RUSSIAN BLUES
RUSSIAN BLUES
KIDONSKI CATTERY
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CLICK HERE TO GO STRAIGHT TO THE
NEW KIDONSKI WEBSITE
DEDICATED TO THE QUEENS
AND THE KITTENS AVAILABLE
email me
INDEX
PAGE ONE : How Kidonski cattery started and why. The first Queen, from birth to 12 weeks.
[ PAGE TWO ] Growing up, images from 4 months - 7 months
[ PAGE THREE ] Images , queen at 9 months, and favourite links
[ PAGE FOUR ] More images, getting ready for the show
[ PAGE FIVE ] More images, links to A DAY AT THE SHOW, and Cat Protection Project
[ PAGE SIX ] Images , 12 months, Dressed in Egyptian Costume for photo shoot.
[ PAGE EIGHT ] Photos of queen at 4 , 6 , 7 and 8 weeks pregnant.
[ PAGE NINE ] 4 BABIES BORN 19th JANUARY 2001 !
[ PAGE TEN ] Photos of the babies as they grow, week by week.
After learning that my 4 year old colour-point Persian Male has Feline Hypertrophic cadiomyopathy I began making a web site with diary entries as the weeks go by. His is a severe heart failure condition, rare in cats, to learn about Ludo and this disease, please visit this web page: Feline Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy
It has been nearly 1 year since he was first diagnosed, and his future is short. Most cats with this disease survive an average of 2 years, but his condition is particularly bad. So, as much as I didnt want to , I had to think about getting another cat to help ease my heart ache when I let my baby go. Deciding what kind of cat was not taken lightly. I did my research, very carefully weighing all the aspects of personality and care for each breed. I loved the long haired cats, but my partner was not very impressed with all the hair found on our clothes, couch and even in our food. So I decided a short haired cat would be best and most accepting by him.
We have had Siamese, Burmese and Abysinnians in the past. We love the burmese, the siamese were nice but too noisy for my liking, and the Abyssinians too hyperactive and uncontrollable, they aren't lap cats and I just love to cuddle my babies. The burmese seemed the best choice, we have had a litter of them when I was young, Brown Burmese, and I once Tortie Burmese too who became gravely ill (See this article CLUMPING CLAY LITTER, KILLER CONVIENIENCE ?), they are very friendly and affectionate, human like and terrific companions, but after researching all the diseases caused by imbreeding pedigrees, I decided on a pure bred cat, not a hybrid. I could not go through the heart ache and devistation of diseases such as Cardiomyopthy, or Polysistics all genitic and a death sentence that can be avoided. Through research and making friends with a local RUSSIAN BLUE Female at my newsagency, I discovered the Russian Blues are a breed in their own right, not a hybrid and breeding with other breeds was not permitted. They are a hardy cat and very friendly and affectionate once they get over their shyness.
Not only did I want a companion and life long friend, but I decided to take on the dream of breeding cats of my own. I helped my mother with her litter of Burmese (she was hysterical!) when I was just 11 years old, then at 18 I made friends with a breeder and watched litter after littler of beautiful squashed faced Pursians born and grow. I also found another very good friend whos mother bred the highly unusual DEVON REX, some people dont find them appealing but I think they are wonderful ! After loosing so many cats to car accidents, old age and now disease, I did not want to see any more death, but wanted to witness life. This is not a dicision that comes out of the blue, but one that grows steadily with every passing year. You know that you can handle it or you know you cant. My mother is one of those who cant, Although she loves cats and kittens dearly, she found it so nerve wrecking when her queen had a littler of kittens, she was quite frantic and vowed never to go through that all again. I on the other hand absolutley loved every minute of it. By my fathers side, we helped our queen through the 3 hour birth of four healthy kittens, although the first was near dead, we revived it, cut its cord, and kept it warm while she birthed the next.
So began my search for the RUSSIAN BLUE
Locating a local breeder was not so hard, but I learned that these cats are not so easy to get hold of. The litters ranged from 1 kitten to 6, one breeder in particular had a waiting list of nearly 5 months for a kitten, most of her kittens being sold to over seas buyer through the internet. I found that the females were the hardest to get hold of. This breeder in particular has a waiting list of 1 year.
SO I found another breeder who had a Queen who was due to kitten in just 2 weeks. She was happy to sell me a female and have her brought back to the cattery for breeding when she was old enough. I was asked to call back at a later date to see what the litter contained. When I did I learned there were 3 boys and 1 girl. I was fortunate enough to be the first person to call back out of 7 potential customers who wanted a female. I immediately paid my deposit and am waiting patiently for her to grow up good and strong until she is ready to leave the nest at 12 weeks of age.
I vistited the cattery when she was 6 weeks old and was very fortunate to see this beautiful kitten.
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A Female, 5 days old. This fat little thing was the only one in the litter, but her mother has adopted some other kittens, so she is not alone. Her eyes will remain closed for 10 days.
My little Female 6 weeks old she was very shy and frightened at first, but soon relaxed under my hand in about 3 minutes.
Her eyes are just beginning to change color they should turn into a gold/green colour. Her fur is suprisingly thick and springy. You can see faint tiger like stripes, but these will disapear when she gets her mature coat
A NEW HOME:
After waiting for 14 weeks, the day finally came when I was to pick up my kitten and bring her home. When I arrived at the cattery I found that my little kitten had hardly grown an inch since I saw her last (6 weeks ago).But her eyes were a lot more green and still changing. She was so tiny but suprisenly heavy. I almost wanted to leave her for a little longer until she was bigger, but she was 12 weeks old, fully weaned and ready to go to her new home. She cried most of the way home, and was very wary and timid when I put her in her new room.
I remembered our burmese coming home all those years ago, how sick she was and frightened, she hid under the bed for the first week and cried all night, but she would not let us touch her.
I kind of expected something similar with this new one. But to my total amazment, she adapted to her new surroundings in just a few hours, she clung to me and purred, licking my nose and accepting me as her new mum and playmate.
I cannot get over how affectionate she is. She climbs up my legs demanding a cuddle, rubs her face all over my nose, purrs and gazes so lovenly in my face it brings tears to my eyes. She is very playful and has had a few close encounters with my Pursian. He's very curious and seems to want to play with her, but tends to run away everytime she approaches him. I'm sure they'll be good friends within a fortnight.
She has a hearty appetite, and only got the runs once the first night ( I think it was due to a change in diet) She doesn't mind visitors and all my friends think she's beautiful.She is not as shy as I thought she'd be, and lets them pick her up and play with her without a second thought, but she seems to olny come to me for cuddles (which I would have no other way !). I have one friend who has ordered a male kitten from her already !
At 13 weeks old, her eyes are becoming more prodominantly green and will continue changing until she is about 6 months old. The eyes begin changing from the pupil working its way outward.
CLUMPING CLAY LITTER, KILLER CONVIENINCE ?
Read this informative article about clumping clay kitty litter leading to deaths in cats, kittens and other family pets. After a personal experience with this horrific stuff, I am trying to draw as much attention to this problem as I can. Please pass this article on to any cat lovers you may know of. As a result of reading this article I switched from a fairly safe grit based kitty litter, to plain CLEAN BEACH SAND (which can be washed!) from my local hardware store for just $3.60 per 40kg bag . Clumping litters seem convienient, but for the cost of your cats health as well as your pocket, no cat owner should think twice about switching to a safer alternative.