We are 9 weeks old now! (No entries for the weekend at all)

Day 60 - October 26, 2006

Today's entries are not particularly long as I am running a bit behind today and it's already almost 1pm as I start the kitten diary entries for the day but fortunately the main chores are out of the way i.e. all the floors have been hoovered, mopped and carpet cleaned, litter trays have all been done, babies have been fed (more than once!) and the washing is under control :)

Pepsi was the only Burp (doesn't that sound ridiculous! "the only Burp") who wanted to eat lunch today. All of the Burps ate breakfast quite heartily but at lunch time, they were all curled up and sound asleep and not even the smell of food could lure them from their slumber. Mind you, I must not complain because when babies are sleeping, the home is peaceful :) The Burps spent the majority of this morning tearing up and down the stairs like absolute lunatics, chasing each other and in general, being little hooligans in the way that only Siamese and Orientals can.

Day 59 - October 25, 2006

Our Burps really are a different litter in comparison to every other litter we have had. I am not sure why because Cointreau is from our own line and we already know the personalities/temperaments that run in that line. Sheridans has now sired a number of babies for us and again we are fully aware of the personalities that he passes on, but never, have we had such "independent" babies for lack of a better word. I don't mean independent in the respect that they don't like people or other cats, instead, I mean independent of me. As I've been stating throughout their kitten diary, they have quite literally, along with the help of their mum, raised themselves with no interference at all from me. Now at just over 8 weeks of age, they continue to be extremely self sufficient. The only difference between a couple of weeks ago, and now, is that they have suddenly turned into fully fledged mischievous Siamese babies are are getting into absolutely everything. The kitten room now, every single morning, it a total and utter mess with books (my books!) thrown out of the book case and I know the Burps are responsible because not only have I seen them, but also, the Gamblers are not large enough to climb into the book case yet. Cointreau has almost given up trying to discipline her children because they just do not take any notice of her at all now, which is fairly typical for babies of this age.

Day 58 - October 24, 2006

It would appear that the Burps have now adopted the Gamblers, although, I think it was more a case of the Burps wanted their old room back, rather than them wanting to be with Drambuie and her babies. I had accidentally left the door open to the kitten room, so the Burps went in and made themselves at home. Cointreau didn't mind at all although I did smile when she was walking around the room, counting her Burps, when one of the Gamblers started talking rather loudly so she went over to her, and looked incredibly confused and was unsure whether or not she should comfort the baby. The Burps are like totally different kittens now, and they have really come out of the shells during the last week. Of course what worries me is the influence that the Gamblers may have on them as the Gamblers are not the best behaved of children to say the least and whilst I did want the Burps to become more mischievous, I don't want them to be quite as naughty as the Gamblers are so it's a case of trying to find a happy medium :) All 4 of our Burps are really into their kitten biscuits at the moment and while they are still feeding from Cointreau, they are also eating a lot more of the biscuits which I am really pleased about.

Please note that the photos were taken first thing this morning, before I'd hoovered or cleaned the room and I have named all the photos simply, the Burps and/or the Gamblers to try to save a bit of time.

Day 57 - October 23, 2006

Tragically, we lost our darling Boule in the early hours of this morning so please note that there will be no diary entry at all today.

Day 56 - October 22, 2006

Today again, I am so sorry, but there are no photos. Tomorrow, I will be back to normal! As we were away all of yesterday afternoon, and early evening, it means I am very behind in everything here in the house. We have also been busy settling in our beautiful new Bengal kitten, Frangelico.

Our beautiful Burps are 8 weeks old today so this saw the integration of our babies with the rest of the feline family and I have to say it has gone much better than expected. Up until today, the Burps have been brought downstairs every morning and put straight into Graham's room. In his room, they were away from the rest of our cats but were able to see them and sniff them through the wire door. The time had come however, for them to start to become part of family life, which, for those of you who have been to our home, will agree it's fairly chaotic. For the first hour of being downstairs, the Burps had the time of their lives tearing up and down the hallway, as well as rather cautiously exploring the back room where our adults spend a lot of their time. I was delighted to see that the adults were not phased at all by yet another new set of babies invading their space and after a few cursory sniffs, the odd growl, they were satisfied that the babies were okay and that they may as well put up with them. Mind you, no one really had much of a choice because within 10 minutes of me bringing the Burps, the bed, and all their stuff downstairs, Ashanti decided to have one of his mad moments <sigh> and spent over an hour tearing up and down, while I was trying to settle the Burps in. I tell you, I love that boy dearly, he is the light of my life, but blimey he can be an absolute terror when he sets it mind to it! None of our Burps were bothered to see this mad Oriental Classic Tabby trying to entice them to play and it wasn't long before they started to join in. All was going incredibly well until Sprite fell in one of the water bowls and needed to be dried off. It was at that moment that Cointreau had decided she no longer wanted children who were running riot and she herded them all into bed and made them stay there. On the whole though, it has gone extremely well and I'm delighted with how well the Burps have adapted. The only problem I have is that our adult cats are now constantly eating the Burps' kitten food so I have to monitor that very closely.