Well, yesterday was three weeks after I saw Lorelai and Ritchie actually mating.
My friends and the books both say that, around the three-week mark, she should be “pinking up”…and, once again, I really cannot tell.
Although, when we were taking these photos, her nipples did seem to be easier to find…so maybe?
When we were planning on breeding Lorelai with Io, I was wondering what the chances were that they might have a fawn kitten. I consulted the Abyssinian Database’s colour breeding chart.
These are the possible results. The males are on the top: Sorrel not carrying dilute (bbDD) and Sorrel carrying dilute (bbDd). The females are on the left: Blue not carrying cinnamon (BBdd) and Blue carrying cinnamon (Bbdd). Io had produced fawn kittens, so we knew he carries dilute. So…the big question: Does Rory carry cinnamon?
With the pandemic and all, I didn’t want to send the test all the way to UC Davis, so I found a European lab that offers a test for the Cinnamon gene. So I ordered a test and swabbed Rory’s cheeks.
Izaak helped to make sure the paperwork was all in order before I mailed it off.
About a week later, the results came back…and, unfortunately, Rory is BB, so she doesn’t carry cinnamon. Depending on the male, she can only have ruddy or blue kittens…but her kittens could possibly have fawn kittens.
WARNING! This post features photographs of bare cat nipples!
Tomorrow will be a month since we brought Lorelai home from sleepaway sex camp. And…I still can’t tell if it worked.
One of the main signs of pregnancy in cats is the “pinking up” of the cat’s nipples. Unfortunately, according to one of my cat breeding books. But it also says that some cats don’t pink up until later in their pregancies. Grrrreeeeaaaaat…
This is her nipple on 26 July. Doesn’t seem any pinker, but stupid me, I never checked them before now. But one good sign is she hasn’t shown any signs of being in heat…and as you might remember, her heats are quiet, but not at all subtle.
This was on 5 August. I still can’t tell.
And this is on Thursday the 13th. Seems pinker? Maybe?
These last two are from today. They seem pinker, and they were easier to find.
Meg, Molly and Anne think she is pregnant, especially since she hasn’t gone back into heat at all.
She hasn’t gained any weight yet, and she definitely isn’t showing…so I guess we’ll just have to wait a little longer.
Whilst Alfred was busy recording yesterday’s post, everyone else was busy outside, too…even if Freddy didn’t capture any of it.
In the shady areas of our område, right now there are a lot of house flies in the shady areas. And Lorelai was hunting them.
She is an excellent fly-hunter inside, as well.
Probably better than outside, since there are no birds to distract her in the house.
Angel was watching everything from the balcony…lately, she’s been happy to join us via the balcony instead of going outside with the rest of us. But hey, she’s participating; who am I to complain?
Meanwhile, Izaak was busy in the front of the building.
He found a crane fly and had a lot of fun hunting it.
Speaking of hunting, here’s a video of Rory and Zak hunting flies, with some additional footage of Freddy with the GoPro.
The last time I posted about Angel’s dental situation, she only had three canine teeth left.
Last night, however, I needed to give her medication…and I noticed she’s lost another of her fangs!
I have not seen any teeth lying about, so I have no idea when or where she lost it. I suspect she may have swallowed it.
So now she’s down to two teeth…and one eye.
So the other day I walked into the kitchen, and the cabinet above the refrigerator, where we store the dry food we give Angel as a treat, was open. And the bag was…somehow…on the kitchen counter. Pretty sure it was Alfred, but he tried to frame Dashiell for the crime. For some reason, most of the photos I took were “Live Photos,” so here they are as a short YouTube video:
Do our cats miss us when we’re gone? Alfred and Angel are used to us going away, I was particularly curious how Izaak and Lorelai would react to our being away, since usually when we go off on a trip, they come with us.
Hero the London Lion which I had seen in a shop in Covent Garden, but we were too tired and hungry to go in and look at him. Later, after a rest and some food, I wished I had stopped and gotten the “Lion in a British jumper” because he was wicked cute!
As luck would have it, I found him at the airport as we were leaving!
I introduced Hero to Rory…but she didn’t seem very impressed.
“Really mom? Really? You left us ALONE. For a WEEK. Without taking us with you! And you bring this thing back with you?
“Look at me. My eyes are bigger, and I am way cuter!”
In the end, I am not sure if Rory missed us…or the fact that we take her outside to run.
Meanwhile, the moment we walked in the door, Zak was yelling for his chicken neck.
After he had demolished it, we sat on the sofa and I gave him cuddles. At first, he seemed happy I was home…
…but then…
…I think he remembered how much mommy kisses him.
I have a deep suspicion that he didn’t miss the kissies.
But he did miss me.
So much so that he is clearly contemplating his escape from my dastardly clutches.
Siiiiggghhh… And we had been doing so well, too. Jacoby has been on his treatment plan for several weeks, and he had been gaining weight nicely. But in the past week or so, he’s been…not himself. Less eager and excited about food, sleeping in unusual places (like the radiator bed, which I don’t think I have ever seen him in before), and just…not being himself. Most concerning, the last time I weighed Jake on 16 March, he was up to 4.8 kilos…and yesterday, he weighed 4.3 kilos.
So…I called Min Veterinär this morning to leave a message, and then, completely by coincidence, Anicura called me an hour or so later. I made an appointment with them, just in case…and, when Min Vet called me back, we discussed it and decided it would be better to take Jake back to Anicura since they have all his recent treatment records. So it looks like Jake and I will be riding the rails to Jönköping this Friday.
Izaak will be 10 months old next Monday.
(This is Zak)
He has turned into a husky, burly cat. I call him my “little sausage.”
(This is Logan)
He is much more burly than Logan was at the same age.
(This is Logan)
But that’s honestly the only way that Zak is ahead of Logan, developmentally speaking.
(This is Logan)
When Logan was the same age as Zak, Logan had to wear diapers because he was marking his territory like a tomcat. He also paced around the apartment, yowling.
(This is Logan)
Logan seems to have been a faster developer than Zak is.
(This is Zak)
Zak is one week shy of 10 months old, and he is showing zero signs of male maturity. No inappropriate play mounting (which Alfred was showing with Logan at seven months of age), no pacing and yowling, and no random peeing. His pee doesn’t even smell strong, like a tomcat’s!
(This is Zak)
Not that I’m complaining, exactly…and I do want to wait as long as possible before getting him his Suprelorin implant…but it’s like waiting for the other shoe to drop. You know it’s going to happen…but when?
The other day, I was doing stuff around the house, watching the Red Sox play the Indians in Cleveland (they won, by the way), when, suddenly, Lorelai jumped onto the coffee table all puffed up.
I have no idea what was out there. I looked out the window, but I couldn’t see anything.
She went to the window to see what it was, tail still a-puffed.
I will probably never know what triggered her.
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