Friday, June 26, 2009

Food

I'm such a stickler when it comes to cat food and like many people fed my small group of cats an inexpensive cat food which they would gobble up and I would have nothing left to feed them but my dinner until I got paid :(

With this breed project I've had to grow my number of cats and read about feeding a high quality food to the cats early on. I got them Iams kitten food and Iams original. I was pissed about the price until I found that they were eating less often and the Iams lasted and the cats weren't really begging for food all the time.

With so many bred mothers and a huge mass of kittens on the way I began making kitten glop which we call Cat Pudding and feeding that regularly. Even my old man cat Glenn loves the pudding and the mothers milk is strong and kittens get fed regularly.

At the cat shows many food companies advertise and bring samples. EVO was one of them. It a high protein food for the cats with a lot more meat in it. The cats loved the sample they got but I again went back to the Iams. Recently AmunRa was shown in Reno NV and while he did well he probably could have beaten all of the competition if he had more muscle mass. I asked my mentor and she probed about deworming. Ra was wormed for roundworm and tapeworm and I haven't seen a problem since then. She said then its what you are feeding them, he needs more protein to build muscle. Right then I knew she was right. She had told me and told me I needed a better quality food and now I really know why.

While I wont be showing Ra for a while, I do want him to have strong musculature. Many of my males don't mature until they are about a year and half old. I think he will be peak then but until then its time for some protien shakes! j/k buit he will be getting a higher protien meal now. I will also be feeding the EVO to my other prospective show cats.

This is good because now I can be a bit more stingy on the cat food and hopefully get some of my fatties down in weight and build up my thinner cats. We will still feed raw a few times a week and any meat leftovers from dinner will also be fed to the cats.

I have to say I gave out the cat food earlier and each cat has their bowl. Even the kittens wanted some EVO. Since I put their individual portions out not one of them has come begging for my lunch and the house is almost eerily quiet. The mothers are feeding the kittens and I haven't given them pudding yet. Its a very neat thing to experience and I wanted to share in detail. ^_^

Wyrds Feral Kittens

I wanted to blog a big about the ferals in my neighborhood.

Firstly I did want to report that a friend of mine that lives about 25 minutes from me recently found a flame point kitten with wavy whiskers and she stated like my cats have. I didn't know what to think so I went over and sure enough her kitten has the whiskers but her fur was not pronounced as rexed she had a thinner coat then most of my cats. I was forlorn and not sure what to think. The only logic I have is that we know this gene is a dominant gene, most likely an incomplete dominant. If kittens with the trait are being re-homed within the city it makes sense that the gene could travel so far away. Then again I have heard that some cats will travel pretty far to establish new territory.
As I have introduced these traits to those around me and people have visited my cats it doesn't surprise me that some features are being noticed however most of the traits that make these cats unique are not very easily noticed and fly quietly under the radar. Either way I know that the traits seem to be strong in the feral, semi feral, and free roaming cat population of the greater Sacramento area. Even if my work on a viable breed fails, these genes do not seem to be the kind that will just go by the way side.

Now as I've discussed on the site, my mentors and I feel that this trait comes from Chuck and his progeny and other relatives. I can not say if it came from his mother as she is clearly very wild and will not approach humans at all. I have only ever been able to see her at a large distance of 15 feet or more. I don't know who Chucks father is, at all. We do see relatives of Chuck and his family who were an established colony even before I moved to this area. We have lived in this home for 4+ years and have often tried to take care of and watch over the ferals on our block. We have seen many come and go. While this is a very ideal neighborhood for cats it is still dangerous and cats face so many perils from dogs to cars to illness. Thankfully though most people here are cat loving people and most dogs are well managed or cat friendly.
Within the past year, Chuck (who is a semi feral cat that was neutered & a founding cat for my program) returned after a 6+ months of hiatus and he returned with a female we called Wife. Wife came with one gray tortie kitten that had vivid blue eyes at the age of 6 months. That kitten disappeared as many do. Wife and Chuck stayed close. With regular food Wife found a will and a way. She was a medium sized cat when we met her so never thought much of her size but were delighted when she started bringing four small kittens to eat the dry food I'd but out for her. She and the kittens moved from under a house across the street to under our house. They were small enough to begin socializing so we would pick them up as much as feral kittens would allow. There were two unpatterned tabbys, one blue, and one black with gray ruff around the neck. Just a few days ago while feeding the kittens I was able to pick one of the unpatterned tabbys up and she had this abcess on her tummy. I knew she had to come in. I got the abcess clean and its healing very quickly with regular care. She is adjusting to life in a human home extremely well. A day or so after I started caring for her I was feeding the cats at night and we were ambused by a roaming dog. The older cats were able to get up and out of the way but the kittens weren't sure of the real danger and didn't run and hide quickly enough for my comfort. I shooed the dog away and the owner came and got the dog but we have since seen this out of control dog all over the neighborhood threatening children, dogs, and cats. Sadly that same night a siamese patterned cat from down the street was found dead in the morning. It wasn't mangled but obviously shaken to death. The next night I began working to capture the other feral kittens. I picked up the black one and he clearly was not going without a vicious loud fight. I had to put him down and I will regret that decision for a long time. We found him dead under our tree that next morning. Again no tearing or mangling but I believe shaken to death by the roaming dog. It was no longer a choice I just couldn't let the other girls go in that same way. We caught them and put them in an isolated room away from the rest of the household and clowder and have since started working slowly on socializing as they are not as sure and confident as the first kitten. Chuck comes and checks on the kittens, their mother Wife wont come in but will check on them through the window screen.

So thats a lovely story in and of itself but I also wanted to report that here I complained of having so many male kittens that showed the Helki features strongly but only a handful of females and all cat breeders know you need more girls then boys. All three surviving kittens are girls, have wavy whiskers and thick wavy undercoats! The blue girl has the best coat overall but is quite a priss who only loves me lol. So again the Wyrd has come and taken control to drive fate. While I dont really know much about these kittens backgrounds or how inbred they are, they so far seem pretty healthy and have had baths and dewormer from me starting about a month ago when I caught them all last time. Now for a good routine check up and we should be set.

Tuesday, June 16, 2009

An all cat update

This was posted as a blog on mycatspace.com I edited this version with the cats that are currently in my home and removed info about cats that were placed in forever homes, etc...

Glenn Lee: It seems he has taken on full retirement. I wasn’t sure until I noticed that Tanuki was now the cat that waited until everyone had finished before eating and Glenn takes advantage of eating before anyone can steal his food. He is creaky, and tired but since he has retired I’ve seen a new light in his eyes. He is enjoying the twilight of his life.

Tanuki: Is a fantastic leader and great mother. Her milk is coveted by all the kittens. She is patient giving and takes extra time with all of the kittens. But her love is her own baby Bender who I’ll talk more of later. Most of Tanuki’s day is filled with kittens but she still has a fun romp around the house and is active and social with the other older cats. The house is very quiet and stable with Tanuki in charge.

Shadow: Has been going through a phase where she prefers to be on her own. She spends most of her time sitting in a window sill watching the birds. She has had a few problems with Yuki bothering her and chasing her but he has learned grandma can hold her own.

Shady: Must feel usurped by his daughter taking over. He wont come back in the house. When we bring him in it’s a tooth and nail fight and he sprays the house up and down if he gets the chance. He spends all his time in the yard out front with Chuck, Wife and Wifes four kittens.

Mia: had four kittens a few weeks after Tanuki had Bender. Three of which you can tell are silver/smoke and long hair. Since silver and longhair are dominant genes that means they are Nickademus’ kittens >.<

Nermal: Also had a litter before Mia had hers. She has 3 sweet kittens. Nermal is now Tanuki’s right hand momma cat. The two are side by side all over the house. This is a good alliance and helps Nermal feel important.

Odie: had five kittens two of which we have kept. They are about 14 weeks old as I write this. Odie did her best. She did let the burden of her kittens lay heavily on the other three mothers when her kittens were about 9 weeks old. She has rebounded and is now doting on her two kittens that stayed here.

Garfield: Spends a lot of time with his son Bender and the other kittens. Most of it snoozing though… When Garfield is up I have to watch him as he loves to open the screen to my bedroom window of which lets out any other curious cat that notices the roof access was “unlocked”. It’s a bit frustrating as I don’t use an air conditioner and like open windows. Now I have to shut the windows in my room and suffer hot nights.


Yuki: While Arie has refused to put her large Yuki on a diet he hasn’t gotten rounder. He has a nice defined muscle mass and is a force to be reconed with. He has been the kitten playtime cat. Running all over the house like a freight train full of semi trucks! He has finally figured out that he likes girls and we have sequestered him to the “gentleman’s room” Which changed his habits into breaking and entering. Garfield taught him the get out of jail free trick with the window and we have had to get Yuki off the roof several times before I finally said enough and closed the window. Now Yuki spends his time snoozing in his own blanket filled laundry basket.

Pigeon: Still not much into her princess bed. She loves the DVR though. It is warm and whirs and is a great nap spot. When she gets up there she ignores everything else. As if there is a force field there, keeping her from interacting with humans.

Jazz: Is still a love bug. I took him as an exhibition to a cat show and he was an instant hit. People kept asking about his fur and so many people stated that they love black cats best. He had a lot of attention on the two day adventure and came home rockin’ it like a rockstar. Which happens to be his new nickname. Jazz knows when Ra and I are leaving to the cat shows and sometimes looks a bit put off that he isn’t going. I’ll have to take him to the next one for sure ;)

Sable: Is still fat, I’ve given up on the whole grow into it thing. She is a master at getting into everything and for a while she was one of Garfields roof crew. Other then that its normal Sable the Doom cat trouble =^_^=

Hostlov: (7 months old) Pesty has not found her forever home yet. I still think she would make a great cat for someone but if no one wants her, then I’ll keep her for the Helki program. She has great fur, but not really great type and not really a good temperament. She doesn’t like to be held or petted she only likes to play. She is the first one of Mia’s kittens that is like this. Seems like she retains some of the feral temperament. Over all though Pesty is loved and gets petted and picked up like it or not.

AmunRa: (7 months old) Ra has been my show cat. He has a good type, great fur, had wavy whiskers, had excellent color and pattern. He also has excellent temperament. Its funny that he and Pesty were littermates. He is older then her by two days and is smaller. She hates pets and he will hunt you down for love and affection. Ra is a Superstar at the cats shows he looks good and behaves well for the judges. He needs to be more playful though and also we need to get him a bit more muscled. Because of his age and my plan to use him as breed stock he wont be able to attend any more shows until he is a proven daddy and I am not planning that until next year. So while he earned 550 points at his one show this year he wont be earning anymore points until his own kittens are 14 weeks old and that again wont happen for a while.

Kittens….

Haze: was born of Odie & Shady. He is a blue lynx point with blue eyes and a sweet personality. Like most Siamese colored cats he sticks close to his human (Me). He does like being picked up and petted though. Loves have to come on his terms. I wanted to show him but I have quickly figured that he is not suited for such a life as long as he doesn’t like to be picked up and handled. He’s a sweetie though and I love him.

Le Tigre: Is Hazy’s littermate and planned mate of AmunRa when they are old enough. Tigre is a brown spotted tabby girl who displays the Helki traits the best I’ve seen on any female of this breed so far. She has a very outgoing, playful personality and we have switched focus to training her for the show ring. For an almost four month old cat she has nicely defined muscles and she should stun the judges and the audience alike ^_^ Just to tell you how outgoing she is. From the first days she was born she would hear my husband’s voice and try to crawl to him. She loves my husband to death and checks on him often.


Bender: Bender was born of Tannuki & Garfield. He was her only surviving kitten. Tanuki gave birth to four total kittens. The other 3 being girls sadly they didn’t make it past their first day of life. Tanuki had a long strained labor which I am sure contributed to the early death of her 3 beautiful girls. Bender though came out with a twisted bent tail and was feisty and hungry. He has never given in, even when his momma was sad about his sister. She loves him and he loves her and they bring each other the joy needed from such a loss. Bender is stripped ticked tabby. He also has a marking on the ruff of his neck that looks like a classic tabby pattern but he is stripped and ticked. His ticking is so pronounced that I thought he was an unpatterned tabby for a while. The Helki coat has a way of opening up to throw off color and show off the undercoat which helps see his very thin stripes. His ticking is a nice rufused red making him even more unique. His bent tail is not seen as a fault. It is actually twisted like a Japanese Bobtail and he can move it about just fine. Bender is a fun kitten to have and also a contender for the show ring.


Ditto, Squishee, & Slick: This trio was born of Nermal and Nickademus. They were a surprise litter and not planned. Boy were they a surprise. Squishee is the only male and has long hair like his father. He is blue colored and loves to play, but shy of humans. We work with him daily but I feel like he will be a lot like Pesty when older, which is a shame as he is the first longhair Helki. The waves in his fur pronounced and beautiful. His silvery blue shows off the waves nicely. Ditto was named such as she looks like the perfect copy of her mother. She is a Dilute tortie and just a sweet doll. Slick is a little black smoke girl. Her smoke isn’t as good as her daddys but what she doesn’t have in color she makes up for in personality. She is a hunter. Player, getter, and all around troublemaker. But she loves a good human snuggle. She also has some gorgeous green eyes. There has been a forever home waiting for her for a long time and I am so sad to give her over for those green green eyes and great personality. So hopefully they change their mind and get a dog.


Romo Meowski, Braith, Cho-chan, Koji: These four were born of Mia and Nickademus and again was a huge surprise. This surprise was also very nice. I think anyone who has silvers and works with smoke shaded and shell cats know that every litter is a delight to see. The silver gene does amazing things and until you see it in person… At the show hall people literally gasp when they see a cat with silver. Its like an open clear white that glimmers… All of these kittens got the dominant silver gene and its breath taking on them. Romo and Braith are Silveer classic tabbys. Romo has a better pattern but Braith has a nice long fur with open waves. Cho is a smoke Tortie with long wavy fur. Koji is a red smoke. The smoke make him look like he has no pattern. I still have no idea what pattern he has but the silver smoke makes him appear like a light red with no pattern. Koji also has that great longhair full wavy fur. When my mentor Anthony Nichols told me I needed some longhair cats in my breeding program I was forelorn. I don’t really like longhair cats, but mine! Oh yeah I love what surprises I got. These kittens are still young at all of 7 weeks old but they are all my loves.


Chuck- Loves being the outside cat. He is protective of the other cats out there. I watch a kitten almost get eaten by a dog, but Chuck ran over there and kicked the dogs butt, and saved the kitten!

Monday, June 15, 2009

Its been buggin' me

So the gallery has been bothering me. I don't really like how I have it set right now. Its nice to see the kittens from each mom grouped but over all I would like to have a gallery for each separate cat. I can have a new kittens gallery and such and such as needed. But over all it would be nice to have a gallery that features each cat that is staying in the home not just a jumble of new kittens and litters.

In other words I should have a good update about the gallery soon... wish me luck.

Thursday, June 11, 2009

Being patient

I ordered my edition of Robinson's Genetics for Cat Breeders. I'm pretty excited to get it. I know its a great reference and resource. Several months ago I had wanted to order the book and found a used one online for about $50 and thought that was a good deal. Finances didn't go as planned and I had to wait. Boy am I glad I did! I got the book for $3.75 and then paid about the same in shipping. The book is an old used library book. But its the original not the newer edition with all this editing from other geneticists. So for that I am extremely happy. Now I am waiting for the books arrival and that might be about 2 weeks. Le Sigh...

As for other stuff, I am mulling over attending a TICA show in Las Vegas. Several people I talk to online are attending and it sounds like a blast, but again I am not to sure about finances. So its a waiting game. The unpleasant kind where you aren't sure where the future is going.

As for cats. Everyone seems to be in good health and my youngest kittens are starting the weaning stage. Litterbox training has been hellish though. With other groups its been an easy transition and I always figure it take a few weeks for kittens to really get the whole litter box idea down, but I do have some stragglers that would prefer the paper to the box. There is still much time for these kittens to develop their skills again I have to be patient.

I was finally able to get some time to recreate all the records I had on my cats that were lost when the computer got a virus. Thank goodness for hard copies and also that I had put some of it online. I am still missing a huge bunch of pictures. Granted they aren't exactly the best pictures in the world but they were mine :(

R.I.P. pictures you are missed....

Sunday, June 7, 2009

CFA Show Reno 06/06/09

AmunRa (1st pic) was entered as HHP for this show. He is only 6th months old and already turning the judges heads. He won 2nd place in 4 rings and 4th place in 2 rings. He was up against some heavy competition from the 5th best cat in our Region(NorthWest). Mikelah (2nd pic) who is 7 years old and a feral rescue. She is an excellent example of a DSH mackerel tabby. And notably so she won 1st place in all rings as I recall.



As for Ra this will be his last show for about a year. I want to pass on his genes before I neuter him and by the time the next show comes around he will be too old for the competition without having been fixed. Also I need to work on his muscle tone. So I figure a nice year to mature in muscle tone and coat texture and then watch out HHP cats ;P

Our next cat that we are showing will be Kipper(Tigre 3rd pic) she is a Brown Spotted Tabby. She has these amazing waves in her whiskers and her coat really shows the difference between the Helki and the DSH. She has better muscle tone then Ra. Look for her at the Region 2 show in Roseville August 8th!

P.S. All my show schedules and plans are tentative. There are a few shows in Region 2 & 5 that I may or may not be attending with the above mentioned cats.... I'll update the blog as needed.