We are 5 weeks old now!

Day 34 - June 6, 2007

Today, we are trying to get back to some form of normality after losing our Sabre, so our kitten diaries have resumed as per normal, complete with photos just in case some of you have forgotten what your babies look like. Before I start with the entries though, there is a couple of things................firstly, we would like to congratulate the Maroochydore home for their great show results at the Somerset Cat Club show on June 2. We are delighted for Teen, Tone, and Val and extremely proud of both girls' results. Secondly, we would like to thank all those very kind people for their messages on Siamese Cat Chat regarding the loss of Sabre. Your posts are very much appreciated. We would also like to thank all those lovely people who were kind enough to take the time out of their busy lives to email their condolences. As of yet, I have still not replied to the emails but will do so very soon. Now, onto our babies................

I think I really should admit that Ugly Duckling and Little Tuk must be much better looking than I thought at first because I keep mixing them up with Liquorice! This should give you an indication of how those 2 are actually growing. I have lost count of the times I've picked them up by mistake thinking that they were Liquorice, and I have also picked up Liquorice only to discover that it's not Liquorice but one of the Tails of Hans Christian Anderson. Thank goodness the Capitals are so very much younger or I would be mixing the 3 Black children in that litter as well! Still, so long as everyone gets the right baby to take home, then there shouldn't be a problem ;) I have totally given up trying to keep track of our Tails of Hans Christian Anderson now. During that recent period where there no diary entries online, all 4 baby have turned into little monsters and when they are running about, I have no idea where any of them are at any given time, although obviously they are in the kitten room as they don't have upstairs access yet but that will soon change. I nearly squashed Little Tuk the other day because I pulled the chair out to sit down so I could feed Edinburgh and I sat on Little Tuk who was playing on the chair. They climb up to the top of the scratch post, they climb from there onto the window sill, and the wooden unit, they climb on top of the work surface, they are just everywhere. No matter where I look, there is a Tail of Hans Christian Anderson. Even their own mother's have given up trying to keep track of them and they just let the babies get on and go where ever they want to.

Day 33 - June 5, 2007

There is no diary entry for today.

Day 32 - June 4, 2007

All 3 diary entries are the same today.

During the weekend, our mature dog, Sabre, started to deteriorate. She had been suffering with arthritis and leg problems for a few years now and was on medication as well as herbal supplements. Whilst she was not able to run around like she used to, she was still mobile and had quality of life. Her deterioration was very rapid and with a heavy heart, we phoned our vet first thing this morning and we explained the situation and took her in at 10am. Sabre was suffering and was in pain and we made the very difficult decision to let her go to Rainbow Bridge. I stayed with Sabre while she was euthanased and in a week or so, her ashes will be returned to our home, where she belongs. Sabre was 16 years old when she left us and she had been Graham's faithful companion for 15 1/2 years and they both had a very special bond. I could not put into words, just how special Graham and Sabre's relationship was. Our home seems so empty without her and our hearts are broken. In time, Sabre will be added to our Rainbow Bridge page. We know that she is not in any more pain and that her suffering has ended, but that is little comfort for the pain and loss we are experiencing. We know that as time passes, we will learn to live without her in our lives, but she will never, ever be forgotten and she will remain with us always.

Day 31 - June 3, 2007

There is no diary entry for today.

Day 30 - June 2, 2007

There is no diary entry for today.

Day 29 - June 1, 2007

Our Tails of Hans Christian Anderson seem to be perfectly content to be sharing their mum's and their box with the Capitals and it is very sweet to see them all curled up together. Weaning is still progressing, very slowly but surely, and all 4 babies took a huge interest in lunch today which was some freshly cooked fish with butter on it, and mixed in with that was some Natures Menu and some Hi Life. Little Tuk wasn't sure whether she was supposed to eat it or stand in it bless her, but all 4 babies definitely had a few nibbles from the tray and ideally, I would like to get them eating more now because this would mean they would rely a bit less on their mum's for milk which wouldn't be a bad thing now because the Capitals are totally dependant on the milk. I haven't offered scrambled eggs to our babies yet but I might do that tomorrow and see what they think of that. You can probably tell by the photos below that the babies have been having quite an active day today and there has been lots of wrestling, pouncing, and chasing going on throughout the room and throughout the spare box. It's so hard to photograph them when they are in action though, but I managed to get a couple of semi decent photos.

Day 28 - May 31, 2007

We have had an excellent start to Week 4 of the Tails of Hans Christian Anderson's lives as weaning has now begun. I had fed the mums at about 7pm last night and to my surprise, both Snow Queen, and Ugly Duckling, joined Liquorice at the food plate and they happily tucked in to a meal of freshly cooked chicken, mixed in with Felix kitten food and Natures Menu kitten food. I couldn't believe it because up until now, the babies had shown no interest whatsoever in eating any solid foods so I'm really proud of our 2 babies who have figured out all by themselves what the trays of food are for. Hopefully it won't be too long before Ice Maiden and Little Tuk follow suit, although there is still no rush at this stage because the babies are all doing extremely well and I am delighted with their progress. As per usual, with the start of a new week, I've put our weight chart below so that everyone can see where their babies' are up to. Today was a very special day for Ugly Duckling because he had a visit from his new mummy and it's the first time Connie has met her soon-to-be new family member. I was really proud of Ugly Duckling as he was beautiful behaved, and was perfectly happy to have cuddles with his new mum and dad. Actually, if I were being totally honest, he was so chilled out he was comatose! David and Connie will simply have to come back when he is a little older and he can prove to them that he isn't quite the "slug" that he was pretending to be :) This wasn't the first time I have had the pleasure of meeting Connie, although this is the first time she has been to our home and seen our own cat family. I know that Ugly Duckling is going to have a super home and all I have left to do now is to breed a different colour baby who will hopefully also join Connie and David's family.