Day 76 - November 11, 2006

They are not long entries today as we had a visit from a possible new kitten family so by the time I start these entries it's quite late in the afternoon. Before I go any further though, I must say a huge Congratulations to May of Mazpahs Siamese & Orientals for a wonderful show result today with Schimmel Mazpahs Castana.

Like everyone else in the home, the Burps totally hate this cold weather so they have spent a lot of their time cuddled up with anyone who wants to share their bed. There truly is nothing better than body warmth from another feline. They did have their usual mad games this morning, but then at about 11:30am they all went to sleep and have been curled up ever since. Of course this does mean it has been peaceful for me, but the problem is that when they do finally wake up and have another meal, they will then be on the go for hours, creating havoc.

Day 75 - November 10, 2006

There's not many photos in any of today's kitten diaries as I'm rather behind today although goodness knows why! But as I've been on such a roll and have been managing to get photos in every day again, I figured better to put in a few than none at all.

The Burps have a new playmate in Ashanti and spend a lot of their waking time playing chase with him and wrestling with him. They also love to curl up with him to sleep. What worries me is that Ashanti is an absolute terror and I really do not need him teaching the Burps his own bad habits! As well as playing with Ashanti, unfortunately, they also spend a lot of their waking time climbing up my back or my legs which is just a tad painful. But the main thing is that they are having lots of fun and that is all that really matters. Even now I am still surprised at how very well they fit in with our adult cats and being part of the family. Coke is the worst when it comes to taking over my chair and it's a real struggle to sit down because for he thinks that my chair actually belongs to him so I'm forever having to move over to give him more room.

Day 74 - November 9, 2006

The Burps have been in fine form this morning. They have not slept at all and are STILL tearing around the home like lunatics. They have just been so very mischievous and have made it really difficult for me to get much done at all, let alone kitten diaries. It must be something in the air, or perhaps the fact that the sun is shining, who would know. I am just desperately hoping they will have a nap this afternoon that will last at least 3 hours :) I have had to be so careful when I walk through the hallway in in the room where I spend my days because I can guarantee that no matter which direction I am going in, there will be at least one Burp, if not two, under my feet. They have even been scaling the wire screen doors, right to the very top, and then back down again. What is worse is they have also encouraged our adult cats to join in so by the time 1pm came, I was at my wits end and just to stop them creating any more havoc, I fed them :) :) :)

Day 73 - November 8, 2006

I managed to take more photos than usual of our burps this morning but it was not easy let me assure you as they were far too busy running around and having fun to worry about posing for the camera. At the moment, they are all sound asleep, under the watchful eye of Uncle Sage who takes his babysitting duties quite seriously. I'm really delighted that our Burps are now perfectly comfortable being surrounded by the rest of our cats day and night. When you consider they have not been downstairs particularly long, they have settled in perfectly well. They still have not ventured out into the cat run yet, but I can't say that I blame them in this weather. Mind you, they are now at the stage where they are jumping on the tops of the backs of the chairs so it probably won't be too long before they realise that there is an outside world as well. I honestly don't think that it has occurred to them yet that the windowsill leads to a totally new world in the form of the cat run.

Day 72 - November 7, 2006

I actually took loads more photos today than what is in the diary. The majority of them did not turn out because when I pointed the camera at them, the little buggers chose that exact moment to jump from one bed to the next, or from the bed to the chair so I just gave up in the end! It's taken them a little while but they have finally gotten the hang of playing "paper football" so for the last 2 days and nights, the Burps have been tearing around my room, and up and down the hallway chasing, and batting about, their little paper footballs. It always amazes me that no matter what toys the babies are given, nothing is ever better than a game of football. They are all relying less and less on their mum for food now and instead, as well as their normal wet/cooked meals each day, they are turning to the bowls with kitten biscuits in them. Cointreau is actually at the point now where she is bored of feeding them because she knows at 10 weeks of age they do not need to feed from her anymore so whenever any of the babies latch on, after about 2 minutes, Cointreau actually kicks them off and then wanders off away from them.

Day 71 - November 6, 2006

You will no doubt have noticed we have skipped a few entries yet again. At the moment, I barely have time to eat or sleep, let alone write the kitten diaries. Friday through to Saturday was immensely hectic as we had visitors each day and a couple of our old babies left us so it has been absolutely manic and I can not seem to find the time to catch with the entries. So yet again, this is a new week and it should (hopefully) be a fairly quiet week in the respect that we have no one due to visit so I am working like mad to try and catch up so that hopefully tomorrow's entries can have photos in them as per normal.

Our darling Burps are now 10 weeks of age and have moved downstairs to live which they have coped with extremely well and let me assure you, that is a relief! I look at them sometimes and think they appear to be growing at a rather rapid rate which is no surprise as they are currently eating us out of house and home. These boys have tremendous appetites, yet other days I look at them and think they haven't grown at all. On the whole though, they are doing very well and they have their own bed set up, right beside me so that they feel secure, and I can do my best to keep our adult cats from taking over the bed during the day time at least. Of course the one problem with this is that when the Burps wake up, the think it's lots of fun to climb up human mummy's legs until they have reached the chair and the work surface. Now that they are getting older, they will eat virtually anything but their favourite food is still freshly cooked chicken with either Hi Life or Natures Menu mixed into it. They are not so keen on the mince now, although when push comes to shove, if they are hungry enough, they will eat it. None of the Burps have discovered the cat run yet, but that is no surprise at all because it's so darn cold that only the bravest, and most resilient of our adult cats is even venturing into the run at the moment.