Koppiekatz Aishma (we have chosen the name) arrived on 21st of March 2014 from the distant California.
Last year I started to consider buying a cat from abroad. I contacted Viki and Bruce (Koppiekatz cattery) because I have always been an admirer of theirs.
You can find this cattery in virtually every Bengal cat pedigree, their cats (and tomcats) are absolutely gorgeous, short-haired, with a beautiful head profile. Another important thing for me was that they do HCM and PkDef test on a normal basis. Simply put, I fell in love with their cats. Unfortunately, we weren't able to modify the itinary of our trip to the USA to allow us to visit them (and especially to safely take the eventually bought kitty with us), so we decided to postpone the "acquisition" of the new family member for the next year. We were hoping the odds will be in our favor the next year (or the year after... :)
A quirk of fate has brought us to MVDr. Martina Juzova (BohemianForest cattery), soon after to Hortensia of BohemianForest and hopefully in a next few months to Key of the Heart of BohemianForest. Hortensia is curious, vivacious teenager who needs a fellow-criminal for her games and our 9-year-old home cat Fifa is not willing to participate in every silly endeavor of hers.
Our yorkshire Kacka is not able to chase Hortensia any higher than the floor level. :)
I cannot pinpoint what had led me to the decision of getting a new tomcat into our gang. We have painted the tomcat room, moved a big cat tree in there, a new sofa :) --- well, it wasn't really new, I have just given up the hope for using it for anything else :) While I was considering if I should buy a new boy, I suddenly realized that it's not a matter of whether I should or should not... It is the matter of I want! And when I want something, it will happen, trust me :)
So I contacted Viki and Bruce again, some e=mails went back and forth, quickly after a photo of an available boy, photos of his parents and I was sold to this boy. And shortly after, the boy (now Aishma) was ours. :) Then of course some mandatory and quite boring paperwork, but everything progressed quite fast, as Aishma was already vaccinated and was having chip implanted already.
During the process, I've found out that Aishma's brother went to the famous Kanpur cattery (Koppiekatz Kadillac of Kanpur) and I became even more curious and impatient. Then just short (but even more impatient) waiting for the flights arrangements and I was already welcoming him in his new home!
I haven§t had a chance to welcome him at the cargo counter at the airport -- I just peeked through the wires in the transport box. I opened the box in the car, just to say him "welcome home, my sweet boy" and he started purring immediately.
When I arrived home, I have opened the box to welcome him properly and proper welcome it was -- Kacka (our yorkshire terrier) were jumping around the transport box and already trying to convince Aishma to play with her -- I could definitely hear "Welcome, so you have finally arrived, let's go play fetch". Fifa moved into the box and decided it is his own box, his food and his world in general -- Aishma, as the original owner of all of those, looked a little surprised, but definitely was able to withstand this insolent ill-behavior without fear nor anger :) The only brief snarl was interchanged with my beloved Hortensie, but she started it.
Finally, Aishma decided it is the time for disembarkment and I saw him for the first time walking across my room. Aishma is a 6 months old prince, with an incredible head profile and the spotting pattern was something I have ever seen live in my life. I mean -- I certainly saw the photos, I certainly dreamed about the patterns, but the reality exceeded anything I have ever seen. Our little prince went to the bathroom, then allowed us to take invite him to a very late luncheon, do a quick tour around his new kingdom and a while after he was already sleeping in the sofa. Apparently he decided to be at home since his first moments with us. :)
Aishma loves caressing, especially on his belly, between his ears and he loves water -- as any real bengal cat does :) The second day it was clearly visible he managed to rest a lot, he likes to run around, playing with the cat toys and teasing Kacka and Fifa. He still got a little bit reserved stance with Hortensia, but not because of his own will. They do not fight, they just conspicuously ignore each other. It will need some time, but hey, we have a lot of time. And I believe they will get to like each other.
I wish to express my thanks to all people that went through this with me, either hand in hand or on a phone. My huge thanks to Viki and Bruce for their friendly approach, their patience and their willingness to deal with my English. :) I'm really curious what a king will become of this new prince. And I'm starting to do some serious heavy weight lifting to be prepared for shows -- in 6 months Aishma already weights 4 kilos :)