Day 48 - October 14, 2006

There is not really any entry or any photos for today as we have spent the day exhibiting Sage at the Cambria Cat Show today and we are extremely pleased with his results. This meant however, that we left home at 6am and didn't arrive back until early evening, meaning that our daughter was in charge of the children for the day and she did a fabulous job :)

As we weren't around today, the Burps did not come downstairs because I don't want them in the same room as the dogs unless Graham or myself so they have spent the day (according to our daughter), playing chase and having wrestling matches with each other.

Day 47 - October 13, 2006

The Burps are coped quite well with their new "room" overnight and we did hear them having fun and games, playing chase in the upstairs bathroom, on the landing, and up and down some of the stairs so we have had no problems with them at all now that they have been evicted from their room. They really are probably the easiest litter I have had in such a long time, mainly in the respect that apart from change their bedding, feed them, and love them, I've had very little to do with regards to any sort of "hard work". Mind you, considering the struggle I've been having with the Gamblers, then this is a real bonus. I think that Graham is disappointed a bit that they are not fully at ease in his room yet, and whereas the Cereals were little terrors in there and were climbing all over his desk and sleeping on his lap or in his jumper, the Burps aren't doing this at the moment, but it is still very early days and he may regret it once they start because they babies are much bigger than the Cereals were! At the moment, Fanta is definitely the bravest out of all the Burps, in the respect that he wants to know exactly what is going on, and wants to know what "dad" is doing. He was the first to climb up on dad to check him out and to see what was on his desk.

Day 46 - October 12, 2006

All 3 kitten diaries are the same today due to changes in the home that have affected all babies. I always knew this day would be the hardest, both physically and mentally, and how right I was unfortunately. When I woke up this morning, and after litter trays had been done, and everyone had been fed, it was time to hoover Graham's room so that the Burps could come downstairs as they have now been evicted from the kitten room. It took me roughly an hour to do the floor and then transfer all the babies, their bed, litter tray, Cointreau, toys etc. into Graham's room and set them up. What is actually depressing is that by the time late afternoon comes, they will all be moving back upstairs into the upstairs landing as that is where they will be living of an evening from now onwards. Anyway, once they had been settled in, I then hoovered the main part of the kitten room that the Burps had come out of. The next job was to move Drambuie and the Gamblers out of their smaller section in the kitten room, and put them in the main part, along with all their equipment and kitten box etc. This was extremely difficult because the problem with the Gamblers is that they are very attached to me and I can not move in the room without them clinging to my feet and climbing my legs because they want cuddles. This is of course, lovely, but not when I have hours of work ahead of me. Trying to get in and out of the 2 sections in the kitten room was horrendous but eventually everyone was out and the Gamblers were tearing around the kitten room while Drambuie was going nutty about the fact that her kids suddenly had more freedom. The next step was then to hoover and clean the smaller section of the kitten room where the Gamblers had been because Toussaint and the Trotters had to be moved in there, along with their bed, litter tray and food/water bowls. I moved the babies in first, and then Toussaint, and that is where the problems then started...........................Toussaint was incredibly stressed by the fact that she had been moved, and this was not helped by Drambuie being her typical self and making it perfectly clear that there was a new mum and babies in the room (she had previously been more than happy to share with Cointreau and the Burps), and this was upsetting Toussaint an awful lot. I then had to get a sheet to put all around the wire panels that divide the room so that Toussaint could not see out and Drambuie could not see in. I then came back downstairs for a sip of what was now a very cold coffee, flew back upstairs only to discover Drambuie had climbed straight over the wire panel and was in Toussaint's part of the room. Obviously there was no fighting going on because mothers do not fight with each other as they know that babies must be protected at all costs, so Toussaint was sitting on her children, while Drambuie was walking around glaring at her. I took Drambuie out, came downstairs and told Graham that we had to sort the panels out now before we had a real disaster. At this point, I must explain the panels don't go all the way to the ceiling as there has never been any need for it and if you remember, the panels were put together very hurriedly, as a very temporary separator while we had more than 2 litters in the home of different ages. We then had to staple more wire to the top of the panels (yes we're looking like a prisoner of war camp at the moment!) and bend them over forwards so that Drambuie could no longer enter get in over the top of the panels. By the time that was done, I had to finish hoovering the entire house, have another few sips of yet another cold coffee, and make a start on the diary entries. As I'm sure you can appreciate, there are no photos at all in any of today's entries because I still have a minimum of 15 loads of washing to do, to say nothing of yet more feeds for mums and babies. But at least, hopefully, the worst is over, as the kitten moving is all now complete, and we can get back to normal which is very important particularly as we have an incredibly hectic few days from Friday onwards.

The Cointreau's haven't been too concerned about being evicted (wait until tonight when they realise they can't get into their kitten room!) but they have been fairly quiet out in Graham's room today, but they are still eating, still drinking, and are exploring a bit, so all things considered, this is actually not bad progress at all. I think Cointreau prefers being downstairs again now and Fanta was fascinated with Sage on the other side of the wire door and had no idea what to make of him, so he sat there, staring at him through the wire. I am positive that Sage was thinking "oh no, more of the little things that annoy me". Tomorrow, while the babies are downstairs, we may have the dogs in for short periods so that the babies can start to get used to them.

Day 45 - October 11, 2006

There are only a few photos in the diary entries for today and they aren't long entries. We are still trying to recover after yesterday's events and have so much to do now as it's a totally new routine for us with having an extra litter in the home and lots of adjustments have to be made so I would ask that you please bear with me and hopefully by tomorrow, diary entries will be a bit more normal.

Due to the vile weather we have had, it has meant that today we have been unable to put the dogs outside so they have spent the day in Graham's room. This then meant that the Burps couldn't come downstairs because for the first time when they are in Graham's room, I don't want the dogs in there until the babies are comfortable with the room and know where their litter tray and bowls etc. are. But they are definitely more than ready because they are just creating havoc upstairs now and they really do need a new room to explore. They are totally fascinated with the Gamblers (isn't everyone?) because the Gamblers are now in and out of their kitten box, running around constantly and they keep running up to the barriers that divide the room, so the Burps then run over to them to check them out and to try and invite them out to play which is incredibly sweet.

Day 44 - October 10, 2006

There is no entry at all for today as we have new babies in the home.

Day 43 - October 9, 2006

There are no photos yet, but I am hoping to try and get some online a bit later this afternoon, but am not going to make any promises because everything is still riding on 2 hourly feedings, and Toussaint possibly going into labour.

Fanta was delighted to hear that he will be sharing his home with Dawn, Larry, Duncan and the reset of the family. He was thrilled to bits when I told him, as it had been a choice between Fanta and Pepsi. Our Burps don't realise it, but today is their last day of life as they know it in the kitten room, because from tomorrow onwards, their days will be spent in Graham's room downstairs, and then their evenings will be spent upstairs where our older babies used to be (they have now been evicted and have joined the rest of the feline family here) and it's going to be quite a big change for our Burps but hopefully, they will adjust quite quickly.

Day 42 - October 8, 2006

Well, at 6 weeks of age, I am afraid to say that as each day passes, our Burps are getting messier and messier! They appear to leave a trail of destruction behind them, wherever they have been. They are acting more like Oriental babies with regards to the chaos but then, remembering that their grandmother, Sambuca, is an Oriental, perhaps that is where it stems from. Although to be fair to them, for the last few days there has been no more than one book at any given time out of the bookcase and on the floor which is a bit of a relief really as I am extremely fond of my books. They have been leading their mum on a merry dance for the past 3 hours as they have been playing chase games in and out of their room, across the landing, in the bathroom, and it really is so funny to see these tiny little babies tearing through rooms at full speed with their mum tearing along after them, nagging them while she runs. On one hand, I can't quite believe that they are already 6 weeks old, I think because the past 6 weeks has simply flown by and I do not know where the time has gone but on the other hand, they seem so advanced compared to some of our other litters. It's going to be very interesting once they come downstairs to live with Graham during the day and I know that Graham is rather looking forward to it. I'm not so sure about Cointreau though.