Hei, skogkatter • 29jun26

If I have a wee bit of advice to breeders of any type of pet, it is:

There is no such thing as too many photos for the expectant family.

For some weirdos like me, there is no such thing as too much data either — although I have done a very good job of not asking anyone to fulfill my weird data desires/needs (weights, measurements, food types and sources).

We finally got on the radar and received some new pictures of the boys (a bit blurry when they are in motion because of the phone’s camera and lighting quality).

They look to have physically matured significantly since their pictures just two weeks ago; less of that floofy “stuffie” quality and now starting to grow into their real cat features. I have a hard time believing that it is just a few more weeks until they are here, and with so much left to do around the house.

I recently ordered a new cat tree for the basement with the intent of getting rid of the old, abused one. My plan is to link it to shelving, the overflow fridge and the freezer to give them vertical space to explore while I am working during the day — and the other cats will appreciate it when they can explore it after-hours. While we have a few cats that prefer the heights, from what I understand, skogkatter as a breed are great ones for exploring heights. I might as well give them acceptable places before they invent their own.

The reason: I plan to keep the boys close the first few weeks so that the resident bullies don’t traumatize them unduly while they are getting used to their new home. Eventually, these two will have to stand up for themselves, but I don’t think it will be a big issue in a couple of months, as they size up past most of the other cats.

I’m still trying to figure out the logistics of introductions because the whole “slow-roll” introductions has not really paid huge dividends over just letting everyone mingle and sort things out. I’m wanting to give them a good chance, but sometimes it seems these psychology oriented things are not well supported (as I just confirmed that it is largely understudied, but remains “conventional wisdom”). I’ll probably do a day or two, maybe even the weekend — but a full week with a full household of cats and people? Fugettaboutit. There is the old kennel idea that I’ve used in the past (large, open kennel in the same room), but it was absurd after a few days. So I might just go quickly slow with the introductions.

It’s certainly an exciting time. Let’s hope this doesn’t get too exciting.