TheCatSite.com › Forums › Breeding › Breeders Corner › Litters!
New Posts  All Forums:Forum Nav:

Litters!

post #1 of 14
5/27/10 at 1:25pm
Thread Starter 
Well, things were a bit up in the air for my cattery a few months ago and I wasn't really sure what was coming. My new GC Smoke girl was bred to a top male back east prior to me picking her up, but it was unsure whether it took. Apparently it did and I am expecting an amazing litter of smokes and silvers in early June.

The cat I bred last year and brought with me to the GEMS show to be bred is showing signs of pregnancy and I am in the process of planning a trip to get her back home. She'd be due sometime in July and should have all silvers. She is my first home bred queen and I am very interested to see what she will produce. The litter I have right now, three seven week old kits, are growing fast and I have 2 pet homes coming to see them next week. I will most likely place all three in pet homes as I can repeat the breeding if necessary and none of them are extreme show-stoppers this time.

So right now I have three breeding age females and one male. I am hoping for a suitable male from the two upcoming litters to replace my stud. I will then have Tsekani neutered and he can come live freely in the house. He was my first Mau and he is very special to me. He has some faults and the breedings I have done have been specially selected to address these faults. I am excited to see how my home grown kits do in the ring!

I'll post some pics of my newest litter below.
Reply
post #2 of 14
5/27/10 at 1:28pm
Thread Starter 
Medium silver girl



Lightest silver girl



Dark boy

Reply
post #3 of 14
5/27/10 at 5:00pm
Awww spottyyyyyyyyyyys

I like the boy the best - color, spot contrast and head. Do you think he's do well in the alter class?

I'm hoping to get a kitten in the fall - very good potential for a chocolate-silver boy! Will call the breeder tonite - they were born on Mother's Day
Reply
post #4 of 14
5/27/10 at 5:07pm
I love your kittens.
Good luck on the upcoming litters.
Reply
post #5 of 14
5/27/10 at 6:53pm
beautiful kitties. I love their noses. good luck with your up coming litters. I can't wait to see more spotted babies
Reply
post #6 of 14
5/28/10 at 9:57am
I like your medium girl best

Can't wait to hear more about your upcoming litters. . . you must be so excited!
Reply
post #7 of 14
5/28/10 at 4:39pm
I like medium girl too, not that I know about Mau's

Congraulations on the upcoming litters, i hope you get the boy you're after.

I'm enjoying watching your kittens grow, they're a week older than mine and your next litter will also be a week older.
Reply
post #8 of 14
5/28/10 at 5:18pm
Thread Starter 
It's hard to tell from one pic each, but dark boy is too stocky and fluffy, light girl's ear set is too close at the base. Medium girl has good expression and ear set, but her pattern may be too indistinct. Not sure on how great her contrast is as she is the flightiest and toughest to evaluate. So far the consensus is that medium girl has the most potential, but I will probably not keep one this litter as I have two litters coming and can repeat this breeding in the Fall. Skylark is happiest when pregnant or caring for a litter, even though she has been the most challenging to breed.

Mau coats should be medium and not downy or soft. The good ones I have handled have felt almost bristly although that is too strong a word for their feel.

My sister lost her 17 year old cat last night, it was finally time to end her suffering. I have offered her an upcoming kitten from DD or from Safiya. It's too soon for her to take one of my current kits. She has a kit, Zahra, from my first litter and Zahra is a demanding cat who will want a playmate to toss around.
Reply
post #9 of 14
5/28/10 at 5:41pm
If Mau's are like Oci's then the fluff coat should sleek out later. Oci's go thru a few weeks of "fuzzies" and then lose the coat. Doesn't the Mau's do the same? Cause that boy's got the best contrast that will hold the color!
Reply
post #10 of 14
5/28/10 at 6:43pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Sohni View Post
Mau coats should be medium and not downy or soft. The good ones I have handled have felt almost bristly although that is too strong a word for their feel.
'Dense and resilient' for silvers and bronzes. It's not bristly, but when you brush it back, it should want to bounce back to its original shape. Coat itself is 5 points, but the texture also influences the way the pattern (25) lies and that too influences the overall color (15) So 45 points total for coat/pattern/color. . . a lot, but that's not the whole cat. Pattern isn't everything in the breed, spots can be randomly sized and shaped and transition zones are forgiven. It can't be an obvious stripe, but an oblong spot is still a spot. I'd take a well-shaped head with chin/eyes/profile/ear size and set, proper length of leg, and moderately fine boning any day over the flashiest pattern. It's lot lot easier to correct pattern, wouldn't even try to to fix anything with set cobby and heavy boning or a bad head.. Gotta build your house, then you paint it.

Fuzzies are totally different from an incorrect coat texture. Fuzzies fade with time, but the coat texture itself will not change.
Reply
post #11 of 14
5/28/10 at 6:47pm
Thread Starter 
I have learned that colour/pattern comes almost last when evaluating Mau kittens, and his coat is on the verge of being long. His ears are too small as well and he doesn't have the boning I am looking for. He is definitely the sweetest of the bunch and I am happy to place him in a pet home where he will be loved and fussed over.

I've had the opportunity to view and handle a number of wonderful Mau litters over the last year and I am getting much better at evaluating. Tsekani is passing on a really soft/downy coat, and I need to ensure I only keep the best of the bunch for my program. The breeder of the top Maus in the Country has cautioned me about it already.
Reply
post #12 of 14
5/28/10 at 10:02pm
They're ADORABLE! I love that last pic, the other kitty's like "HEYYY! Take MY pic! C'MOOOONNN!" LMAO!
Reply
post #13 of 14
5/29/10 at 5:20pm
Thread Starter 
If you are interested, I have all of their baby pics up in my picasa web gallery..

http://picasaweb.google.ca/junomidge

Man, I really need to start thinking of names.
Reply
post #14 of 14
5/29/10 at 5:33pm
Beautiful kitties! I like the boy the most. Please keep us updated ;]

Jackz, Jazzy & Ginga.
Reply
New Posts  All Forums:Forum Nav:
  Return Home
  Back to Forum: Breeders Corner
TheCatSite.com › Forums › Breeding › Breeders Corner › Litters!