New Kittens -- Hurray!

One of the pleasures of being a breeder is welcoming new kittens into this world, watching them grow and see their personalities develop, and then sending them out to their wonderful pet homes. February and March were busy here at KatsNjazz, so we have kittens.

Like silver and blue tabbies.... Beyonce has lovely kittens in these colors

A traditionalist -- white is for you. We have a male kitten with the deepest blue eye color. Not into blue, try white kittens with green or amber eyes.

Ready for something completely different -- we have a tortoiseshell Turkish Angora kitten, too.

Please see our website at www.katsnjazz.com

Another Weekend, Another Show

If it's the weekend, there must be a cat show somewhere. So it is Thursday night and I am about to wash two cats. Yep, we crazy cat show people actually shampoo, condition and even blow dry our cats. Now, you may think that I'm permanently scarred--and now that I think of it, I do have a couple of cat scratch scars...... But most of those are not from bathing the cat ;-)

But the bathing is just the beginning. I next have to pack my show supplies. That includes fancy "curtains" to decorate the cage where the cat hangs out when not being judges, grooming supplies, food, litter boxes, and even a few cat toys. Next, I have to pack the cat's supplies for the hotel room, which includes litter box, food, water, more cat toys, and probably some shampoo just in case I need to give the cat another bath. I'm not done yet. Now I have to pack for me. Usually a smaller stack of stuff usual hotel stuff, like PJs, make-up and a change of clothes.

So, hopefully, I've got my car all loaded up with the "stuff." Out come the cat carriers, and I load the cats up just before hitting the road. And now the fun part -- the 7 hour drive from Northern California to Southern California. If I'm really lucky, my cats will be quiet during the drive. If I'm not, I get a cat serenade.

Yep, I'm heading to Southern California for the cat show and I think my car has auto pilot to get me there. This week, I have the luxury of being able to drive during the day on Friday. But come Sunday evening, everything gets loaded back up, and I drive home. If I'm lucky, I'll get home by midnight.

So that's the relaxing weekend I have planned. I'm taking Sly (my Blog poster cat) and Sedona Rose this weekend. We'll see if a couple of the judges will give them a nod, and make them one of their Top 10 cats.

More later....
Kathryn

Placing a Special Cat

Today I placed KatsNjazz Puttin On The Ritz -- aka Ritzy -- with a lovely couple that was looking for a special Turkish Angora. Ritzy is 4 years old, and has always been a special cat for me. She is the granddaughter of my original Turkish Angora, and has a really sweet and outgoing personality. While Ritzy never had kittens, she is a wonderful ambassador for the Turkish Angora breed, as she and I traveled up and down the West Coast at both TICA and CFA cat shows. Ritzy actually loved staying at hotels, and reveled in the attention from the judges and show visitors alike. Plus, she was a "winner" as well, earning top titles and achieving the covented Regional Winner honor 2 years in a row. In short, I certainly love Ritzy. So why, you ask, would I let her go to a new home.

As a breeder, placing young adult cats into forever pet homes is an act of love. While I always had time to give Ritzy some attention, I have several cats and she has to compete for my attention with the other cats. And as much as I love Ritzy, I have to give top priority to pregnant females and the kittens. Ritzy is just turning 4 years old now, which is the prime of a cat's life. So, while I wish I could keep Ritzy, it is best for Ritzy to go to a home where she will be the center of attention.

Thank you Nancy and Steve for providing a loving home to Ritzy.

Traveling With Cats -- planes, trains and automobiles

Day 2 of the Blog. So, I had a kitten that is doing well at the shows. With my regular cats, I go to local shows and, on occassion, I'll drive to some shows that are 6 to 8 hours away. But to really get Avalon to some of the big shows, now I have to fly. Yikes -- flying with a cat. But it can be done.

On the positive side, I always got to my ultimate destination in time for the cat show. On the negative side, I didn't always arrive in my destination city by plane, and certainly not "on schedule."

Case in point. I was flying from California to Tucson, Arizona on Friday night. Apparently, Arizona was being pounded by rain, causing flights in and out of Arizona to be delayed. That backed the planes up in Las Vegas (where I was flying through) as well. I'm waiting -- my flight is 30 minutes late, then 45 minutes late, then an hour late. I'm still not worried because I've got a 2 hour layover in Las Vegas. They post another delay -- and it's 2 hours. Drat! So I'd better ask if my connecting flight is also delayed. The very stressed out gate agent barks that my connecting flight has been cancelled! Yikes!!! But not to worry, they'd be happy to fly me to Las Vegas, let me wait around that airport for 6-8 hours in hopes that I could get on the 8 or 10 am flight to Tucson. No-- I'll miss my cat show. I asked if I could still get to Phoenix-- maybe. So I'm waiting, pretty soon they are ready to board the flight to Phoenix and I'm on my way. In Phoenix, I arrive with the cat, but no luggage. It's 11 pm, and I have a 2 hour drive to Tucson, but I need the kitty essentials (litter box, some food, etc). The very polite, and not too stressed out, car rental agent gives me directions to the all night WalMart. I shop, I get back in my car. It's midnight, it stopped raining, and I'm feeling hopeful that I'll be in Tucson by 2 am. I'm heading out into the desert on I-10 humming to the radio when.... up ahead I see tail lights, lots of them. I slow, I stop, everyone stops........... I'm ok, but a big rig wreck has completely closed the highway. I turn the car off, I sigh, I wait, and wait, and wait....... Well, I arrived in Tucson at 5 am. I see my friends actually arriving to set up for the show, which in 4 hours. I check in, I nap -- lightly -- and hope I don't oversleep.

So I was up all night, I spent lots of extra money for that rental car, and cat supplies at WalMart .... but, I made it to the show on time!!!!!!

More later...
Kathryn

What is a blog anyway ?????

Yikes! I've never blogged before.... so her goes. Last year was a whirlwind. I've been breeding Turkish Angora cats for about five years, and this last year a cat of my very own breeding has been making waves on the show circuit. Yes, there is a show circuit for cats. KatsNjazz Avalon (that's her official name) or just Avalon for short, went to her first show just about a year ago. I thought she was very cute, but I had no idea where this little kitten would take me. I don't want to take all the surprises away, but at her first show she beat 52 other cats to be "Best Kitten In Show." Wow! Could I be on to something? Well, I decided that she needed to go to another show. And that is how it all started. I'll keep you in a little bit of suspense, but suffice it to say that Avalon made me proud. And, yes, that is Avalon's picture. Taken at her first show in Arcadia, California.

More later....

Kathryn