Meeting Mod Daeng

When I flew down to Southern California on July 3rd to pick up Mod Daeng, I must admit I felt a bit apprehensive. I couldn't help but think -- what have I gotten myself into?

In a small cattery like mine space is at a premium. I have to carefully manage my breeding population as well as my retired kitties, until I can find them homes. I knew I would only have Mod Daeng for a short time. But Renee Weinberger, who with her husband J.D. brought Mod Daeng over from Thailand, had told me she could be grumpy with other cats. Because she had come from such a completely different climate and culture, and as a kitten had to be isolated from other cats for three months, Mod Daeng's behavior certainly wasn't surprising. Would I be able to incorporate her into my cattery easily, or would it be a challenge? But perhaps my biggest concern was the responsibility of caring for such a precious cat, given how difficult it was to obtain her and the expense and time it took to bring her to the U.S.

I also couldn't help but wonder about the commitment I had made to this project. More importantly, would it be successful? So many of my colleagues were waiting to see what happens, and there were even more unknowns. Mod Daeng's look is different from the Burmese in the West, will her personality be different as well? Will she be receptive to my male given her slightly grumpy nature? Will she be fertile and her offspring be healthy, or will they carry any genetic problems? Will we get any sepias out of this combination, and who will want the mink kittens she will undoubtedly produce? Will we be able to get Mod Daeng registered, and how many generations will it take before her kittens would be showable? These were some of the many questions in my mind as I flew south. But it was a beautiful, crystal clear, summer day, and an easy flight, and I was distracted for a time by a spectacular view of the rugged, golden-brown mountains that divide the California coast from the green and fertile fields of the central valley.

Art Graafmans, Cat Fanciers Association (CFA) Burmese Breed Council Secretary, had brought Mod Daeng to Southern California from the CFA Annual Meeting in Minnesota at the end of June. After my plane touched down, Art picked me up at the airport, and following a stop for lunch we headed to his home. Art and his wife Kristi have been breeding Burmese for some years and have raised gorgeous and award-winning traditional Burmese. It was such a pleasure to see their cats as Art introduced me to them one by one.

It wasn't hard to identify Mod Daeng when I first saw her. I had seen photos and knew what to expect. However, I was surprised by several things about her, including her size for her age. She was already nearly eight pounds, though a few months short of a year old. That in itself was good news to me, because though I love our petite Burmese girls in the West, the fact that they are smaller than they were only a couple of decades ago is one sign of inbreeding depression. So I thought Mod Daeng's size boded well for helping restore that to our breed. I had expected a long nose and a narrow muzzle, and indeed she has both. But I was particularly taken by her eyes. Large and round, as we like our Burmese eyes to be, but their pale color was almost startling in the dark mask of her face. And their color seemed to change slightly as she turned her head, sometimes appearing more greenish, other times gold. Because of her mink coloring, technically her eyes are aqua and, like hazel eyes in humans, Mod Daeng's eyes seem to change color with different angles and light.

Art held her for me to get a closer look, but after only a short time she wriggled and growled at the other kitties. Oh boy, I thought, this is going to be a challenge. But as I reached up my hand to stroke her, she responded to my touch and began to purr.

Art and I spent the afternoon talking about the United Burmese Cat Fanciers newsletter, of which I am the editor, and caught up on other Burmese and personal news and stories. The afternoon passed quickly and before long it was time for Mod Daeng and me to head to the airport.

As we traveled back to Northern California on a Southwest Airlines flight, Mod Daeng was quiet for most of the trip. Towards the end she got tired of being confined in the carrier and clawed a bit at the sides. Fortunately, we landed a short time later and made it safely back home. I put Mod Daeng in a freshly cleaned, large cage where I would keep her isolated from my other kitties, until she adjusted to her new environment and I was sure the stress of the trip didn't cause her to develop any kind of infection. I knew she was a healthy cat, as she had been through a battery of tests and treatments that started before she even left Bangkok. But it is always a good idea when bringing in a new cat to isolate them for a time, for their protection as well as for your existing kitties. It was late, and after I was sure she was settled and comfortable, I headed for bed after a long day.

The next morning I spent quite a bit of time with Mod Daeng, and that time spent together put to rest some of my fears. There was no question that she had all the personality characteristics of the Burmese I know and love. Yes, she was grumpy with my other kitties, but I have had a few other Burmese queens who behaved similarly. With people, however, she was fearless and always ready for attention. She immediately came to the front of the cage whenever I would approach, and as I opened the door pushed her head into my hand for petting. Her purr was loud and readily offered, and she also loved to roll on her back and have her tummy rubbed. She made soft sounds as if she was telling me all about her life so far, and she would occasionally growl when she saw the other kitties. But her purr kept going, and as we got to know each other she even gave me little nose kisses on my face. And we'd only just met! While I was doing other things in the room I would glance back at her, and she was watching me and the other cats and all the activity in the room with great interest.

There were no transition problems. I kept her on the same diet she'd known at Renee and J.D.'s, and used the same litter. Gradually I did introduce a wet food treat now and again, and noticed that Mod Daeng particularly loves fish. From what Renee had told me, rice and fish were part of her diet in Thailand. However, I was careful not to upset her digestive system with too much unfamiliar food.

I had to go out of town for a few days in mid-July and was hesitant about leaving her. I felt it was best for her to be caged, so my cat sitter wouldn't have to worry about anything happening to her. My vacation passed all too quickly and when I returned on the 22nd of July, I was quite amazed to see Mod Daeng had something new on her mind. As I greeted her and stroked her back, her hindquarters raised up and her tail flagged to the side. She was in heat! Hmmm, what should I do? Those who had seen her recently felt she was mature enough to be bred. Well, I thought nervously, I'll bring my male over and see how she reacts.

In an instant my fears about the difficulty of breeding her were allayed - she chirped at my champagne boy, and within two minutes or less the first mating occurred. It was perhaps the easiest introduction I'd ever had of a male to a breeding female. We were on our way to the next phase of Mod Daeng's journey.

It is now the beginning of September, and I have been feeling guilty that I haven't written about Mod Daeng since July. Why haven't I? Right before my July vacation, my boss at Stanford University resigned, and I applied for and got her position. A promotion for me which was wonderful, but it also meant when she left I would be juggling two jobs until a replacement for my previous position could be hired. So I have been rather busy at work and too tired at night to do much other than kitty care and trying to relax and rest.

Tonight, I am sitting at my computer and Mod Daeng is lying on top of the desk next to me. After she was bred, I decided to try letting her out among the other kitties to see how she would do. Though she tells them when they get too close with a now familiar grumble, and raises a paw to occasionally deliver a warning swat, for the most part her grumpiness is bluff.

And like so other pregnant queens before her, she wants to be close to me when I am home. Somehow an instinct that I can help her through this pregnancy has kicked in. She's due in three weeks, around September 24th, and she's been "showing" since she was about 4 and 1/2 weeks along. How big will the litter be? I'm going to have her x-rayed the week before the kittens are due to find out so I am prepared. Will she be a good mother? I hope so! And what will the kittens look like? Mod Daeng's head is narrow and proportionally a bit small for her body. I've bred her to a champagne male who has a large, broad head and deep gold eye color that I hope will be passed on to their kittens. How many minks and sepias will there be? Genetic odds say there is a 50 percent chance of each. Only time will tell if they have broader heads, noses, or inherit any of her ghost barring. I certainly have had barring in my Burmese, but mostly on their chest and legs. On Mod Daeng you can see them on her sides, though they are growing fainter as her coat darkens. I remember reading that all cats start out as tabbies, and then the other genes kick in to change the appearance of the coat. Accordingly, I can report she has a faint mackeral tabby pattern. Her coat is very short and has a silken sheen to it - and yes, she is surprisingly heavy for her size. Indeed, though she may be a mink, she is certainly also a "brick wrapped in silk".

Given I still haven't found my replacement at work, I may not be able to post again until after the kittens are born. But I will be adding to the blog Renee and J.D.'s account of their trip to Bangkok to obtain Mod Daeng, as well as a recent editorial I wrote about how important these outcrosses are for the future health of our beloved Burmese. I'll also soon add some photos to the blog (as soon as I figure out how to do that!)

In the meantime, I hope all of you who read this are enjoying Mod Daeng's journey, and will keep fingers crossed that Mod Daeng's kittens will be healthy and arrive safely!