Hei, skogkatter — 24aug26

I realized today — sitting in the vet clinic and wondering who thought getting a new kitten was a great idea (much less two kittens) when I was looking at the charges associated with their vaccinations and impending neuter — that I have not recently updated the site with their progress.

Nor have I taken any decent pictures in the past few weeks. These are from two weeks ago. They are now MUCH larger and starting to develop personalities as well as picking up a few training things.

My sticker shock came from finding out that what I thought was going to be a single booster shot and bloodwork for their upcoming surgery ended up running several hundred dollars more than expected with additional boosters, rabies vaccinations, additional bloodwork to look for markers for hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM), and being talked into giving them a topical preventative for heartworm (because they may be exposed to mosquitos carrying that disease as harnessed outdoor travelers.

I threw up a little, winced and paid the butcher’s bill. For skogkatter who plan to be outdoors at least occasionally, it is all reasonable stuff to do. But yikes.

Skogkatter do have a risk of genetically-passed HCM, as do many breeds out there. After losing Ghost, a Maine Coon, due to a reaction with anesthetic that may have been aggravated by just such a condition, I just didn’t want to risk it this time. And keeping either or both boys intact is not an option. I wanted them to have as much information as possible before the surgeries, although I expect they will test negative for the condition based on the questions I asked the breeder before purchasing them.

Still, if the reason I am changing vets with these boys is because of concern about such things at the rest of the clowder’s vet… I might as well drop the cash for that test to be on the safe side.

Are they still healthy a month into things? Absolutely.

Aside from incisors, they already have all of their adult teeth and they look fantastic. Their form is sleek, although they weigh quite a bit more after only a few weeks.

Grímnir clocked in at 6.38 pounds at 18.5 weeks.

Grendel weighs in at nearly 3/4 a pound more at 7.22 pounds. He’s getting to be a big lad.

For comparison, a standard American Shorthair runs just a hair over 5 pounds at this age. That puts Grímnir at ~1.3 pounds over most cats and Grendel ~2.25 pounds heavier. While I can still fit them both in a Maine Coon sized carrier, it is quickly getting to the point where I’ll have to carry them in separate bags. I’m thinking Thanksgiving might be the last time frame where two kittens in a carrier might work, and likely well before that.

At current trends in growth, Grímnir is expect to his 10 pounds before Halloween and Grendel by the time of their altering in early October. Both will be around 6 months old by that point (mid-October is their 6-month). I don’t know if they will continue to grow at that rate beforehand (or after), but it seems like they are both growing faster, rather than slower, than they were when they came home.

Developmentally, I am still working on name recognition, but they are learning “sit”, “come”, “up” and “down” (with treat incentives). It’ll feel more like a win when they do it without treats, but I see progress. They go into their carrier willingly, although the promise of a feather jingle toy is something needed to coax them into it “on command”. Sometimes the promise of a meal is enough (they’ve figured out food is first thing in the morning if they get into the carrier bag).

I’m trying to teach Grímnir to not wake me up several times in the night with wet nose touches. He is improving, and going to my side when I tap the bed next to my hip about 75% of the time, but I would love it if he never woke me up for a head butt or cuddle. Grímnir is more cuddly, but more obstinate as well. He gets his mind on something and it is hard to distract him. He also doesn’t understand why Pixel growls and hisses at him when all he wants to do is play. [Pixel is the holdout in the clan and hates Grímnir; everyone else puts up with his antics.]

Grendel likes to sleep slightly away and crashes hard most of the night. He mostly is less persistent and gets on well with the older cats. Our personalities mesh real well, Grendel and I. He’s like a teddy bear. His deep purr is a cute contrast to his chirps and meeps.

Both like playing with water, so the toilet covers need to be down or your ass is wet when you sit down.

I need to buy harnesses still. I hope it isn’t too late. 😬

Otherwise, the skogkatter are doing well, if not where I wanted them to be already. But we must adjust, and so we do. My goals were likely optimistic and didn’t account for the personalities involved.