Mr. Big Blog

Today is Tico turn!

2009-06-29T01:54:00.000+01:00

Hi all! Auf Auf Auf.
I'mmmmmmm Happy, Hiper happy!!! Today my mate, my pal, my best friend gave me his turn to write here on his blog.
And taking advantage of this privilege I decided to write about our friendship.
Many many people still ask to our owners, how can it be that me, as a dog, get along with Mr.Big that you perfectly know is a cat. Hehehehe
Well... As you know from previous posts, I came to this house with 3 months, and a few days after arrived Mr.Big and Miranda with 4 months.
At the beginning this relation was done very slowly and with much caution because they didn't know how any of us would react.
Me as an electric bug that I am wanted to get acquainted as soon as I saw them. They weren't with that kind of will from their side, so I had to give them time, you know how they are, right? ... They're cats!
But after a few hours, we were already partying around, the three of us. The girl was harder... she kept being tough to play... but hey, it's a girl.
The days went by and our friendship grow solid rock, and today Mr.Big and I are as blood brothers, and all we want is to play pranks on our owners.
This means... while one is doing something, the other one is watching so we don't get caught!

Auf Auf!!!
Tico

High level espionage

2009-05-13T01:48:00.000+01:00

Hi friends!!!
We are here today in a top secret mission. Shhhhhhh!!!! Don't tell anyone...
Myself, Mimi and Val decided to discover what are the humans doing here.
Yeahhhhh! Because they arrive home and go to a part of the house and start messing with a bunch of tools, then they eat and move to another division to start touching something black, full of wires and keys... but very very warm.
We love to sit on top of it and sleep, I think they don't think it's that funny since they are always telling us to move.

Here we have agent Vallista ready for her assignment.

"There is no time to waste..."

On the control tower, me and Miranda.
Hummm!!! What's happenning?

"Big! Stay on watch, I will sneak to take a closer peek and see what's happening. - Mimi told me"

There she went to that strange division of smells and sounds.
Can it be that this time we can uncover all the misteries?
Keep in touch to learn the news.

Purrr... see you next time!
Big, Mimi, Tico e Val

Cascais show - 9th and 10th of May

2009-05-11T23:09:00.008+01:00

Hi all!
Here we are again to tell you all how this show went, this time in Cascais.
The space was very pleasant and quiet, relaxing, ambiance music, plenty of light and kitten drawing all over the walls drawn by the local school students that made them and placed them there for us to see.
This time me and Val had plenty of luck since we were right in front of the juges, that allowed us to see all very very well.
So lets start with the news and photos...

Saturday - 09th of May:
Val started this first day, here we can see her with judge Mrs. Anne Veland, from Austria.

After some minutes I was called. Here I am in the table of judge Mr. Karl Preiss, also from Austria.

After lunch Val was again called by the judge that had already saw her for BIS prenomination (Best In Show).
Unfortunately she wasn't selected and our Saturday ended early.

Sunday - 10th of May:

Today me and Val swapped judges, so I was appreciated by judge Mrs. Anne Veland.

I wasn't in the mood for this and all I wanted to do was to lay around.
With this show I got my 3rd CAC and become champion

Now it is Val turn. This time she was appreciated by Judge Mr. Alexey Shchukin, from Holand, which nominated her automatically to BIS.
Our owners were very pleased with this, bellow you can see the BIS election photos.

Here we are with other kittens, and the judge deciding wich of us is nominated for BIS.

By the end of the day, all judges got together for the Best in Show. And here they are with our Vallista...

As I told you in the beginning of this post... the ambiance was very pleasant and relaxing, and our owners decided to take some photos of our Zen moments.

Purrr... see you next time!
Big, Mimi, Tico and Val

Congratulations Tico!!!

2009-04-30T23:13:00.001+01:00

"No no... I am so ashamed!"

"Ok... I am going to take a peek..."

"Alright here I am just rolling around, what I love to do most."

Today it's our play friend Tico turn to have his birthday. Yes its true, this last months is just goofing and partying.
And as it couldn't be in another way, here is a post wishing him

Happy Birthday TICO

Purrr... see you soon!
Big, Mimi and Val

Some fancy shots...

2009-04-15T23:10:00.001+01:00

Purrr... see you next time!
Big, Mimi, Tico and Val

Big and Mimi - 1st Aniversary

2009-03-31T01:27:00.001+01:00

Hi all!
Today who's writing it's not Big, but his owners. This is a very special post... and it's up to us to leave here a few words to these wonderful kittens.
Today marks one year Big and Mimi were born (as well as the other 3 sisters), we still thought that they could be born on the 29th but it took a few more time.
This was the happiest days of our lives, after a bunch of not so pleasant events... we will never forget the happiness or the passion we felt when we saw them on their first photos... Big had a star drawn on his face and all his sisters were gorgeous.
After a few days we got the wonderful new that Big was available to us. We could barely hold so much emotion and anticipation until we could pick him up to bring him home.
By this time we didn't even dreamt about bringing his little sister Miranda, for the reasons already mentioned in previous posts.
We want to give a special thanks to their breeder and friend that gave us many moments of joy allowing us to keep them with us, and that helped us so much in the past year.
Without further delays, we leave here some photos of our little angels.

The girls fooling around...

The guys checking on the girls...

These two don't miss a thing... they are already smelling something...

And at night... the so expected birthday cake and birthday singing!

Of course all our friends have come to celebrate with us...

For them and for all their sisters a Happy Birthday!

Hugs
Paulo and Sandra

Another Birthday...

2009-03-29T13:25:00.001+01:00

This time it was our owner... this is why we only had one day of show. We decided that we had to be the day with her.
Tico started the day by sending an mms with the photo above (Congratulations). He's really nuts.
The day went peaceful and quiet, and this time we didn't have the right to special food to celebrate :(, we will have another celebration coming soon and we can't abuse.

Here she is again with her photo craziness, all we wanted was to play a little... Come on, get over with it.
We want to go play around.

Congratulations!!!

Purrr... see you next time!
Big, Mimi, Tico and Val

Arruda show 28th of March

2009-03-28T01:22:00.001Z

Hi all!
Here we are once again to tell you a new episode of our complicated life, another show. This was in Arruda dos Vinhos.
Yeah... this is not all fun, once in a while we have to work a bit.
This time we only had one day of show (you will understand why later), I had the oportunity to see my sister Carrie, which also started her way on this world. I have to tell you that she is a very preeeety cat, yes she will break a lot of hearts.
Let's start the introductions, here you can see judge Mr. Dieter Filler looking at Vallista.

No... he isn't checking her for fleas!!! He is checking her color, my loved one doesn't have those awful things...

See how she has an important look.
Bellow we have judge Mrs. Satu Hamaleine looking at my beauty... this is a bit embarassing... but what has to be, has to be!

Again Val for the pre-nominations for best in show.

And me...

At the end, Val got another Excelent 1 and me, as this was my first show as an adult (yes... yes I am already a bit grown) I had my first CAC (Championship Aptitude Certificate).

Purrr... see you next time!
Big, Mimi, Tico and Val

Vallista 6 months

2009-03-06T01:20:00.001Z

"Uaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!! Did somebody woke me up?
Ahh!!! Hi!!!

I didn't noticed you there.... This was that naughty Mr.Big, he opened the blog for me to write and didn't warned me.
I have to give him a lesson in a bit, or better, on second thought... this time he is forgiven, that's because today I am 6 months old and he wanted to surprise me. Purr!!! That cat is a sweet...

As I have already told, today I am 6 months and the day was going alright, all lazy, until my owner decided to take a few photos...
I don't like it at all but... if it has to be...

Here I am in my girlish pose...

This is to show you that I can be in two paws only... I can be like this a bit of time to catch something that is on the air... (it's smelling kitten cake... Hummmm!!!)

It's play time! And I love this toy with hanging threads... It's really fun! I spend lots of time playing with him. Mimi and Big prefer another one with feathers... but I prefer this one.

Well it's all for today... I end my day report. I hope you liked this little bit of time with me.
I am hoping to have a nice little can food dinner, after all today it's party time!!!!

Miuuu... Bye!!!
Vallista

Love is in the air...

2009-02-14T01:16:00.002Z

Purrrrrrrr... purrrrrrrrrrr... Hi!
You should be thinking I wasn't going to show up any more right???
Well I wouldn't do something like that to you all!
I was getting some French classes, so I can launch a bit of charm to my girl.

"Ohhh... L'Amour!!! L'Amour!!!"

You know the way...
Natural beauty is not enough... we need to have a nice romatic dialogue... and nothing best than French for that, and since it is a language she knows I can always impress her... ;)

I also learned a few irresistible tactics from the great master Pepe Le Pew (Love arts genius)... one of which was the hide and seek game, girls love it!

Didn't I told you? She is all melting to me...

But I have to confess, I am still in the beginning, and this girl is a hurricane not easy to be taken... look how we look together...

"Cést l'amour !!!"

Purrr... see you soon!
Big, Mimi, Tico e Val

Trancoso show 24th and 25th January

2009-01-28T14:05:00.002Z

Hi again.

Last weekend we went to Trancoso but we didn't show up in tv as others did. They were recording us in tape but in the final we didn't showed up. Well maybe next time some hollywood director find the star in us.

The judges loved us, they say we still need to grow a bit, but I am already Big!... I don't understand.

I received Excellent 1 in both expositions and so did Val. We were all happy together with our owners.
And here are some photos from the event.

Me and Val with judge Mrs.Françoise Milcent

And Sunday with Judge Mrs. Laura Burani

As a special feature in our trip to Trancoso we had ... SNOW!!!
Here are some photos for you to see.

Don't forget to go to our next exhibition in Arruda on the 28th and 29th of March, or to Cascais on the 9th and 10th of May.

Purrr... See you soon!
Big, Mimi and Tico

New year new friend

2009-01-28T14:03:00.000Z

Hi friends.
It has been a long time that I haven't write to you. Home to have let you a bit curious from the long wait, but believe me it is worth.
I have been away because there was Christmas, New Year, Birthdays... it was a full time partying.
Plenty of sweets and food, I even tried to eat something but no one allowed me (rats).
I was one week without my owners, there was some raves here in the house when they were away, all the neighborhood cats were here... then I felt from my bed and woke up, and my cat tree is very high it hurts!!!
Well I am kidding.
Really, I was indeed without my owners, but with the remaining members of the house... specially that cook (check the November post if you don't remember).
They went abroad to Belgium to get me a surprise.

A friend for me!
They didn't need to go so far away, but I say thanks anyway :D

She has a fancy name and from what they told me she will be my girl friend. She is so small that I am afraid to hurt her.

At least I can play with her, my sister and Tico and make our usual tricks to our owners.
So... here you have Vallista (here at home we call her Val, it's easier)

I hope you like her because I think she is hot!

Purrr... See you soon!
Big, Mimi and Tico

Ho! Ho! Ho! Merry Christmas!!!

2008-12-24T13:56:00.000Z

Hi friends.
In this season we wanted to wish you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy Good 2009, that this new year brings you all the fulfillment of all your wishes...

Have plenty of fun but don't eat too many candies otherwise summer will come and you will be a little overweight...

Well... I don't know why but I always come last... All I have to do is to wish you all many gifts in this christmas and that next year you continue to come read our adventures here in the blog, because we have great news for soon...

MERRY CHRISTMAS and HAPPY NEW YEAR!!! auf auf auf

Purrr... See you soon!
Big, Mimi and Tico

That art called by the humans... Culinary!

2008-11-26T13:49:00.000Z

Hi all!!!
Today we had another funny adventure...
Honestly these humans do things that we get all messed up and curious looking at them.
Every day when they arrive home, after much hugging and cuddling us (that we get tired of) there they go to that home division they call kitchen...
They dress up in fancy suites and start using all that tools, spinning and mixing food, I still didn't understand why but after some minutes all that things start smelling sooooo gooooodddd!!!
Of course as soon as I see them going in there, I go to my observation post so I can learn every move they do.
When I start miauing, they explain what they are doing to me.

As you can see by the photos, today this fine youngster is teaching us how to make chocolate pudding.
It seemed pretty easy, and the look is gorgeous. Sorry that we can't taste it, but it's better not to.

Purrr... See you soon!
Big, Mimi and Tico

Congratulations friend!!!

2008-11-19T13:39:00.000Z

Hello! Hello!
Today it's a very special day for someone very special to us too, so we decided to do him a big surprise with this post on our blog, so he can later remember.
Our owner is a baby today!!!
The day was very pleasant, we played a lot with him and did our tricks to him, as we always do. And we had a special treat at the dining table.

In the night the whole family got around the dinning table, and so did we...
It was amazing all this new experiences for us!!!

Even Tico was all well behaved and, as you can see, was all tidy just for to celebrate the anniversary of our owner with us.
Well... we let him with some big nosehugs and for him Congratulations!!!
(ps: Next year we want more!!!!)

All together now... lets sing...

Miau, miau, miau, auf, auf, auf
Miau, miau, miau, auf, auf, auf
Miau, miau, miau, auf, auf, auuuufffffffff
Miau, miau, miau, auf, auf, auf

Purrr... See you soon!
Big, Mimi and Tico

Halloween cat

2008-10-31T23:32:00.001Z

Hi all on this "special" day!
I couldn't let this day go by for many many reasons...
First I am a cat from a breed with the name of an American state (Maine).
The other half of the name has the nick name of an American creature (Coon from Raccoon, that was given to me because of my tail).
I got the name of a character from the American TV series "Sex and the City".
Today its Halloween day... one of the days most celebrated by all in America, especially by children with their famous door to door tour "trick or treating".

Most of all I have to announce, because this is a post full of events, that my big pal Tico completed yesterday 6 months and that ......
.... tcharannnnnnnnnn (drums roll) .........
Me and my sister, do 7 months today (uoooooooooooooooo..... the crowd goes mad...)
Oh... it's you there are here... I was already imagining myself in the streets of New York, a crowd cheering me! And at night disguise myself as a Halloween Cat... and... nhac! Have a Trick or Treat snack of candies!
hummmm... dreams.

Since I don't have New York, and all the madness of this American night, I leave you here with this play from me and my friends.

Purrrrr.... see you soon.... uaaaaaa ha ha ha ha ha
Good night... if you can have a good night :[

Big, Mimi and Tico

Get smart!

2008-10-19T23:24:00.005+01:00

Hi all...
Today I leave you here with my latest adventure... door opening!
I am starting to see how this all works, and loving each new adventure.
Today my carrier door, tomorrow the doors, after that the world... wa ha ha ha ha... sorry got carried away.

Hope you like it!

Purrr... See you soon!
Big, Mimi and Tico

Already 6 months...

2008-10-11T23:58:00.003+01:00

Hi all...
Already a month has passed since I have been here, but things have been complicated for my owners. Too much work and we only help by giving them even more work by trying to crash the kitchen, phoning our friends (I don't want to see the phone bill), well a bunch of events and hair raising events.

A few days ago, after our owners went to work and it was total fun... we decided to do some cooking, we went to the kitchen for some potatoes, some wheat and herbs from the floral arrangements which we brought to the nice blue carpet in the hallway.
Well we soon got bored from the play and decided to wrestle with the potatoes. Well... when our owners arrived, they found mashed potato all over the carpet mixed with wheat, herbs and a bit of kitchen paper to complete the picture :)

Of course our owners went nuts with this but every time we do bad things, they shout at us and get mad, but a bit after they are already hugging and kissing us, they love us!

Purrr... See you next time!
Big, Mimi and Tico

Elvas Show

2008-09-10T23:41:00.004+01:00

Hi all, no... I didn't go away.
My owners were on vacation and didn't let me write the news to my blog. Well this is the sadness of being a little cat.
My sister and my big pal are ok... they keep doing their crazy stunts, and I keep helping them too!

But that was not the purpose that brought me here today (finally), it was the fact that I am now in fact a model. That's true! My owners took me this weekend to Elvas for my first Show. It was fun, first of all they put me in a "tent" as they call it... more like a mini tent. A cat didn't almost had any space to stretch inside it.
After that they started screaming and my owners grab me out of the tent, and took me to a small table.
I wasn't understanding a bit of it, suddenly the man that was there grabbed me, and started to rise me up in the air, pulling my ears, looking into my mouth... I was there in the tent without doing any harm, and suddenly this, what did I do to deserve this. Humpf!

After this he put me over the table and started writing some papers, and sent me away. Just then I understood, I was being judged to see if I had it all in place, if I was beautiful, with good ears, nice head... all that!
I got an Excellent 1 in my category on day 1, and if it was not for the time it took for the second presentation I could have gone to the "Best In Show".
The second day was almost a remake of day 1, I got 2 Excellent 1 and my owners were all proud of me with the compliments I took. Sadly I can't go to the World Show (25th and 26th Oct. in Lisbon - FIL).

Down here you can se me on day one with Judge Kaai Duplessis, and on day two with Judge Elizabeth Steinhauser.

Purrr...
See you next time!
Big

Show Time!!!

2008-08-11T23:52:00.004+01:00

Ladies and Gentlemen! Boys and Girls! Dear audience!
Today live, not from the flea circus, but from the buffooneries circus we present to you a show of skill, speed and acrobatics never seen before...
With you Mimi and Tico!

And now while our performers rest, we leave you with the worderfull, the magnificent, the lunatic... Mr.Big!!!

Grrr... This thing makes me crazy... Every time I see it I just want to trash it apart. And I will get it... you will see!

Aha!!! See... faster than a speeding bullet! (That's me!)

Purrr... see you next time!
Big, Mimi and Tico

4 and 3 months!!!

2008-08-01T13:00:00.001+01:00

Hi guys!!!...
Today we celebrate our 4 months and Tico his three months.
We are grown up, and still doing our pranks around the house.

Purrr... see you next time!
Big, Mimi and Tico

The three inseparable friends...

2008-07-24T00:44:00.006+01:00

Hi friends! Here I am again...
This time with only a few things about me, and more about Mimi and Tico.
Hope you like!

I confess, sometimes cameras make me a little embarassed!...

Wanna boxing?

I'm really pretty... purrr!

Here we have the house little angel, and my sister Mimi.
A supper tender kitten, that I sometimes drive out of her tranquility to make the wildest plays, hair raising plays believe me for our owners... he he he

This his the house little pup, Furry Tico!
This pup is amazing, I like him alot, but this is only a secret between us ok? I have to keep my cat reputation, so I cannot mingle with this kind of creatures...
Every morning the first thing he does is come to wake me up to say good morning and start our play around, because at night it is very painfull for him to go to bed, he misses us alot...
In this last few days, me and Mimi had alot of fun watching Tico inside our WC digging our sand to the ground and rolling over it. Our owners don't like it as much as us, because they take about one hour to clean him up!
As soon as he is put on the ground, there he goes again to do the same thing...

Now I say goodbye, and leave you all some tender moments from the three of us.

Purrr... see you next time!
Big, Mimi and Tico

Surprise II

2008-07-18T00:00:00.003+01:00

Hello hello again... already missing us?
Well... surprises never end here! Today we have a new one to tell you. Unexpectedly, a new friend dropped by to play and live with us (and to help us drive our owners insane :) ). That's right our family has a new member that will also start to write here with us (I have to monopolize my blog again, but being 3 writting here it too much).
I have to introduce to you Tico, the new house pet we have.
He is a Yorkshire Terrier, cute and funny with which we love to play.
We are already organizing a revolution here and we will take over the house, after that there will be a great party organized by us.
Me and Mimi have to be careful about him because, besides he is a month younger than us, he is half our size. In the future he will be 1/3 of our size... ups... we have to be careful.
We will be! All will be right.

Purrr... see you next time!
Big, Mimi and Tico

Playing around

2008-07-14T00:16:00.005+01:00

Hi... already missing us?

We knew it! We were pretty busy this week, as we told you last week, we are trying to drive our owners insane. Now we know the whole house and we are loving all we can do in it. From crazy running, sunbathing in the balcony, napping with our owners, well, an endless fountain of delicacies. What we are loving most is the "rally track" we created in the house from the hallway through the living room to the balcony. We use it to do some exercise and practice jumps in high and in length.We also have our own Empire State Building to climb with all our strengths. We are still trying to improve our timing in climbing it, we will be telling how the training is going.
Well... our owners are driving insane with us, but they love as, as we do love them.

Purrr... see you next time!
Big and Mimi

Surprise

2008-07-07T23:52:00.003+01:00

Hi!
It's me again. Now already ...you know... yes! in my new home!
It was a super trip that I did last saturday to my new house with my new owners, where I am going to live for many time!
But I got a surprise for you all!
I will start sharing this space with a friend of mine...
That's because I didn't came alone to my new house :) , I brought my little sister Miranda with me!
Our playing is incredibly crazy, almost insane, specially for our new owners which are as crazy as we are.
We are doing our best to drive our owners insane, but they are strong and keeping up the pace. I don't think they can reach the weekend sane!
We already tried everything running around and jumping on them at 5 am, run away from them when it's time to go to sleep or to groom. It's all a laugh.
Now we are trying to see how we open the doors and drawers to check what's hiding there! I promise to tell you all I see, I won't keep a secret.
Now I leave you with some photos of our plays!

Purrr... See you next time!
Big and Miranda

Goodbye

2008-07-02T21:37:00.003+01:00

The big hour has arrived when we say goodbye to each others and are going to our new homes.
It was 3 months of pure craziness in which we almost drove our breeder mad with our insane plays.
Now each of us is going to our new homes, to meet our new owners, new friends and to create new games.
We want to leave a big miau to our breeder for her patience to put up with us, because we will continue to show up here.

Purrr... see you next time!
Big

Cool...

2008-06-23T22:52:00.003+01:00

Yeah!!!
This week I got the best news I could have in my life, I will be kept whole.
It's cool I know!
Oh you don't understand? OK, I will try to explain.
We cats have to be careful with some genetic problems, specially if we want to leave kids in this life. Due to some genetic malformations we have to be careful, and our owners and breeders do some DNA testing to check us. In my case the DNA test result was negative for Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy :) .
This means that I don't have this genetic problem and I can have my own kids in the future!
I love this life like this.

Purrr... see you next time!
Big

Popular holidays...

2008-06-16T22:28:00.003+01:00

Hi all!!!
After a break for my favorite holidays, with grilled sardines that I love, I'm back to torment you with my stories and pranks all over.
I leave you here with my picture at 10 weeks.

Purrr... see you next time!
Big

International Child day

2008-06-01T14:24:00.000+01:00

Hi!
Today it's our day and with 2 months old just done yesterday, we decided to come here to party with you all specially the little ones like us from the whole world. You all have a nice day!
We are going to keep up with our pranks today.

Nice day to the whole world!

Purrr… see you next time!

Big

What we are made of... (Genetics I)

2008-05-29T00:16:00.000+01:00

It is hard to imagine that we have resemblances to the humans.

We… 4 legs; whiskers; long tail. You… bipeds; without great amounts of body hair; no tail. No, no, no, no it is nothing that you can imagine at first sight. But we have more in common that you may imagine.

In the end of last year (2007) a group of international scientists finished sequencing the cat genome, this way they can learn what makes a cat, a cat (besides our whiskers and our beauty, of course!).

These scientists think that the cat has around 20,285 genes, approximately the number of genes the human genome has, which is between 20,000 to 25,000 genes, making this one of the most similar genomes to the human one. Even more, they have a lineage conservation to the first mammal ( from which all mammals have derived ), which is 3 to 4 times bigger that the mouse. This allows them to be able to rebuilt parts of the original genome from our information.

This study is now being used to study and find cures to some human infectious diseases as AIDS and Leukemia, which have a counter part in the cat (FIV – Feline Immunodeficiency Virus and FeLV – Feline Leukemia Virus, one day I have to talk to you about them).

The hereditary in the felines works the same as in the humans. We have 38 chromosomes ( the humans have 46 ), organized in pairs from which one pair defines the sex (sex chromosome), and the remaining are called autosomes.

Each chromosome is composed by a long molecule of ADN, that comes from either the mother or the father. AND is composed from genes which are responsible by defining the individuals characteristics. Each gene is composed of several amino acid, bounded in groups of 3. There are only 4 different amino acids that can be bound to create a “dictionary” of 64 possible combinations.

Hereditarily is done by joining ½ of the ADN from the parent to ½ of the mother, this means that each parent gives half of his being to the new offspring. Lets see:

Father: LR Mother: lr

If we consider L as being the left part of the chromosome and R the right part of the chromosome that the parents can give to the offspring, we can end with:

1st chromosome Lr, lR

… plus the other chromosome, making a combination of 4 possibilities.

You humans use this to check the histocompatibility between each of you, so diseases like leukemia can be cured between yourselves.
It would be easy if we would consider that each gene contains and controls only one aspect of the cat, his color, fur, eyes, … this way it would be easy to know how to write cat using this dictionary, but this isn’t that simple, because, different genes in different positions control the same characteristics, making this knowledge almost impossible to acquire.

But learn more in the next posts…

Purrr… see you next time!

Big

Elite Model Look...

2008-05-22T15:25:00.004+01:00

Hi again!

Today I bring to you some photos from my model portfolio which I am preparing now. This is from a photo shoot I did with 7 weeks, preparing myself to the fashion model world. I am all fashion ain’t I?

Now I am learning how to walk the runway and get ready to be a model. Soon I will be showing up in the fashion magazines… Have you ever thought that you would meet a famous cat?

Purrr… see you soon!
Big

Polydactyly

2008-05-20T01:13:00.002+01:00

Today I’m here to talk to you about an unusual characteristic that we have, it isn’t just us, it spreads all over a bunch of species like Guinea pigs, dogs, cats, humans, etc.
This word derives from the greek Poly that means many and daktulos that means digits, many digits/fingers. The meaning of this genetic change is the existence of additional fingers in us cats.
Usually we have 18 digits, 5 in each front paw and 4 in each rear paw. When one of us has polydactyly, the number of digits increases until 25, distributed by our paws (the only known case of 25 digits had 7 digits in each front paw and 6 and 5 digits in the rear one). The reverse of this is syndactyly, which occurs in the paw development process, that 2 or more toes stay together not splitting to the correct number of digits.
In our case (Maine Coons) this change is not authorized in show, meaning that any cat appearing for judging with polydactyly is immediately excluded from the show.
Well as any rule there are exceptions, in this case is the “Pixie Bob”, the only cat breed that is allowed to have more than the normal number of toes.
Right now there are 2 factions of breeders, the ones that defend the “usual” cat, breeding only with 18 digit cats, and refusing to use the ones that have a different number of digits. And the ones that defend polydactyly, and that say that this should be differentiated from the one caused by diseases like Ellis-van Creveld, which causes also other problems like cardiac anomalies. For them the real polydactyly should be accepted as a Maine Coon characteristic.

For more information about Polydactyly you can go to Maine Coon Polydactyls www.mcpi.org

Did you know that the known Winston Churchill is believed to have been a polydactyl? After all you have famous humans polydactyls too!

Purrr... see you next time!
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Come on...

2008-05-16T23:59:00.000+01:00

Come on guys...
It's not hard and doesn't hurt!!!
When visiting leave a comment, even a small one. What counts is that you have been here and said hi, and if you leave your opinion, I can always know what you think.
Don't forget... comment!!!! (or you will end up like Odie)

Thanks

Purrr... see you next time!
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Little pranks

2008-05-16T23:36:00.002+01:00

This is what we like most to do. Now that we are a month old we start discovering the attack techniques. We spend most of the time either ganging together or with our paw up in the air to see if we win the play. In the mean time we bite slightly each others and bristling up to keep up the respect.
And when we see that we are being watched by humans, we do this angel faces. Can't resist them right?

Purrr... see you next time!
Big

Funny play...

2008-05-16T00:28:00.000+01:00

Missed us???
Here we are again...
This time to show you all another thing we love to do, play with our breeders feet. We love to play with feet... it's superb!!!
Humans have to have special care and use a protection so we don't hurt them with our teeth and claws witch are so small and sharp that we do not realize we are hurting them.

Purrr... see you next time!
Big

Feline... did you know?

2008-05-13T23:48:00.000+01:00

Today I leave you some curiosities and comparisons between cats, dogs and humans.

• Humans and cats have the same brain region used to acknowledge emotions.
• The cats brain is most similar to the humans brain than the dog brain.
• A cat possesses more bones than the humans, while a human has 206 bones, cats have 245.
• Cats have more vertebrae than humans, 30 this is five more than humans.
• Cats have 32 muscles that control the ears. They can spin the ears in an independent way almost 180º, and 10 times faster than any watch dog.
• Cats earing is much more sensitive than mans and dogs one. Their tunneled ears channel and amplify the sounds. They can ear until 65 khz, while humans can only go until 20 khz.
• In comparison to the body, cats are the mammals that have bigger eyes.
• A cat sees 6 times better than a human at night, because he only needs 1/6 the amount of light that the human needs to see. His field of sight is around 185 degrees.
• A cat possesses around 60 to 80 million cells as olfactory sensors, while humans only have between 5 and 20 millions. They also have a special olfactory receptor near the base of mouth. That's why you can see cats opening his mouths when they feel strong odors.
• The cat has a total of 24 whiskers, grouped 4 by 4, are used to measure distances.
• Cats have 30 teethes, dogs have 42.
• Cats move around in the tips of their paws, which have very sensitive receptors that send information to the cats brain.
• A cat can run at a speed of 50 km/h (31 mph)
• Almost 10% of his bones are located in the tail which is responsible for is balance.
• The domestic cat is the only breed that can stand his tail straight up. The tail can also show the cats mood.
• When a cat is frightened, the fur bristles, if he is going to attack only the straight line that follows the spinal cord does it.
• Cats rub their faces in objects and people to leave them their smell, like a signature. The odor is left by a gland that they possess in the back of their faces.
• Females rub their bodies in the males they select for companion. Other cats rub them also but as a sign of friendship to the ones that they consider bigger and stronger... not that they feel inferior to them.
• Cats IQ is one of the bigger ones in the animal kingdom, only exceeded by monkeys and chimpanzees.
• Cats answer better to names ended with the sound "i".
• Cats are very clean creatures, they spend around 30% of their lives cleaning themselves, and when they do it, they spend as much liquid as if they are urinating.
• A cat always falls straight... if he as the time to twist his body in the fall. This is made as a protection to absorb the shock from the fall.

I hope you have enjoyed it...

Purrr... see you next time!
Big

Our first month...

2008-05-01T23:29:00.000+01:00

Here I am, a month old now. Each time frolicker and energetic. No one stops me... I love everything around me and I play with all the things I can.

Me and my sisters. With a sharp eye to see whats going on, and waiting for an opportunity to play a prank on my breeder. We are in the age to do it.

Purrr... see you next time!
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Breed: Maine Coon

2008-04-29T23:22:00.002+01:00

The Maine Coon is a natural cat breed that originated in Maine. A journal article was published about the coon-cat of the late 1800s stating: "... all of them come from Maine, simply for the reason that the breed is peculiar as yet to that State." "Coon-cats have been recognized as a distinct breed in Maine for so long that the memory of the oldest inhabitant runs back to their beginning." "You will find them in almost any village in that part of the world."

The Maine cat was recognized as a distinct breed of cat long ago and known as the "coon-cat" in the mid 1800s prior to the Civil War in recorded history and documented early descriptions of the Maine cat by a well known and celebrated Maine author who lived in that era prior to 1850.

In the 17th and 18th centuries, domestic cats brought over on ships faced very severe winters in Maine, where only the strongest and most adaptable cats survived. "Natural selection (and climate) has had a significant effect on (longhair/Maine Coon) gene frequency in the 200-300 generations since domestic cats were introduced to America." The Maine Coon developed outdoors into a large, rugged cat with a water-resistant, thick, longhair coat and a hardy constitution. The fur coat developed outdoors into a coat that is particularly unique and distinct from other long-hair breeds

Behaviour characteristics
Maine Coons are a breed distinguished by high intelligence, dexterity, and playfulness. They have a tendency to use their front paws extensively (often curling the paw round to pick objects up) and as a consequence will easily learn to open cabinet doors, turn on water faucets, flush toilets, or pick up small objects. Some Maine Coons will eat, or even drink, from their paws, rather than from the bowl itself.

Due to their above-average intelligence, Maine Coons are known to be one of the easiest cat breeds to train. Maine Coons are noted for their ability to trill their meows, which sounds like a combination of a purr and a meow, and they tend to make this sound when happy or startled. When they do meow, it tends to be very high in pitch, in comparison to other breeds. They are noted for rarely eating alone, preferring to eat in the company of other cats or humans. Maine Coons are not known to be "lap cats" but of course, this may depend on the individual cat and some may prefer laps.

Some Maine Coons enjoy playing with, but not usually in, water. They may dip toys in their water bowls before playing with them, or just tip the water bowl over. They may also skim their paws across the surface of their water bowl or dunk their paw in and drink water from their paws.

Maine Coons can be very dog-like in their behavior. Playing fetch is a favorite game. As with dogs, they will bring their ball, drop it at the feet of their intended playmate and wait for the ball to be thrown. They will often accompany their owner on chores like getting the mail, walking the dog, and may also come when beckoned, even if outside. Maine Coons are typically very calm and listen to their owners.

Physical characteristics
Maine Coons are very large and energetic cats, sometimes weighing up to around 11-12 kilograms (25 pounds); the average weight is 6 to 9 kilograms (13-20 pounds) for adult males and less (7-11 pounds) for females. Male Maine Coons may grow to a length in excess of 1 meter (40 inches); as of 2006, the longest cat on record is a male Maine Coon measuring 122cm (48 inches) in length. Growth to full size often takes longer than for most cats, with Maine Coons usually reaching full size at age four or five.

The most common color/pattern in the breed is brown with tabby markings. Maine Coons are recognized in all colors, including tortoiseshell, except for chocolate, lavender, ticked tabby, and the point-restricted ("Siamese") pattern. Eye color also varies widely. All patterns may have green, green-gold, or gold. Blue eyes, or one blue eye with one gold eye, are possible in white coat cats. They share similar facial markings, for example, a distinct "M" shape on the forehead.

Maine Coons have medium-long, dense fur, with longer hair, or a ruff, on their chests similar to the mane of a lion (which is why the breed is sometimes humorously called the "Mane Coon"). Their fur consists of two layers - an undercoat and an additional layer of longer guard hairs, which gives the breed their key physical feature. The fur is generally very soft. Maine Coons have long hair on the backs of their legs (called pantaloons or britches) and between their toes which helps to keep warm in the cold. They also have bushy plumed tails and broad, angular heads, squared-off muzzles and wide-set ears topped with tufts of fur (known as 'Lynx-tips'). Their tails can be so bushy that the Maine Coon has earned the nickname the 'tail with a cat attached to it'.

Most Maine Coons keep their fur in good order without the need for additional human grooming. Maine Coons have large ears, which can be tipped at the end with fur. This is a common trait of a Maine Coon, giving them their Lynx-like appearance. Some Maine Coons may have tufts of fur growing from behind their ears on the sides of their heads. The appearance of these tufts can change over time, sometimes appearing quite large and sometimes being not all that noticable.

There have always been lots of polydactyl Maine Coons. While the Maine Coon may be polydactyl (having one or more extra toes on their paws), this trait, enjoyed by many, is not yet available in show cats - only in pet cats. This trait is finding a world-wide resurgence and is increasingly popular, as it seems to some, that the polydactyl Maine Coon exhibits even more dexterity and intelligence than the normal-footed. They are nick-named "snowshoe cat" because they can walk through snow more easily, but most often though, they are simply called polys.

Polydactyl bloodlines have long been and continue to be registered to preserve these bloodlines of the breed. Modern show types are rarely polys. The show type "breeding" still ignores the Maine Coon Polydactyl Standard and has culled this vast poly portion of the original gene pool (characteristics and features) from the show types.

The original poly incidence was estimated to be around 40%. Centuries ago it was highly likely that a poly cat from Maine would be a Maine Coon. Polydactylism was (and still is) a distinct visible indicator of a coon-cat's original, natural Maine heritage. Native Maine origin coon-cats still exist and are essential to the health and survival of the breed.

"In Wikipedia”

Purrr... see you next time!
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About our names...

2008-04-28T23:15:00.000+01:00

Each breeder, when a new litter is born, gives names to the youngsters based on some theme that pleases him or about some special characteristic that the litter may have.
In the case of my litter, I was the only boy, surrounded by beautiful girls, and a bit big for the usual cat size, so my breeder based her choice of names based in the well known tv show "Sex and the City".
This way my name is Mr. Big, and my sisters are the four good friends and leading actresses from the show Carrie, Charlotte, Samantha and Miranda that you already had the pleasure to meet.

Purrr... see you next time!
Big

My sisters II

2008-04-27T23:07:00.002+01:00

This is Carrie.
From left to right you can see her evolution from day 1, 2 weeks and 3 weeks.

This is Charlotte.
From left to right, as before you can see her evolution from day 1, 2 weeks and 3 weeks.

This is Samantha.
From left to right as before day 1, 2 weeks and 3 weeks.

And to finish Miranda.
I couldn't caught her at 3 weeks... so here are her photos at day 1 and 2 weeks.

I hope you have enjoyed. They are real "babes" aren't they?

Purrr... see you next time!
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My sisters I

2008-04-27T23:02:00.001+01:00

Here am I with my sisters, I know that you can't see them... they are ashamed and went undercover in the photo time.
But I want to show you all of them one by one (had to caught them by surprise of course) but they are as beautiful as I am. Want to see?...

Purrr... see you next time!
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My parents

2008-04-26T22:53:00.000+01:00

Dad - Mom

Gorgeous aren't they? Now you know to whom I resemble, so fantastic.
My dad is called Duke Ellington of Gentle Lions and in the cat exposition world he is a Great International Champion, and my mom is called The Dorsai Midsomer Wellow, her friends call her Monnie, and she is a Champion.
If you want to see more photos or know more about them you can go to my breeders site through the IE in www.artsycats.com

Purrr... see you next time!
Big

3 and a half weeks

2008-04-25T22:44:00.003+01:00

Big leap, I am much bigger don't you think?
And I will be much bigger... I will talk to you a bit about my breed in the next posts and then you will understand why I said this.
With 3 and a half weeks, here I all full of energy and curiosity, always paying attention to learn new pranks.
Today we left our baby tents and moved to a new bigger and better space so we can crawl around and start tasting real food and water.
Yes... we are starting to be grown ups!

Purrr... see you next time!
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Up we go!

2008-04-13T22:39:00.003+01:00

For you all to see better how handsome and big I am, I decided to put here this photo standing up.
Nice hein? I know... ;)

Purrr... see you next time!
Big

2 weeks... sideview what do you think?

2008-04-13T22:34:00.000+01:00

Now with 2 weeks, I already have my eyes open and I start to see how this world is. For now eating and sleeping is the things I love to do.

Purrr... see you next time!
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I am born... (1st day)

2008-04-01T22:16:00.002+01:00

I was born... a little ago!

As a easter bunny gift, I arrived to this world in the 31st of March 2008. From a litter of five, I was the only guy, and the bigger one too.
Still with my eyes closed, but already with a big will and ready to do our pranks and most unexpected tricks.
Within twelve weeks I will be going home... but it's still a long way, until then I will enjoy this vacations and earn the strengths to be ready to "annoy" a lot my future owners.

Purrr... see you next time!
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A Big Thanks

2008-03-31T21:58:00.001+01:00

Before all we would like to thank to Dª. Leonor Santos, from Artsycats, for gently allowing us to use her photos to create this blog from the start of life of this wonderful cat, for which we are completely mad.

Paulo & Sandra