After so many years of hand rearing orphaned kittens I decided it was time to have a kitten I have always wanted.
Tahlulla is sixteen weeks old here (Jan 2016) and she is a Maine Coon.
In the past I have myself homed the shy and sickly kittens which no others seemed to want to give a home to.
I have therefore got used to having cats who want to interact on their own terms. I used to have five and through old age, now have just two old boys of fifteen.
Tahlulla is an outgoing and confident kitten who wants nothing more than to be with me. The old boys and our dog really like her, even when she irritates them!!
She is a big girl with an equally big personality and all three cats sleep together on my bed.
This is the latest picture of my Main Coone kitten Tahlulla. As you can see, she has such a hard life.
Here she is trying to decide which luxury to make the most of, either her scratching post or her luxury bed.
My two old boys Tabby & Ginger continue to be amused by her negotiating skills and she has Queenie the Staffie totally under her paw!!
She now occupies pole position on the boys favourite chair......next instalment soon.
I have pleasure in announcing that my Maine Coon kitten Tahlulla is going to have a new friend.
As my other cats are now sixteen years old, I feel she needs younger company to stop her pestering them in their old age! She will be 7 months old when the new kitten arrives.
Kitten `Carluccio` came into the world on February 26th 2016. I have told Tahlulla she is going to have a friend.....but not until he is a few weeks older.
His dad is called Augustino and his mum Monkey. I am sure he is going to be as lovely as Tahlulla and we are very excited.
Of course, I love all cats no matter what age, colour, moggie or otherwise. Each and every one has a unique personality which I find fascinating to observe.
Even though the cattery has only been open since October 2015, I have already had several back more than once and they are all my favourites for one reason or another!
...and a stress free weekend in Cats Conkers!
Spending a weekend with me in the cattery in January was Coco's first experience of being away from "mummy and daddy".
Coco was born July 2015 so is still only a baby really. It is very important that she only has nice experiences at this tender age.
She had a lovely time here and tried her best to "help" in the kitchen when I was cleaning.
I always make sure that I have a play time with these youngsters so they look forward to seeing me.
When any cat stays in a boarding cattery, their age should be taken into account when setting up their pen.
If they are elderly, it may well be that they cannot jump to the higher level so need a stool to help them.
Coco needed no such help and she was keen to show off her athletic skills....she was fun to look after and I hope next time she stays she will be very pleased to see me.
Mannie was originally named Mandela but was renamed by his new owner, a very close friend of mine to whom I owe a special thank you for her support in the opening of my new cattery.
Mannie came to me with his siblings when he was only about seven days old.
They were hand reared by me, and Mannie went on to live with a very good friend of mine.
He has the most lovely happy life full of frog hunting and tree climbing!
Mannie will be one of my guests when the boarding cattery is up and running and his lovely owner has donated money to me for the purchase of cat toys so that all my `visitors` can enjoy a variety of things to play with during their time here.
Thank you so much to Pauline and of course the magnificent Mannie - you are one lucky boy.
Over my years of hand rearing kittens I have also owned Staffordshire bull terriers. Ruby was my first Staffie and she was exceptional with the tiny kittens.
Although she had never had puppies she immediately knew how to mother and clean the most tiny of abandoned kittens and on many occasions gave them the will to survive.
When Ruby died aged thirteen she was greatly missed.....and then Patsy came along and picked up the baton.
During her life Patsy too was responsible for many successful kitten rearings.
Patsy died when she was twelve.....and now welcome to Queenie who was just one year old in November 2015 and showing all the signs of wanting to continue with the kitten rearing tradition.
My dogs have never shown any aggression. Cats and dogs can have a very lovely relationship.
Meet LIONEL - don't worry, I do not accept lions for boarding.......but it is nice to see the look on children's faces when they see him ! I like to add a bit of fun to life in the cattery.
This picture is of the lovely Lucy who was a shy girl for the first couple of days.
She stayed in the cattery for three weeks.
She was groomed on a daily basis and she loved this time I spent with her.
She was a joy to look after and although it was lovely for Lucy when her owners came to collect her, I was sad to see her go!
I look forward to her next visit.
SUNNY stayed in the cattery for five weeks and he was quite a shy boy for the first week or so but by the time he left he was very relaxed and confident in his surroundings..
He loved to be groomed as he was eating, and eagerly looked forward to this time I spent with him. Treats were also part of his daily routine; he will do anything for a Dreamie!
Over the weeks spent here, he was lovely company and we had some special cuddles, especially late evening when I would say goodnight to him and the other cats.
I was reluctantly ticking off the days spent with me as I knew I would miss him when he went back to his lovely owners. I look forward to his owners next holiday !
DOLLY is one of my hand rear kittens who now belongs to my friend Jane.
I reared her along with her siblings from about seven days old.
Dolly went missing for two and a half weeks and despite endless searching, Jane, her owner resigned herself to never seeing dolly again.
She suddenly came home after two weeks and was as thin as a pencil under her fur. She must have been accidentally shut in somewhere and is one very lucky cat to have survived.
Never give up hope if your cat goes missing.
Say hello to Sheridan. She has now been my cattery guest on two occasions and has impeccable manners.
Sheridan is sixteen years old and I make sure that as she is an older cat she is catered for according to her years. Older animals very often are on the slender side so it can be more difficult for them to keep warm. An extra blanket in their bed and/or the addition of a cardboard box most often does the trick and keeps them smiling.
My husband has busy
making small ladder stools for those cats who may find it difficult to jump onto the raised shelf as they then only have little jumps to do! Please remember to tell me if you think your cat may have difficulty in jumping up due to their age or through arthritis etc. It is important to me that your cat is happy when in my care.
Say hello to Molly or "good golly miss Molly" as I called her.
She recently spent some time in the cattery.
She is over sixteen years old and won me over completely with her old lady charms.
As she was an older girl and on the slim side I always made sure that she was extra warm and cosy.
As older cats don't move around much it is important to take this into consideration when they are staying in a cattery.
They are so much more comfortable when they are toasty warm and it was lovely to see her all curled up and in a deep sleep.
She is a very lovely girl and will be stay with me again.
This is Joey, he has stayed regularly with his sister Dee Dee since I opened the cattery last October. They are Bengal cats.
Both have a very easy charm and are a real pleasure to care for.
Not all Bengals are as straightforward as these two, the breed as a whole have specific requirements needing owners with a keen sense of humour!
Joey particularly likes to roll in catnip as you can see from this picture. He is a happy boy
Please remember to keep your cat free of these little pests. Apart from making your cat itchy and uncomfortable, they can if the infestation is bad enough cause anaemia and is part of the life cycle of tapeworms in cats. I know they are small but they are horrible little creatures for your cat to carry around.
Worming ( especially when your cat is a hunter) and de-fleaing are really important – and especially if you plan on boarding your pet for a holiday – it is unfair if you bring fleas to the cattery and infest others!
A Flea-free cat is a happy cat!
Please be aware that many plants are very poisonous to cats.
In particular, all parts of the Lily plant can be deadly poisonous to your cat. When you have cut Lily flowers in your home, even the cat brushing past them and then licking the pollen off the coat can prove fatal.
Any cat or kitten is at risk but especially the curious ones.
Outside the home, antifreeze too is deadly poisonous to both dogs and cats. They are very attracted to its sweet taste.
Very often a delay in trying to figure out what is wrong with the animal can result in its death.
If in any doubt at all, please check the surprisingly long list of plants both inside and outside the home that may result in injury or death to your cat or dog.
http://www.cats.org.uk/bedford/feature-pages/plants-poisonous-to-cats
NB: The flowers shown with Tahllulah are artificial.
One of the acknowledgements on my website refers to my friend Louise Newman who devoted her life to the rescue and rehabilitation of feral cats.
Sadly, Louise died suddenly in 2011 but she always used to talk to me about the "whisker pot" she had.
Whenever one of the cats in her care naturally shed a whisker she used to put it into her whisker memory pot.
In honour of her extreme commitment to all things feline I am carrying on her tradition of whisker collecting.