Salonqa and Sarantoya

On Christmas Eve 2000 Lilit had her second litter. The father of the kittens is Rathcke's Chlopiec Elf - called Elvis. Before the delivery the owners of Elvis had decided that they wanted one of the kittens, if there was a female. There was! Lilit had two kittens, both females.
The delivery was not without problems, and we decided that Lilit shall have no more kittens. Partly because of this the other kitten stayed with us.

We regularly wrote news about the development of the kittens on our homesite. This "diary" can be read below.

December 31st 2000

The kittens are aged
1 week and can still lie in Dorthe's palm

On Christmas Eve 6.07 p.m. and 6.35 p.m. Lilit gave birth to two kittens. We believe they are both females, but we will not name them until we are completely sure.
The delivery was rather dramatic, but fortunately both kittens were healthy and vigorous. They weighed 102 and 105 g.

Today they have more than doubled their weight, and we think they are very advanced for their age. Both of them are beginning to open the eyes, and they are trying to stomp around with their tails up in the air. Also they are already purring a lot.

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYBODY!

January 8th 2001

See the pedigree
of the kittens

See the first photos of the kittens

Lilit obviously is a more experienced mother this time. She is more happy and content and doesn't object to staying with the kittens. Also Ofelia and Djingiz remember what kittens are like. They are not so anxious as they were a year ago.

The kittens are doing fine. They are growing and can already do a lot of things. They seem to recognise us, and they enjoy playing with us or just lay in the hand or on the lap.

January 20th 2001

Our kittens are completely enchanting now, small fuzzy things, and yet already true cats. They are exploring the world, running and jumping and playing, both for themselves, with their toys, with each other and with Lilit.
They are very affectionate, and when we enter the room they are immediately coming to greet us and to be picked up. Soon they are going to have other food than the milk of their mother.

We are quite sure now that we have two female kittens. We also know what they are going to be called - almost!

January 30th 2001

More photos of
the kittens

The kittens are now eating by themselves. They don't always have the time because they are too occupied playing. Already before they started eating canned kitten food they were using their litter tray. We find them very clever!
Some time ago they jumped over the barrier around their "playpen", and they are now all over Kirsten's room.

They are running so quickly now that Ofelia and Djingiz feel a little more insecure about them, and sometimes they are spitting a little. Well, Djingiz isn't that serious about it, and we have also seen him licking the head of one of the kittens.

The names of the kittens are Salonqa and Sarantoya. It is Mongolian names meaning rainbow and moonbeam. We still don't know which kitten is Salonqa and which is Sarantoya.

February 11th 2001

A few days ago the owners of Elvis, the father of the kittens, were visiting us. It has been decided for a long time that they are going to have one of the kittens, and it has also been decided that their kitten is going to be called Salonqa. They chose the first born, so now she doesn't have to be called only "No 1" any longer.

This means that "No 2" is Sarantoya, and we have found a permanent loving home for her as well: She is going to stay with us. Lilit hasn't been very good at giving birth, and we have made up our minds - she isn't going to have more kittens. Partly because of this we succumbed to the temptation to hold down one of the kittens from this last litter ourselves.

February 27th 2001

The kittens are very well. On their 2 months birthday they both weighed more than 1 kilo. Still they look very much as baby kittens. It was different with Zenit and Zoogin who early looked like adult cats, but very small ones of course.
They have had a lot of visitors. A few days ago two big boys were playing with the kittens for hours, and the next day both kittens were sleeping much more than usual. Even though they had a new visitor that day.

March 13th 2001

At last we have new photos of the kittens

The kittens have changes a lot during the past two weeks, and now they don't look so much as baby kittens any longer. They are very active and also two small daredevils. Their temper is more like the temper of our very first litter than like the temper of Lilit's first litter.
Our house still shows traces of the vandalism from Bitsjka's five kittens in 1987, and we think we are quite lucky that Lilit didn't get five kittens of the same kind.

March 23rd 2001

New - and good! - photos of the kittens

Our kittens have been to the vet to be checked and to get theur shots. The vet said that both are fine and healthy kittens, and they reacted good to the shots.
Actually we would have been surprised, if they had no been healthy, because they are both very lively and some times pretty wild kittens. When they are not asleep everything is going with a swing. All the time!
Before too long Salonqa will move to her new home. We shall miss her, she is a very affectionate little lady who has more time for cuddling than the always busy Sarantoya. But we are also happy to hand over such a little sunbeam to a new home.
Lilit is seriously weaning the kittens now, but otherwise she is still fond of them.

April 12th 2001

Photos of the kittens aged 10-12 weeks

Salonqa

The last photos of the kittens before Salonqa left us

A little more than a week ago we brought Salonqa to her new home where also her father Elvis lives. Salonqa was completely cool, very curious and went through her new home very carefully. She and Elvis didn't make friends at once. Elvis thought she had come to be mated, and of course Salonqa did not at all agree. Now it is much better, they are sleeping together and are licking each other. Salonqa is also very affectionate towards her new owners.

We miss our little charmer, most of all Sarantoya who for days have been calling very loudly for her. Lilit tried to comfort her, she played very much with her and was near her most of the time. Unfortunately Sarantoya thought that comfort meant that she was allowed to suck - which she was not! Now Sarantoya finally comes to terms with the new situation.