MILLIE'S STORY: 'Waiting for Millie'

The Beginning

I became the proud owner of ‘Millie’, a Cream Burmese kitten on 7 June 2003. It has been a very long wait for this little cat! I got my first Burmese (Tantabin Amazing Grace, aka ‘Eccles’) in 1975. Her breeder introduced me to showing and I registered my prefix, ‘Vintarn’. I had two litters of kittens from her and she was neutered after her second litter in 1979. Eccles lived till she was 16 and one of my other Burmese, Jenny, lived for 18 years.


The Waiting Years

During those years, I married, had my daughter and worked as a full time veterinary nurse and I gave up all thoughts of breeding more kittens. However, I have often said to my husband that when my daughter goes to university, I’d like another kitten to breed from!

In the meantime, in 1997, I bought two Burmese kittens (on the non-active register), Simba and Rosie, but had no thoughts of showing them. At that time I also had Kylie, a rescue Burmese and Dixon, a tabby and white DSH. However, when Simba and Rosie were 12mths old, a friend suggested I show them at the North West Cat Club Show.

Simba went on to win his first Premier Certificate…and of course, I was hooked! Bought simply as pets and not intended for showing, those two are now both Grand Premiers!

Rosie was BIS Burmese at the Manchester & District Cat Club show in 2002, much to my delight! I would often look at the kittens at a cat show and dream of one day owning one to become my second ‘foundation queen’.

2002 was a year of change for me as I left veterinary nursing after 30 years and came to work at OUR CATS. My long-term love of writing and my hobby of cat showing have led to my change of career! Only one year on and my daughter is now at university. I miss her very much but I had a contingency plan in place…you have guessed it! Yes! That kitten I’d promised myself, all those years ago! Of course a kitten is no substitute for my daughter but it would put my maternal instincts to good use!

Meeting the parents A friend introduced me to breeder, Jan Bowen, at the beginning of this year. I went to meet Jan and her cats at her home in Worcestershire. First of all, I met her stud cat, Janzanco Jumping Jack, who was entertaining a lady friend! Next I met, one of her queens, Inquizicatz Cream Cherie (Rupi). Both cats were very affectionate and I was immediately taken with them. I especially liked their temperaments and their very good looks! At this time, Rupi was expecting her first litter… I was delighted after my meeting with Jan, that she considered me to be a suitable owner of one of her kittens. Choosing a kitten is very much a two way process. The breeder needs to ‘vet’ potential buyers and of course the buyer should be confident about the breeder! Many friends had spoken highly of Jan and her cats and I was very impressed at the way in which her cats are housed and cared for. Jan said she was happy for me to have one of her kittens to show and breed. Now all I had to do was wait!

The Happy couple. Jack (on the right) and his lady friend.

Rupi in a wistful pose.

Jack, the father-to-be.

The birth and development

The kittens were born on 3rd March 2003. There were four girls and one boy. Jan promised to keep in constant touch and to send me photographs by email.

The boy kitten weighed 100g at birth and the girls, 90g. Just five days later they weighed 165g and 155g respectively.

The kittens at five days old.

The kittens, 11 days old, starting to stagger around!

When the kittens were 23 days old, Jan sent me the following message “The kittens are walking round now, they have moved today from their baby box to a double sized box so that they can stretch their little legs, but they re still safe within the confines of the box.

By the weekend they will want to come out and explore, so by the time you come in a week’s time I expect they will be fully ‘mobile’. I shall put a tiny litter tray into the nest, also water and some Royal Canin Babycat 34 too. I expect that Rupi will show them what to do on all counts. She is an excellent little mother, she keeps her babies spotlessly clean and she won’t leave them for very long.”

Kittens - age four weeks old.

Just a few days later, Jan added, “As promised, kitten pictures, taken today, 1.4.03. The kittens are four weeks old today. They have had their first ‘solids’. They are ‘chuffing away’ at Royal Canin Babycat 34, and I also gave them about a level teaspoonful each of defrosted frozen rabbit mince. Mommy cat has lost a bit of weight with feeding five big, hungry babies, but she is very happy to teach them how to eat dried food.” At this point, I asked Jan if I could choose Millie’s pedigree name. I decided on Janzanco Howsweet Thesound as it follows on from my very first Burmese’s name (Tantabin Amazing Grace).

My first visit Just before the kittens were five weeks old, I went to visit them. It was wonderful to sit and play with the kittens and I provisionally ‘chose’ my kitten. Another visit The day before they were 8 weeks old, I went to see the kittens for a second time on 25th April. The kittens were now very active and an absolute joy to watch while they played. They were quickly developing their unique personalities.

My daughter Anne-Marie and one of the kittens.

Coming home

All I had to do now was wait until the kittens had their vaccinations. The second one was delayed by a few days as one of the kittens had an upset tummy. However, on 7th June, I was finally able to bring Millie home!

Nothing like a good drink.

The kittens rapidly becoming little cats, full of fun!

Jan gave me her pedigree, GCCF transfer papers, vaccination certificate, a diet sheet and a ‘goody bag’ containing some of the kitten’s usual food, some litter and a gift of a toy…all designed by Jan to help Millie to settle in her new home.

She was fine on the journey home and we had a kitten pen waiting, ready for her, on our arrival. Our three cats were initially curious, but were rather standoffish for several days. Introductions were made slowly and the kitten pen afforded Millie both privacy and security.

Security in her pen and meeting Rosie at home, for the first time.

Security in her pen.

Meeting Rosie at home for the first time.

Growing up

Millie soon became part of the family, gaining just over a pound in weight over the next four weeks!

Millie and Rosie.

Creams dreamin’.

Plans for the future At the time of writing, Millie has been shown four times as a kitten. She has had four firsts, two BOB and a nomination for BIS. I hope she continues to do well as an adult too. As I hope to breed from Millie, I am very conscious of the need to keep her safe. I have recently converted our utility room into an indoor pen and have built an outdoor run for her to use. The sectional panels were custom made to my specifications from a firm near Southampton. When we are out, she can now be safely confined, yet enjoy the outdoors. She spends her evenings and nights in the house with us. If all goes well, I plan to let her have a litter in the New Year and have already been to see her ‘husband-to-be’! He is a fabulous lilac boy…I’m sure they will like one another! So, I hope that this time, next year, I will be able to give you an update on this story. Part Two

Indoor housing.

The outdoor run.