AUGUST 2019 Tennessee Rex Kitten

Chairkitten and chief Purring Officer UpperValley Radium at his desk here in Vermont. He has sort of outgrown his favorite chair and now weighs more than his dad. He is a carrier of he Tennessee Rex gene but only from his dad so he does not have the curls or satin look. It appears that some of that special appearance is trying make a showing. More information and another picture follows the story of his upbringing below.

Six month old Radium has been neutered and is available to a good home after 18 February if he is not sold. We are asking $200 to help cover neutering and the costs if bringing him up.

Radium's half brother will be going to the COTB TICA Cat show in 15-16 February as a household pet kitten. Radium may tag along as a kitten for sale. The brother is a few days younger than Radium and we have no idea whether or not he is a TR gene carrier. He was the best household pet kitten in all 12 rings and received Best in Show for the KKPK Class. He is not considered part of the TR breed development project and is not included in our web/blog.

Angelique's first litter here at UpperValley Cattery

UpperValley Radium, one week old. The only kitten in this bifurcated litter.

Radium is a Tennessee Rex carrier. He is red with white socks that are a bit longer than his mom's. Long straight hair since he carries only one of the recessive Tennessee Rex genes. He has a rather unique tabby pattern that we will show in the next photograph. When he was outside on the way to the luncheon we notices a sparkle in his rather unusual fur. It shines like glitter in the sunlight. The fur is also fuzzy, not like the rest of the single gene carriers. Worth more investigation. There is also some waviness in his whiskers, an expected trait in rexed (curly hair) cats.

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We weigh each kitten and some adults each day. This is a good way to spot any health problems as well as the progress of a pregnancy.

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 This chart will be updated  about every other week since he has reached his adult weight. He is still weighed about once a day when we weigh the others.

UpperValley Radium

"Chairman" of the Board
and Chief Purring Officer)

This is our first litter out of Satindelight Angelique, a Tennessee Rex gene carrier from British Columbia, Canada. Her first kitten is a male by UpperValley Pippin. Her next kitten is also a male and just as lovely.

In keeping with tradition kitten cattery names in this litter must start with R, the next letter in the alphabet following our previous "Q" litter. We renamed him Radium at the request of Angelique, his mom.

He assumed the "chair" at just two and a half weeks old. He already looks like he will be a steadfast leader of the outfit. He is just about five weeks old in this photograph He spends most of his waking hours running, chasing just about anything that will move and climbing, keeping mom busy keeping him out of trouble

UpperValley Radium
at Six weeks old

Our second portrait is shown here. Radium now fills his post as chairman er... Chairkitten. This picture was taken on 20 September.

He has now figured out the stairs and is exploring the new places like the kitchen, our "mud room"** and the shower. As you can see his white socks have all but disappeared!

Radium's weight chart

We keep the weight of  Radium in the cattery
spreadsheet and have also kept a chart of his weight.
He is now a full grown neutered male weighing about 5000 grams (11 pounds).
  Here is his recent weight.

Radium had his eight and twelve week old vaccinations, a major step in his protection from the cat diseases. He is now fully protected and has his one year Rabies vaccination which is acceptable at any new venue. He has a rather unusual coat and would have been an interesting sire to father a litter with a full Tennessee Rex queen next year but is offered as a pet because we have several other breeder cats with similar genetic make up.

Radium was neutered on 6 February 2020.

Radium is approaching "adulthood" and is a whopping 3850 grams at six months old -- but there is still a kitten inside. If he's awake he's active. He does have a favorite time to stay close to me -- when I'm asleep in bed he curls up next to my shoulder even though he sometimes gets pushed off the bed.

He has now figured out how to turn the kitchen sink faucet, just like his dad did a year or so ago. The front sensor only stays on when there is heat from a hand or cat. The top sensor runs the faucet for three minutes. He's figured that out, too and keeps the water and booster pump running way too long. I had to disable that sensor.

I'll have Puree of Mouse for lunch

Radium is for sale as a Tennessee rex carrier kitten. He does not have the satin or curly hair as a cat that carries the special gene from both parents has, as required for characteristics to be expressed that are caused by a recessive gene. He is considered a Tennessee Rex on the registry but should only be shown as a household pet. He will be registered with The International Cat Association in the name of the new owner. That will allow the owner to show the kitten (and as cat after he is 8 months old) in any of their cat shows world wide.

I'm asking $200 to help cover my costs working with this new breed. He may be picked up in southern Vermont or New Hampshire near the  I 91. I am keeping the social distancing and face mask part of my effort to quell the storm of this pandemic. Please weat a face mask while visiting.

For more information please contact me at ipxcat©aol.com Gordon Pugh