the final preparations have begun.....

I'm sorry for the delay in meowings. Things have been so busy as of late. And then throw in the Olympics to boot. I can't remember the last time I've existed on so little sleep. We can blame it all on Michael Phelps. But....I have to admit.....it was worth staying up to see. Such incredible moments in sports history.

Anyhow.....Nicky and PJ are growing like weeds. We are all in our final preparations to leave for the Annual on Friday. Little PJ may not be able to make the big trip like we had planned. Time will tell. One of my darling angels popped him in the eye the other day. It's red and swollen and he has to wear one of those collars to keep him from rubbing. We're hoping it will be better by Friday. If not....PJ will have to stay home. :-(

Nicky's preparations have included going to the vet for his rabies shot. You can't go to Texas without a rabies shot. He's also been making the social rounds. Jon has been taking him everywhere to get him used to sights and sounds and people. Frosty has been busy sleeping, eating and blowing his coat in final preparation. Polar has been eating his chicken and ground sirloin in hopes of packing on a few more ounces. I also have him hitting the weight room once a day for some circuit training. By Sunday at 5:00 we will know for sure if all of our hard work has paid off.

The realistic side of things.......we are bringing 4 great cats with us to the Annual. So is everyone else!! There are 144 kittens, 124 cats and 89 alters. That's a lot of competition. The poor judges have to whittle that down to 10 in each category. So everyone keep their fingers and toes and paws crossed for some finals this weekend. Quite honestly, knowing the caliber of cats that will be in attendance, we would be happy with 10ths all weekend. Something higher would be really nice, but.........

I'll try and get something posted before the weekend. We leave for the airport on Friday around 7:00am and I'll be really busy on Thursday night. I'll try for during my lunch on Thursday. The hotel does have a business center. Time allowing...maybe I can sneak in there on Sunday after the show and type something up.

However....don't hold your breath on that one meowers. Any of you who know me and how I am after a show, especially a big show, know that I will be asleep by 7:00 or in the hot tub thinking about going to sleep. Or.....I'll be out drinking and celebrating with all my buddies who are staying over until Monday. Honestly, I'm hoping for this scenario. Rumor has it there will be some GL friends at the show. I already know of a few old friends that are going to be there. Can't wait.

I'll try to meow before I leave for Dallas. If not, just in case, everyone have a great Labor Day weekend. Have fun. Wear your sunblock, drive careful.

meow for now,
melissa

Here they are!!!!

Well........we'll see how easy this is to post a picture in the bod of the message. We just got the pictures of Nicky and PJ from the photographer, Chanan. Way too cute not to share.

So........look out TICA, here come Kokopellies Czar Nicholas and Kokopellies Polar Frost.



Kokopellies Czar Nicholas



Kokopellies Polar Frost

We just can't wait to get these two little guys into the show ring. PJ got four finals in his first show. Nicky debuts at the Annual in Arlington, Texas next week. It will be a tough show for both of them. 144 kittens entered!!!!!

We'll see what happens........

meow for now,

melissa

No babies

Well.....sadly, no babies. Iziza had her kitten on Saturday morning, before I woke up. It was a lynx point male. No doubt like his Daddy, Frosty. He didn't make it. :-( After 6 more hours of labor, I took Izzy to the vet. The x-ray showed that there were no more kittens in there. Just a huge amount of stool.

Momma Izzy is handling it well. I gave her a spare Siberian kitten we had. Her name is Pink. Pink is her new baby and is happily nursing away. I guess someone should tell Pink that she is 12 weeks old. But....they're keeping each other happy. Momma Melissa is much better now. Saturday and Sunday were full of self doubt. Did I do something wrong, etc. I'm still concerned about Izzy. Just want to be sure that no permanent damage was done.

You can bet I'm going to be extra cautious with the next litter.

So......no chance of babies now for awhile. Not at least until late fall, early winter, if not later.

I'll meow later about the one day show that we had in Arcadia this weekend. Polar didn't have a great show, but PJ did!! And so did little Bubba.

meow for now,
melissa

first time Mom

Not!!! So, the day we were waiting for came and past. The first day that Izzy could have her kittens. Frosty and Izzy were first introduced on May 29th. The first day that they could possibly have kittens, assuming that Frosty hit his mark the first try, would have been on Friday, Aug 1st. Friday and Saturday came and passed. Days 63 and 64. For those who don't know, cats usually have their kittens in about 63-65 days. Lucky cats.

Sooo....Day 65, Sunday. Izzy had a large breakfast and was stretched out in her Costco box all comfy and cozy. Around 11:30 or so, she jumped up and started crawling under the towels in the crate and tearing up the newspaper. I opened the crate and she threw herself in my arms and just wanted to be held and have her belly rubbed.

I finally got her relaxed and calmed down and she started with contractions. There were a couple of pretty big ones where it seems like her whole body seized up. And she was panting. I called Jon to give him the news. He was excited. It sounded like kittens would be on their way shortly. I also called Barb Roth, my closest midwife for advice.

Within about an hour or two, things stopped. No more big contractions. She was still "nesting". She had to rearrange the whole crate. So much for that nice neat room I gave her. Then she took a nap. For the first 4 hours or so she seemed to panic whenever I left the room. I was stuck sitting next to her crate. Then she settled down and all was fine. But still no kittens.

Jon called in the evening to check up on us. Still no kittens. Soooo....he said Izzy would probably have them during the night. I checked on her at 2:30 and when I woke up at 6:00. No kittens. She enjoyed a large breakfast before I went to work. I told her to wait until I got home from work and I would help her.

Sooooo.....sports fans. No kittens from Iziza yet. Keep your fingers, toes and paws crossed.

meow for now,
melissa