31st October: I have been working on my Selkirk Rex site all day - all will be revealed shortly.

I've just got round to fiddling with the photographs the journalist has so kindly given us. None of these can be reproduced, so I have put a whacking great 'watermark' across the middle of each large picture. The photographer wanted a brown and a snow so we've used Cally and Joy, along with Joy's kitten Felony (this is her first proper outing on the site so be kind to her!) and Rapunzel. Although these are great photographs, they don't show Felony up to be the litte superstar she is - you can see some of her older pictures on this page. Felony's twin sister Firefly is still available, as is their brother Hurricane. So - WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR?! PICK UP THE PHONE AND RESERVE YOUR BABY TODAY!

*SALES PITCH OVER*

Here they are...

Our Snow Spotted Bengal Queen - Cally

Our Brown Spotted Bengal Queen - Joy

Dollycats Rapunzel

And revealing our baby, and our newest homebred queen for 2008....
(Drumroll please...............)

Dollycats Felony

29th October: I took some more photos of the Scottish Foods litter yesterday. I've now added a bit describing their personalities - or at least their coats. They are now four weeks old and looking interested in mother's food (which is far too big for their little mouths), so from today they will be on Royal Canin baby cat biscuits.

Later: We got a CD of the pictures taken by the photo/journalist on his visit here last week. I have used one of his photographs for our logo.

I will be splitting our cats across several different sites to go with their prefixes shortly, so Dollycats may be getting a whole new look. Our Savannahs will move onto their own domain. Our Selkirk will have her own domain too. Lots of work to do though. Dollycats will be the domain of the Bengals and possibly one other breed.

27th October: Show day today! We took Miss Python and Rapunzel to the Ocicat and Bengal GCCF Championship Show 2007. Overall we didn't do tremendously well, but still managed to walk away with two firsts (one each - unfortunately neither got their first in their Open classes which is the important one) and a 'Show Manager's Special' for little Rapunzel. Saying that, as I was updating the boast box on the front page I noticed that Python has won a first in at least one class every month since we started showing her in July - not bad for our first home-bred kitten! Competition was stiff. Many many big name breeders were at that particular show so we were quite happy to be placed at all!

26th October: I've spent most of this morning updating our breeding plans page with graphics so that visitors can more easily see which patterns/colours are due in which month. Of course it's only a rough guide.

Not sure what is happening with Prudence. Ripley is now very round of belly and showing her pregnancy in a very obvious way. Prudence went in with Thriller only a few days after Ripley did and although she bears the scars of a recent mating with Thriller, she doesn't appear to be pinking up or getting rounder. We have removed her from Thriller a couple of times only to find her desperate to get back in with him. I think, for now, the relationship has moved onto a platonic companionship stage. We'll have to see!

25th October: More photographs of the remaining two fighter planes today. Lately I've been taking photos of them without all the fussy backdrops and lighting, but decided I'd give the fussier photos another try again. Both were very difficult to photograph but I think the results are better.

Hurricane is still available. He's a naughty little monkey with bags of energy and a very loud purr. He's available to indoor pet homes and may also be shown.

Firefly is also still available to an indoor pet home. She has a cute round girly face and a lovely temperament. A lot quieter than her brother, but she's still into everything!

The Scottish Foods litter (Inky Pinky, Rumbeldethumps, Whim Wham, Hot Toddy and Tipsy Laird) now have their pedigree online for those that are interested. You can find it at the bottom of their archive page.

Later: Inky Pinky has now been reserved by Beth.

23rd October: We've received some more pictures of our Savannah stud, Lexus, so I have put the pictures up on the Savannah studs page.

We've also just taken a phone call from a freelance journalist/photographer who wants to come and take some photos of our cats for one of the higher end newspapers. They'll be here some time this morning.

22nd October: We've had a pretty hectic weekend with kids and cats so I haven't had time to update this box. I am hoping to take some more photographs of the kittens later, but first the news.

Harrier has now found a home to go to, so we have only Hurricane and Firefly left from Joy's litter now.

Later: I've just taken some photos of the remaining fighter planes.

Later still: The nice thing about photographing very young kittens, is that (for the most part) they stay still! I've just posted some more photographs of Bronwyn's litter. Who could resist this?

(DOLLYCATS RUMBLEDETHUMPS)

19th October: Someone called last night and mentioned that we do not have an email address on site. Silly me. I've changed that now.

18th October: Our new queen will be joining us later. She's older than our other cats and will probably be ready to retire at the end of next season whilst she is still young - but she is a marble, and we LOVE marbles here at Dollycats. Speaking of marbles, Miss Python has turned into one of our naughtiest Bengals. I think it's her age. She is now six months old, which is pretty much a tearaway teenager in cat terms. Like all Bengals she likes to be behind the other side of a closed door, so Python frequently bursts her way into rooms once doors are open - only to find that there's nothing interesting going on, so she bursts back out again. Her latest hobby is taking the top off our Drinkwell water fountains and removing the filter with her teeth before hiding it. I have no idea why she does this, but she does seem to think it's funny because no sooner do we put it back in then it's out again. I think we're going to have to switch to still water for the time being. Amusing as it is, it's no good for the fountain which is in danger of running dry because she will splash all the water out whilst she's getting the filter out of the reservoir.

Later: Photo updates of Bronwyn's litter - ready 2nd January.

Still later: Bianca has arrived! And here she is, looking tired after the long journey!

Later still: I've been messing around with my camera and caught a few pictures of my 'teenagers'. You can see them on my Queens page.

17th October: Excellent news today. We have more or less secured our purchase of a property with land for our babies and Savannahs. So - lots of packing to do. I was going to take some more pictures but I think I'll be hard pushed to do that today. I have managed to update our Savannah page with more information.

Later: Ok, so I couldn't resist taking more photos.

16th October: I spent yesterday morning pressure washing the litter trays in the garden. The cats were most amused, acting like nosy neighbours, sitting on their cat trees and rubbernecking - watching my every move.

We have decided to split the cats across different breeding prefixes. Our bengals will remain Dollycats, but our Selkirk Rex will have her own prefix (to be revealed once I have secured the prefix), as will our Savannahs. We have also bought a domain specifically for publishing our musings and ramblings as cat breeders. For now we are busy packing our house up to sell. We need to move to a house with more land so that we can comfortably accommodate our cats in their own feline houses where they can hang out with their mates and party all day long! Who knows - perhaps we'll have the webcams working by then! :-~

14th October: Our Fighter Planes have been booked in for their nine week jabs on Wednesday. I have decided to change Firefly to a pet only. She's looking quite small - particularly in comparison to her brothers. When you select breeders you need to make sure that the cats are really good examples of their breed (which Firefly is) AND they are strong enough to go through the rigours of heat cycles, mating, pregnancy and birth - as often as three times in two years. Firefly is looking so dainty at the moment that I would prefer she goes to a pet home, despite her awesome markings and excellent type (cat-person talk for conforming to the standards set for that breed's shape, colour and temperament). You can see her a bit further down on the page - as usual with Whiskas clinging to her face, but believe me, that's the best picture I've managed to get of her face for weeks! To get an idea of what she will look like once she finishes caking herself in food, and looses her guard hairs you will need to see her as a very young kitten (before entering 'the fuzzies'). Here she is!

I have removed the doubt from my post with Ripley's pregnancy. She is definitely pregnant, though it is still early days. Those kittens will be due on the 21st November - shortly after our Fighter Planes have gone to their new homes. We are expecting a mixture of brown and silver spotties, though could be surprised with anything as we don't know what Ripley carries. We know Thriller carries everything though!

Temperament: I don't think we do enough to sing our praises as breeders of beautiful cats that have a wonderful temperament. All of our new owners have been amazed at the love their new Bengal kitten has showered on them from the time they've come to pick them up. They are treated as old friends and will get sat on, purred at, and talked to right from the start. This is SO important when breeding cats. Far too many people see breeding as a way to make a few quid and don't care enough about the cats they turn out to make sure they have a temperament that will bring tears to their new owners eyes in a GOOD way.

All of our cats are as good as they possibly can be. Of course we do have some cats that are shyer or more boisterous than others. We discuss your requirements with you and can point you in the right direction of a quieter or noisier cat. We know each of our cats personalities very well and although our plans are to expand into breeding Savannahs next year, we will not change the way we raise our kittens - in-house and under foot causing chaos!

Bonding: The mother of a new owner asked me yesterday whether we feel bad when our kittens leave. The answer to that is most of the time - no. We love and care for all of our kittens from the time they are in-utero to the time they leave with new owners, but we try not to bond with these kittens. They are there for someone else to bond with and love. If we develop a bond with them not only is it difficult for us, but I would imagine it would be difficult for the kitten too when the time comes to go. Sometimes it happens though - out of my last litter I adored Bram Stoker who had an exceptional temperament (even for a Dollycat!) and his own little quirks, as well as the most beautiful face. It was hard to see him go, but I know that he is safe and completely adored by his new owner which is extremely rewarding.

Later: I've had a couple of enquiries about the girls from Bronwyn's litter so today I ended up taking a couple of photos of each girl and one of the family. I've posted them a bit further down. I've now removed Ripley's 'kittens expected' anouncement to make more room on this fairly long page.

Later that same day: We've just arranged to have another Bengal queen come to live here at Dollycats. Bianca will be here on Thursday and we'll have photos of her up soon after.

12th October: I have had some people asking if we take credit card and so far I've said no. Not sure what I was thinking because we've been using PayPal for years to buy things online - we can also accept payments that way too. So I've added a button to our 'buying information' page.

Nothing new to report on the cat front here.

Later: I'm just readvertising our kittens and thought I would say on here that we have one Russian Blue kitten still available - ready to go on December 7th.

Later that same day: Just added some photos of the Fighter Planes

11th October: Thought I would add Google Checkout as a payment option for people wanting to pay their deposits online.

10th October: Today I will be taking the Cocktail litter's going home pictures, so will add them later on today or tomorrow. Bronwyn's babies are just starting to open their eyes so will be ready for pictures soon. I've already chosen a Scottish Foods theme for this litter.

Far from having forgotten the webcams we seem to be having difficulties getting them to do what I want them to do - that is stream pictures live. Apparently this will need x y and z to work properly and may need to wait until we move. In the meantime we'll get the cams put up to show pictures taken at various intervals.

I thought I would say hello to two of our regular visitors.

HELLO VICKY AND ELOISE!

Later: The going home photos have been taken and I've put them at the bottom of this page.

9th October: One of my Bengal owners kindly sent me a link to a Savannah video, so I've made a page for Savannah videos and hope to be adding to it very soon.

All of our Bengals are well. Nothing new to report. Not quite so much rolling round in their food going on with our British Fighter Planes, which is great! We've had some interest in Hurricane, but nothing solid yet. Harrier is, in my opinion, the prettier of the two boys but hasn't found that special someone yet.

As we lean more towards an exotic cat cattery, I am considering using a different name for my more exotic breeds - leaving Dollycats for my pretty non-exotic babies. Instead of Dollycats I will use.............. ??? Any suggestions gratefully received but bear in mind that if someone is already using it then I can't!

8th October: We've had a bit of a change around here. Lothario was getting rude with our in-season ladies (Flower and Joy) so we've had to put him in temporary outside accommodation. Pretty impressive for such a young chap (seven months old!). That temporary accommodation is in with Myfanwy who is not terribly impressed with her young guest.

We have been talking about Myfanwy's future and have decided that we will probably rehome Myfanwy soon. Myfanwy was brought in as a queen when she was eight months old, but she never really settled - either with us, or the other cats. We were hoping that having a litter of kittens would help calm her down, but she has only visited with Thriller once, and I think it was too late for her and nothing happened. We're going to give her a while with Lothario, and if nothing happens then we will have her spayed and find a new home. Her new home will have to be very very patient and be empty of cats - otherwise there's no point in rehoming her.

We've chosen our first Savannah cat, who will be going into quarantine once he's had his rabies jab.

Later: I've created our Savannah Studs page and put Lexus on it.

7th October: Just had a quick page tidy up today. Nothing exciting to report here.

Later: I've just taken a couple of photos of the remaining British Fighter Planes. And I have added a few pictures of Felony taking a bath.

6th October: I bathed all of the Fighter Planes last night and was pleased with their fluffy newness when I finished. The matted greasy look was banished - to be replaced with fluffy coats with big spots and light backgrounds. An hour later was their dinnertime. Back to square one as they squabbled, rolled around and climbed ONTO the dinner plate to take possession of the food! We have people coming round to look at our kittens this afternoon and tomorrow. I hope they have x-ray specs to see under all of the cat food in their coats.

5th October: Our plans for importing Savannahs are moving ahead fast now I am dealing with the USA direct. We will have an entire breeding programme ready to go next year (several females for each male we are importing) and we're already having enquiries about these beautiful cats. Although similar to Bengals, Savannahs may appeal more than Bengals to certain audiences - particularly guys and people wanting the newest and wildest-looking cats in the country. Savannahs have smaller spots (I call them Flower spots after my Bengal queen who doesn't do well at shows, but captivates our visitors with her wild looks (see her on the queens page)). They also have long legs and big ears.

There is quite a lot of aggressive competition in the cat world - I found out to my cost lately when I attempted to import these cats through another breeder who claimed to be the US's only contact in the UK. I found myself in a position where my importation of these great cats was successfully manipulated and put off by this breeder for four months whilst the breeder arranged to import their own cats from the US, putting their breeding programme way ahead of the game.

So the lesson is - buyer beware. Trust your breeder first and foremost.

Later: I really must get some pictures of The Squadron - but it's turning out to be a nightmare as they love rolling around in their food and look horribly matted. As soon as they're cleaned up they do it again! Let's hope that this phase doesn't last much longer! Will seek advice later!

William has now found a home, which is lovely. So at the moment we only have brown spotties available. I think Ripley MAY be pregnant. She was only mated 2.5 weeks ago, but she's looking quite round already, is hungrier than usual and I think she's just starting to pink up (this means her nipples are getting bigger and pinker!). If she is pregnant, we may have some silver babies, as well as browns. How exciting!

Later that same day: I just spent half an hour trying to get photos of The Squadron and managed to get a total of THREE of a particularly greasy looking kitten. Grrr. The others weren't even worth saving. It's no good. They're going to have to have yet another bath. I've sought advice and I'm going to try feeding them from the edge of a dinner plate to stop the little rascals rolling around in their food.

4th October: Not much to report today. William's visitors came and went and will probably have him. Will know more at the weekend.

Yesterday I made the mistake of removing the cardboard box that Bronwyn gave birth in. I was woken at 2 o'clock this morning by lots of kitten crying and found that Bronwyn had carted all of her babies into her covered litter tray. Yuk! So I gave her cardboard box back and took the cover off the litter tray so that she doesn't find it quite so attractive.

Later: I've done bits and pieces on the site today. Lothario has his own page with his pedigree on now. I've also created a testimonials page where I've published some emails written to me by people that have taken one of our kittens home.

3rd October: William has visitors this afternoon, so fingers crossed - he may have a new home to go to. William is a little different from our other kittens born here so far. He's picked up his mother's reserved nature so can often go into sulks if he's annoyed. Both him and his mother (Flower) need to be in a quiet household. His mother, however, is my absolute favourite and I love her to bits, even though her shy nature can sometimes cause accommodation problems. She speaks a lot (she sounds like she's gargling when she meows) and she retrieves and she 'changes the subject' when I pick her up - often staring up at the ceiling as if she meant to be picked up anyway. Flower's usual place to hang out is in our long room with us. At the moment though it's filled with kittens so she has to stay in another room until they are re-homed. Poor Flower!

Our British Fighter Plane 'squadron' are proving a real handful. They all seem to have very strong personalities which can cause ructions at mealtimes. Despite having a bowl down for each of the kittens they all decide to congregate around just about half of the bowls, ignoring the other half, in favour of a rowdy and competitive mealtime with a lot of 'singing', shouting and boxing going on. I've seen this in my other litters, but not to the extent of The Squadron. As a result for the past three or four weeks they have been covered in dried, and sometimes wet, food. I gave them all a bath on Sunday, but their cute fluffiness only lasted until the next mealtime! Let's hope they grow out of it soon, or I will have to start feeding them separately and in shifts. I attempted to take photos of them the other day but they looked so weird I gave up! Show cats. Pah! :)

2nd October: I've done William's 13 week pictures today. We've also chosen a name for our Selkirk Rex - Esme. Esme has been a bit naughty. She caught Joy taking a nap and decided to take a bit of milk from her. Joy didn't seem to mind. You can see her caught in the act on the Selkirk Rex Queen page.

I decided that I would archive the news box as it seems some of you are actually reading my ramblings. Occasionally I do have something useful to say (though not often) - so I've created the 'news archive' page.

No sign of any other kittens from Bronwyn so five it is. Still haven't determined how many of each sex we have.

1st October: At long last Bronwyn delivered five healthy kittens in the wee small hours of this morning. She started her labour at 9pm on Saturday 30th September and produced her first kitten at around 1.30am on 1st October. Babies arrived from that time until 5 o'clock this morning, so we're all pretty tired as you can imagine.

Bronwyn has proved already to be an excellent mother. She is far more protective of her kittens than our other girls so as yet we have not been able to determine their sex. They are looking good - with a mixture of golden and red coat bases with large and small spots.

I'm quite surprised that she had five - I was expecting more because she really was SO big during the last week of her pregnancy (I will post pictures of that later!). It is possible that she'll deliver more kittens later on, which will be interesting because I've heard of that happening but haven't actually experienced it yet!

So today I will need to get the house in some semblance of order. Whilst our queens are in the last few days of their labour I sit in with them more or less constantly which means only the most important of jobs (such as feeding the cats, playing with the kittens and cleaning their trays) gets done. Whoooooo - you should see the house after three days!

Later: Oh go on then - before I do the house I'll do the photos. I only have a few pictures anyway. Bronwyn's pics have been updated on the Queens' page and I've added a few photos of Joy's babies.

Later that same day: Bronwyn was a little more settled and allowed me to lift the tails of some of her babies. So far I've counted three boys and one girl. Unfortunately they all decided to move around and do a ball-under-the-cup magic trick on me and I couldn't work out which one I hadn't checked! Now I really must go and clean up.

Here's Bronwyn just before she went into labour. Not sure what she was trying to tell me?!