Nov 03 2024

Hooray for Hollywood

  • November 3, 2024

Hollywood (aka Holly) gave birth to six kittens on October 1st, 2024. They are all doing well and are just figuring out solid food and the litter box.  Charlie, the father, is claiming that he waived all parental rights when he became a sperm donor, but we don’t believe him.

This is Holly’s first litter and while she was confused at first, she has turned out to be a very dedicated and attentive mama. Her only real problem was she didn’t understand that she needed to toilet the kittens by licking their butts to make them pee and poop (I know, eww). We were having to do this ourselves a few times a day by rubbing their butts with a moist tissue (again, eww), when another breeder suggested putting a bit of butter on their privates to encourage Holly to do her job. Sure enough, after a few days of “butter butts,” Holly got the hang of it.

This may not be the weirdest thing we have ever done as breeders, but it comes close.

Anyway, since this is Hollywood’s first litter, we thought it only fitting to give her kittens temporary names inspired by Hollywood stars.

All of these kittens are reserved.

Katherine Hepburn (girl)

Ingrid Bergman (girl)

Hedy Lamarr (girl)

Danny Kaye (boy)

James Cagney (boy)

Greta Garbo (girl)

Permanent link to this article: https://atlastcats.com/hooray-for-hollywood/

Nov 02 2024

A bouquet of lilies

  • November 2, 2024

Tiger Lily’s kittens are out of the nest and have mastered the litter box at long last. Our normal process is to litter train the kittens while they are still in a very large puppy pen / nest, and once they use a litter box consistently they are free to roam about their room.

Lily had other ideas. She kept removing her kids from the nest and it quickly got to the point where we just removed the nest and let the kittens explore. Unfortunately, this led to a lot of “deposits” in corners, near near walls, or (more likely) in front of the door. The training technique is then to put a small litter box where they did the deed and transfer their stuff to it. Rinse and repeat until they eventually get the idea.

Sorry, that was probably more than you ever wanted to know about kitten poop.

Since this is Lily’s last litter, we decided to give her kittens temporary names from different types of lilies. Although, given the appetite of these kids, we briefly considered naming them after different species of piranha. They are seriously food-focused.

All of these kittens are reserved

Altaria (girl)

Brindisi (girl)

Brunello (boy)

Manipur (boy)

Anastasia (girl)

 

Permanent link to this article: https://atlastcats.com/a-bouquet-of-lilies/

Oct 06 2024

Five for Tiger Lily!

  • October 6, 2024

Five babies!

Tiger Lily gave birth to five lovely kittens on September, 17th, 2024. Mama and the babies are all doing well.  She had a little summer fling down in Connecticut this summer, and this is the happy result. The father, Flint, being somewhat removed from the birthing, is completely oblivious.

All of these kittens are reserved. 

Permanent link to this article: https://atlastcats.com/five-for-tiger-lily/

Sep 22 2024

All the drama

  • September 22, 2024

Tizzy gave birth to two kittens, Benjamin and Button, on July 26, 2024.  Logan, the father, is (as usual) unconcerned.

As deliveries go, Tizzy’s first was especially dramatic. She went into labor three days early and started delivering her babies in a felted cat shelter donut (scratch one un-washable felted cat shelter donut).  In her rush to get Tizzy situated in a proper nest, Marie fell and broke her nose and wrist. I rushed home, and by then Tizzy had given birth to her two kittens and I was able to take Marie to the hospital.

Meanwhile, being premature, the kittens were very small (98 and 67 grams). Worse, Tizzy was not producing enough milk so we had to feed the kittens formula every two hours. (Our friends and family stepped in to send us prepared meals and such to make our lives a little more manageable between the kittens and Marie’s injuries).

For about five days the kittens didn’t gain much weight and we didn’t hold out much hope for them. They started to lose interest in formula. We tried a different formula and a different food for Tizzy to help her produce milk. Either we came upon the right combination or Tizzy started producing enough milk, because they suddenly started gaining weight consistently, and didn’t even need formula anymore (for which our sleep cycles were very grateful!).

And here we are! They have grown into perfectly normal, healthy, outgoing kittens. They are very interested in people and run to the door when we enter their room. Meanwhile, Marie has mostly recovered from her injuries and is doing well.

Benjamin (boy) reserved

Button (boy) reserved

Permanent link to this article: https://atlastcats.com/all-the-drama/

Jul 09 2024

Violet is retiring and available

  • July 9, 2024

Violet has retired from breeding and is available to a new home. She is almost three years old and recently spayed.

As a show cat she earned the title of Supreme Grand Champion. At home she is very much a lap cat and especially enjoys bedtime snuggles. If you want a cat pressed up against you at night, she’s your girl.

While Violet can be a love muffin with people, her torbie-tude makes her a bit of a bully among other girl cats, so her ideal home is probably one where she is a single cat or with boy cats.

If you are interested in Violet, please email us at atlastcats@gmail.com and tell us a bit about your household and why you think she’d be a good match.

Permanent link to this article: https://atlastcats.com/violet-is-retiring-and-available/

Jul 05 2024

Schlemiel! Schlimazel! Hasenpfeffer Incorporated!

  • July 5, 2024

Queen Sara Saturday gave birth two girls (Laverne & Shirley) on April 16th, 2024. Logan, the father, still refuses to take responsibility for them. He should be proud, though, because when these girls were eight weeks old and introduced to the rest of the cattery they adjusted faster than any kittens we have ever seen,

Usually kittens will be a little overwhelmed when introduced to a new environment. They may hide a little or stay on one side of room. But not these two girls! They were exploring everywhere, climbing the cat trees, and snuggling in our laps in no time.

Both of these kittens are reserved.

Laverne (girl), reserved

Shirley (girl), reserved

Permanent link to this article: https://atlastcats.com/schlemiel-schlimazel-hasenpfeffer-incorporated/

Jul 04 2024

Some introductions are in order…

  • July 4, 2024

We’ve been remiss in introducing some of the new denizens of our household! Please welcome…

Hollywood

Hollywood (Holly, for short) comes to us from Purrcificoon in California (hence the name). Okay, she’s actually from San Diego, but from New Hampshire they seem pretty close to each other, right? Among her other talents, Holly loves to fetch rabbit-fur toys, making her request for play by dropping a toy in front of you. As a torbie she was strongly opposed to getting a bath before cat shows, so instead of going to shows she is going to hang out at home and wait for the right boy to woo her.

Mycroft

Mycroft comes to us from Rubicoons in the great state of Maine.  He’s a very playful kitten and extremely talkative. Right now his chirps are kind of high pitched so he almost sounds like a girl in heat, but we’re sure that as he matures his register will lower so he can sing to the girls like Barry White.

Charli

Charli is the son of Logan and Tiger Lily. He is a sweet boy and earned his Grand Champion title in his first cat show as an adult. However, he truly didn’t enjoy the process of showing (he was gentle with the judges, just obviously scared). We aren’t ones to force a cat into the show life if they aren’t suited for it, so despite his potential for greater things we’ve retired him from the show circuit so he can concentrate on romancing some ladies.

Permanent link to this article: https://atlastcats.com/some-introductions-are-in-order/

Jan 07 2024

Just Ducky!

  • January 7, 2024

Pixel gave birth to three lovely kittens on December 1st, 2023. She was a few days late, but after a visit to the vet (no c-section, just some oxytocin, thankfully) they all came out fine.

They are eating solid food, using the litter box, and climbing anything that looks climbable. They’re a very personable bunch and run up to greet us when we enter their room. We think they like us and aren’t just expecting food. That’s the story we’re going with.

Okay, we helped Pixel for the first few weeks and supplemented their diet with formula, so they might have expectations, but they just like cuddles, too.

Logan, the father, knows the deal is and admitting nothing lest Pixel comes after him for kitten support.

We named them after Donald Duck’s nephews (or in the case of Louise, his niece) because we were looking for things that come in threes and we’re pretty sure that the Musketeers have been overdone.

All of these kittens are reserved.

Huey (boy) reserved

Dewey (boy) reserved

Louise (girl) reserved

Permanent link to this article: https://atlastcats.com/just-ducky/

Sep 03 2023

Swiss misses and misters

  • September 3, 2023

Violet gave birth to five lovely kittens on August 1st, 2023. They are a couple of weeks younger than Tiger Lily’s kids, so they are still in the process of figuring out solid food and the litter box. They are growing like weeds and are VERY active.

Logan, the father, had no comment, possibly slowly realizing that he has multiple paternity suites coming his way. (He planned to blame it on Buster until we explained that he is no longer equipped to make babies).

All of these kittens are reserved.

The theme for this litter is places in Switzerland, because we spent a lovely two weeks there visiting Marie’s sister this summer. That’s one of the reasons we haven’t had many litters so far this year. We had to plan things so that kittens weren’t born or weaning while we were away, so we timed it so that no kittens would be born sooner than a week after our return.

Arctika (girl)

Bergtrotte Osterfingen (girl)

Brocki (boy) reserved

Stein am Rhein (boy) reserved

Kartause Ittingen (boy) reserved

Permanent link to this article: https://atlastcats.com/swiss-misses-and-misters/

Sep 03 2023

The strong, silent types

  • September 3, 2023

Tiger Lily gave birth to four beautiful kittens on July 17th, 2023. Logan is a first-time father and is happy to confirm that he is, indeed, a fertile turtle. The kittens are doing amazingly. They are playing, climbing, eating solid food, and learned to use the litter box without a hitch.

This started out as very quiet litter, so we decided to name them after famous mimes.

All of these kittens are reserved.

Lorene Yarnell (girl)

Cytheris (girl)

Lenka Pichlíková-Burke (girl)

Charlie Chaplin (boy) reserved

Permanent link to this article: https://atlastcats.com/the-strong-silent-types/