Advice on multiple cat adoption?

[gharrissc]

Are they actually blue or one of the other colors? I'm so excited for you,as if they are coming to my house lol.

[Mylita]

They are actually the blue shade that british shorthairs come in. I like that color the best of all the variations. When I set out to find some, I was looking specifically for the blue variety. The breeder has a couple of other varieties, but neither of us liked them as well.

For instance, she also breeds the silver shaded british shorthair cats. She even offered us a price break to take a female silver shaded one, because it was already 4 months old and less likely to get sold.

Mylita

[Mylita]

Got home with our new babies, they are so cute! Right now they are camped out in the downstairs bathroom which we set up for them to use for a few days while they acclimate to us. They came home with some toys, blankies and some food. They are strangers to each other as I suspected, but they have only hissed at each other once.

The breeder is russian or at least speaks russian to her kitties. She has some very strong opinions about what should be done with her babies. She feels they are too young to be microchipped yet, I was going to have that done tomorrow. Her reasoning is that the microchip is inserted with a needle that is too big and will cause trauma. Will have to see what the vet says tomorrow.

She also opposes spaying/neuterizing them now... she says they are too young. Everything I've read says it is better to do it now, because the surgery is much simpler and they recover much more quickly as kittens. In her opinion, we should wait to spay the girl until she is 6 months old and the male till 1+ years. The reason to delay neutering for the male is to allow his cheeks to mature, since once they are neutered, they don't get the big round cheeks. (I don't care for the big round cheeks myself.)

Anyway, Ivan is sleeping in a cat bed with the blankie that is supposed to be Katerina's. Katerina is sleeping on the floor behind the toilet... I just put a bed near her that has his blankie in it. Maybe she will find it attractive.

Love them both!

Mylita

[gharrissc]

In my opinion waiting to get a male cat neutered at 1.5 years is pushing the envelope a little too much for me. The longest I've waited to get it done was 10 months,but that was only because my male didn't have one testicle descended. Btw,how could you not like the big round cheeks of a British Shorthair?!?!? LOL

[Mylita]

I love their round faces, but the unneutered males have exceptionally fat cheeks. At least the ones the breeder showed me did. I'd never seen faces like that before and never had an unneutered adult male cat as a pet. Could be that the fatter face will grow on me over time. I like the adult female faces though. Still, waiting to neuter Ivan till he is 1 - 1 1/2 years old seems too much to me. Will discuss this with the vet today and see what he has to say.

Mylita

[Mylita]

They are getting along really well today. This has been a much easier transistion than expected, given that they had never met until they came home with us. Ivan loves my hubby's socks. Katerina calls for Ivan when he is out of sight. They are very into exploring and playing with everything. They saw my hubby go upstairs, so off Katerina went, followed shortly by Ivan. I'm really pleased with their progress.

Mylita

[Arianwen]

Unless you intend using him for breeding, I think you are likely to cause yourself problems waiting that long. Having said that my old Tom cat was no trouble at all - he was un-neutered when we got him and couldn't be done for medical reasons.

[Mylita]

Well, the vet agreed with the breeder and explained why. So, spaying and neutering will wait till they are older, as will the microchip for each. The vet did find that Ivan has an ear infection, so we are treating it for a week with ear drops... He isn't happy about it, but what kitty is?

They have almost explored the entire house and can't be stopped. Katerina easily goes over any barrier. Ivan was bred for a slightly lighter blue coat at the request of one of the breeder's clients. Makes it easier to know which one is which if they are together. I've also put pink and blue collars on them so I can tell when they aren't. They are so cute!

When I get a good picture, I will post it.

Mylita

[soccergrl76]

Congratulations on your new kittys. I had 2 male cats & I had them neutered at 6 mos old. Our newly adopted female cat was spayed at 2 months old & when we adopted her at 10 months old we discovered a lump on her belly which turned out to be a hernia due to her being spayed. So, I would definitely wait until they are at least 6 mos old.


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[marie73]

It's up to you when to get them fixed and microchipped. I feel, the sooner the better. Younger cats do seem to recover quicker. I think I missed how old your kittens are. Most good breeders don't let them go until 12-16 weeks old, which is plenty old enough for both fixing and microchipping. As far as the vet is concerned, if they're the breeder's vet, no wonder they're backing her up.