LostWoods Blog

I had planned to post the bonus shots of the Beloveds here today. I have them and maybe tomorrow I’ll post them. They are cute — even though the boys were being naughty. But today’s scheduled blog post has been pre-empted for this breaking news:

The Royals have arrived!!!

Basia spent a good part of the night in bed between Ken and me. She was perfectly content. I thought. About 2:00 I got up to go to the bathroom. When I came back to bed, she was still there, half under the blankets like she’d been tucked in for a good night’s sleep. About 10 minutes later she got up and left. I felt a cat settle down by my legs and I thought it was her changing sleeping spots. I went back to sleep.

About 5, I was awakened by kittens crying. I thought it was Kali’s babies playing — Kendi is especially vocal and I’ve gotten used to tuning him out. Then I realized 1) it’s more than one or two kittens. 2) it isn’t stopping. I got up and followed the noise to my closet. The other cats were circling around outside my closet and every time someone poked his or her head in there, I heard growls. I opened up the doors — causing more growls — and started pulling out all the shirts that were hanging on the lower rod. More growls. But as I removed shirts, I found Buzzy and three kittens.

The kittens and Buzzy were not cuddled up together — I think that’s why the babies were crying. So I got the birthing basket from the other room and moved the little family down the hall. I turned up the heat and petted Buzzy for a few minutes. Shortly after, with a half grunt, half growl, kitten #4 arrived. And #5 arrived shortly after that.

I was a little concerned at first because two of the kittens that were born in the closet were on the cold side, although active and mouthy. But once the furry family was moved into the other room and into the basket with Buzzy, they warmed right up. All five of them are nursing, moving around, sleeping, and acting healthy and normal. Basia is also happier and more settled in the other room. They are in Jeremy’s former bedroom for now because it’s mostly empty and Buzz has fewer places to move the kittens — fewer places that I might object to! I will have the kitten cam up later this evening. That is, providing my internet service is up. We were having problems with it last night and this morning.

So… this litter is the Royals with names meaning royalty (king, etc) or names of kings or queens. Partly it’s because of a name that Brenda likes and since she might be taking one of the girls I wanted to use it for her. Partly it’s because Buzzy and her maternal ancestresses are Queens of Everything. Just seems to fit her kittens.

I suppose you’d like a few more details about the kittens, huh? And maybe some pictures or something? Glad to oblige!

Tatiana – female – brown torbie and white
Riordan – male – brown tabby & white
Reagan – female – brown torbie & white
Alaric – male – brown tabby & white
Alexandra – female – brown torbie & white

They weighed between 3.8 oz / 106 gr (Alexandra) and 4.7 oz / 132 gr (Alaric). Since my list is at home, and I can’t remember who weighed what between the other three (3.9, 3.9, and 4.2 oz) that will just have to do for birth weight info.

As for pictures, here are some of Buzzy a couple days ago when she was still fat and pregnant, along with a picture of her with the babies this morning and a picture of the Royal kitten mosh pit just a minute after I’d changed their blankets and put them back in their bed. Basia was sitting beside the bed cleaning herself and allowed me about 30 second to take a picture before she jumped back in with them.

I do have individual pics of each of them that I’ll put on the website tonight, so look for those later.

The little babies, aka the Beloved litter, all managed to escape from the kennel Monday evening after they were supposedly tucked in for the night. Shiara had escaped Saturday night and Sunday morning, but the rest had stayed put. Well, until they decided that it was very unfair to be locked up and all climbed out in rebellion. So free they are.

Shiara is always the first to come when I call them and she follows me everywhere if I’m in our bedroom and bathroom. She’s living up to the promise of adventurousness from her day early birth. But all the kittens are very sweet and quite interested in us. The Valentines are very interested in the Beloveds and think wrestling with them is perfectly acceptable. It’s fun to watch them at about 6 in the morning as they all play and climb on things. The Beloveds are already good at climbing up the litter kitten condo to get to the cedar chest. I’m hoping tonight that familiarity with the top of the cedar chest will result in them willing to watch the teaser rather than a desire to peer over the edges and escape. One can only hope…

One minor mishap was the result of them climbing up on things. I was in the hippo room across the hall and heard a kitten crying loudly, obviously in distress. This was more than the yelps and cries I hear when they get too rough playing with each other. I ran into the bedroom, looking for the kitten who was the source of the sounds. I found Kendi caught between the back of the cedar chest and the footboard of the bed. Apparently, I’d moved the cedar chest just a little too close to the bed the last time I’d cleaned. It was far enough away for a little kitten to fall in the space, but not far enough to let him fall all the way to the floor. Kendi couldn’t get loose and he was extremely vocal about his displeasure.

I think every cat in the house had come running to see what was wrong with the baby. That made getting him out a bit a of a challenge, with cats on the cedar chest and the floor all around. I was afraid I’d set it on one of them as I moved it. And I didn’t want Kendi to fall and get hurt. So Ken helped me shoo cats away and moved the cedar chest while I reached behind to catch Kendi. All is well now and the cedar chest has been moved an inch or two further away from the bed.

Tonight is picture night for the Beloveds. I hope to have them posted to the website later tonight. With any luck, I’ll have bonus shots here tomorrow sometime.

Where do I start? I know, I haven’t done a blog post in ages — which is strange considering I have two litters of kittens to photograph and share stories about. I don’t know what to say. I just haven’t been very motivated to write here lately, although I’ve been doing a bunch of other writing.

First, some good news. I took McCoy out to Washington State University on Monday for his HCM screening echocardiogram. It was normal. Yay! For any of you in the Pacific Northwest who are looking for a place to have HCM screening done, WSU is a great place to go. The cardiologists there know their stuff — the NFC HCM research project is being headed by Dr Kate Meurs at WSU. The staff is friendly and efficient. The price is comparable to what you’d pay at a HCM clinic at a show. And if you’re coming from the east like me, the drive is beautiful. So maybe that’s not a criteria for you, but it does help me enjoy the six hour one-way drive.

Valentines news… Carwyn is leaving on May 29th for his new home in New York. Look for him at a show or two out that way, since Katie is planning to show him. He’s such a sweet boy and loves to cuddle with us in the mornings. Ken is home sick today and when I left for work, Carwyn was snuggled up to him purring. He still is the cave kitten and loves to crawl under the covers with us if given the chance. Or more accurately, if not prevented from getting under the covers!

Taavi’s new mom is coming to get him around June 3rd. I hear she may have additional company on the trip out here — everyone is excited about getting him. Taavi will have a furry “sister” at his new home. His owners are also adopting Torianna’s little girl, Calypso, from ForestKatz. Taavi and Carwyn both have become great jumpers and climbers and love to get on the counters in the bathroom and kitchen, where they get told “no!”. This morning Taavi jumped onto the window sill in the bathroom and was climbing up the screen. Bad kitten!

Tanith’s new mom is coming out to get her in early June, too. Tanith is going to a show and breeding home, just as I’d hoped. She’s still my little sweetheart and purrs at a touch. Sometimes the touch isn’t even necessary. She hops up on the bed in the mornings and comes trotting over the blankets, purring and begging for loves. She has the “flop and purr” gene and as soon as I touch her, she flops over. But I should say she has the “flop, purr, and chomp” gene — perhaps getting the chomping part from her Dawnie-mom, aka Chompers. Tanith flops over and then chews on your fingers while you’re trying to pet her. At least until she falls asleep.

The Valentines know that they are way overdue for their story and they assured me that they are planning to write it soon. They did try to use the excuse that their Dawnie-mom’s litter never had to right a letter, but I told them that she only got away with that because she didn’t live at LostWoods when she was little.

Beloved news… the kittens turned four weeks old yesterday and are all doing great. The photo sessions (yes, sessions — I tried twice) were frustrating because the only one who was interested in the teaser was Shiara. She paid attention to it and posed a little for me. Everyone else was more interested in how to get down from the cedar chest I’d put them on for photos. However, when I went through the pictures, I found a few of each kitten that were decent. Thank goodness, because my patience was running out. I’d about decided to give up and try again tonight.

Shiara and Kendi are reserved. Keefe and Kaela are available. Although, I might have to keep Kaela to replace Kali and Fin in the LostWoods breeding program – both of whom I’m thinking of retiring this year. (Shhh! don’t tell Ken I’m thinking about that!) She’s a smoke — which I love — and has a unique look. We’ll see how she develops, but I really don’t want to lose the smoke/silver gene in the lines. I suppose part of this depends on if Kefira gets pregnant and what she has. She didn’t get pregnant back in early April, but she’s in heat again so I hoping this time she will.

Okay, back to the Beloved. They are living in our bedroom now and just starting to eat solid food. I’ve had the camera off because both Ken and I have been home sick a number of days in the past week (don’t worry, nothing serious, just miserable colds) and I don’t think seeing us wander around the bedroom in our night clothes is exactly family entertainement. And the kittens have been hanging out under the bed a lot lately. Why do they do that?! I’m seriously thinking of buying Plexiglass and building a barrier under the bed so they can’t get under there. Anyway, I hope to get the cam turned back on this weekend if they are spending more time playing in the rest of the bedroom.

They are friendly little kittens and it’s easy to coax them out from under the bed. I don’t know that I’d even call it coaxing. I just talk to them and they come to me. Shiara is especially friendly. She’s usually the first one out and she follows me everywhere. Kaela is on the quiet side. Keefe and Kendi are playful and silly — they love to wrestle. Kendi is still mouthy and complains when I give him kisses.

Basia is getting very round. She went through a spell of being a complete witch about everything, including biting my arm because I was combing her back legs. But this week she’s being the sweet Buzzy, lying on my chest purring and petting my face in the mornings. She’s spending most of her time in the splat cat position on the floor — preferably the cool vinyl, tile, or wood floors in the house. This weekend I’ll start confining her to the hippo room since her due date is the 29th.

Bonus pictures of the kittens… So I’ve been bad again. The extra shots of both litters are uploaded to their albums on the LostWoods Facebook page. It’s just so easy for me to put them there. I select the pictures, click upload, and then publish them. I don’t have to think of anything interesting to say or find some time to write. And since I usually write here during a break at work, I have to remember to send the photos to myself at work, too. But I’ll try to do better and get them posted here, too. But it would be so much better if you just joined Facebook and became a fan.

Last thing for today. Fiala’s owner Betsey sent me a couple pictures of Fiala yesterday. It’s so nice to see my beautiful little girl. She’s retired from breeding and now lives the life of a spoiled pet. Olly (as I called her) lived with me for about a year and as a result, I was more attached to her than most of my kittens. I cried when I finally let her go. But I know she’s loved and that always makes me happy for my kittens. Here she is.

I’ve had some baskets sitting on top an entertainment cabinet for awhile. I had them out for Easter and have been debating on filling them with something else for spring or just putting them away. The cats have voted that I leave them there, just as they are. Time and again I find someone sleeping in them.

There are three baskets. The multi-colored one is the smallest. The tan one is medium. The white with flowers is the largest.

Yesterday I walked by and spotted Dawnflower trying one on for size. It looked like a fairly tight fit.

But she did manage to curl up in it for a short nap.

Later I saw that she had decided to try on a larger basket for size.

If you look closely at the white basket, you’ll see why she didn’t just settle into the biggest basket.

Still later in the day, after Taavi had decided to go play, I saw Dawnie sitting in the biggest basket. Unfortunately, I didn’t have the camera handy to catch her there. but she finally did get to nap in comfort in the big basket.

The weekend is winding down and I’ve updated the website with the eleven week photos of the Valentines. I can hardly believe I only get three more weeks with these little darlings! It’s good that I have Kali’s kittens to spoil soon. (Well, I already have them, but right now they complain when I hold them. Soon they’ll be playing and enjoy snuggles and attention.) And Basia is starting to look chubby. I won’t say how she’s acting — this is family blog!

So the Valentines were very good today and I have group shots and bonus shots for you.

Taavi was being silly and thought attacking the blanket was more fun than the teaser, so I kept getting pictures of him lying down. Still cute, though!

Other news… I resigned from NFCFA. Too much fighting and negativity for me. I fulfilled my term in office. I successfully — with the help of a wonderful committee — updated the By-Laws so they are more coherent and modern. And now, I’m going to focue on the Norwegian Forest Cat Breed Club forum. One of the things that I have long thought was needed — and should have been done by NFCFA, if people hadn’t been more concerned with power, cliques, and personalities — is a true mentorship program for people who want to become breeders. I already have an outline of how I think it should be structured. I have a start on the articles/materials. But I certaily am not the expert at everything, so I will be looking for people to help me create that program through the forum. I hope that a lot of it will also be useful to pet owners who want to learn more about the breed and for people who are showing Norwegian Forest Cats. If you have suggestions or want to volunteer to work on something, just let me know. I’m sure this is going to take some time, but I think it’s a very important thing for people who love the breed.

Awhile back, a woman contacted me about using a photo of Talia as the reference for a painting of her neighbor’s beloved cat, who had passed away at the age of 18. Of course I gave my permission. Last week she sent me a photo of the painting along with the note that her neighbors were very pleased and the painting brought tears to their eyes.

The painting is absolutely beautiful! I asked for permission to post the picture here for all of you to see, too. I hope you enjoy this as much as I did. The artist’s name is Marla Moody. She can be contacted at almar@sti.net if you have comments or questions — or maybe want her to do a painting for you. (I don’t know if she will, but it couldn’t hurt to ask!)

Painting by Marla Moody

If you didn’t already see, I posted one week photos of the Beloved kittens on Wednesday night. Also, in case you didn’t save the link, the Kitten Cam’s address is: www.lostwoodswegies.com/kittencam . It runs most of the time, although you won’t see much after dark. They are starting to crawl around a bit more now. Keefe finally opened his other eye, so he doesn’t look like a one-eyed pirate any more. Kali has been asking to leave the room every evening for a little bit, but she is absolutely fierce if anyone tries to come in the room when the door is open. In fact, she doesn’t much like the other cats even walking by the door if it’s open. She’s a protective mom-cat.

Have a good weekend everyone!

I wasn’t quite sure if I had Sevilen’s sex correct and I’m now pretty sure the sex change fairy has paid a visit. Sevilen is now Kaela. At least I think so! Today was Shiara’s one week birthday and she exactly doubled her birth weight in a week. I didn’t take pictures — I’ll do hers with the rest of the Beloved tomorrow evening. Officially, this litter’s birthday will be the day the majority of them were born. That is, April 22. So there should be new pictures on the website each Wednesday night, Thursday if something comes up. And happily, getting a new CF card for the camera seems to have solved my problem from the weekend. Whew!

So… bonus shots… that’s what you really want, right?

Yesterday evening I was a busy webmistress. After a malfunction with my good camera (really, Ken’s good camera), I resorted to taking pictures of the Valentines with my backup camera. They aren’t as good as I’d like, but at least there are pictures of the 10 week old babies. I have some bonus shots, but not on this pc, so I’ll try to remember to post them tomorrow. (Yeah, I know. I always say that, then I don’t post for another week!)

After I updated my website with the Valentines’ photos, I spent quite a bit of time working on the Kashi Saga site. Barbara and George have two new litters of adorable kittens and you can see them on the Kittens page there. I also had a handfull of other updates to their site that I completed. I also had a few updates to the ForestKatz site — mostly just to tell you all who is still available. If you’re looking for a red tabby and white boy — slightly older — visit them. Jim and Donna would love to find the perfect home for Lucy’s two remaining boys, as well as homes from a few of Torianna’s kittens.

I didn’t do updates to the Red Canyon site because Brenda didn’t get a chance to do photos yesterday. I did add a link to a YouTube video of her kittens playing in the snow on the porch that you might enjoy. Yes, snow in late April in Colorado! It’s not that unusual. Really.

Kali’s babies are doing great, although I think they might be full of attitude and trouble. As you know — if you’re a regular blog reader — the little girl (Shiara) made her appearance about 27 hours before her brothers. Somehow that seems to fit a torbie — torbietude showing up at birth. The little red boy (Kendi) is a mouthy guy who screams about everything. You should hear him when he’s demanding that his siblings give way at the milk bar. You’d think someone was being killed. And he has his own way of getting a jump on his litter mates. His first eye opened at three days, the second on day four. He has two eyes wide open now — the better to see what is going on so he can get ahead of everyone else. Shiara also has one eye open now. The other two boys are content to remain in the dark for now, I guess. But the little silver guy (Keefe) is almost as vocal as Kendi. Kali has become jaded to them carrying on when I weigh them. She just lies by the scale and watches, purring. Speaking of the scale, they are all gaining like champs.

So that’s all the words of wisdom — or otherwise — from me today. Enjoy the kitten cam — that is, if Kali leaves the kittens in the kennel so you can see them.

As promised… and here you’ve been checking the blog all day, waiting for me to finally get these posted! The same photos are on the website, but these are a little bigger so you can see the kittens better. Just remember to click on the photo to bring up the bigger shot.

If you’ve been watching the kitten cam today, you’ll notice Kali isn’t quite convinced that her kids should be in the kennel. She has a hard time opening the closet door with a kitten in tow, so she’s been putting them in the corner of the room, under the edge of the bed. Then I come in and move them all back. She leaves them there for awhile, then she moves them again. I’m hoping she’ll give in soon and quit this nonsense. She’s probably hoping the same of me!

I must have been unclear yesterday since two of you congratulated Kali on five kittens. She only had four. The little girl was born on Tuesday, followed by three boys on Wednesday. The little girl reminds me a lot of Torianna – Basia’s mom and Kali’s half sister. Wonder if she’ll be a QoE, too?

All of the babies gained weight nicely in the first 24 hours. Other than moving them, Kali is being a great mom and they seem content.

As promised… The rest of the story of Kali’s kittens — the Beloved litter.

When morning rolled around today, there was still only one lonely little girl kitten. Kali still wasn’t showing signs of being in labor. And I was becoming a worried mom. I went to work and as soon as MVS opened I called as asked to have Dr Jennifer call me. I’d also posted a bit about things on my Facebook status which Jenn saw. So she called me from home a few minutes after 8. I told her what was going on and we agreed that I’d bring Kali in about mid-morning — the soonest I could escape from work this morning.

In the meantime, Brenda was being a most excellent friend and watching the kitten cam from work, since I can’t watch it. She sends me several emails about 9, followed by a phone call to tell me she thinks Kali is in labor. Then says she’s pretty certain Kali had delivered a baby. More labor, another baby. More labor, another baby. FINALLY, I could escape and came home about 10:30. Kali was happily snuggling with the babies and one of them was still pretty wet. I picked up the babies one by one to weigh them and transferred them to the basket, which I then moved from the closet to the kennel — Kali along with them. All the babies look healthy and content, as does Kali.

Here’s what Kali had (keeping in mind I may change my mind about colors, patterns, and sexes.
Shiara – brown mackerel torbie and white girl – 4.1 oz / 116 gr
Sevilen – black and white boy – 3.8 oz / 110 gr
Kendi – red mackerel tabby and white boy – 4.2 oz / 120 gr
Keefe – silver (or brown) mackerel tabby and white boy – 3.8 oz / 108 gr

Maybe the little girl needed to get a head start on those boys and that’s why she was in such a hurry to be born. She took full advantage of the milk bar and weighs 5.0 oz / 144 gr tonight.

I have the kitten cam running — well, not at this exact moment, but look for it in the morning. Address is: www.lostwoodswegies.com/kittencam I have not taken individual pictures yet. Immediately after work today the Valentines had their first vet exam (all are healthy, big kittens.) Then Ken and I had dinner plans with friends. So I’m just now getting home and getting a chance to update this blog. Pictures tomorrow. I did take this one shot of Kali with the kids late this morning.

I will get pictures tomorrow, even though I know Kali isn’t going to like it much. None of my new moms much like me stealing kittens, making them cry, and taking pictures of them. Gee, I wonder why?

After working ten days in a row, my weekend started this afternoon. So I get four days to watch these babies before I have to go back to work. Yay! I do have things to do — like a bedroom to paint, followed by cleaning the carpet in there. But I’m sure there will be plenty of time to give kittens kisses.