Health and Breeding Policies
Health Policy:
Our Devon's condition is a reflection of their diet, amongst other things. A top of the range diet means a top of the range Rex, and we find we only need to carry out general "maintenance", such as ear cleaning, claw clipping etc, with an annual M.O.T at the Vets, for booster vaccinations.
Devon Rex ears have always been a bit of a mystery to us - they just seem to hoover up dust and grime continually! We always ask our Vet to check our cats' ears once a year, when he is giving boosters, to check that they have not picked up ear mites - this is certainly possible at a Cat Show. Our Vet's diagnosis is always "no mites, but haven't they got waxy ears" This is one of the scourges of Devon Rexes, but is easily dealt with by cleaning their ears carefully, on a weekly basis, with a damp cotton wool bud.
To help ease the load on our furniture, we clip claws on a weekly basis, with an ordinary pair of nail clippers, taking off just the ends - no more. We have several scratching posts scattered around the house, and this also helps to redirect their stropping activities from the settee to a more appropriate place.
Every five weeks we use Frontline Spot-on Flea treatment on all our cats. This is a preventative measure, and is so easy to apply, and gives us such peace of mind, we highly recommend it. It only takes a few minutes to treat everyone, and the cost is far outweighed by the benefits - no more nasty fleas!
Whilst on the subject of creepy crawlies, we worm our cats regularly, even though they are indoor cats. We far prefer Panacur, in paste, granule or liquid form, as it is very gentle and does not cause tummy upsets, especially in kittens. Adult cats are also treated with Drontal.
All our Devon Rex complete a full course of vaccinations, as kittens, against Cat Flu and Enteritis. We also booster our cats annually. We do not give the FeLV vaccination now, as this vaccine has caused a reaction in our cats in the past. However, we would definitely reconsider this, if our cats had free access to outside, as this is a killer disease. At the moment, we do not feel it necessary to vaccinate, as all our cats are kept indoors, and are tested annually for FeLV/FIV.
Now to the fun part - grooming. All a Devon Rex coat needs is lots and lots of hand grooming. The more we stroke our Devons, the deeper their ripples become! When we are Showing, we also like to use a chamois cloth and a piece of velvet for extra shine! Rubber brushes are out. They can only too easily strip away the fur, which will take some time to grow back - not good if a Show date is looming.
And lastly, keeping our cats' bowls and litter trays scrupulously clean really does pay off in the long run. This is especially important in a multi-cat household. We are very fond of Parvocide disinfectant and Parvocide bedding wash, and our cats never eat from a dish or drink from a bowl that has not been washed and disinfected on a daily basis, or use a litter tray that has not been completely emptied, washed and disinfected at least once a week, usually more. Parvocide bedding wash is great for Show "whites" as it also contains a whitener, as well as being effective against bacteria, viruses and fungi - all things you can pick up at Cat Shows.
One very important thing we learned is to keep our cats in as stress free an environment as possible. This means keeping the number of cats relatively small, as more cats equals more stress, which may result in inappropriate urine marking or spraying, or even illness, if stress levels are high enough. Our house is large enough to easily accommodate our Devon girls, and if they want somewhere private to go for a quiet sleep, they have three floors, and plenty of comfy beds to choose from.
We also try to let our cats have plenty of fresh air, weather permitting! Usually they have to be content with open windows (we have fitted restraining catches to foil any escape attempts), but in the summer, they can spend time in a purpose built outside run. We make it a point not to neglect our cats' mental well-being, which means lots of cuddles and plenty of interaction, which all plays a part in keeping our cats happy and healthy.
Breeding Policy:
As our girls are bred from, we make certain that they are fed a quality, premium diet, and are in top condition before becoming pregnant. This ensures that they maintain good body weight whilst nursing, and also helps the newborns to get off to a good start, as mum can produce plenty of nourishing milk. The quicker kittens grow in the first three to four weeks, the larger they will be at thirteen weeks old. We like our girls to be boostered and wormed before we mate them, and fully tested for FeLV/FIV, and FVR/FCV.
Our girls are mated once a year, unless they call repeatedly, in which case we would have no option but to mate them, to avoid pyrometra. It can be just as damaging to let a girl call repeatedly without mating her, as it can be to mate her too quickly after having a litter of kittens. We try to find a happy balance. We draw the line at using artificial means to prevent calling, such as Ovarid, as we are not happy that this drug is problem free, hence we have never used it.
We have blood typed all of our cats, as this helps us to avoid blood incompatibility in newborn kittens, which can be fatal. This can occur when mating a type A boy to a type B girl. To avoid problems, the newborn kittens need to be handfed for the first 16 hours of their life, after which it is safe for mum to take over. We sometimes do this mating, as we feel that it would restrict the gene pool too much not to. It is not very difficult to hand feed the babies, and 16 hours is not a very long time, and is soon over, although the time does seem to pass a lot slower in the wee small hours!
If everything goes to plan, three weeks after mating, Mum "pinks up", and we know we can expect the patter of tiny paws. During pregnancy, mum is more loving and affectionate than usual, and has a lovely serene look to her. All we need to do is make sure she has a good diet, and plenty of it!
Our girls give birth in a quiet room, usually one of our bedrooms. This helps them to feel secure, and they seem to settle quicker with their kittens. We like to weigh our kittens at birth, and we expect them to double their birth weight within one week, and then to gain the equivalent of their birth weight each week afterwards.
Our kittens are usually born fully coated, although they do tend to lose their coats at about eight weeks of age. However, if they had a coat at birth, we usually find that they eventually end up with a coat, even if it takes some months to come through properly.
We find our kittens take quite naturally to using a litter tray, at about three to four weeks of age. Weaning is well under way by four weeks of age, and helps to take the load off of mum. By six weeks the kittens are usually fully weaned and litter tray trained, so we move them, with mum, down into the lounge, so that they can get used to the hustle and bustle of family life. This is the really fun stage of their development!
At around eight weeks, our kittens are wormed for the first time, and at nine weeks, they have the first part of their vaccinations. They are wormed again at eleven weeks, and have the second part of their vaccinations at twelve weeks of age. A week or so later, they are either spayed or neutered.
By fifteen weeks they are raring to go out into the big wide world, and have grown into confident, mischievous little gremlins! All our kittens leave us fully vaccinated, health checked, GCCF registered, insured for six weeks, and complete with Pedigree, Diet Sheet and Kitten Kit, containing samples of their food, money off vouchers, and a small toy.
If we have done our job properly, it is impossible to tell that mum has been pregnant, given birth, and reared kittens, as she has not lost any of her body weight, or condition.
