The Flight of Icarus (comes home 2nd Feb!)

[IcarusTowers]

Howdie....

My name's Shiggi and I'm due to get my little boy - Icarus on Monday 2nd February here in London, UK. The breeder has been ridiculously amazing! She's been keeping me up to date with his well being and vaccines and vet visits as well as loads of gorgeous pictures of him with his other siblings (he's part of a litter of 5).

I'm beyond excited, but also a little bit nervous. As I guess all new pet owners are - even if it's been a few years since I was around loads of pets (my family household basically had a minimum of 4 pets at any given time, then there's the farm!!). Still, I think I've read and watched so much I think I've gotten myself into a little bit of a tizzy.

I've taken the whole day off work so I can get him home early in the day and let him acclimatise to the space with me around it too.

A question: When you got your sphynx, what was one thing you wished you'd known about them (or even your specific naked) before you got them?

 

[MelissaAlice]

First of all .. he is breathtaking!

As for what do I wish I had known; both of my girls have been so different, Skully was a holy terror into everything and always the center of attention. I wish I had been advised to batten down the hatches!
Elfie on the other hand thinks shes a Queen. Very refined and dignified. I wish I would have taken butler lessons before bringer her home.

I've very jealous though; my gotach day inst until February 22nd!

 

[Denise]

Icarus is magnificent!
I have only been a sphynx mommy for three weeks so I will tell you the things I found surprising.
1/ He eats so much! I keep refilling his dish.
2/ His nails grow very fast,,I try to "play with his feet " whenever we are cuddling to get him used to this job which is unavoidably often,the clipping.
3/ He loves to be warm,soft cuddly blankets are a must.
4/ he thinks I am his mommy,,he wasn't separated from his mom too early(13 weeks) but still want to suckle (me)
5/he is so sweet ,I don't know how I lived without him,,,be prepared to fall in love!
6/ he smells like nothing I know,not unpleasant but so different,earthy,musky!
Have fun and welcome!!!

 

[Catzzzmeow]

February 2nd a.k.a. Gotcha Day is right around the corner!!! Icarus is adorable. I think the one thing many are not prepared for but frequently happens are URIs. You might look into getting L-lysine to help boost your baby a bit.
Here is a link with more info.

http://sphynxlair.com/community/threads/l-lysine-for-sphynx-cats.28531/

Patti

 

[Ginny]

Oh my, how lovely!!

I was not prepared for how attached mine would be to me, and how much more play he has needed than any other cat I've had. He needs attention any time he is not sleeping (which is why his sister will be here in a couple weeks!)

 

[assibassi]

awwwwwww what beautiful babies!!!!!!!!!!!!! They are gorgeous !!

 

[Condo commando]

What I wish I had known.....how quick they are to squirm out the door without you realizing it. Both of mine have each gotten out once and it took me a day to a week to find them. I could have easily lost them for good. No matter what now when I'm going out I always take visual inventory and if I don't eyeball both cats then I come back in and find them. No exceptions.

 

[admin]

Hello @IcarusTowers and welcome to Sphynxlair! What a cutie you have there! Please enjoy our wonderful sphynx community! (y)

 

[Yoda mom]

Welcome! He is sooooo handsome!

Watch doors and walking! They are super fast and always under feet and stealth! Mail sure everyone in the house learns to do a kitty head count before slowly and carefully entering and exiting doors and then double check again-

I leaned to train mine with treats to wait at some away spot but they still reach to try to open the doors!

Watch all doors and windows!
I go mine microchipped during spay /neuter
Follow up with the chip maker and make sure to pay to register and keep contact number/address up to date
- some breeders Have them chipped in their name - inquire

Welcome and enjoy the lair!

 

[Emily0404]

Yay! Shiggi you're here too I love this place ! They have been amazing with helping me with my guys.
Icarus is Percy's brother - this is Percy

they look really similar. Since shiggi is picking up Icarus earlier than me on Monday I'll have to be careful she doesn't take the wrong baby

 

[Denise]

You guys are so lucky to have such cute brothers coming home to you!
How old will they be at homecoming and is that colour considered cream? Will they keep the blue eyes? So handsome!

 

[Hairless Blessing]

Welcome to sphynxlair, good to have you. Handsome little gentleman he is.

 

[Xandria]

Icarus is gorgeous!!! You must be so happy. And it's delightful that there will be brothers (and Percy) here too!!!

I agree with @Catzzzmeow about the URI. While Max never had a full blown URI, he did have a number of weeks of the sniffles, even with Lysine (which I wholly recommend). I think without the Lysine he might have had a full blown URI. My vet is fully in support of keeping kittens on Lysine for some time or even into adulthood. I agree.

I wish I'd stocked up on more baby clothing laundry detergent! LOL. I do a lot of washing of my own items, but regular washing of kitty washcloths, blankets, and more blankets... lots of washing!

I also wasn't prepared for how hard Hubby and I fell in love with Max... from the get go. He is our everything. He is family. Be prepared to sacrifice time with friends, family etc. to just "be" with Icarus It's wonderful.

Congrats again!

 

[Emily0404]

Yep you will never know love until you have sphynx love I'm obsessed! I've taken pretty much the whole week off gotcha day I have a study session and Tuesday - this will nearly kill me! Then after that I am free - trust me shiggi you may 'feel sick ' all week

 

[Emily0404]

Shiggi - James is getting him at 10 am

 

[IcarusTowers]

Woah! You folks are mega active! I'm blown away from the responses and hellos They're all incredibly appreciated!!

@MelissaAlice - Thank you for the response! Yes, character is a thing I picked up on when I visited him at 5-weeks. In the span of about 40minutes he slept, darted around like a laser, used me as a jungle gym (couldn't quite get to my shoulder but he had a look of determination on his face), then used me as his personal pillow - I got to work 20-mins late due to not wanting to leave him! I'm a personal trainer and DJ so I have been boxing away all wires and things that he could chew on. I wish electricity was wireless! Time will fly and the 22nd will be here before you know it!

@Denise - Good tips! I've recently gotten into fleece onesies and looking at making some myself, so hopefully there will be more than blankets and poncho's invading my flat. I didn't think much about the clipping and playing with his feet will certainly happen! I have a friend who has a girl sphynx - the reason why I wanted one myself as she was LOVELY and yes the musky smell was different but not exactly offensive. Also both Icarus and Percy will be about 12/13 weeks when we pick them up on Monday

@Catzzzmeow - That, is certainly an invaluable piece of information! I actually have l-lysine at home for my own supplementation which is a bonus. It's kinda funny reading up on supplementation for cats almost in the same way I do for my (human) clients. I've been slightly concerned about some of the air vents here as the neighbour in the basement flat keeps strays (and not in the best of conditions but that's another story), mild paranoia has me wondering what comes up to the third floor from her flat. Thank you for the link.

@Ginny - I'm home quite a bit so the play won't be an issue. I think he'll get tired of me! Haha. I know I'm going to be heart broken every time I have to go out for an hour or two during the day and getting a sibling of his has been on my mind, though I'd like to wait a few months so he's big brother proper

@assibassi - Thank you

@Condo commando and @Yoda mom - The door darting thing is again something I'd not thought about much, so thank you for that! I live on the second floor (third flat in a building of 4) and have a flight of stairs between my front door and the building's front door. Hopefully he doesn't develop a bad habit but I'll certainly spend time training him not to think running for the hills is what he wants to do. Although as the weather picks up (HA!) I'd like to take him out for little walks early in the morning.

@admin - Thank you

@Emily0404 - Woo! You're here too! That's most excellent. Gonna let you in on a little secret - I've secretly been calling Percy, Perseus. I know in Greek Mythology they're from different times but the geek in me couldn't help it. This place is amaaaaaaaazing and you're probably going to giggle when I keep on posting newbie things. Not looking forward to my first poop-face experience (luck would have it, it'll be when I have the white bed set on). Ah, James is coming at 10? Grand...I'll probably be there for 9.30/9.45 and hang around a little bit before heading off. Getting a picture of the brothers together would be awesome. Still in two minds of getting an Uber cab back home or public transport as my ride dropped out last minute :/ I might feel sick all week it's true. Or I might get my bike out so instead of a 14-minute walk to work I can cycle home in 5!

@Hairless Blessing - Thank you

@Xandria - I'm looking at switching over a lot of my cleaning products to Ecover (a Belgium company that creates natural/ecologically sound cleaning products that don't have all the harsh chemicals most products do) though I'm equally wary that something "natural" can still create an allergic reaction. Having a studio on top of an organic food/products store is handy so might even look at their baby washing products too! I'm a mega hermit already - it just means I've got someone to watch endless seasons of Star Trek with. Mwahahaha

This was the first picture I saw of him and was like - YEP! ^_^

 

[Emily0404]

Ah see if James will give you a lift home do you live far from her house?

 

[IcarusTowers]

@Emily0404 I live in Wandsworth (past Clapham Junction/Battersea) - South West London. It's a mission if you don't go in that direction already!

 

[Emily0404]

We live in essex - I don't know which direction that is in relation to you ?

 

[IcarusTowers]

@Emily0404 opposite direction. I live closer to Richmond than Essex. So it would be waaaaay out of the way. No worries though Depending on how he's feeling/behaving on the day I'm fine on public transport or taxi as it should be relatively quiet on both ^_^ Can't say I've not had a giggle over someone looking into his box and not really knowing what to do when he looks back at them

 

[Emily0404]

Ah that's a shame. I hope people love looking at him I love it when people get all curious!

 

[Xandria]

I switched all my cleaning supplies before Max came too! But I swear he still finds things to lick like my shower curtains which have a bit of soap or shampoo residue on them! Ahhhh. LOL.

 

[deanna]

Oh my gosh he is soo handsome! Welcome to the lair what I was surprised was that my Dobby accumulated to his new surroundings so fast and he randomly surprises me by trying to climb me like I was a tree lol. Oh and Dobby LOVES people food.. it's so bad I can't leave one plate out with even a smear of food or it's licked clean. He even trys to steel my food off my plate with his ninja paw. Anyone who visits thinks he acts like a dog lol

 

[IcarusTowers]

He's here now and I've had exactly that. I don't have many rooms: big living room, big-ish bedroom, bathroom, kitchen and he's gotten his head around it well. I didn't think he'd jump on me initially, but every day he jumps farther and higher either on my leg, butt or back. One time I caught him mid air as I was setting something down on the kitchen counter. Need to nip that habit in the bud before he gets big enough to jump onto the counter tops in a single jump!!

We have ninja dog-cats!

 

[Xandria]

Heee. I love the ninja antics of nakeds, but sometimes they can be VERY surprising. Max still continues to surprise me with agility every day. His latest favourite is riding my shoulders as I brush my teeth.

Looking forward to more of your pics!