Day 83 - April 10, 2006

I must admit that I got a bit of a shock when I looked at our Pints this morning because with everything that has gone in during the last 2 days, I hadn't paid as much attention to them as I normally would and it seems as if they have just grown so very dramatically during those last couple of days. In particularly, XXXX and Caffreys are absolutely huge, such incredibly, long, well toned babies. Guinness has also changed and grown, however she is of a much finer build which is so typical of an Oriental, but just like her brother and sister, she is looking really great. It's almost as if overnight, all 3 of them were aware that they are no longer the "babies" in the home and they just suddenly turned into proper kittens. They can all be so very naughty still and if I had to choose one baby who will probably cause the most trouble in their new home from this litter, it is without a doubt, Guinness. She does not understand the meaning of the word "no" and just goes ahead and does what she wants anyway. Caffreys is much more laid back now, so much like his dad, a big soppy boy and XXXX, who can be quite mischievous when she wants to, is still quite a "serious" girl and likes to spend a lot of her time thinking. She is probably the most intelligent out of the three.

Day 82 - April 9, 2006

Again, an extremely short entry today and both entries are the same as Tia Lusso has given birth which you can read about in her kitten diary. But this was totally different to Amarula's babies so my Pints and my Bush Rangers were not "neglected by mum" at all today. They even got their breakfast given to them by me at a normal time, and then had scrambled eggs for lunch. I'm hoping tomorrow, if all is going well with our upstairs babies, that entries can resume as per normal, with the difference being that I am now doing four kitten diaries and no longer just the two. All of our babies are thoroughly enjoying Joe Byrne's blanket which was a present from his new family, Lee and Susie. They brought it over for him when they visited a few days ago and the babies absolutely love it. While Lusso was giving birth this morning, I do not know how she was able to concentrate as all 5 babies were running around upstairs like lunatics and making such loud noises.They now divide their time fairly equally throughout the home and spend half the day upstairs and the other half downstairs. Guinness totally shocked me today because as I was about to start the entries, I heard a noise on top of the large fish tank that resides in the back room and turned around to discover that Amaretto was on top of the tank, but so was Guinness! I do not know how she got up there but I took her down straight away, because if she fell from there, it could be disastrous. However 2 minutes later, the little minx was back up on the tank with her mum. She can be an extremely stubborn girl, in typical Oriental fashion. You will hopefully be able to see by the photos below (which were very kindly taken for our daughter as I was busy at the time), that all of the babies are looking really good after their first vaccinations. There weights are pleasing and their coats are really wonderful.

Day 81 - April 8, 2006

Remember how I was saying very recently how diary entries would be rushed over the next few days? Well that time has now started. As I write this entry it is 1323 on April 8th and to be perfectly honest with you, I have barely seen the Pints or Bush Rangers at all today. Both diaries are exactly the same and in reality, have very little information about the babies in them. My exhaustion is due to the fact that I have not slept in over 24 hours as Amarula went into labour but I won't go into that here as her kitten diary is now online for anyone who wishes to read it. I have vague recollections today of seeing babies spread throughout different parts of the home, upstairs and downstairs either sleeping, playing or feeding from their mothers. But for the life of me, I could not tell you any more than that. Even as I came downstairs three times between the hours of 3am and 6am, I still don't remember actually really seeing them properly at all. Thank goodness for Graham and our daughter who have all the babies' needs under control. I don't think the poor darlings could understand why their human mum was going in and out of the kitchen and wasn't feeding them, even when they were all waiting by the door expectantly at about 0415. There aren't any photos at all either for today which is such a shame as our Bush Rangers turned 10 weeks of age and it has not really been much of a celebration for them at all. Hopefully, depending on how things go tonight and tomorrow, I will try and take a couple of photos for each of tomorrow's entries.

Day 80 - April 7, 2006

Poor Ned Kelly got quite a fright today thanks to Amarula as she still hasn't gone into labour and demanded to be let out of the bedroom this morning. But within 10 minutes of being let out, she was doing the weird things with the babies again which I can't go into now as I'm planning on using that little story for the start of her kitten diary..........if she ever decides to give birth that is!. But anyway, thanks to Amarula, Ned Kelly had a tail look Basil Brush, all his fur was standing on end, he looked twice as large as he actually is, Drambuie when tearing over there like a lion ready to protect her cubs, Granny Cacao ran right through the middle of it, also looking like Basil Brush, while the other babies scattered and hid. It took Buie 10 minutes to calm her son down and I had to remove Amarula from the room and put her back in our bedroom. The only one totally unaffected by the incident was Joe Byrne. I swear, you could drop a bomb on this house and Joe Byrne would just look at the destruction and then carry on with whatever he is doing. He really is such a laid back boy, mind you, so is his father. I do think Ned Kelly has gained his mother's temperament as well as her stunning good looks. As mentioned in the Pints' diary entry today, all entries for the next couple of days will be rushed affairs to the expected babies so please bear with me as it's all very hectic here at the moment.

Day 79 - April 6, 2006

Not a very long entry today at all as I'm patiently waiting for Amarula to go into labour although as she is showing no signs of wanting to do anything at all, chances are it will be a 3am affair! All of our PInts are doing very well after yesterday's vaccinations and we've had no problems at all so far which is great. One thing I always wonder is how come, when the babies are vaccinated, for the next 24 hours they have the most intense wrestling matches, nipping each other on the back of the neck, when they know full well it's going to hurt as that is the vaccine site. I look at my babies sometimes and think they really are not very bright at all. As I write this entry, peace reigns in the home as everyone is asleep on the chair, apart from Guinness who is feeding on Amaretto. Speaking of Amaretto, she is still screaming her head off in full call, along with Sambuca who is still calling. We are grateful though that Drambuie & Toussaint have both stopped calling now.

Day 78 - April 5, 2006

Both entries (apart from the photos) are exactly the same today due to the fact that the kids were all vaccinated. I tell you, trips to the vets in this house is like a military operation, especially today due to how many furries I was taking in there. First of all, I currently only have 3 carriers in the home as Sheridans, bless him, broke my favourite top opening carrier which leaves me with just 3. Now today's visit included, 5 babies which is no problem as they all fit into one carrier by themselves. Then Amaretto and Drambuie both had to go, Retto because her booster is due next week, and Drambuie because she's recently had a litter and I wanted Andy to check her over to make sure she is okay. But it doesn't end there! On top of that, (by the way, Retto and Buie had to share a carrier), I also had to take Ice with me to the vets as today was D-Day. My poor man was losing his testicles :( Yes I know he's been on the site as a neuter for a little while now, however, the reason for that was that we decided to stop doing stud work as our other boys are at Closed Stud. So anyway, Ice needed a carrier of his own which was fine. So that, so far is 5 babies, 3 adults and 3 carriers. THEN.........we had a "spare" cat as my good friend was bringing her beautiful boy along as well because we needed to organise a Certificate of Entirety for him, which in layman's terms means, a certificate stating his tackle is all as it should be, which fortunately it is as I'm planning on mating one of my girls with him next month! So that made 5 babies, and 4 adults and 4 carriers. See what I mean by military operation because remember, as I'm trying to stuff babies into carriers, the ones who are already in there are trying to get out as I stuff more in so no doubt you can imagine what my morning has been like. Well the babies were great in the car on the way there (only a 5 minute drive fortunately), and all of the Pints and Bush Rangers have now had their hearts listened to, mouths/throats/ears/eyes checked, abdomens felt etc. etc. I'm delighted to say that they are all fit and healthy and we were able to proceed with their first ever Flu/Enteritis vaccine. The ONLY baby who is a nightmare whilst being handled was Joe Byrne. No surprise there lol!. He is such a stubborn boy and right or wrong, he was not prepared to be examined without putting up a fight. Naturally, I am the human who left the surgery scarred, not Andy. Joe managed to get his claws, which are like talons, into my hand, leaving blood dripping (from me not him!). So when it comes time for 2nd vaccinations on the 26th, Joe Byrne will going first, instead of second last and I will be wearing gauntlets! As for my poor wonderful friend, well she was able to witness firsthand exactly how paranoid I am when it comes to the babies being examined as I watched Andy's face for the slightest change of expression that would indicate something was wrong, to say nothing of constantly asking him if their hearts sounded fine etc. It's a wonder he puts up with me actually. Then if that wasn't enough of a trauma to put my mate through, upon our arrival back here, she'd barely gotten her bum in the chair when Toussaint decided that her hair need some special grooming "Toussaint Style". Actually, upon reflection, I guess it's a surprise that I have any friends at all! Now, how many of you who have read the above are sitting there thinking to yourselves, "well get on with it, are our babies okay now or have there been side effects?". Don't panic, I'm coming to that. Right, upon the return visit home, the babies were all let out of the carrier, they came bolting into the back room, thinking it must be meal time. I went into the kitchen and prepared some chicken for them. Remember, when you take your babies to vets or shows, always feed them as soon as you arrive home so that they associate a trip out, with something nice happening afterwards (just a little tip as I'm very helpful like that). All 5 babies ate their chicken and as you can see by the photos below, the vaccine has not affected them at all. Joe Byrne was the only baby who decided after 10 minutes of playing that he would have a big sleep, which is fair enough after the effort he put in during his examination! On the whole, it's been a very successful first vaccination but we will be monitoring the babies for the next 48 hours for any lethargy, loss of appetite, high temperatures, lumps appearing on the vaccine site etc. Andy and I discussed the FeLV jab which we normally do, but after talking about the problems that we've had with it, as well as problems one of our owners has had with it, we both agreed, why take the risk, particularly as our babies are all from FeLV negative tested parents and they do not mix with any other cats other than our own. On that note, I shall add some photos, and go and have a cup of coffee and thank the Lord that vaccinations only happen twice while our babies are here with us!

Day 77 - April 4, 2006

None of the babies are extremely happy with me this morning as I hoovered the entire home, including their back room where they had all been sleeping and they were all very put out by this. Still, they will get over it. I did explain to them that if they didn't make such a mess, there's be no need to hoover and a good sweep would do the job, but while ever they scatter litter and food everywhere, then they have to accept that hoovering is part of everyday life. Time is going by so fast and our Pints are now 11 weeks old and all doing extremely well. Yesterday morning when I weighed the babies, I was thrilled to see that XXXX has now also gone over the 1 kilo mark which is wonderful. I just need Guinness to reach it now and I will be very happy. Mind you, her weights are very pleasing and I'm not concerned about her at all any more. She is catching up day by day and is doing just fine. The babies have now had their meals reduced from 6/7 to 3/4 wet meals a day however all 3 of them are eating a lot of the James Wellbeloved Kitten biscuits. Ideally, by the time the babies leave here, they should only be on 2 wet meals a day, one in the morning and one in the evening. Now that they are this age, it's also time that I made a serious effort on getting the paperwork done for all of our new families, particularly as the babies are leaving in about 3 1/2 weeks time.