Day 62 - March 1, 2004

Well it's Monday morning and fortunately, it looks like things are improving with the Ori's as Calisto is still eating and isn't losing any more weight at the moment. The Little Warriors are off for their first vaccinations tomorrow so that will be another scary time no doubt. I have this feeling that they are not going to be as placid when being handled by the vet as Tia's litter are. If they are anything like their mum, poor Andy is going to have a fight on his hands when he vaccinates them. Of course they may surprise me and will be as good as gold. I keep having to stop typing to scratch Piper behind the ears as she is sitting on my lap and is expecting my undivided attention. Out of all 4 Orientals, Gabby is still the most cuddly and purry. That girl will follow you around all about the place constantly in the hopes that she will be picked up. Our daughter Mo, picked her up last night for cuddles and refused to put her down as Gabby was just lying in her arms purring away. I think we may be spoiling our babies somehow but knowing our new owners, I am sure they will be doing the same thing. Hera and Calisto are 2 of a kind and are very similar to their mum in the respect that they are incredibly active and very, very naughty and are often the first ones to start a fight. We must be made for keeping them! Xena is simply one of a kind, she likes to "do her own thing" however, she is always one of the first in a battle with the Siamese babies. Calisto is still battling along with her weight, while the other 3 girls are gaining as they should.

Day 61 - February 29, 2004

I'm happy to say that Calisto did make a gain of 45 grams within 24 hours so that was quite a relief. When I weighed her again last night though, she hadn't gained a great deal more so I'm still keeping an eye on her and am weighing her morning and night. I must say a big thank you to Jacqueline, Caryll and Marcelle for their emails and concern about darling Calisto. Cacao had a really bad time on Saturday evening as she spent the whole night being sick. I am sure she has gorged herself too much on the kitten food. Most of Saturday evening was fed monitoring Calisto as well as cleaning up cat sick constantly throughout the night. I've since put Cacao back on a dry food diet and she isn't allowed any kitten food. I'm pleased to say that she hasn't been sick since Sunday morning. They had lots of great games with Uncle Ice yesterday and he was allowed downstairs for a little while to play with the babies. Hera and Calisto spent a lot of time chasing Ice throughout the downstairs of the house which was really funny to see. Gabby was fascinated by Ice but was more interested in walking over my papers and trying to get on my lap for cuddles.

Day 60 - February 28, 2004

I'm very worried about Calisto at the moment as she has lost 40 grams within the last 24 hours. For those of you who don't know, not only is Calisto remaining here with us for the rest of her life, she is also a very special baby as she was born 31 hours after her litter sisters. Apart from the weight loss, she is doing everything else normally. She still plays, runs around, wrestles her sisters, and even eats as per normal. I've been feeding her separately to the others throughout the day, starting with breakfast at 8am, then another meal at 9.30am and I will continue to feed her apart from the others to make sure she is getting the correct amount of food. I have also given her some Nutri Drops to try and boost her up as well. I'm trying not to panic too much and will be keeping a very close eye on her thr0ughout the day and hopefully when I weigh her again tonight, she will have made a substantial gain. If not, I will then see how the next 24 hours go and after that we will take her to our vets. Ironically enough, we actually have an appointment for Tuesday to have the Little Warriors vaccinated so let's just hope that we won't be there on Monday as well. Hera, Gabby and Xena are all doing really well and their weight gains are as they should be so I don't have any worries with them fortunately. They all created havoc in the Kitten Room over night and the first 2 hours of my time this morning was spent cleaning out the entire room and changing all the bedding.

Day 59 - February 27, 2004

Gabby had a lovely visit with her new owner, Caryll, today. It's always lovely to have Jacqueline & Caryll around because they are (and I've said this before I know) such lovely people and I know if I were a kitten, I couldn't ask for a better home to be going to. She spent quite some time getting wonderful cuddles off Caryll and was told how much she was going to be spoilt in her new home and Gabby naturally, loved it all. Calisto and Gabby spent a little while play fighting on the lounge today, showing off for Caryll and Jacqueline. I now take our "Gonzo the Gorilla" up to the Kitten Room of an evening because the Ori babies have developed a real liking for sleeping in Gonzo's arms. I'm finding now that the Oriental babies will sleep a bit longer than the Siamese do and I'm presuming this is due to the 2 week age difference between both litters. Their longest sleep period is during the day where they will sleep for hours on end, refreshed for their hours of activity time during the late afternoon and evening. When I was doing all the babies weight charts this morning, I was surprised to see that the Ori's appear to gain a lot more than the Siamese do. I'm going to sit down one of these do and properly compare the weights on these 2 litters and see if that is the case.

Day 58 - February 26, 2004

Our Little Warriors have been really amusing today. They spent quite a lot of time tearing up and down the lounge, the windowsill and chasing each other all over the place. Little Gabby got stuck on the curtain this afternoon and was hanging by just one arm and had to be rescued. After that incident, I then moved the curtains out of the way. Naturally this fascinated them even more because they had a clear view to the outside world so they just sat there on the windowsill peering out at goodness know what really but it certainly kept them amused for quite some time. Our Ori babies are far more vocal, even at this stage, than the Siamese babies. All 4 Ori's don't hesitate to use their voices when they want cuddles or attention but it's no surprise really as Cacao is exactly the same. Calisto has the biggest appetite of all the babies as she is still always the first to the plate and the last to finish! They have all gotten into the habit now of following me up and down the stairs when they are in the upstairs part of the house. It's normally not too bad, however, I do have to be careful as I've nearly fell down the stairs twice now due to Xena being under my feet. Gabby is definitely the biggest purrer of them all. That little girl just loves being picked up and cuddled and she will follow you from one place to the other constantly in the hope that she will get picked up. Naturally, she does because it's totally impossible to resist Gabby.

Day 57 - February 25, 2004

The Little Warriors have spent most of this morning asleep. They were brought down at 9.30am and apart from a few walks and little plays they have slept right through the day so far. This could be because it's their first time "away from mum" as both mums are upstairs and are having a break from the babies. Poor Gabby was a bit embarrassed today after she tried to jump up on my chair but misjudged the distance and fell on her bum. I gave her a big cuddle and put her on the chair so she wouldn't feel too left out. Xena has spent a lot of the time this afternoon, pouncing on any of the Siamese babies that were dumb enough to go near her. So far she has had some rather full on battles with both Pru and Paige. The eye colour on our babes is still taking a long time to change however it is no longer the same shade of blue that it used to be. As I write this entry, the Oriental babies are tearing up and down the lounge, hiding behind the cushions and pouncing on any other baby who happens to be walking by. I've really struggled today to get one single decent photo of the Ori babies so I've put up the best of a bad bunch. I'll try and get some more early this evening if possible to add on tomorrow.

Day 56 - February 24, 2004 (8 weeks old today!)

Our Little Warriors are now 8 weeks old and are thriving. It's hard to believe that the time has gone so quickly. It really just seems like only yesterday that they were born. They all had a wonderful game last night called "chase each other under mum and dad's bed". We left our bedroom door open so the babes could come and visit if they wanted to for a while. Of course, we were naturally thinking they'd want to come in and hop into bed with us for cuddles. We were half right as they did want to come in, but not for cuddles, just for games. All we could hear was scratching, running and thumping coming from under our bed. Xena is turning into another "Phoebe" in regards to temperament. Whereas the other 3 Ori's are happy to go exploring everything, if Xena finds herself somewhere on her own, she will sit there and cry until either myself or one of the mums goes to her. She doesn't like being on her own and really wants company and doesn't she let us know about it! The babies didn't have the run of the upstairs all evening as by about 11pm, Tia's calling was too much to put up with. She just screams non stop so in the end we had to put all the babies, and the mums in the Kitten Room and shut them up for the night. Fortunately, all the babies were already asleep in there, except for Gabby who was sleeping sprawled out in the hallway, so I picked her up very gently and placed her in bed with the other babies. At least then we managed to get some peace that night. I'm going to have to re-think what I am going to do about the situation tonight.