movin' on up

All is well with the itty bitties today. Everyone is growing, and happy. Mama is still very shy, but loves to be stroked, and scratched under her chin. I wish I could spend longer amounts of time with her. She is probably ready to go back, but I was there today (the shelter) and there are SO many cats and kittens, I am worried she will be over looked. She is better off here.

We are heading off to vacation for a week, but we have a house sitter that will be here taking care of our cats, and the itty bitties. She will be fine, and this crew has been pretty easy. (I say again at the risk of jinxing myself). I am sure everyone will be close to weight if not already there. Right now they are all over 2 lbs, and growing steady.

Bentley will be with us, so the resident cats will get a break too.



Greer catches some air!



Gibby shows his little soft underbelly

These 3 photos were snapped rapid fire, and are here in order. I have no idea what is up with that middle photo. That Gwen is a nut!











The girls play hide and seek with Buck



Gibby gets the best of the shower curtain



Gibby looks like he is scowling as he exits the bathroom.

bound to happen

We now have at least one kitten with very loose stool, streaked with blood. They have all been on Albon, although it was some time ago. I think I am going to put them back on it for at least a week, and see how they do. If we still have messy poop, I will schlep them all to the vet.

They are all gaining weight, so I am not too concerned. I have been seeing signs of this coming. Today I caught the culprit. Greer. I an still very thankful they all are great with the litter box, and even when there is nasty poop, they seem aware of it, and don't step in it and fling it off their little feet and onto the wall with the force of a gunshot.




Mama is still a little shy, so I will let her come hang out with me in the office for a while. The itty bitties are pretty good about staying close when I let them out. They like to climb on my pants legs while I am at my desk working, and check out all the boxes and stuff, while Buck watches from the hallway. Perhaps I need to move the food and litter bags from the hallway.

Weekend

Weekends for the itty bitties are a little different from weekdays. I feed them a little later, and I am in and out more often usually. If we have no big plans for the day, we usually let them have more "out of the kitty room" time.

Today, they didn't get time out until around 5, but they made the most of it. They love the bathroom, as have many of our past litters. The last couple used to run from the front bedroom, down the hall and into the bathroom. These guys don't do the running down the hall part, but they love to play in the bathroom. They like playing under the door. They Catzilla the tag on the floor mat, and try to climb the shower curtain.





They also seem to be drawn to the terracotta duck. I saw Gwen wrestling it, on it's back with paws wrapped around it's neck. Looked like a fair fight to me. This photo looks like they are engaged in a passionate kiss!



The rug was bunched up from Buck, chasing his paperball, but the kittens loved fighting with the wrinkles.



The biggest problem is, they don't want to go back in the room. It takes me longer and longer to get them in the room and shut the door, as they keep trying to run out while I try to put them in. Even opening a can of food isn't enough.

They grow up so fast

Everyone still seems to be staying healthy. I hear the occasional sneeze, but everyone is gaining weight, and happily playing.

Bentley runs in the kitty room any time he gets a chance, looking for a morsel of cat food usually. He ignores the cats until he is sure he can't sneak a nibble of their food.







Everyone got out for a little play time today, as is the usual routine these days. They have been very good about staying upstairs, but today Gibby decided to take a peek downstairs. He never went all the way down, but I know it is just a matter of time.

Bentley and the itty bitties

Bentley is always waiting outside the door to the kitty room whenever he is upstairs. He loves checking them out, as well as looking for any stray food he might be able to snag when he is in there. The babies are not afraid of him anymore, and mama isn't either. The itty bitties are all close to 2 lbs, so I figure maybe 4 more weeks, and they will be ready to go. This could be the last litter of the year. It has been a hard year, with a few losses, and a lot of poop.



Last I heard, there were a lot of babies waiting to go to foster homes. I always feel like I should take some more, but I also don't want to risk introducing any unwanted germs to my fairly healthy litter. I am always trying to get others to volunteer to foster. I hear from people all the time that say, "I love kitens, but they grow up to be cats, and I don't like cats." Fostering is the best possible scenario. You get to have the kittens, but you give them away before they grow up!

Late post

We worked outside in the heat all day today, from about 8:30 am until about 3:00 pm. We built a small retaining wall in our front yard. I just got it in my craw, and I wanted to do it myself. So, we did. I think it looks good! We will probably add more to the edge, and bring it around to the steps, but I think it looks pretty good already.

When we got done, we went to MD to have dinner with Joy's sister. I took some shots of her 2 not so itty bitties that we pretty much foisted upon her. She loves them, and they are too sweet for their own good! Yoshi comes when you call him like a dog, and loves to be held. He is a face licker. Cute, but a bit painful!






The crew here are all doing well. The little ones are not too concerned about Bentley. They are actually curious, as is mama cat.

boring...

Well, there is nothing much to write about. I am not sure I know how to act when I have a litter of healthy kittens, and all I really have to do is feed them twice a day. OK, so I do tend to go in and play with them 3 of 4 times a day, but how much can you write about happy healthy kittens playing? Yes, they are cute. Yes, they are fun. Yes, they poop a lot.

I did find out today that mama is not really afraid of Bentley. As a matter of fact, she was rubbing up on him after about 5 seconds of standing there looking at him. Unfortunately, I didn't have my camera in hand, so I missed the pix of the little black cat family all gathered around Bentley. Perhaps tomorrow I will get that shot!

For now, I will count my lucky stars that my little family is happy and healthy. I know how fast that can change.
Here are some random shots...




Bentley crammed into the cat bed



My '62 Thunderbird, which is for sale!



Little Buckaroo when he was really itty bitty! Wow, he was little. So were Gracie and Maggie.



This picture always cracks me up. Buck in the foreground, and Ripley, Maggie and Gracie in the background.



You can see in this photo how big Buck is now. Bentley weighs 45lbs, and Buck looks pretty close to his size in this picture. I think Bucks weighs close to 20 lbs, but he is not fat, he is just a big boy.

Exploring

I let all the guys out this afternoon for a few minutes. They have been rushing the door for a while now, so I decided to let 'em come out and see. They don't go far. Mama came out and looked around too. Unfortunately, she met Ripley, and a hiss and a swat. No damage done, but she decided to go back in the room and hang out. Bishop ran in and jumped to the top of the condo, and mama was happy to see him. She likes him, and he plays well with others. Mama Gia was rubbing all over the place trying to get his attention.



The itty bitties discovered the ceiling fan. Another new thing to see! And look at that huge cat! (Buck) Buck is curious, and loves to pretend that the itty bitties scare him.







He leaps in the air with a little squeak, and runs in the opposite direction. Pretty funny to see him run from them. They think it's great fun, but they are still too scared to chase him.

Weigh ins!

Things are moving right along here at itty bitty central. They all 3 weigh in at 1.9 1/2 oz. They are getting big. They started out at about 6 oz each. Mama seems a little lethargic tonight, but she almost always does. I got in a little scritchy scratch time with her, and she was loving that, so maybe I am just paranoid. I hope so.

Lots of commotion tonight during play time. Greer was going nutso! See the multi-exposure below, and see how she was going spastic with her "toy."









What was causing her to play so hard? A new toy? No. A yummy kitty treat? No. Some expensive new catnip experience? No.

It was this.




A piece of freakin' cardboard! No kidding. You would think that was the greatest toy in the world! Gwendolyn had a few minutes with it too, and had about the same reaction. Who knew? The cat toy people are wasting money! It's cardboard they want. And a ball of paper, of course.