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.

The Vacuum

Part of the socialization process is to get these guys used to stuff they will see and hear in their new homes. We don't hold back much, and this weekend, we had the vacuum cleaner upstairs. No, we didn't just stick it in the room and turn it on. I was in the room with the "kids" and Joy turned the vacuum on in the hall. The door was closed, but it was a new sound for them. As you can see, they were a little freaked at first, but within minutes, they had forgotten all about it, and were happily playing, ignoring it.






Mama has now finished her antibiotics! Her URI is gone, and she can breathe. Another important element is I don't have to give her the meds, so she is warming up to attention even more. She doesn't like to be picked up yet, but she does like to be brushed, and loves her neck scratched. I am happy to oblige.



The itty bitties are getting bigger, and more bold. They charge the door now every time they hear it opening. Mama does too. She came nose to nose with Buck yesterday, but neither one of them were phased. She is a little more leary of Bentley though, but the babies aren't the least bit worried about him.



They love to climb on the kitty condo. I noticed when they get sleepy, that's where they head now, not on the bed where mama hangs out. They are a lot of fun to watch and so far, knock on wood, they have stayed out of trouble.

Looking up

Mama surprised me yesterday. I was in the room playing with the itty bitties, and I felt something by my back. All 3 babies were in view, so I looked, and it was her. I have been really trying to give her attention, but she is really shy and scared. Doesn't help that every time I pick her up I am sticking something down her throat. I am trying to really giver her attention when I am NOT giving her medication, so she doesn't only associate me with that, so I guess it's starting to pay off.

The babies are growing, and getting sweeter by the day. Gibby is always much happier to climb on me than he is to play with the charmer. The girls are all over that toy, and Gibby likes it too, but he is more of a lap cat.

I put the collars on Gwen and Gibby too. Only had one on Greer before, mainly so I could tell them apart. They were funny trying to figure out what the heck was around their necks. Didn't take them long to forget about them, but both of them were grabbing the tag in their mouths and walking around for a while. All kittens have ADD, so the trauma didn't last long.


Gwen, precollar

More stuff behind that door!

Last night mama cat heard Bishop crying, and she was growling in the room. Gwen heard mama growl, and was on red alert for a moment. I happened to be in there playing with them, and Bishop had his mouse toy and brought it upstairs. Bishop sometimes sounds like he is in pain when he has his toy. He makes quite the piteous mewing with that little toy mouse in his mouth. More than one time we have gotten up in the middle of the night, thinking that Buck is attacking the poor guy, just to find out he is playing with his mouse.

All the residence seem to be doing fine. One of the neighbor kids came over yesterday to play with them. They love company, and proceeded to climb all over her. She seemed to enjoy it. Since her family adopted 2 from the first litter we fostered 3 years ago, I couldn't even try to push another one off on them.

These guys might be nondescript to look at them, but they have enormous personalities. Look at all the Catzilla poses! Mostly it's the girls. Gibby is happy to climb up on my side while I am laying on the ground taking pictures of Greer and Gwen.



Gwen looks like the Catzilla on either a Saturday Night Live sketch, or Monty Python.



Gibby sharpens his claws on the mega condo





Cat or Squirrel?



Catzilla everywhere!






Greerzilla



Yes, mama and I have a sort of truce. She actually likes the attention, although she is still a little wary. She is sometimes up for a little play, and I discovered she does indeed now have a little milk! The babies are pretty much weaned at this point, but I guess it's a sign she is getting healthy now.

What's on the other side of the door?

The itty bitties found out this weekend that something lurks on the other side of the door. They have not seen it, but they know it's there. You can see they are interested in it, and you can see from the first photo that it has a pink tongue! Yes, that is Bentley's tongue. He has been interested in the itty bitties for some time, but this is the first time they have been interested in him. Mama has known he is there, but keeps clear. When no one is home, Bentley is not allowed upstairs. We put up a gate when we got him, and found out that it is best to keep it up, so he can't chase our resident cats up and down the stairs all day.



The Cat Charmer still seems to be the toy of choice for the itty bitties. Gwen is the funniest, when she has it in her mouth, and has both paws up and out, which is what I call "Catzilla."








Greer grabs on to the cat charmer.

The weekend was pretty quiet, although mama had a bout of liquid stool Sunday night, Monday morning. It seems to have passed now. I think it might be the Albon kicking in. All I can say is, thanks for hitting the box mama!