Ming is a Sealpoint Siamese Kitty. You possibly knew that but a lot of people do ask me, so I just thought I would mention it.
Also known as Royal Seal, this dark colouring, tapering to near black on the "points" (feet, tail, nose and ears) is the original colouring of the first Siamese cats, bred centuries ago, as pampered pets for the royal family of Siam.
Over the years, breeders continually strove to produce lighter bodied Siamese cats with an ever expanding variety of colours. As these newer varieties gained popularity, the Sealpoint, went from being the most common "garden variety" Siamese to a not so commonly seen colour.
When Ming Kitty expressed interest in having a family, I decided to introduce her to the hottest looking Sealpoint stud I could find. And did I ever find her an adorable little kitty man!
Now Ming Kitty has never been one to put on fancy airs. Although obviously very beautiful, she is the first to admit that she is not exactly "show quality", and while she does appear to be a "pure bred", she doesn't actually have the fancy papers to back that up.
Her boyfriend on the other hand, had all that stuff. In the looks department he was an absolute stunner. He had a pedigree that stretched back through countless generations and a big fancy name to go with it. Yes, "The Estate's Temptation of Daysheen" had it all, including a sweet, gentle, friendly disposition. As far as Ming Kitty was concerned, it was love at first sight! (and me too!)
While Temptation and Ming Kitty were, um, uh... getting to know each other better, his owner, a professional cat breeder, confided knowingly that I shouldn't expect anything much to happen this first time around. Since both animals were young and inexperienced, I might have to bring Ming back for several more visits. She went on to stress repeatedly that a young Siamese female's first litter was often stillborn, and even if "something" did happen, I shouldn't expect a slender young thing like Ming to produce more than one kitten this first time around.
Ming and I went home that day with no big expectations whatsoever... yet within a very short time Ming Kitty began to put on weight, and she grew, and she grew and she grew and she GREW! Before our very eyes the "slender young thing" began to look more like a big round brown basketball with feet, and we all began to wonder just how big this one kitten was going to be! Surprise! It was not just one big kitten. It was 5 good sized kittens, all healthy and strong.
You probably already knew this too, but Siamese kittens are always completely white at birth. Over the next few weeks they gradually begin to get a bit of colour on their "points" and in the case of a Sealpoint at least, that colour continues to get gradually darker and darker until they reach their true coat colour at around 2 years old.
Ming's Kittens were born around the middle of the day, December 9th, 14 years ago. It was really cool because my son Patrick, who was 8 years old, got to watch some of them being born when he came home from school at lunchtime. As you can see, we made up a cozy bed for the kittens in a warm quiet spot...but Ming decided that my husband's socks and underwear drawer would be a much better place to raise her family!
Siamese cats are great jumpers, and I can only imagine that Ming must have carried each kitten halfway across the house, making the leap five times from the floor to the open top drawer, while gently but firmly grasping a kitten with her teeth. Needless to say, after all her hard work, mother and babies were uncerimoniously returned to their box!
Ming Kitty proved to be a devoted, highly protective, hands on kind of mother.
And it was wonderful experience for the kids, especially Patrick, who absolutely adored them. At 6 weeks old all 5 squirmy hyperactive kittens made a guest appearance at Patrick's 3rd Grade classroom for "show and tell".
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