Hi Vera,

Feel free to use all or part of this as a testimonial. I tried to join the newsgroup, although much of the instructions were in Chinese. I hope it worked!

The baby is doing fine, and she now has a name. She is a truly remarkable girl: I was expecting the usual kitty crisis on the loud taxi ride home, and got instead a purring, calm, baby trying for cuddles through the cage, and then settling down to sleep. Immediately, I decided that the name I had chosen for her was all wrong. This is one calm, confident kitten, at one with the universe. Only a Buddhist name would do. I've decided to call her Karma; and since Karma can be good OR bad, I'd like to register her as Carissima Karma. "Carissima" is Italian for "most beloved" or "Darling."

I had another surprise when I brought her home. I had expected to keep her in her own room with only supervised visits with Beowulf (the initial ones while in her cage). I brought in the cage, the two sniffed, there was a very slight hiss on both sides, then only interest. I let her out, and she immediately paraded through the flat as if she owned the place! Beowulf was ready to be aggressive, but he was so shocked by her confident expectation of immediate love and acceptance that he was stunned. He merely followed her around.

After an hour, she was sitting in the living room, and Beowulf went into "her" room, got the brand new toy mouse on her pillow, brought it into the living room, dropped it 6 inches in front of her, and batted it toward her. She took off with the toy while he watched. He kept bringing her toys and watched her with them. Eventually, this turned into chase games.

The first night, they were like two toddlers at Christmas--they would not come to bed, but kept racing after one another throughout the flat. Beowulf would nip at her if he felt she was getting too close, but otherwise no aggression. They both slept in my room, although he must have stared her off the bed.

By last evening, they were sleeping side by side on the blanket on the window ledge, about 4 inches apart. I don't think it will be long before they are cuddling.

She has been wonderfully affectionate and accepting of me as her new mom. She likes to sleep on my lap, and will even come under the covers into bed with me! She has a great personality: confident, loving, calm, and playful.

I have to say that I have had a lot of experience with cats, but I have never seen such a seamless and easy introduction to a new home and to a new big brother! This says a lot for the breeders. Karma has obviously been very well socialized with people and with other cats. She will be a perfect pet!

I've attached some pictures for you. You'll see that Beowulf and Karma are almost the same size although he is just over one year old and she is 5 1/2 months. Beowulf is actually quite big for an Oriental Shorthair (the breed is quite small). For example, while he is 3.5 kg,his brother, who just made Champion, is only 2.8 kg. Their mom, also a Champion, is only 2.2 kg.

The picture of the two on the sofa is after only one hour. The one of them sleeping near each other was taken last night, after only a day and a half.

Anita
Sep 2006