Everything You Always Wanted to Know

about the Bliss team but were afraid to ask. ;-)

One thing that is often asked about the Bliss team is: How many cats are there? Rumour has it (thanks James) that there are 43,000 cats at Bliss. That figure is ever so slightly wide of the mark. There are merely 10 at Bliss, no more no less; 8 indoor kitties and 2 outdoor ones. Let me introduce you to them:
This is Vita, a female Maine Coon cat, blue tortie and white and I've named her after Vita Sackville-West, she of Sissinghurst fame. I think my Vita looks very much like her namesake as both are very good at looking down their aristocratic noses, or turning them up, just as the case may be. Vita is a very feminine cat, her nickname is Miss Lola With Her Boa, as she waves her plumy tail about in such an alluring way.
Vita is the gentlest of creatures and a super Mum. She did not only look after her own children exceptionally well but also after other kittens when they were in desperate need of a Mum. If you look carefully at the pic above you'll notice that behind her front legs there is a tiny Russian Blue kitten, Delia. Her brother Delius is somewhere in there too, probably underneath one or two of the Maine Coon kittens.
Vita loves the outdoors and is often found in the potager where the catnip grows. Vita has had 3 litters and from the first one I kept 1 kitten myself, little Dolly, because she was so very sweet and she still is.
Totally irresistible, wouldn't you say?

Dolly, or Camelot Dolly Daisy McMain (her official name) is a bit of a tomboy and loves climbing trees, pretending to be a squirrel, a very big squirrel.
She's certainly got the right tail for it.
Dolly is my little lamb, very sweet and innocent and a very happy-go-lucky kittycat. She is full of fun and has a great sense of humour.
The thing she loves most of all is being outside in the garden.
Next is:

Camelot's Purrfect Pippa Pendragon Samsdottir, aka Pippa or Pipje (= little Pip). She is one of the fourth generation of Russian Blues that I've bred. Her parents are Grand International Champion Camelot's Sam Bucus
Sam

and Grand International Champion Camelot's Purrfect Melody. Camelot is my cattery name. I have mentioned before that I'm an Arthurian buff on this blog, remember? But perhaps you were distracted by other things. ;-)
Melody

Little Pippa was a bit of a handful as a kitten (still is now that she's an adult) and she could walk properly when she was just 2 weeks old, which is very early. Most kittens manage to walk when they are 3 to 4 weeks old. Her claim to fame is that she managed to climb into the cat litter tray at 2 weeks of age and here's the proof.
Pippa (named after Pippa - Pests and Diseases - Greenwood) is a very pretty Russian Blue with striking green eyes. She was a cover girl for a cat magazine once.
The thing she enjoys most, after eating and sleeping,
Daddy Sam with daughter Pipje, both snoozing for a place in the Olympic team

is munching grass. When Pippa is in the garden she grazes like a professional goat.
Pippa had twins in 2000, but unfortunately she had to have a Cesarean. As Pipje is such a live wire the vet had trouble putting her under and had to give her a double dose of anesthetics. Not good, she was very ill for a whole week afterwards and couldn't look after her twins. Fortunately Vita had kittens at that time too and, although Vita's were almost 3 weeks old, Vita adopted the twins readily and looked after them very well. Such a relief!

One half of the twins, I named them Camelot's Tweedle Dee Delia and Tweedle Dum Delius, was my
little Delia who has stayed with me. And before you ask, I did not name her after Delia Smith, British TV cook, but after Cordelia Gray, a fictional character in a book (An Unsuitable Job For a Woman) by P.D. James. Here kitten Delia is in a tight embrace with her brother Delius.
They were inseparable and it was heart breaking when Delius had to leave to go to his forever home.
Delia is the Prima Ballerina of the Bliss team. She can easily land with 4 feet on a 44 euro cents stamp from a very great height, no problem. Because she was raised by Vita, Delia and Vita still have a mother-daughter relationship. Delia is very lithe and graceful, rather shy with strangers but very sweet and gentle with me and with her son Merlijntje.
I'm very glad I've kept Merlin (aka Camelot Merlinus Aurelius aka Merlijntje = little Merlin because he's such a big cat) as he and his Mum Delia are, just as Delia and Delius were once upon a time, inseparable.
Apart from being a Mummy's boy, Merlin is a typical male as is shown here, where he's hugging the remote. Men!
The love of his life is Dolly. He's besotted with her but she barely tolerates him. Before he is ungraciously allowed to lay down next to her, she always boxes his ears firmly. Poor Merlin.
Merlin's favourite sparring partner is Kadootje (small present) and even though she is half his size, she usually wins. Merlin is such a big softy.
Introducing you to the other half of the Bliss team will have to wait as this is already such a looooooong post. Hopefully you've enjoyed getting to know Vita, Dolly, Pippa, Delia and Merlijntje a bit better!

copyright 2009; Y.E.W. Heuzen

A home without a cat -- and a well-fed, well-petted and properly revered cat -- may be a perfect home, perhaps, but how can it prove title? Mark Twain