Day 20 - April 29, 2006

Again both entries are the same, without any photos because I was not home all day. I was at the Bedford & District Cat Club show yesterday, showing Cacao and Toussaint, so the babies were left in the care of Graham who made sure that they were all okay throughout the day and that the mum's got lots of plates of chicken. It was a very long and tiring day and tomorrow is the big House Move for the babies so it's going to be rather hectic. I think I will be glad when this weekend is over!

Day 19 - April 28, 2006

Both entries are very short and exactly the same because I've not had a spare moment at all due the Pints and the Bush Rangers leaving me today. Also, I'm missing my babies an awful lot and I really just do not feel like waxing lyrical about the upstairs children. They are doing great though as per usual and Amarula's diarrhoea seems to be clearing as well which is wonderful news. Tia Lusso is getting sick and tired of being cooped up in their now and whenever the babies aren't feeding, she sits at the door and cries to get out. I will be really pleased to bring them downstairs on Sunday and I am sure that the mum's will be thrilled about it as well, particularly as it means they will be able to go out in the cat run and get fresh air. They will also be able to see all the other cats through the glass doors. Hopefully, between that, and the fact that I will then be with them all day long, they should not be lonely which will be much better for them both.

Day 18 - April 27, 2006

It's not 1345 and I seem to be running way behind on entries and I have quite a lot to still get through for the rest of the day. I'm not even sure really what to write about the Condiments apart from the usual about how well they are doing. But to be honest, that does get rather boring after a while, not only to write, but also to read. They are becoming much more active now and I really do not know how their mum's will contain them when once they move downstairs in a few days' time. I just know that they are going to climb off their kitten bedding and start to explore the back room. Vinegar is causing his two sisters (as well as some of the Mel's) a bit of grief because he is a big lump of a boy and not a day goes by when he doesn't insist on crawling and climbing over the other babies. I can't blame them for trying to push him off because he is much heavier than them.

Day 17 - April 26, 2006

Entries are a bit short today as it's very hectic with the babies leaving me on Friday and I have also cheated to save time because as you will see, I took "box photos" today rather than individual ones. I had mentioned earlier that the babies would be moving house on Monday, however I have now changed my mind and they are going to move house on Sunday instead. The reason for this is that my beautiful Guinness will be remaining me with an extra day or two which means that I now have Sunday free to bring the kids downstairs and let me assure you that moving the babies is a mammoth task. One of the biggest problems with having them in the back room is that for the first few weeks, no other cats will come in or out at all which unfortunately means that the rest of the feline household will not be able to access the cat run for at least 2 weeks because chances are I will not open up the door leading into the back room until the kids are at least 5 weeks old. I've also now discovered that it is definitely only Tia Lusso who has the problem with Ice because this morning when I went in to feed the mum's and weigh the babies, Amarula got out the door before I could stop her and she was perfectly happy to greet the rest of the cats who were lounging around in the upstairs hallway and she had no problems at all.

Our Condiments just get prettier and prettier each day (yes Vinegar may be a boy but boy's can still be pretty). They just have the sweetest look about them and the most intelligent eyes. I just know that they will be clever babies as they are maturing. I'm really looking forward to having them downstairs with me as it's going to be so much fun. Already the Condiments are showing signs of thinking about climbing out of the box and they all come right up to the edge and they peer out of the box and look at the floor below and I am sure they are thinking how they get from the box to the outside world.

Day 16 - April 25, 2006

I definitely went overboard with the photos as you can tell from today's entry, however, it's just so easy to do because they are all such beautiful children in their own, special way. You might also be able to tell that Pepper is looking more and more Seal every day which is probably why I keep mistaking her for Mad Max! Salt & Vinegar are almost certainly blues (solid/tabby). As each day passes, the Condiment's get more bold and become more alert. Whenever I enter the kitten room now, they all look up at me to see what is going to happen, particularly Salt who seems so very aware of everything that is going on around her. At the moment, Vinegar seems more to follow his sister's lead however his sole concern in life at the moment is food which is fairly obvious by the size of him. Sometimes it's really hard to think of what to write about the babies when they are this young because they don't really do a great deal. The fun and games will begin I think when I move the babies downstairs on Monday because by then, they will be at that stage of their development where they start to really walk/run about everywhere.

Day 15 - April 24, 2006

The Condiments really are little bundles of joy, such absolutely sweethearts and they are all really happy with being handled which is wonderful. They are becoming so much more active now and when they are awake in their box, they are starting to play little wrestling games with each other. At the moment though, Vinegar definitely has the advantage over the other babies because he is such a porker of a boy. I think his weight today was 350 grams. WHen I popped him on the scales to be weighed today, I swear the scales groaned at me! Pepper is a bit difficult when it comes to weighing because she has no interest in keeping still at all and keeps trying to climb out of the container. Mind you, I need a bigger container on there. When the babies were first born, they fit rather well in a chinese container but not any more. I still haven't had a proper look at their colours yet, or studied them to see just what is developing. The photos don't really help much either because they do appear slightly darker in the photos than they are actually are in real life. Time will tell I suppose. It is starting to look very apparent though that Pepper is either a Seal or a Seal Tabby as he is so much darker than Salt and Vinegar who are looking likes blues (possible both tabbies).

Day 14 - April 23, 2006

Just like the Mel's, the first 2 weeks of our Condiment's lives have really gone quite quickly and I'm very pleased with their 2 week progress and we have no problems at all with them and none of the babies' weights are giving me any cause for concern at all. In a week's times, our babies will be moving downstairs into the back room with me which I'm really looking forward to. As it stands at the moment, Salt is the baby who may decide to come out of the box before her brother and sister because if all the babies are awake and crawling about in the box, Salt always comes right to the front of the box and peers out so I would not be surprised at all if when she is feeling more confident and has progressed more, that she will decide to go exploring the room. Although chances are that regardless of which babies is the first out of the box, they will not get very far at all because no doubts, Tia Lusso will just pick them up and put them straight back in. So far today though we have managed an entire day without Lusso running out of the room to bully Ice, mind you, I have given her very little opportunity at all!