassy out of the kitten pen, four of the kittens climbed out after her! They are now well into the exploratory phase and I will also be starting to wean them at the weekend.

The littlest girl continues to put on weight, slowly but surely, although she is still only half the weight of her bigger sisters at just under 200gm. I have high hopes that she will break that 200 gm barrier this week. She is quite capable of sticking up for herself and I am beginning to feel more optimistic that she will make it.

They are also beginning to discover toys, and especially a climbing / tunnel thingy that I have had for several years and which always attracts the youngsters! Here's a photo of one of the brown girls playing peek-a-boo ....

Teddy continues to be slightly wary of them and isn't really sure what he should so when they approach him. It's so funny to watch the young tearaway being terrorised by something so small in comparison! :-)

More soon...

Kitten update

2010-09-12T02:58:00.000-07:00

The kittens are now 2.5 weeks old.

The one who had the tummy abcess is fully recovered and they are all putting weight on.I stillhave some concern over the weeniest girl; although she is very feisty she hasn't been putting as much weight on as I would like. But she is still fighting and I'm making sure she gets her fair share of the milk bar.

Last week Sassy decided to give her kittens a tour. First of all she decided they needed to sleep somewhere different and as she was in the kitten pen, the only option was the litter tray. Luckily it was clean.... I came in from work to find them all in a very cold and lumpy bed!

Later that evening she took them on a tour of the house, carrying a few around for a sight-see! One ended up under the bed, but I soon brought her down again. Sassy seems to have got the travel bug out of her system now and the babies have stayed put in the pen ever since.

Pickle is his usual calm self and is happy to snuggle with the kittens. Here's a photo of him babysitting....

Teddy however is still a little scared :-)

More updates soon!

Kitten emergency...

2010-09-01T14:03:00.000-07:00

Well today has been rather a dramatic day. The small brown girl - and it is confirmed, there are 6 girls and one boy - developed an abcess around the umbilical cord site. It was a quick dash over to the vets, where Gerard kindly saw us just before his formal consulting hours began. The abcess was lanced and was very infected. The kitten then received an antibiotic injection, and I have antibiotic drops to give her - literally one drop night and morning. We are hoping that the infection does not spread to the liver as that would mean there is nothing more that could be done for her. Hopefully we have caught it quickly enough.

I am under instructions to bathe the site regularly with warm salt water and squeeze the wound to ensure that all the infection is out (yuck!) But at least I'm at home for a few days and can keep an eye on it all.

All the rest are fine though!

What a big world!

2010-08-31T14:05:00.000-07:00

How exciting - one of the chocolate kittens has opened it's eyes today! That's very early - only 6 days old... would usually expect it from around a week to ten days.

They are all doing very well and putting on weight steadily, even the very weeny one is progressing nicely. Sassy is very attentive and barely gets out of the kitten pen all day even though I leave it open for her to come and go. She will get out to stretch her legs first thing in the morning and a couple of times during the day but otherwise she stays with them the whole time.

Teddy is quite funny - he is a little scared of these new little playthings, especially when they squeak, but I expect he will be happy to play with them when they are a bit older. Pickle is totally uninterested but I expect him to be his normal loving self when they start wobbling around.

More soon....

Kittens!

2010-08-26T13:30:00.000-07:00

That's right - the class of 2010 has arrived! Sassy decided she couldn't wait any longer so at about 4am this morning she decided to have her babies. I've been in Budapest for work this week - she started about 12 hours before I got home. Luckily she was staying with Rosie and I can't say a big enough thank you to Rosie who was up with Sassy at that time and saw her through the whole thing.

Not too sure what we have at the moment but there's a potential of 5 brown girls, a choc boy and a choc girl. But we're still working that all out!

So far, mother and kittens are doing well. Will start posting photos and weights soon - and videos once they start being interesting :-)

Keep checking for updates.... and in the meanwhile here's one of the first photos!

love from Gill and Sassy!

Sassy is 5!

2010-08-07T12:19:00.000-07:00

Today is Sassy's birthday. She's been very restless all day - not sure if that is a consequence of having a birthday or just feeling uncomfortable because she is so pregnant! I was quite worried earlier on as she seemed to be looking for a nesting spot - kittens aren't due for another 20 days or so! I brought her kitten pen in from the shed and gave it a good clean-up, and put an igloo-style bed in there for her to snuggle into. At the moment she is sleeping with Pickle and Teddy up on my bed, which is a real treat for them all!

Anyway, very shortly I'll get out some sardines, which she seems to love - as does Pickle - and they can be her birthday dinner treat; Teddy can have tuna as he doesn't seem to like sardines LOL! Sassy is certainly enjoying her food at the moment and within reason I'm trying to give her as much as she wants as she is clearly eating for several... on previous occasions I've thought she might only have 3 or 4 kittens as she's usually quite small - then she goes on to have 6 or 7 - but this time she has truly blossomed so I have no idea how many she might have. Probably 3 or 4 very large ones - which isn't as good as it sounds because she is a tiny little cat and might have problems. So 6 or 7 smallish kitts would be ideal!

More soon....

Farewell to Sharni

2010-07-14T13:51:00.000-07:00

Dear friends

many of you will know by now that my gorgeous little chocolate girl Sharni was put to sleep on Tuesday 6 July to save her from further suffering from kidney failure. Unlike with Suki, he disease took Sharni very quickly as she had only gone for her annual check-up at the start of June. She's very much missed around the house.

There's a tribute to her on her web page.

However on a happier note - and possibly a premature one! - Sassy is looking very "pink" today! So with luck she is pregnant and will be having kittens at the end of August... fingers crossed and I will keep you all updated!

Sassy's home - again...

2010-07-02T08:56:00.000-07:00

... and let's hope this time she did the job properly LOL! Collected her fom her second honeymoon this morning and she's settled back in quite happily. She went to the same boy, the blue Burmese called Prince owned by Rosie and Barrie. You can see him on their website, via the Links page. This time, if she's pregnant, kittens are due around the August Bank Holiday weekend. Fingers crossed!

On th downside, Sharni has taken a bit of a tumble from her renal failure. She had a day or so of rejecting everything put in front of her and her weight fell by 100gm. She's now lost 200gm in 4 weeks. We went to the vet this morning just before collecting Sassy, and she's had a steroid injection and is on an antihistamine - the same one claimed as a miracle drug by my friend Suzanne in Florida - which as done wonders for her cat Chloe apparently. So I hope it will kick in for Sharni too. Poor little soul has also had a touch of cystitis for the past couple of days so she had an anti-inflammatory for that as well. She probably felt a bit like a pin-cushion...!

More kitten updates as they become obvious... I hope!

Remembering Looney

2010-06-21T09:26:00.000-07:00

Well today is the Longest Day of the year, June 21st. It was on this day in 2004 that I had to let my gorgeous Bengal boy be euthanised to prevent him suffering further from cancer, aged just 8.

Many people reading this will probably never have met Looney. He was a brown spotted Bengal, called Looney because of his habit as a kitten of sitting on the head of a decorator who was doing some work for my dear friends Rosie and Barrie. Looney was a rescue kitten and looking for a home. I fell in love with him and they allowed me to adopt him and bring him home. From the start, his alternative name was Tigger. He bounced everywhere and on everything and everybody. He loved cuddles, he loved to play and he most especially loved the helium-filled balloons which in those days Suki managed to win at shows fairly frequently. He is still sadly missed in the house.

Looney also loved kittens and that's where we move to the next update. Sassy had a false pregnancy this time around, and sadly we won't be hearing the patter of little paws anytime soon. However she has had a check-up at the vet, and he pronounced her to be in excellent health and we have no reason not to try again next time she calls. As it looks like she is beginning to do so at the moment, hopefully she'll be going back to stud with Prince in the next few days - once I've checked the calendar to ensure that the birth won't co-incide with my next work trip to Hungary!

As for the rest of the Gang - Pickle is his normal adorable self, loving to cuddle up and still enjoying life at 16 and a half. Sharni - at just over 15 - has got very thin and is now on tablets for renal failure. However she doesn't seem to be in any pain, and got through her annual checkup without too many problems, although the extent of her world has shrunk to the lounge, kitchen and replacement extension (which is very nice). She is also very fussy about her food and getting her to eat almost anything is a cause for celebration most days. Teddy is trying to be as bouncy as Looney but has realised that unless he is very lucky I am now locking the bedroom doors so he can't do his trick of letting himself in :-)

More updates soon...

May already!

2010-05-04T13:51:00.000-07:00

I can't believe that a third of the year has already gone by! I've spent just under half of it overseas, most recently in Ulaanbaatar (Mongolia) but got held up on the way home in Beijing as a result of the volcano cloud. That was really tedious as the Gang were all at home and my parents had to supervise the replacement of my old conservatory!

Anyway over the past few days Sassy has been on "honeymoon" with a gorgeous blue boy called Prince. Prince is King's son - King sired Sassy's previous litters, so we are keeping it in the family. The fact that Prince is blue will mean that this is a good chance to prove if Sassy carries the blue gene and can produce blue kittens. Fingers crossed for the end of June!

The travelling is over for a while and I have to say it's nice to be home again and not thinking of packing for the next destination. It gives me an opportunity to snuggle up with the Gang, and most importantly to spend time with Sharni and Pickle, who are not getting any younger. They have both got quite clingy and spend most evenings curled up on my lap. This is particularly unusual for Sharni ,who has always been a bit aloof.

More soon when I find out if Sassy is pregnant or not!

Happy birthday Sharni!

2010-03-02T00:09:00.000-08:00

Sorry I can't be there to give you big birthday hugs and lots of yummy food but I know that you will be getting lots of love and attention and I will be home at the weekend!

Thinking of your sister Suki on this day as well.

Happy 15th birthday Sharni!

Suki - RIP

2010-02-09T13:58:00.001-08:00

Many people reading this will already be aware that Suki has been ill for some while as her kidneys gradually failed. However you may not know that last weekend, on Sunday 7 February, she couldn't fight anymore.

Suki was a brave little cat, a real fighter who experienced so much during her 14 years, 11 months and 1 week. She was a beauty - a winner on the show bench and a gorgeous example of her breed. She won many rosettes, bags of cat food, balloons and even the occasional bottle of champagne. She always preferred the food so I helped out with the champagne!

Elsewhere on the site I will post a fuller tribute to Suki. I'll miss her. But it's the one thing that, as a pet owner, we sign up to, the moment we let them into our home and heart. It's almost inevitable that we will survive them, and therefore our commitment to them not only includes loving them, feeding them, keeping them warm, safe and healthy, but also being able to let them go when it is time. And we have to recognise that time, and put our selfish desires to one side - because it will never be the right time for us.

Rest in peace, my beautiful girl.

Happy New Year

2010-01-01T13:52:00.000-08:00

Welcome to the first Minahto blog of 2010. I hope you've had a wonderful Christmas and are looking forward to a healthy and happy new year.

I've been back from Kabul for about 3 weeks now and I've also been at home between Christmas and New Year, so it's been lovely to be back at home with the Gang. It looks like I'll be around for a little while before my next trip, so it's a chance for the cats to remember me and get back into a routine! For a while, I was barely home before I went off again and they were back in the cattery or over at the surgery.

Rosie and Barrie looked after Sharni, Sassy and Teddy well at the cattery while I was in Afghanistan, and Suki and Pickle were also well looked after at the vet surgery. When I collected them, Suki gave her trademark chirrup-style purr - Gerard said it was the noisiest she'd been for 3 weeks; he thought it was clear she knew she was going home! Suki has in fact been back again - just after Christmas I popped her back over as she had a recurrence of cystitis so she had a long-lasting antibiotic injection which seems to have done the trick.

Anyway I'll try and update the blog a bit more often in 2010, so keep checking for updates!

Best wishes to you and yours for a wonderful new year, and good health and safe travels to everyone!

Update from the surgery

2009-12-03T21:14:00.000-08:00

Good news - both Suki and Pickle are off their antibiotics and the vet is really pleased with their progress. Have heard from Rosie that the rest of the gang are doing fine at the cattery too. So good news all round - even more so that I will be home soon, yippee!

Pickle improving :-)

2009-11-29T03:33:00.000-08:00

Dear all

thanks to everyone who emailed and commented about Pickle, thought I would just update to let you know that he has been taken off the drip and is back in with Suki, apparently much brighter and eating again. Keep it up kids, not long now!

Pickle not well...

2009-11-26T13:13:00.000-08:00

A call from the vet today, and bad news that Pickle has picked up a little infection - they think - and isn't very well. Luckily he is in exactly the right place and the nurses at Willett House picked up on it really quickly so he has been having antibiotics and is now on a drip to rehydrate him. I will call in the morning and hopefully he will be feeling better. Fingers crossed!

Suki, on the other hand, is doing fine. No change in her which is good. I hope she won't miss Pickle too much as he has been moved out of where he was with her, so they can put him on the drip.

More news soon!

Remote Suki update

2009-11-19T00:49:00.000-08:00

Hello!

Just to let everyone know that Suki is doing well at the surgery where she is boarding with Pickle. She has put on a bit more weight and is being fussed over by the vet nurses who are doing a great job by the sound of things.

I'm so glad that we gave her a second chance and that she seems to be doing well.

Take care everyone....

Happy news

2009-11-13T10:59:00.000-08:00

I am so happy just now - we have decided to give Suki another chance! She has rallied this week in the few days she has been at home. She has put on 200gm in weight, bringing her back to 2.4kg. Her usual weight is around 2.7 so not too far off.

I knew in my heart that if I wasn't going away that there's no way I'd be taking that decision tonight - that if it had just been a check-up we'd have been saying how well she'd done since coming home on Monday. She has eaten well this evening and she has "chirruped" for almost the first time since Monday evening.

So she will board at the vets along with Pickle to keep her company, and will be smothered in love and affection by the nurses 24/7, and Gerard will be able to keep an almost daily check on her. We came to this decision after much discussion and I asked his professional opinion. He said that her creatine levels were normal and the blood urea was high but that could have been down to other causes, and the fact that she has put weight on again suggests that it wasn't necessarily kidney failure after all - or at least, not a failure that couldn't potentially be reversed. And that's why he'd wanted me to bring her home, to see if that reversal could be achieved, or at least started.

To everyone who sent prayers and thoughts, thank you so much for your love and support; it's amazing that such a little cat can engender so much love. I hope you're as happy as I am, but please keep those good vibes heading Suki's way for a while longer, and watch this space for updates.

Suki update

2009-11-10T10:46:00.000-08:00

It is with much sadness that I am sharing this information with you all.

After a long discussion with Gerard, I have decided that it is kinder to Suki to let her go in peace rather than continue to simply exist. She isn't in any pain at the moment but she has severe renal failure and it is really just a question of when rather than if. She came home from the veterinary surgery last night and I will have some time with her here at home before Gerard comes over to the house on Friday evening. Then I and the rest of the Gang will be able to say our goodbyes in the peace and warmth of her own home.

Your prayers please on Friday evening for a gentle journey for Suki to the Rainbow Bridge.

There and back again

2009-11-09T12:11:00.000-08:00

Well since my last post I've been in Cape Town. That was an unexpected trip caused by someone going into hospital. I heard on Monday and left on Wednesday, and was away for about two and a half weeks.

Of course the gang all had to go back into the cattery and I heard on the day I came home that Suki had been ill and was at the vet's surgery. So I was over there on Saturday morning, fresh off the plane, and she was really skinny and on a drip. Gerard says it's possible that this time she really has gone into renal failure. So she stayed there over the weekend and I've just brought her home this evening. I am going to try and get her weight back up again with liquid food and anything else she'll eat, plus a cocktail of tablets, and we're going to reassess at the end of the week. I'm due out again very soon but the vet's concern is that Suki is getting very stressed by coonstantly going in and out of boarding, so if I do manage to get her to rally by the end of the week, I'm going to do my very best not to have to do the complete trip but to come back after 10 days or so. If the office management then says I have to choose between overseas trips and the cat then I know what will come first!

More updates soon.