Apologies for the missed entry yesterday however we have a visiting queen here for a honeymoon with Ashanti and stud work is extremely time consuming.

Gobi and Sahara just love being in the cat run out in the fresh air. They have actually spent all morning out there today and the ironic thing is I am really cold and have the central heating on throughout the house, but obviously the boys don't feel the cold like their human mummy does. It really is wonderful to see them in the run, playing or just lounging around with our adult cat family.

Kalahari will go into the run but isn't really that keen. She made me laugh this morning because Frangelico was rolling around on the floor, playing with a little stuffed toy, and out of nowhere comes Kalahari, tearing up the hallway, taking a flying leap and landing straight on top of Frangelico's stomach. I had to laugh because Jelly is a monster of a Bengal, she's massive, and while she is not the best socialised of cats, she is tolerant of the babies which surprises me and the look of horror on her face as Kalahari landed on top of her was just priceless. However even if Jelly had wanted to react, she didn't get the chance because within seconds of landing, Kalahari was up in the air again and had tore down the other end of the hall. She is a super fast child, but then so are her brothers who still continue to run into the kitten room every time I enter it. Five times today I have had to remove Sahara from the room bless him.

Before beginning today's entry, I must talk about the Deserts' registration. Registrations have now been sent into TICA and the work is currently being processed however I don't think the certificates will be back in time for when our babies leave home. This means that registrations will be forwarded to each of our new families as soon as we receive them from the TICA office. I have now put their "posh" names on our Oriental Kittens For Sale page :)

think that Kalahari has been at the "Naughty Pills" overnight because she has been a proper little minx all morning. I've lost count of how many of our adult cats she has bitten on the ear, or bitten on the tail, to say nothing of what she has been doing to her brothers. She really does amaze me because one minute she looks like an absolute angel, as if butter wouldn't melt, then all of a sudden she will take a flying leap, straight on top of some poor unsuspecting cat. What doesn't help is that her naughty behaviour has been encouraged all morning by Ivy <sigh>.

As for poor Gobi, well I wondered this morning whether or not I would have to make a dreaded phone call to his parents to be, explaining that I had lost their child. It was breakfast time, everyone was herded into the back room (our cats all eat in one room with the door shut due to the fact that we are a raw fed cat household and do not want chicken bones, day old chicks, beef chunks etc. carted throughout the house for obvious reasons) and once everyone was there, I shut the door, went to the kitchen and grabbed the breakfast trays. The trays were put down and I did a quick head count and realised Gobi was missing. Instant panic! I checked the litter trays, the cat run, everywhere, the kitchen, upstairs and he was nowhere to be seen. I went back into the feeding room, still nothing, turned to walk out, turned back around and there he was as if by magic. I can't tell you how relieved I was and even now I have absolutely no idea where he suddenly appeared from.

I have just about given up on photographs with our darn Deserts and it's just as well that they will soon be in the care of their new families who will be able to photograph them to their hearts content. It truly is impossible because they are never all in the same place at the same time, I have to follow them up and down the stairs just trying to get one decent photo and the only time they are actually together is when the 2 adopted mummies, Tia Lusso and Kamora, coax the babies into the little box and then I have no hope at all. To be honest, I don't even know how Lucy, Kami, AND all 3 Deserts even fit in there. From a breeders' point of view, it's incredibly frustrating because not only are all 3 Deserts incredibly photogenic, they are just beautiful, beautiful babies. One of the nicest litters we've ever bred and I do find it quite annoying that now they are older, they will no longer just sit and pose, and look pretty like they did when they were younger. As it stands, the only photos today are of Sahara and even he didn't do me the courtesy of looking at the camera because he was much too interested in what was going on around him.

Sahara was very funny last night because our Oceans were all awake and playing and they then started their door climbing game so Sahara, who was on the other side of the door, decided to show them how it should be done. He leapt from the floor onto the wire screen door, climbed all the way to the top, and back down, stopping at the same level that the Oceans were at. So we had 5 Oceans on one side of the wire just hanging there, and Sahara on the other side staring at them. Our Deserts desperately want to go in and play with our Oceans but the time is not right yet because the Deserts are monsters in comparison to our younger litter and even now, Gobi and Sahara do still play very roughly in the way that only boys can.

I do apologise for missing a few diary entries however I spent no time on the computer over the weekend as we had kitten family visits on Saturday, as well as a visit by dear Gwen, and then on Sunday I had other bits and pieces to catch up with so I'm trying to get back on track now.

It's difficult to believe that our Deserts are already at the Week 12 stage yet as I look at them, it's as if they have always been here because they truly are just part of the family now. They get along with all of our adult cats and they are becoming so much more independent now in that it's not unusual to find the Deserts in totally different parts of the home and not hanging out together all of the time. Although, having said that, they still rely very much much on Tia Lusso's mothering skills and even now they are still feeding from her.

Gobi and Kalahari are delighted that there is a new item on the menu for meal times and they have been over the moon at being offered raw day old chicks, and happily tucked into them alongside the rest of our adult cat family. There are photos of Gobi and Kalahari enjoying their chicks however they are in our raw feeding diary but I have not included them in the kitten diary because the images are quite graphic and certainly would not be appreciated by anyone who tends to be a bit squeamish :) The babies are still being fed separately in the kitchen but they then go and join the rest of the adult cats and also eat with them as well. Out of the 3 babies, it is still Kalahari who loves her food more than her brothers and she continues to be first to the plate, last to leave, and will often go back for more helpings.

Trying to get any sort of decent photo is next to impossible and as you can see by the images below, neither Kalahari nor Sahara had any interest in being photographed because there was milk on offer in the box.