Danae (Siberian Forest Cat)
Danae (Siberian Forest Cat)
Written by Sunday, 12 September 2010 10:52
Alexandrite Akiro is a captivating boy. He is one of these cats that if you have at home you bodysearch visitors before they leave just in case he has accidentally been slipped into a handbag. We were looking for a young female kitten to join our lovely gang of three when we saw his photo and that started it all: we wanted Akiro. Akiro was to stay at home, we were told, but as it happened his mother and dad were expecting another litter in a few weeks so we had to wait and see if a white Lynx (colour) point girl was amongst the litter. Gemini and Phoenix Mishka obliged: on the 10th of February our gorgeous Danae was born, the only girl in a litter of four.
But then we had to wait again, this time to check how little Danae was developing and obviously, for the breeder's assessment. A few weeks and a lot of phonecalls later we were thrilled to be told we could have her. Jo and Andy, the breeders, were just great sending us information about her development and agreed to register her with our chosen name: Alexandrite Danae Giovanna Elysso. Videos showing Danae growing up are available on Jo and Andy's site, Alexandrite Siberians (click on the blog and follow the links for Gemini's kittens from February 2010 to May 2010).
Danae is a colourpointed Siberian Forest cat (1), which is also known as a Neva Masquerade. (2) She joined our family together with Hermes (Alexandrite Mercury) and from the word go she made it crystal clear she preferred it where she was: she missed her mom and siblings and she would rather not be told what to do and when to do it. We spent the first week sleeping with her, stroking her and making friends. Jo told us later her mom was also like that when they first got her but soon settled in fine. During the first couple of days Danae was quite unfriendly to Hermes and our other cats and very much a tomboy: she would hiss and growl at all the other cats - yet she would only get out of the kitten room if Hermes was venturing out too, always following him. With us she was quite cautious though the loud purrs when we did manage to convince her to let us stroke her indicated this lady wanted her heart and loyalty to be won rather than taken for granted.
We had no option but to obey: over the next few weeks Danae got lots of love and cuddles (always on her own terms), lots of soft talking, lots of toys and most importantly, freedom to do as she liked. Danae is a very intelligent, extremely active and independent girl who enjoys the attention but also likes to do her own thing. She is the one who can play on her own for hours chasing a ball, a toy mouse or anything else she finds lying around. She loves being in the garden watching and resting, adores climbing (she is extremely agile) and playing everywhere where there is water. Excitement is oozing out of her body when she walks in the house after a heavy rainfall, covered in mud - all black - but so very happy for all the adventures she has just had outside. She then picks the table with the white tablecloth and goes to sit on it to clean herself, purring, with her blue eyes sparkling with contentment ... and do we dare say No?
In the end it all worked out just fine. Little by little our tomboy turned into a real gem. Knowing that she was free to do as she pleased Danae chose to approach us and slowly but surely she transformed into the most loving, obedient, communicative and friendly companion one could ever imagine. Over the period of a couple of months she became friends with everybody and she has taken over the duty of greeting all the other cats as they walk through the catflap with a tail in the air and a happy chirp. Danae and Aris are the family groomers, showering hundreds of kisses on all the others. She is really a credit to her breed when it comes to characteristics like loyalty and obedience: she comes running when she is called (which proves she was deliberately ignoring us at first ... hmmmmm), she is happy just resting next to us when we are in the room, she is always looking at us with her eyes filled with adoration and she never refuses a cuddle or a kiss - in fact she seems to think she never gets enough!!! When we are working on the computer she comes and sits on the desk or on a lap while at night she is the first to run to secure her favourite place on our bed, cuddle up and wait for us. A real, unforseen transformation of a girl which was once a proud and worthy member of 'Gemini's hooligans'.
Danae is unquestionably a fish lover. She also loves sharing our cakes with us. She is quite particular about her food having being instructed in the art of being a gourmet by her boyfriend, Fidel (the arch-rascal). In her free time she adores running in the garden with her best mates, Nemesis and Iris; Hermes also joins in occasionally. Interestingly enough, though they did arrive together, Danae does not play a lot with Hermes. It is Fidel or her girlfriends she is hanging around with. As she is growing up she is also becoming considerably more vocal and on occasions she engages in pretty lengthy 'conversations' with us. She is an excellent groomer and keeps herself in an immaculate condition which is a blessing considering the state she gets herself in when playing in the rain. Her most distinguising talent is to walk or run on a surface with lots of very fragile glass ornaments and get to the other side without as much as disturbing any of them (we have not yet worked out how she does it but she does it every time). She is an extremely lively and active girl; if we do not remind her to eat she skips meals as she is too busy doing things and having adventures.
Welcome to Danae's page. We will be updating it regularly with news and photos of her development.
Photos by the authors except where otherwise indicated in the captions.
Notes
(1) For information about this breed see Wikipedia. Information is also available on other' websites, e.g. Siberian Cat Breedr, Pictures of Cats, Siberian Cat Breed, TICA, etc.
(2) For more information about Neva Masquerade see, for instance, The Traditional Cat Association Official Website. There are those who believe that the Nevas are a colour variation of Siberian Forest cats whereas others argue that Nevas should be considered a separate breed.
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