DEVON REX AND SPHYNX

I have been informed today of the death of Rafferty who we knew as Cluas.  He was killed after getting onto a very quiet road in the middle of nowhere.

Sleep well little man.

Well, we lost all our Sphynx babies.  Caoimhe didn't produce any milk and despite me not going to bed for 2 weeks and all my experience of hand rearing, I lost the babies one by one.

The last kitten to die was taken by Eoghan upto Bristol University Vet Hospital for a post mortem because I was worried about there being some bacterial/viral infection that may have caused this, specifically Strep G.  However, the PM showed no congenital, bacterial or viral insult, rather that the kitten had died of a bronchial pneumonia and I'm sure that this is because they may have aspirated milk which settled on the lungs and this caused the pneumonia.  They never has any colestrum and therefore a very immature immune system so did not have the back up to fight the pneumonia. 

On a more pleasant note, all but one of the kittens have their forever homes.  Ellie, Norah are now living with Buster and Toby, two black Cornish Rex and Lisa and Marc.  Ruby, Grace and Lizzie are with Debbie, Ruth and Jonathan. Bailey and Aireaghad have gone to live with my very good friend Janet, in Scotland and Rufus has gone to live with Nathasha in Dawlish.  Lugh is booked for Dawn and will be going as a show neuter, Benson is going to live with Gloria as her prospective stud boy (Gloria has been breeding Devon Rex for almost as long as myself and bred Jack, the father of this litter).  Sophie is going to live with Cindy in London along with her Devon Rex, Sphynx and Siamese cats.  That just leaves Harry who is staying with me just a few more weeks to get over his hernia repair. 

With only 4 kittens in the house now it seems very quiet and although I have agreed with Eoghan to take off 4-6 months to recover from the emotional devastation of losing the 4 Sphynx babies, I am getting jittery already at the thought of no kitten for such a long time.  However, I have promised that we will go away for a little while for a holiday, something we haven't been able to do since 2006.  I'd rather stay at home and have a new puppy and at least one litter of kittens through the summer - but - a promise is a promise

Leyla's kittens had their first innoculations on Tuesday.  Both Bailey and Lugh have had reactions leaving Bailey needing nursing care for 36 hours involving syringe feeding and encouragement to take fluids.  He is now back to his old self, charging around with his siblings.  Lugh has just been a little lethargic but is also much improved today.

Who says breeding cats is easy!!

We lost Robbie last night aged 8 weeks and 6 days after a short illness.  God knows why he takes such young innocent souls, I dont.

Sleep well little man, we loved you very much.

Leyla had 8 kittens on 8th December, two days earlier than her due date.  We knew she was carrying a few, but 8!!!  As of today they are 12 days old.  I have had a few problems as the birth weights ranged from 42 to 84gramme.  The smaller kittens have had to work hard to compete with their larger brothers, but with a little help from me by tube feeding, they are all still with us. Two of them are still needing dietary support but I am optomistic about their chances.

Rosa's girls are thriving.  They are healthy chubby little girls who at the age of 4 weeks show no sign of wanting to wean just yet.  I never force kittens to wean and allow them and their mum to set the pace.  Whilst Rosa wants to feed her babies and doesn't lose condition, then that is okay with me. 

The day that Eoghan and I have been dreading arrived on 20th November 2009.  Medhbh had been deteriorating rapidly over the last few weeks.  She had been on drugs for Atrial Fibrillation and Congestive Cardiac Failure and these had sustained her for over 6 months.  Unfortunately, and as we knew it would, the time came for us to let her go and at 01.45am we called out our Vet to let her have some well deserved peace.  She died at 02.20am and the house is quiet and dreadfully lonely without her enormous presence.  She was and always will be my hearthound, a big, happy girl with not a bad bone in her body.  Sleep well puppy, we love and miss you.

As if to give me something to think about, Rosa had 5 little girls exactly 12 hours after Medhbh died.  They will be named in her honour.

Because I think I must be.

Rosa, Leyla and Caoimhe have all been mated and I am only waiting for Caoimhe to pink up.  Rosa is due on 21st of November, Leyla on 9th December and Caoimhe on 7th January!!

I have never done this before and am begining to doubt my sanity in doing it now.  It is only because I am off work until February that I have done so.

Watch this space for further details.

Beibhinn and Blanche left home last week.  Susan, their new owner flew down to Exeter airport from Edinburgh, stayed overnight and then took the 8 hour train journey home with kittens along.  They travelled beautifully and have now settled into their new home, along with their two older Devon Rex pals.  I hope photos will follow so I can share them on this site.

I promised Leyla that this would be her last show before letting her have kittens again.  I did hope that she would be awarded her 3rd Grand Certificate - but it was not to be  She was awarded the Reserve Grand and so is now on honeymoon with the very handsome Grand Champion Bountiful Jack Thelad, a gorgeous Chocolate boy who I hope will help improve the veracity of Leyla's rather beautiful but very hormonal coat.

Being a glutton for punishment, Caoimhe is also away at stud with Nelson for a repeat mating that produced my very handsome Archie and beautiful Ailish.  Rosa has also been away to stud and we are now waiting to see if she has conceived.

Ailish - now called Buffy, has been shown 3 times and each time has been awarded 1st and Best of Breed, also being placed in most of her side classes - clever girl!!.

Well - at our latest show Leyla wasn't placed in the Grand Class, however, she was awarded the Best of Breed of 7 Devon Rex there on the day.  Talk about sublime to the ridiculous after winning Best in Show at her last show!!   She will have one more attempt and if she doesn't succeed she will be mated.  It is 18 months since her last litter and she has called on several occasions.  It would have been nice to get her made to Grand Champion, but it is not the end of the world if she doesn't make it.

Caoimhe on the other hand was made up to Intermediate Champion after winning her 3rd Intermediate Certificate.  She is the first adult Sphynx to achieve this award and we are all very proud of her.  She did this in 3 shows and was unbeaten as a kitten and now as an Adult.