Archive for category Misc
You might find this interesting: Weigh Ins
You might think cat breeding is all about being surrounded by adorable fluff-balls all day, and it mostly is. But we have to do a few things to make sure that the adorable fluff-balls are healthy.
Weight gain is the easiest measure of a young kitten’s health. Any kitten not gaining steadily needs to see a vet or be supplemented with bottle feeds.
A lot of people stop weighing after the kittens are weaned. And that probably makes sense. But because we had a rescue kitten in foster care here once who died at the age of 6 weeks, I keep weighing the kittens until it’s too unwieldy to do so.
So yeah, a few seconds every morning makes sure we know our kittens are happy and healthy and full. Going on last year and this year’s average (yup, I have a big ole spreadsheet on the computer too), the average gains are 10-11g/day.
White kitten looks set to be the giant. He was the largest when born and is now 60g heavier than his siblings. He also has massive paws and loves his food in a way that’s a bit unholy.
The rest are very close in size and a bit calmer about their food.
Buying a Kitten?
It's vital to see the home the kittens were born in
This is a guide for anyone who lands on this page, whether you decide to buy one of our kittens or not. I’ve recently placed our ad on DoneDeal.ie and at the same time have noticed ads on websites that sound suspect or where the kittens look unhealthy.
I don’t want you ending up with a sick kitten. So here you go, some tips for kitten shopping.
1. Read the GCCFI’s Code of Ethics. If you are purchasing from a breeder, these are the absolute minimum standards you should expect. Our in-house policies go significantly further.
2. Read up on your chosen breed. If there’s one in your area, go to a cat show and meet the cats. There are breeds whose looks I love but their personalities wouldn’t fit with my lifestyle.
3. If you have never had a cat before, be upfront with the breeder about that. Most of us have a lot of cats and assume that people know the basics. It’s not big deal if you don’t, provided you’re happy to learn!
4. Never, under any circumstances, accept an offer to “meet you halfway” to deliver the kitten unless you have already been to the breeder’s home. It is in your absolute best interest to see where the kitten has spent the first 3-4 months of her life.
5. Ask to see the mother cat. You may not get to see the father as many breeders (ourselves included) take our girls to boys owned by other breeders.
6. Turn off your emotions for a little while. Don’t walk out with a sickly kitten. You’re only encouraging bad breeding and the suffering of more animals if you pay money for kittens who have not been properly cared for. If you feel pressured or manipulated, just leave.
7. If the breeder doesn’t ask any questions of you, think carefully about how much they care about the home that kitten is going to. And then wonder how much they cared while that kitten was in their care. The questions may be annoying and intrusive, but they help us match the right kittens to the right homes and make sure that the kittens we’ve cared for go to the best possible situations.
Any questions at all, feel free to email me.
What colours will the kittens be?
Short answer? We have no idea.
Longer answer:
There are two possibilities. Snowball had four white kittens last time, which is pretty improbable since the stud cat is blue. We know from genetic testing (both cats have been fully tested) that the possible colours are:
Blue (like Dad and Mum*)
photo by westpark on flickr
White (like Mum*)
Snowball by Rubistyle.com
We’ll only know for sure when they arrive in mid-August!
* White isn’t strictly speaking a genetic coat pattern. The gene that makes a white cat white is a “masking gene” and masks the cat’s true genetic colour (that’s why white kittens have spots of colour that eventually disappear). According to Snowball’s breeder, she is blue underneath all that white.
Mystery Birdie!
We had an unusual visitor today… we discovered her/him in the kitchen behind the cats’ water fountain this evening. Poor thing is very lucky to have survived any length of time in our house with 9 cats… and our cats are obviously pacifists.
She does seem to have a busted wing, so she’ll be off to the vets first thing in the morning.
We’re having trouble figuring out what kind of bird she is… so, photos to follow. Any ideas?
Labrys Cats at the Pet Expo in Dublin on Sunday
Em is bringing our Maine Coon, Fred and our British Shorthair, Xena to the Pet Expo in Dublin this coming Sunday.
Fred in his natural environment
Xena by Jennifer Willis
The Pet Expo is held at the RDS in Ballsbridge and there is a specific area dedicated to cats. It starts at 10am and they will be there until the afternoon.
Both Fred and Xena are happy to meet the public so do drop by to say hello!
Welcome to our new website
It’s our new website, and it’s about as done as it is ever going to be.
This is where we’ll post all our photos and our news from shows and about kittens and such.
You can even like us on Facebook now (we are so with the times).
Expect kitten pictures 
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