Mod Daeng's Posse

The Posse chattering at a feather toy

Burmese cats are sometimes called "bricks wrapped in silk". And that name certainly applies to Mod Daeng's kittens, who are solid little guys. Indeed, they are surprisingly heavy for their size. I'll get their weights tomorrow when I take them in for their second set of shots.

And at 12 weeks old, their personalities are showing, as is an interesting phenomenon that I haven't quite seen before in my litters.

Mod Daeng and her kittens are very social - they want to be with me, and they wait on the other side of any door that separates them from me. I spend a lot of time with them so they are hardly lacking for attention. But they regularly follow me en masse wherever I go in the house, as if they are ducklings and I'm the mom they imprinted on. And if I manage to get through a door without them (they don't sleep with me at night, my other kitties get to do that), no matter how long it is before I come back out through that door, be it minutes or hours, or how recently I fed them -- they are in position at the door, waiting for me. I know they are there, and I try to open the door just a crack to slip my leg through and block them. But it is impossible to stem the tide! They are like a herd - they come streaming through like wildebeests fording a river full of dangerous crocodiles, fast and impossible to stop, Mod Daeng in the midst of the pack, all seven of them eager to check out the room and what I've been doing in there.

Given my other cats need their own space and aren't too happy with the Mod Daeng posse invading it, I do my best to try and catch Mod Daeng and the kittens and put them out the door. But it's like the "Keystone Cops" movies -- I'll grab a couple, open the door and put them out as three more run through my legs. So I grab them again and . . . well, you get the picture! I have to admit it's a bit annoying to have to round up the herd this every time I come out the door, but I also can't help but laugh at the absurdity of my trying to catch the fast and stubbornly insistent little Burmese imps. I finally get it done and then of course suddenly realize that whatever I had gone into the bedroom to get I left behind in all the pandemonium, and I have to do the routine all over again! As time passes, I'm sure the kittens will be more independent and not travel in a posse. But in the meantime, they flow behind me as I move through the house, up and down the stairs - the only consolation being they don't seem to have the urge to explore the outside world through the front door, thank goodness! When they were younger I had them isolated in the top floor bedroom -- but once the posse formed, I quickly gave up on that and they have the run of the house except for my bedroom.



Suphapearl Sam


The kittens' conformation and personalities are similar but there are differences. And it is difficult to know which little guy to keep and which to place with other breeders.

Nueng I think has the best head. But he doesn't have the best coat -- it's a bit light and fluffy -- and he has a little tail fault on the tip of his tail.






Suphapearl See




Song is the biggest and he is my shoulder kitty. My first Burmese male, Truffle, would leap to the shoulders of anyone he liked without warning, from the floor, and while Song's leaping ability is somewhat limited due to his youth, he gets up on my shoulders every opportunity he can and perches there happily.

Sam and See are very much alike -- both have nice, short, dark coats and they love to curl up between my legs when I'm at my desk. Their muzzles are narrower and their ears bigger than Nueng.

Har and Hok are the comedians of the bunch -- though he's a mink, Har has the scratchy voice of the Burmese, which I heard recently described by a judge as sounding like "an old attic door that hasn't been opened for years." Hok is the littlest guy, and first in line at the plate when soft food is offered morning and evening He'll also find a toy and growl fiercely to keep away any competition as he carries it off to whatever his lair is for that particular moment.

All in all, these little guys clearly have the personalities we love in our Burmese cats. Soon the minks will be going to a pet home. I'll be taking the others to a TICA show in Sacramento in January, then the following weekend to a CFA show in Stockton to show the judges what the first generation of Mod Daeng's offspring look like.

And let me take this opportunity to send my best wishes to all of you for the Holidays! I hope this beautiful season of light and and the coming new year will bring you joy and good health and lots of time to cuddle with our beloved purring Burmese babies!



Suphapearl Sam and Suphapearl Hok