Un ‘tit jardin avec un petit chaton!

Ahhh…le printemps! Voyez comme il s’elever l’arbre!

Update!

Sorry that I haven’t updated in a while. It’s been about a month, and a lot of the latter half was spent out of town. During that time, Starbucks’ tin foil had gradually increased in size, and he learned to periodically use all fours on the toilet seat…however the pan in the toilet was a bit of a ‘cheat sheet’ for him. When I was around him, he would go on the seat, but he was also inclined to balance his hind paws in the pan. Also, he spent lots and lots of time inspecting the areas under the pan…So, I removed the pan completely a few days ago. The hole increased in size by about 3cm around the rim since the last update, so in no way did I wait until the bottom was completely opened up. Also, I didn’t increase the hole in a ‘perfect circle’…I took more of a integrated learning/teaching approach to the whole thing: If Starbucks was consistently eliminating in a certain section of the pan, I opened that part up so that he would get used to having to eliminate into water. Then, when I felt he was comfortable with the setup but needed to be weaned off of crowding his front paws in the pan and instead balance on them on the seat, I would slowly remove the front part, which prompted him to use the toilet seat. I admit, there is a little bit of cheating on my end with the final removal: since the toilet bowl is mostly empty (the water doesn’t rest past the very bottom of the bowl), I am able to sprinkle a little bit of kitty litter in there, to signal to Starbucks that this is, indeed, his litter box. And what happened?

As you can see, Starbucks has learned to use the toilet! There was no real ‘adjustment’…noticed the kitty litter and did his thing-balanced and all-very naturally. It’s almost as if this set up works a lot better than the pan! However, the training is not over just yet. He still needs me around in order for him to use the toilet…and he is awfully tempted to use anything else. Although, from my experience, that phase wears off in a few days since cats in general lament change. Here are some more pictures of the quickly growing Kitten!

Silly Bucky!

Starbucks came home about 2 weeks ago and he loves it here. On the very first day he let me know who was King of the House by peeing on my bed. Of course, we quickly took care of that and now he goes to the appropriate place when it’s time (although when guests are over, he gets excited and sometimes forgets)…On the first night, Starbucks cuddled up right next to me so I was convinced that his aloof F6 personality was simply him being over-shadowed by the other kitties in the litter. Alas-he certainly has asserted himself. He is very vocal and vey active. Play time is when his personality really shines through. He likes to play all the time and it’s night time, he likes to sleep in the closet….but not for too long, because he is always on the look out for hands or feet to attack! He is incredably active and completely adorable. So far, his personality is one of playful kitty. No-playful, vocal, assertive kitty! Games will not suffice unless it involves throwing a paper or shiny ball (which he will prompty fetch and retrieve) or playing with ‘Da Bird’ in a crazy manner.

Pedigree for Starbucks (courtesy of Cheetahsden)

This is kind of messy, but first you’ll find the pedigree chart that Kelli from Cheetahsden made. She also was kind enough to send pictures as well! So I thought that it would be fun to arrange the pictures in their appropriate order. It turned out messy, but fun to look at nonetheless!

Sire Cheetahsden Tsunami SBT 031600 030 gold/black rosettes	Sire Cheetahsden Kai SBT 090197 034 gold/black rosettes	Sire Junglebook Declan Omally of Tariquat SBT 031396 028 brown spotted	Sire Nola Voodoo Magic of Junglebook
			Dam Junglebook Graphic Imprint
		Dam Heritage MeMe of Cheetahsden SBT 090595 006 tawny/black spotted	Sire Bengalpalace Calypso of Heritage
			Dam Heritage Catalina
	Dam Epsilon Pawladia SBT 032398 tawny/black spotted	Sire Millwood Shahnarah SBT 081696 tawny/black spotted	Sire Heritage Shiloh of Millwood
			Dam Millwood Crystal Prism
		Dam Cheetahsden’s Sundancer SBT 022497 gold/black rosettes	Sire Kingsmark Rajah of Cheetahsden
			Dam Hisumi’s Isha of Cheetahsden
Dam Junglebook Illustrated Fantasy SBT 091005 031 brown spotted	Sire Junglebook Margays Fantasy Singher SBT 032801 035 brown spotted	Sire Junglebook Margay Illustrated SBT 102898 010 brown marble	Sire Nola Voodoo Magic of Junglebook
			Dam Junglebook Virtual Reality
		Dam Junglebook ALC Fantasy SBT C3N 072099 026 brown spotted	Sire Junglebook Virtual Copy
			Dam Junglebook ALC Odyssey
	Dam Junglebook Raisin Cane SBT 090102 016 seal sepia spotted	Sire Junglebook Made in the USA SBT 091101 021 seal sepia spotted	Sire Kingsmark Chances Are
			Dam Wildriver Nowme
		Dam Junglebook Sweet Surrender SBT C3P 032600 019 seal sepia spotted	Sire Kingsmark Chances Are
			Dam Kachina of Junglebook

pedigree-for-cheetahsden-tsunami-x-junglebook-illustrated-fantasy-litter.doc

Starbucks, World. World, Starbucks

Sonali Goes Through her Rationalization of Getting a Kitty

For the last year I had been playing around with the idea of getting a pet. Although I was strongly considering getting a Great Dane, the fact that I live in a studio remained a deterrent. Various things kept popping up in the meanwhile, which really prevented me from staying home at a regular basis. Over Christmas, my father and sister came to visit and brought my lovely 17 year old Chocolate-Point Siamese, Toffy. Having Toffy around was simply bliss.

Now, you can call me a snob but my sister and I would glorify the fact that Toffy was a pure-bred Siamese. Toffy is intelligent. He comes running from far and beyond the great outdoors when called, fetches paperballs and is generally perfect. However, I cannot dream of getting another Siamese just yet, because I cannot bear the subconscious possibility that that would mean I am replacing Toffy. And nothing can replace Toffy. If not a siamese, then what? What bred possibly comes close to the Siamese in intelligence and general coolness? Alas, our backup was the Bengal. Of course our vanity played a role in that. Siamese were cool because they guarded the ancient temples of the Kingdom of Siam. Bengals were cool because we are Bengali.

I meet a couple of Kitties

Unlike the very long and sophisticated breeding history of the Siamese, the Bengal Cat is a relatively new breed starting out as a cross between the Asian Leopard Cat and a domestic cat in the 1960s. What is striking about the Bengal is it’s pelt of spots. They really do look like small versions of a wild cat.

I had been researching various breeders in the Seattle area and all the kittens in the winter litters had been reserved. Out of luck, one of the breeders emailed me that 2 kittens were suddenly available because the young couple who had them reserved could no longer have them. I jumped at the chance to visit the 12 week old kittens. I spent 3 hours playing with kittens that were polar opposites of each others. One of them was the Queen of the litter and completely adoring but also a bully. The other was timid and shy. While the Queen was jumping at the chance to get into my lap, the other hated being held and would rather sneak up underneath my jacket and sit covered. Once the Queen was exhausted with all her rambunctious playing, the shy one finally got the guts to exert himself. I was on the fence with my decision on which kitty fit what I was looking for. Then, the breeder mentioned that his Mom was here and I could meet her. When I saw how much the shy kitty just came out of his shell around her and loved her completely, I was sold.

I wouldn’t describe Starbucks as the pathetic one of the bunch. He is more like the aloof/ambivelant one.

About Starbucks

Starbucks is an F6 snow mink spotted bengal. The breeder, Kelli, of Cheetahsden Bengals of Northwest, is awesome. She is kind and has offered so much information about the breed and Starbucks’ family. Starbucks’ mother, Junglebook Illustrated Fantasy, an F5, definitely displays wild-cat behaviors like prowling around the room in uncertain situations. Fantasy is gorgeous and also has the longer, leaner body type. Starbucks has inherited the oriental features of the domestic cats that the Asian Leopard Cats were bred with-a siamese on the mom’s side and a burmese on the dad’s-hence the homozygous recessive albino trait from both sides making him a “snow leopard” bengal. I like the fact that he is quieter and more alusive, compared to his brothers, sisters and cousins. Perhaps that’s the siamese owner in me. I also like the fact that he is a F6…it makes me think that I have way more special cat because he is so much closer to the Asian Leopard Cat.