We are 8 weeks old now!

Late yesterday afternoon I was looking with Graham at some videos that he took at our show on Sunday, and out of the corner of my eye I saw a very tiny little red flash streak past behind me in the downstairs hallway. I turned around and saw that Ryan, Kenny, and CC, were all well and truly down the stairs and playing chase in the hallway. I couldn't believe it. Of course the moment I started to walk towards them they shot back upstairs bless them but I am really pleased to see them starting to explore the home properly now. Kenny and Victor are massive boys and tomorrow I will share our Indians' weights with you because they will be 8 weeks old tomorrow.

At the moment, our Indians love to run and play just as much during the evening as they during the daytime and for such elegant creatures, how on earth they manage to sound like a herd of elephants is beyond me. By rights, they should be extremely light on their paws but to hear them running about you would think that each Indian weighed a tonne! They are such fun children and whilst they all have similar personality traits as do all of Ashanti's children, they also have their own special little personality quirks.

Our Indians are really starting to have fun and games in the upstairs part of the home now and each time I go upstairs, there are big babies and little babies creating total and utter havoc. As of yet they still have not ventured down the stairs but still Drambuie sits guard refusing to allow her children downstairs. She should know better though because when they are ready to come down the stairs, not even Buie will be able to stop them.

Rafael made photo session very hard today because whenever I was trying to take photos, she was playing with the camera lead and chewing on it, so more often than not, as I pressed the button, she moved the camera. I've not downloaded the photos yet but I am expecting a few blurred images thanks to Rafael. Of course, I did keep picking her up to cuddle her, she is such a dolly, a really pretty child, but then all of our Indians are. With regards to personalities, I do have to say that CC is the most active and the most mischievous. If there is trouble to be found, or a fight to start, you can guarantee that CC is at the forefront of it all. She really is going to be such a handful for our mate Sharon. I do have to smile though because when the time comes for CC to have babies of her own, the thought of little terrors driving Sharon insane does please me ;) For any Siamese breeder to take their first step into Orientals is a massive shock as Sharon will find out soon enough.

Time and time again, I have said the same thing about our Indians, and that is what a happy, beautiful litter they are.

I do apologise for today's lack of entry as both kitten diaries are exactly the same and are pretty well non existent. There is a very good reason for this :) Yesterday, Graham and I were in Leicester for the day at a cat show, our 2nd ever TICA show. We were showing Cacao and Ashanti and we are thrilled to announce that both cats had outstanding results and Ashanti, who is our Monkey's and Indians' sire, is now a Champion. It really was a fantastic day out and we met up with some mates, as well as a couple of our kitten families who were visiting. Of course being away all day long meant that today was spent manically trying to catch up with everything and even now at 1747, I am still way behind. We also had a lovely kitten family visit us, well, they were here to visit Hunky Monkey, but I will talk about that with you tomorrow. I am hoping that by tomorrow morning, I will slowly be getting back on track and we will have proper diary entries with photos.

Such very short diary entries today as we had a kitten family visiting, and we also have a very long and tiring day planned for tomorrow. There will be no diary entries tomorrow at all.

Our Indians are all starting to venture out of the room now but the problem is that Drambuie still feels they shouldn't be allowed out so she sits on the steps and refuses to let any of the babies to past her at all. I'm hoping that within a few days she will calm down and start to allow them more freedom.

I didn't get around to opening up the kitten room door yesterday afternoon, mainly because I looked at our Indians and our Monkeys and though that they were definitely way too small. Absolute madness I know! This morning I knew that I couldn't put it off any longer so as soon as the mum's and the Indians had eaten breakfast, the door was opened up. By the time I went back up to do the cleaning, still the Indians had not left the room. Drambuie of course was out of the room like a shot, thrilled to bits to have whole house access again and I don't think it will be particularly long before the Indians are out and starting to explore. They should really feel a bit embarrassed by the fact that the first baby who actually left the room was Punky Monkey and she is only 24 days old!

I have to say that I'm really looking forward to the start of next year's litters in the respect that it will be so much better. This year has been absolute hell with staggered litters because of Ashanti as you would know if you have been following this years' kitten diaries. It's times like now, with the Indians and the Monkeys where it becomes apparent just how awkward it is. Normally, by the time the babies are 3-4 weeks of age, the kitten room door should be open and exploration of the home begins but as the Monkeys are so far behind the Indians in size and age, the door couldn't have been opened until now. With the first of our 2008 litters, those particular ladies are all due within a few days of each other which means that we will be totally back to normal. There is obviously no chance now of any more unplanned matings as our boys are happily ensconced in their own room.

Our Indians have come to the conclusion that the Monkeys are definitely there friends because up until lunch time today, the Indians were happy to let the Monkeys join in their chase and wrestle games. They even tried to entice the Monkeys to play with them by chasing them and pinning them to the ground. It is so lovely to see both litters mixing and playing together. After the lunch time feed today I was back in the kitten room and discovered both mum's, and all 11 babies in the "posh box" together which is fantastic. I knew it wouldn't take long for our ladies to become best of friends and they have not proved me wrong. It is so funny though to see the Indians lying next to the Monkeys because Kenny and Victor are both so massive and they make our Monkeys look like newborns in comparison.

The time seems to be going by very quickly now and it's easy to believe that our Indians have now reached 7 weeks of age, particularly considering their excellent weights. They are all doing so very well, even Casey and whilst she is over 200grams smaller than her big brothers, this is no concern at all because they are both exceptionally large boys. She is on par with Rafael and is doing just fine.

With this litter, there is a chance that the kitten registrations may not be available at the time the babies are ready to leave. The reason for that is that we will be registering these babies with TICA and having spoken with other breeders, it is taking quite a while for the registrations to come back, in some cases, up to 6 weeks. The reason for this however is that they are sent out from the USA so allowances have to be made for the postal systems. I have been informed that TICA registration certificates are much nicer than the current pink slips issued by the GCCF :)

Tomorrow will be the day when the kitten room door is left open permanently (apart from bed time) as the time has come for our babies to mix with the rest of the household and to have the run of the house. I don't expect the babies to all coming running straight out of the room at once, they will explore in their own time when they feel ready.