Almost back to what passes for normal at Itzapromise :-)

Spirit and Dime are now right at the tail end of their seasons and today have had a bath and groom in preparation to reintroducing them to the boys and neutered girls tomorrow. Spirit had 3 really good matings with Morse so now all we can do is wait. Dime was successfully kept away from the boys, much to her disgust. the girls have been providing their own entertainment for the last week or so, as can be seen in the picture!

As we were unable to proceed with my initial plans (and indeed secondary plans, due to various issues, not least of which was a broken car) Audrey has also been mated to Morse, again the matings were good and again, we must now wait and see. She and Tiffany are still very sexy girls so it will be another week or 10 days before they are all back together. All the dogs have coped very well with what is undoubtedly a stressful situation and thankfully the boys have remained happy in each others company.

All my entire female cats are calling, and all are being kept under strict lock and key for now, as I don't think I could cope with potentially 2 litters of pups and kittens! We will aim to have some more kittens in the summer months :-)

Margos babies, Gypsy and Gizmina, are just wonderful, they are off for their 1st vaccinations this week so won't be long before they are packing their bags. Graham and I are thankful that they are winter kittens and we have been wearing trousers as they are both insistent that our legs are climbing frames.

Puppies?

Today Morse lost his cherry, he and Spirit have mated and now begins the anxious wait to see if we will have puppies, followed by the anxious wait until they are born safe and sound :-)

Very quick update

Last but not least, Tiffany has now come into season. Dime is now standing and would be ready to mate, but that won't be happening this time. Spirit is getting close, she is flagging her tail and allowing the girls to jump on her with minimal grumbling, but won't tolerate the boys near her yet, will continue to introduce her to Morse on a daily basis. Audrey is likely to be another week or so before she is ready.
The boys are coping incredibly well, there is no sign of any discord between the 3 of them, They all seem to have different coping methods. Cash is playing a calm waiting game, Alfie is humping Purdies tail (not sure who I feel for most there!) and Morse bless him is obviously full of adolescent testosterone and is taking more than a passing interest in the neutered boy he encounters on a walk, a behaviour that is new to him and hopefully once he has lost his cherry he will settle back down. They are accepting that they can't be with the girls at home and all are quiet and settled :-)

Gypsy and Gizmina, Margo's kittens are amongst the boldest that we have had, they are growing well and it feels like we have 10 kittens in the house as they perform their wall of death every night!

That turned out to be not as quick an update as I planned, lol

A slight change of plan

Unfortunately we have had to postpone Audrey's trip to Ireland, where she was to meet a particularly handsome boy, so instead she will be mated to Morse. As with Spirit, this should give us a litter consisting of apricots, blacks and phantoms. Morse is a very happy lad :-) Audrey will hopefully travel to Ireland for her last litter in due course.

At Last!

Nearly 2 months later than expected, but at long last the girls are coming into season!
Dime and Spirit have started and no doubt Audrey and Tiffany won't be far behind :-) Sat 3rd January and Audrey has followed suit.

Merry Christmas

Just wanted to wish all those that read my blog, a very Merry Christmas and hope we all have a wonderful 2015 waiting for us.

I don't have any pics of my girls and boys in Christmas outfits (don't think any of them would forgive me if I took a picture of them wearing a Christmas jumper, lol) but I do have a couple of Cash, who started agility training a couple of months ago, jumping for joy.

I am still waiting for the girls to come in season! The boys are also checking them out now, on a regular basis, so it really must be just around the corner :-)

Harley and her babies have now left here, just in time to settle into their new homes before Christmas arrives. Margo's babies are growing fast and are already showing signs of being little monkeys. Will try and get some pics of them on Flickr.com before Christmas.

Hope you all have a wonderful time over the holidays, and see you next year.

Itzapromise reunion - the sequel, lol

I am hoping to arrange another Itzapromise reunion this summer (assuming Spirit and Audrey come into season and have their puppies before then!). It will most likely be on a Sunday in the summer holidays. I am hoping to try a different format for it this year and have spoken to the lady I take Cash to agility training and she is happy for us to hold the reunion at her field and she will be on hand for anyone that would like to have a go at agility. Once again I am suggesting that people bring a picnic. The only downside to this venue is that it means we will have a slightly smaller area, thoughts/ideas would be appreciated, as would an indication of how many would like to attend, though I appreciate that no one can give a definite response until a date is finalised.

Harleys kittens are just about ready to leave home, they have their suitcases packed and will be setting off next weekend. I haven't managed to get any photos this week but hope to take some tomorrow.
Margos kittens are starting to get more active and are being handled by the resident kitten trainer, my daughter, Emily.