Day 76 - April 3, 2006

Both entries start off the same today but at least I managed to attach some photos. Mind you, the entries did go online quite late, mainly because I'd forgotten to charge the batteries in the camera and I had to wait half the day before I could take any photos. On Wednesday, all 5 babies are having their first set of vaccinations, for Flu/Enteritis so that is going to be a rather hectic day as I also have to have Amaretto's booster done, and my friend is also taking her cat in with me to have his Certificate of Entirety done so all in all, it's going to be a rather hectic visit to the vets. The one good thing is that now that I have totally stopped the FeLV vaccine (for reasons stated on my Kitten FAQ page), that it means I have one less thing to worry about with regards to vaccination reactions. I do think all the babies will be just fine though, particularly the Pints who will be 11 weeks old when they have their first jabs. I have been tossing up over the last few weeks, having seen the difference in these 2 litters and other litters who we have vaccinated right on 9 weeks of age, whether or not to hold off the first set of vaccinations now until the babies are at least 10 weeks old. This would mean they all went later than the 13 weeks but it's something I am definitely considering. Now onto the babies....................

At this exact point of time, XXXX is in the radiator bed having a snooze,(she really loves those beds), Caffreys is sitting on one of the small filing cabinets, where he had been playing with Joe Byrne until Tia Lusso came and plonked herself at the front of it, meaning that Caffreys could not get past her and not even the bravest of babies will not upset a pregnant queen who is due to go into labour in just 4 days time. He's now just climbed up onto a video looking for a way to get as far away from her as possible, so hold on a minute while I go and rescue the poor guy. It is just typical that the minute I go over there and pick him up to move him, Lusso jumps off the filing cabinet anyway! Darling Guinness is sound asleep on top of the fish tank curled up with Joe Byrne and Ned Kelly. I'm not surprised that the Pints are now having their morning nap at 0952 when they have just run around non stop for hours this morning after breakfast. If I had used up the energy that they had, chances are I would be falling asleep as well! I will give them another hour or so and then no doubt they will start to wake up and they can have some scrambled eggs which will give them yet more energy to create yet more havoc and mischief.

Day 75 - April 2, 2006

Both diaries are exactly the same today and there is not a great deal to actually write about. I visited my friend Lynny of Tumbili Siamese to see her beautiful babies before they go to their new homes this coming weekend and as they were sired by Ice, they are very special babies indeed. Then we were out for the majority of the afternoon as we drove friends to Heathrow which is quite a long trip through the M25 traffic as we all know. I do think it's safe to say that I am so glad this weekend is over and we don't have to leave the house now to go anywhere at all for absolute ages. This is something that we are really both looking forward to as our last few weeks have been spent in and out constantly. All of the babies have been quite good this weekend, although Ned Kelly fell off the fish tank.............again! Only this time, no one pushed him, he did it all over his own accord. Not satisfied with just falling off, he also took the bed with him, as well as Joe Byrne! The Pints are just little whirlwinds at the moment as their entire waking time is spent tearing about at full speed, or as my friend Lynny calls it "pinging". They are all such bundles of energy and not a day goes by where we humans don't get run into by speeding furring children.

Day 74 - April 1, 2006

Many apologies for the very late entry (with no photos) however we went to the football today as QPR are playing at home. This is probably my last chance to see them this season as Amarula's babies and Tia Lusso's babies are now due in just 6 and 7 days time respectively. This means I will have 4 litters in the home so I will be totally housebound for a couple of weeks. Of course this means we were only home in the morning as we left at approximately 12 noon to leave and didn't get back until about 6pm. Unlike previous occasions though, the babies were not left with any wet foods i.e. chicken etc. because all 3 Pints now eat lots of the James Wellbeloved biscuits throughout the day and night so I knew the biscuits would suffice until we returned home.

Amaretto has decided to come back into full call which is something we really could do without at the moment, particularly when you consider that Toussaint and Drambuie have been in full call for over a week and are still screaming their heads off all day long, and Sambuca came into call 2 days ago and is singing at the top of her voice 24 hours a day! It's always funny when Amaretto starts calling because I always know when it's about to happen because she constantly carries around the babies' toys in her mouth making little noises as she wanders all around the home with them. She does this for the first few days which is so cute, but then she starts screaming (still with the toy in her mouth) and then it is not so cute as we all go deaf! Fortunately, the babies are not bothered at all by their mum's actions and so long as she still grooms them and lets them suckle, they are more than content.

Day 73 - March 31, 2006

I had to laugh at Guinness this morning because all the babies had just finished a meal, 20 minutes had passed and she decided she may as well have a go at Drambuie's milk bar as well just because Buie happened to be lounging around on the kitten bed. So Drambuie happily obliged, Guinness was in 7th heaven as she had the milk bar all to herself, Drambuie then decided to give Guinness a bath while she was feeding and all was going well until Joe Byrne decided that now would be a good time to try and wrestle with Guinness and chew on her tail (don't panic May, the tail is still in tact). So here's Guinness trying to have a feed, Buie is washing her bottom most vigorously, while Joe Byrne is constantly pouncing over and over again on Guinness' rear end while constantly eating her tail. In the end, Drambuie had enough and she got up and walked off, leaving a rather confused Guinness behind. Poor XXXX had a little scare today because she was happily chomping away at the JW kitten biscuits and Amarula who is heavily pregnant was lying on the kitten bed. Now in her delicate condition, Amarula is not in the most of amenable frames of mind as it is, so when Joe Byrne (yes it had to be him, that boys causes problems for the other babies like you wouldn't believe!) decided now would be a good time to roll around on the bed and try to catch Amarula's tail. The more he tried, the crankier she got, and he just pushed it that one bit too far and she hissed and growled, unfortunately at XXXX as she happened to be closer because she was eating. XXXX got the shock of her life when this cranky black creature had a go at her and she really didn't know what to do. She looked at the food bowl, then looked up at Amarula, then looked back at the food bowl and at this point I decided to intervene. I picked Amarula up and removed her from the room altogether so that XXXX could continue to eat in peace.

Day 72 - March 30, 2006

Caffreys was a little devil last night and so very cheeky! I had put the babies and mum's in the back room to settle down for the night to go to sleep and as I was going in and out of the room with bits and pieces, the little monster saw the opportunity as soon as the door was opened and went running straight out of it, straight into the dining/lounge area. This meant I had to put down what was in my hands, and go running after him. He would stop in the middle of the room, wait until I was just inches from me and he would look at me (and I swear he was laughing!) and he took off again for the other end of the room. I eventually caught him, put him back in and as soon as I went back into the room, again he was out like a shot, smirking at me and having the time of his life. This went on for a good 15 minutes, in and out, and being chased around the rooms and he was loving every minute of it. I must admit that I did find it rather comical as well. Guinness is a very naughty girl today and almost did severe damage to poor Ned Kelly (see the Bush Rangers' entry for today) so I was not particularly happy with her at the time. Mind you, the moment she then sat up and looked so incredibly beautiful, quite naturally she was scooped up for cuddles and kisses. Anyway, she really is only a baby and it wasn't her fault. She is such a bundle of energy and very mischievous, very strong willed Oriental and I do believe also that as she matures, she will take up the role of "Prima Donna" in her new home. Caffreys has now reached the one kilo mark which is wonderful. When I weighed him this morning he was 1007 grams which I'm absolutely delighted with and XXXX is not far behind as she is currently weighing 941 grams so I am sure that by Sunday (if not before), she will also have reached the one kilo mark. Guinness is still obviously quite far behind her brother and sister in the weight department but as you can tell by the few photos of her in today's entry, she is just doing so incredibly well. She is filling out, gaining lots of weight and is looking fantastic at the moment. This is certainly a bit relief for myself, as well as a big relief for her soon to be new human mummy, May Ellis of Mazphas Siamese & Orientals. Guinness will be the first Schimmel kitten that has ever gone to a new home on the Active Register where she will be hopefully become the Oriental foundation queen for May's breeding program. It is quite nerve wracking for me to be honest and I just hope and pray that Guinness will live up to my expectations of her, and that she will do May proud over the years to come. Well it's now time to end today's entries as I have an appointment in the kitchen with a very large stock pot of cooked chicken which is waiting for me to remove it from the bone or else my babies will not be very happy with me.

Day 71 - March 29, 2006

One thing I meant to say yesterday and totally forgot was that you may have noticed in yesterday's photos that Guinness only featured in one of them and that was the "sleeping" photo. The reason for this was that while the other 4 babies were playing rough tumble with, and around, the blue pyramid, Guinness was actually inside the pyramid, getting shoved, further and further back towards the door. She did try to get out a few times but each time she tried, Joe Byrne pushed her straight back in. As you can tell by today's photos, XXXX and Guinness have been playing rough and tumble and creating havoc for the better part of the morning. I think that the most they have slept so far today is about 1 hour in total. Hopefully though this will mean that we can look forward to a peaceful afternoon. Even now as I type this rather short entry, I can hear squeals and when I looked around to see who it was, Guinness and XXXX were at it again, wrestling and biting each other while they play on their kitten bedding. Caffreys is smart enough to stay out of the way and is currently sitting on my chair with me.

Day 70 - March 28, 2006

Ten weeks of age today and the changes in our Pints during the last few weeks are just so very immense. For weeks it seems as if they are not growing and nothing really much has happened with them at all, and then suddenly you look at them and you quite literally take a step back because the changes seem so apparent and you wonder how on earth you missed them before. I can honestly say that I am pleased we will have our Pints with us for that week or two longer, as previously mentioned in the diary due to the vaccination situation with the Bush Rangers. The Pints are just such a joy to have in the home and even when you're having a bad day, you only have to look at them and you are guaranteed to smile. I just hope when the time comes, that they will bring their new family the same joy and pleasure that they have brought into our lives. At the week 10 stage, I am very happy with all 3 Pints' weights, even Guinness who is just doing so amazing. Not only is she putting weight on, and I mean quite substantial daily gains. she is also filling out now and is really looking like she should. I did have a discussion via email with her new owner just the other day to give her an update on Guinness because as it stands at the moment, my current thoughts are to keep her back just an extra week or two until she has reached a weight that I am happy to let her leave here at. When babies go to their new homes, it is a time full of stress because their whole lives are suddenly turned upside down and I want to be 200% sure that Guinness is fit enough, and weighs enough, to be able to deal with these changes. I know that mentally, she is more than capable of fitting into a new home incredibly well. XXXX is turning into one of those cats who has such deep thoughts about absolutely everything that goes on in her life. She has the mot vivid blue eyes that just see straight into your soul and she watches everything in her surroundings before acting on something. I am sure she plans out every aspect of her life. Don't get me wrong, she does tear about like a lunatic and start a lot of fights and is so energetic, but she is also a real "thinker", much more so than Caffreys or Guinness. Caffreys is just a typical boy (sorry guys), which means, he is soppy, loving, and if I were totally honest, "a few roos short of the top paddock" as I would say. Guinness on the other hand is a feisty little girl, and extremely impetuous, she often leaps into things without putting much thought into it at all. However, the one thing that all 3 Pints have in common is the fact that they are such happy, confident, and incredibly loving little babies.