Well, everyone is settling in just fine. One of my older cats would probably be jealous that I am allowing the new guys into my office, but there is an element of training me as much as these two on that — I had a bad experience with losing electronic gear to investigative gnawing and I have to get the courage to accept that I can train them to not chew such things.
As promised, here are some photos done on a higher quality camera with some software lighting and color corrections. They were both thoroughly played out when I took these photos earlier and they became comatose shortly thereafter. It was the only way to get the to sit still.
It’s been a long day, but everyone is settling in their new home. Pictures are incoming, I just want to get a handful more to choose from before posting anything,
Two and a half hours drive, more time than intended or expected getting to know everyone — cats and breeders —Three hours drive back (rush hour) and a full evening of acclimating. First, alone in the basement. Then doing a switcheroo and acclimating alone in the main level of the rambler.
It is very hard to believe that it will only be a few more days until this house is filled with new floof and chaos. I occasionally wonder at the wisdom. Or lack thereof.
Anyway, money has changed hands and, ready or not, not one but two fairly large kittens with the DNA to grow into even larger cats will be joining the tribe. We just need to do a little drive and back on Friday and suddenly two Norsk skogkatter, Norwegian Forest Cats, will run rampant in the home.
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).
Well these two lads are apparently already ready for the Minnesota winter.
So. Much. Floof.
Grendel is in the fore and Grímnir in the rear.
Apparently, they come looking for cuddles whenever someone is in the room and are curious about the world around them.
When I reached out to the breeder, I had asked several times about food they feed the kittens to avoid that stomach/digestive upset that goes along with switching them over to another food. I have one in mind that ranks high on ingredient quality, but wanted to load up on what they were feeding the boys so I could transition them over a week or so.
Learning point: It turns out that the conventional wisdom has changed with feline diets. Instead of “keep cats and kittens on a small diet rotation”, it turns out that this is no longer the recommendation. They’ve discovered that it can cause food sensitivities and pickiness compared to kittens who are fed a variety of foods; not just brands, but textures and types as well. It teaches the cats, rather than encouraging “finickiness”, to enjoy what they have and they have fewer digestive issues as an added bonus.
Seven years ago, the conventional wisdom was the exact opposite. Minimize variety and texture so they always eat what you give them because there is no benefit with variety. In other words, meatloaf M-Sat and Sunday, too. If you only know meatloaf, you won’t hanker for something else.
So, I’ll take her word (as well as a little research on my part that confirms it) that they should be ready to go with whatever we feed them.
Seems almost sacrilege to think that way after all these years being told otherwise. But I will accept it, seeing as there is science backing it up.
And they are slightly delaying the vaccinations and checkup to 9 weeks instead of 8 weeks, which also makes some sense. A week difference is not a huge difference and it gives their bodies more time to develop to get a better baseline on.
The breeder has invited the family down there for a meet and to meet the boys, but there is just too much going on in the coming two months to break away. Plus, it is a longish drive (2.5 hours each way). I might zip down myself, while the kiddos are on a roadtrip elsewhere, but I haven’t decided for certain if that will happen.
I still have so much to do to prep this place for kittens. I can’t hardly imagine how I will get it all done and still keep on top of the other chores I have ready at my feet.
While we are still just a day over six weeks away before we bring two new household members into the fold (checks countdown meter for third time today), I still see no reason to not write about these two handsome young devils coming through the mists to join us.
They are not your average kitten: These kittens are skogkatter.
Skogkatt. Forest cat. The plural used in the title and throughout posts like this is skogkatter. If you say it aloud (SKOOG-kaht-er), it sounds much like what they are — something Scandinavian and old, a creature that belongs at the edge of the weald rather than a set-piece in the center of a room.
With great sadness, I confess that there are no new kitten pictures to share with you today. I assure you, we shall marshal onward for a full seven more weeks and, should I catch a glimpse of either cat on the horizon, I will assuredly share those visions with you.
Whether you care to or not.
But I do have news.
The rest of the family has accepted my submission of the names Grendel for the standard classic tabby norsk skogkatt (Norwegian forest cat) kitten and Grímnir for the piebald tabby norsk skogkatt kitten. Gren and Grimm for short, which ties in with the general fantasy/monster theme of our other cats.
