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Squee! Getting myself a Christmas present!

spygirl

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I can't wait till December 24th! That's when our new fur (or lack of fur) kid comes home! He's a blue and white, green eyed male and I'm ssssoooo excited!

I really, REALLY like the breeder and I'm very pleased with my choice. She's very knowledgeable about HCM and does scans. We've had lots of e-mail discussions and has been very open and honest with me.

I've been having discussions with the dogs about our new baby. Blue has always been pleasant, if not completely scared of cats. He gets his feelings hurt way to easily. Sophie on the other hand is going to be trouble. We're already going to have issues on who is king/queen of the castle! :Hysterical:

So now I just have to get all my kitty gear! But I do have one question about toys... In pet stores, I see chewie type toys for cats. Do cats like to chew like dogs? Should I add these to my list?
 

ilovemysphynx

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Congrats to you and what a great day to add a new baby! I am a sucker for Christmas!
As far as chew toys, ours don't seem to chew anything but our finger, then again I can't see our boxer Delilah being to happy if Leo or Athena took her bone:Wink:
 

ckutkuhn7

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Awesome!! Great news!! I'm so excited for you. I can't wait to hear what name you've choosen.

As for chew toys Snuffie chews on them, SoBe doesn't. I actually bought SoBe a chew toy that omits mint into their mouth to give them a more fresh smell,,well Snuffie chews on it all the time (and she doesnt even need it) but it does make her sneeze. Mint is a cousin of catnip and cats really seem to enjoy it. SoBe hasn't really taken a liking to it yet. I try to play with her with it and she will chew on it for 2 seconds maybe but then she wants no part of it. Snuffie has already ate the first one and is working on the second one now.
I think it just depends on your kitty. I bought two just incase they both liked them then they wouldn't need to share. Turns out it just gave Snuffie a second one! lol
 

spygirl

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Thanks for all the replies about the toys! My husband already complains about the dog toys every where. Wait till he sees what I get for the new kitty! He already said there will be only one cat tree! :LOL:

We haven't decided on a name yet. Again, we can't agree on one. Who would have guessed. :Hysterical:

The only pics I have right now are the breeders, so I'll see if she doesn't mind me using them.

Ah, I'm so excited! I've been reading up on cats shows because I think we might give that a whirl. But then I was reading about cat agility?! I didn't know such a thing existed! We're already getting my shih tzu ready for agility competitions, so who knows. We may have 2 agility champs in the house! :LOL:
 

susi794

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I had a Christmas litter last year and named the babies using the holiday theme...I had Eggnog, Noel, and Coal, but you could also use Kringle, Ribbon, CandyCane, Mistletoe, the list is only restricted by your imagination. Enjoy the new member of your family--and it is a GREAT gift to give yourself.
 

spygirl

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AH! Life has been hectic! Trying to finish this semester and work is not fun! Plus all the dog training we've been doing... :Shok: I'll try to get pics ASAP!

So I've been picking up things here and there for the new baby. So my checklist kinda looks like this...

1.) Litter Box
2.) Litter
3.) Food and Water dish
4.) Various toys
5.) Bed and blankets
6.) Clothes
7.) Travel gear
8.) Collar, Harness, and Leash? (Any good material suggestions?)

Can you guys think of anything else I might need?

I think I'm going to buy a "SleepyPod" for the car trip, but here is where it's going to get difficult...

The breeder is roughly 3 - 4 hours away. On a good day. But since we're picking up the little man near Christmas, we're looking at close to a 4 - 5 hour drive. In the car will be me, my husband, and the 2 dogs. I'm assuming a kitten that small is going to need a litter box during that time frame?

The plan is to drive straight to the breeders and then possibly stopping at my grandparents house to spend the night on the way back home. I'm thinking about bringing one of my big dog's huge soft crates, so that way he has a small quiet space with his litter box. Do you think this is going to be entirely to stressful on the kitten?

Also any suggestions on what size clothes to get? Small, extra small? I plan on asking the breeder how much he weighs closer to the pick up day, but just trying to plan ahead.

Can you tell I'm a bit nervous? It's been a while since I've had a kitten! :Hysterical:
 

MissMySphynxBoys

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Can you tell I'm a bit nervous? It's been a while since I've had a kitten! :Hysterical:

You are too sweet. Everything is going to work out perfectly.

I like the idea of the soft dog crate set up with his litter box, blankies, water, and food.

When it comes to leashes and harnesses, I would recommend something light weight and adjustable without clunky hardware. Also double check for itchy/scratchy tags, seams or stitching that could irritate naked skin.
 

spygirl

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It's picture time!!! These are all pics that the breeder has sent me, so credit goes to her. He is 11days, 3 weeks, and 6 weeks in these pics. She sent me an update and said he is doing well. She also said it looks like he may end up being a dilute calico, like his mother. But we'll have to wait and see how his colors come out as he grows. I keep going back and staring at the pics! Just so excited!

I think I'm almost got the name things figured out... Hubby wants a "techie" name. :Dizzy: I think I like either...

1.) Nofur Glitch
2.) Micah's Nofur Frankenstein
OR
3.) Nofur Vampyre Inferno

The hubby obviously likes the first one best. The second one kinda sticks with the name "theme" in this house. My Shih Tzu's registered name is Micah's Lil Sophie Monster. And number three, I don't know about. We've been tossing around vampire type names and the Inferno part comes from his father's name. To be honest, I like number two the best. But we'll see.


11days1.JPG

11days2.jpg

3weeks1.JPG

3weeks2.JPG

John 6 weeks (1).jpg

John 6 weeks (4).jpg

John 6 weeks (7).jpg
 

NightSpidy

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What a great christmas present! I like the first name the best. Sounds like you've got everything you need for your baby sphynx. I also like the idea of the larger crate with the bedding and litter box inside for the long drive. Congrats!:BigSmile:
 

spygirl

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He looks very cute....but hate to tell you...if he is really a he...he can't be calico...calico's are always girls....

That's what I thought. I was pretty sure I had read that somewhere, but the breeder said that genetics wise there is a 1 in 3,000 chance of a male being a dilute calico. I know very little of cat genetics. Does anyone know if it's a co-dom or recessive trait? I'm going to do some research and see if I can find a punnet square to figure it out.
 

spygirl

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OK, so after some various research and a lot of punnett squares, males CAN be a dilute calico, but as the breeder said, its a 1 in 3,o00 chance. Here is a basic clip from a Wiki site...

"For a cat to be tortoiseshell, calico, or one of the variants such as blue-cream or chocolate tortoiseshell, the cat must simultaneously express two alleles, O and o, which are located on the X chromosome. Males normally cannot do this, as they have only one X chromosome, and therefore only one allele, and so calico cats are normally only female. Male tortoiseshell or calico cats occur only if they have chromosomal abnormalities such as the genotype XXY (in which case they are sterile), chromosomal mosaicism (only portions of their cells have the genotype XXY, so these cats may be fertile), or chimericism (a single individual formed from two fused embryos, at least one of which was male). Approximately 1 in 3,000 calico/tortoiseshell cats are male[1]. Chimericism (which may result in fertile male cats) appears to be the most common mechanism."

Very interesting to me! I find it fascinating how the orange gene works together in recessive and dominant form, rather than one over riding the other. One of the reasons why I got into ball python breeding was the genetics. Who knew cat genetics were so cool!
 
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