Pardalis Ocicats

It’s been a pleasure to see Lexi and Fizz out in the specially built enclosure enjoying the recent warm weather, chasing flies and watching the birds. Graham made it as a lean-to on our shed using mostly old pieces of wood we already had and wire meshing. It’s in a nice shady part of the garden though it gets a little sun in the odd corner so they can choose to the sit in the sun or the shade. We’ve put walkways round 2 sides and a nice sturdy tree branch leading up to it for scratching on or climbing and part of a wooden bench we no longer wanted in the garden offers more sitting and watching or hide and seek places. At least when we’re in the garden enjoying the weather, they can be near us and see what we’re doing. It’s not as good as allowing them the freedom of an enclosed garden but our garden would be very difficult to make totally enclosed without chopping down a lot of mature shrubs, so it’s the next best thing. As it’s down the far end of the garden we pop the cats into a carrier to take them down there.  Though now they know what’s coming I only have to fetch the carrier and open the lid and they jump straight in! Once we’ve sorted out the shed and made it safe we’ll put a cat flap on so they can explore that too.

We went off on holiday not sure if she had ‘taken’ but on our return she’d ‘pinked up’ and not called and now has the first hint of a bump. All being well we’ll have some little furry bundles around 3rd June. Lexi is blooming and eating us out of house and home! She’s still bouncing around and the only noticeable change is she’s less willing to wrestle with Fizz and just clumps her around the head when she gets too boisterous! We hope there’ll be some Classic patterned kittens amongst this, her first, litter. Lexi is only the 2nd Classic patterned Ocicat to be registered with the GCCF for breeding so this litter will be very special to us.

Having called every fortnight since before she was 5 1/2 months old we thought that Lexi had probably decided she was ready for her first litter.  We chose Curry, a cinnamon spotted Ocicat, to be her first boyfriend as he’s known to carry the Classic pattern.  This doesn’t guarantee a litter of Classic patterned cats by any means but will hopefully increase the chances.

At first she didn’t want to know and wouldn’t let him touch her, but it seems she just needed a bit of romancing as by day 2 she was fine and ready to come home by day 3 which was great!  We’d missed her so much!  Fizz had been wandering around the house meowing and looking for her when she was gone and we were looking forward to seeing her reaction when Lexi came back.  We didn’t get what we’d expected!  Fizz hissed and spat at poor Lexi who looked just as perplexed at her reaction as we were.  We put it down to scent, Fizz couldn’t get past the male cat smell on Lexi to realise it was her best pal.  It took a couple of days but they’re fine again now and Fizz is back to using Lexi as a pillow instead of a punch bag!

We just have to sit back and wait to see if she actually is pregnant though if my intuition is anything to go by I’ve a strong feeling we’ll have our first litter to look forward to early in June

This one was in Stevenage so a nice, reasonably close one for us. Fizz got a 2nd in the Open and a 1st and a 3rd in her side classes. She was very grumpy and didn’t seem to enjoy the show which must have effected the judging which is such a shame as she’s a real sweety at home. Lexi, on the other hand, was in her element, much more relaxed than in previous shows, due in some part to the lack of loud tannoys this time and the fact that she was calling All those nice male cat smells ….. mmmmm….. After the show Lexi was taken to visit her stud, so fingers crossed for the pitter patter of tiny paws at the beginning of June!

We took Fizz and Lexi to their second show on Saturday. Only an hour’s drive away and they sang a duet the whole way there and back again! Must remember to take the earplugs next time! Have to say I didn’t expect Fizz to come away with any great prizes, she got some 2nds last time but this time she was up against one of Rosemary’s kittens and was only entered into 2 miscellaneous classes instead of 3 because of an admin error (mine!).

As the judging was about finished we were allowed to come back into the hall to the trade stands but not back to our cats just yet. Graham peered over to where Fizz’s pen was and declared she had a red rosette pinned to it. Nah, don’t be silly…….we counted the pens down 3, 4 times, but yes, it certainly looked like it was on her pen. I didn’t get my hopes up until I stood in front of her where she sat with a ‘didn’t think I could do it, did you?’ look on her face. She got her first Open Class win and best of breed and also a win in one of her side classes.

She’s still quite small for her age, though I don’t know why, she certainly eats enough! We know she’ll catch up though as her parents and grandparents are all lovely big cats. I’ve been reading lately that smaller cats can have easier births and good sized kittens so it’s probably not a bad thing! So, now we’ve got big hopes for getting her at least to Champion stage as an adult, thoughmight not manage it before she has her first litter.

Lexi was much admired, again, lots of nice comments about her. She disappeared behind her pen curtains every time someone boomed into the tannoy system but lapped up the attention the rest of the time

This was our first show. We’d entered Fizz and took Lexi along on exhibition to show off her beautiful pattern to her adoring public We got there nice and early and it was well organised. Even at that unearthly hour there was a queue for the vetting in. That went smoothly even though the vet mistook them for Bengals! Fizz was easy to settle, just the standard white exhibition stuff of blanket and bowls and in she went. She gobbled her breakfast down which was nice to see, she obviously wasn’t too bothered about being in a strange place. She endorsed that by visiting the litter tray twice then curling up for a wash and a sleep! Happy that she was content we set about decorating Lexi’s pen with the drapes. Lexi wasn’t so amused with her new quarters and paced up and down and ignored our pleas to eat her breakfast.

We took them both in and out for cuddles and reassurance before we had to leave the hall so the judging could start. Fizz did pretty well, gaining 2nds in 3 out of 4 of her classes. In 2 of them she was beaten by Lexi’s litter sister so we can forgive that Fizz has still got some maturing to do so we’re sure she’ll do well in the future. There was a great deal of interest in the Classic pattern with lots of lovely comments about Lexi’s colour and pattern. Now and again I had to remind her that she was on exhibition and wasn’t allowed to hide under blanket and she came out with an inquisitive ‘what do you want this time?’ look on her face every time I called her out from hiding, she was very good natured about it all. It was a long and tiring day but very enjoyable and we’re looking forward to the next time!

When Fizz was 3 months old we took this photo of her sitting next to a favourite ornament of ours.

The ornament is only 9″ tall
Now, at 6 1/2 months she’s grown considerably!

This was a very easy one to train! I put a square of carpet down and as soon as Lexi or Fizz put a paw on it they got a click and a treat. We progressed quickly to them sitting on the mat to get a treat. This is so useful! The mat goes down when I’m in the kitchen and they’re under my feet, and gone are the days when they were clambering onto the dining table as soon we sat down to eat. Now I just throw the mat down and they both run and sit on it as good as gold! I just give them a treat for the first sit on the mat and then perhaps just once or twice more during the 10-15 minute session. Lexi will sometimes get a bit bored and fed up with waiting for the next treat so she’ll wander off but at least she’s not on the table, while Fizz has been known to sit there for ages after we’ve got up and cleared the table, she’ll do anything for food that one!

We knew putting up a Christmas tree would be like a red rag to a bull………..the box came down from the loft, no sooner was the top off than both Lexi and Fizz dived in. We managed to put the bits together while they played in the empty box but Lexi soon saw we’d got her a new climbing frame! All that time I’d spent plumping out the branches just for her to squash them flat again! Fizz was mainly content to sit at the bottom batting the decorations that were wobbling around thanks to Lexi’s antics. Amazingly no decorations actually got broken even though 2 of the branches completely snapped and were wrecked. Ah well, it was an old tree and I wanted a replacement anyway

My cats live here, they’re here to stay.
You don’t like pets?….. be on your way!
They share my home, my food, my space
this is their home, this is their place.

You will find cat hair on the floor,
they will meet you at the door.
They may request a little pat,
a simple ‘no’ will settle that.

It gripes me when I hear you say
“just how is it you live this way?
They smell, they shed, they’re in the way..”
WHO ASKED YOU? is all I can say..

They love me more than anyone,
my voice is like the rising sun,
they merely have to hear me say
‘C’mon , time to go to sleep or play’

then meows are said and faces grin,
they bounce and hop and make a din.
They never say ‘no time for you’,
they’re always there, to GO and DO.

and if I’m sad? They’re by my side
and if I’m mad? they circle wide
and if I laugh, they laugh with me
they understand, they always see.

so once again, I say to you
come visit me, but know this too..

My cats live here, they’re here to stay.
you don’t like pets, be on your way.
they share my home, my food, my space
this is their home, this is their place..

———— Author Unknown