We are 11 weeks old now!

Let me start off by saying that we hope all of our kitten families and diary readers have a very Happy and safe Easter. I know ours will certainly be quite relaxed which will be lovely :) This afternoon, Shergar had a visit from his new mum and dad, Bev and Duncan. It was lovely to see Bev again and it was great to meet Duncan for the first time. I am positive that Shergar is going to have a wonderful life with his great new family and it's fairly safe to say that he will be loved and cherished for the rest of his life. It's been quite a while since Bev last saw Shergar and he has grown quite a lot during that time as you can imagine. The visit did go extremely well and it was really nice that the babies were awake and playing during Bev and Duncan's visit so they were able to see the babies in full force. Shergar was more than happy to have cuddles with his new mum and dad, and Lucy was happy to show off her fetching skills, as per usual. Right up until the very end, before our lovely kitten family left, everything had gone wonderfully well. It was only during the last couple of minutes when Drambuie decided it would be a good idea to totally embarrass us by spraying on poor Bev's bag, that our visit lost it's 100% success rating. Bev, being the great person she is, did not make a fuss, the bag was wiped over, while I silently cursed Drambuie's behaviour in my mind. Mental note to self: Do NOT let kitten families leave their bags on the floor unattended. Bev told me today that she had decided to keep Shergar's pet name exactly as it is which I think is really sweet. It does appear to be a real "manly" name and certainly suits him. I did manage to take some photos today of the babies as they created havoc upstairs but unfortunately, we are still not able to sort out the camera lead but it appears the problem isn't with the lead itself, so we're looking into this over the weekend. I have no doubts it frustrating for our families not to be able to see photos of their babies, but let me assure you it is even more frustrating for me, particularly as I have done the text for both Sambuca's, as well as Drambuie's pregnancy diaries, both of which are now very late in going online, and neither of which can be uploaded yet as the photos are still on the camera. At this rate, by the time I sort this out, I'll need an entire day to spend solely on downloading and organising photos :)

We have had quite a relaxing day today, hence the lateness of this entry and the fact that there are no photos. Although to be honest, I'm still struggling with the camera lead so I gave up in the end and figured I would try to sort it out tomorrow. I had to smile at the babies yesterday afternoon..........................it was about 5:30pm and I happened to glance around and spotted a little white fur child tearing around my room. Up until this stage, the babies were content to play mad games in the front hallway and just stick their heads into my room cautiously to see what was going on in here. They decided that yesterday afternoon they were big, brave kittens and were ready to tackle a new room and see what was happening. A third of our adult cats were all lounging around as per usual, having a snooze, and were paying not the slightest bit of attention to the babies. The Racers have also had enough contact now with our adults to not really be that bothered by them. So I was sitting here typing away when poor Red Rum made the mistake of checking out the bottom bunk of the bunk beds where Toussaint was sound asleep, out like a light in fact, in the bottom bunk. Red Rum decided that after having a sniff she would climb in and see just what this tortie creature was. I guess it was unfortunate that as she was climbing in, she lost her balance and fell on top of Toussaint, who woke up with quite a start, sat bolt upright to see who or what had just landed on her, scaring the heck out of Red Rum who tore back into the front hallway where her mother was. Hopefully, next time she will look before she leaps :) Really though, it is lovely to see the Racers just going about the business and going wherever they want and I'm desperately hoping that the bolder they become, and the more confident they become, that they will soon realise there is yet another "new world" in the form of the outside cat run. The weather has been so lovely lately and I know the Racers would really enjoy being out in the sunshine where they can play safely.

Goodness only knows whether or not diaries will be as per normal during the next couple of days as we have family visiting who are staying for a little while and we also still have lots to do around the home. Fortunately, the babies have become so independent now that they do as they please, go where ever they want to, and don't really worry about what is happening in the home. I did speak with the GCCF yesterday and registrations have been received and hopefully should be back in plenty of time for the new families when they collect their babies so that is one less thing to worry about. I felt really sorry for them yesterday afternoon because they were all on the stairs, wanting to come down however we had just painted one of the walls and was still waiting for it to dry and let me assure you than paint and babies (or adult cats for that matter!) is not a good combination at all. I did feel really guilty though at the looks on their little faces as they could not understand why mum wouldn't let them downstairs :( Of course they are rather happy at the moment because with visitors staying, it means they get even more attention than normal and they are such charming babies that no one can resist stopping what they are doing to have a chat with them, or to pick them up for a cuddle. I am desperately hoping I'll be able to find the time to take some individual photos this week. I've stopped with the daily weighing now and have moved onto weighing just twice a week. The reason for this is that the babies' weight charts for their new families are already completed and ready to be printed off (they go up to Week 9), and I know the Racers are gaining daily and doing extremely well so there is no point continuing to weigh them each day. To say nothing of the fact that the little buggers jump straight out of the weighing container anyway :) I keep promising to buy myself some flat digital scales but I do know of some people who have problems with them in the fact that the baby must remain absolutely still to get an accurate reading, however, at the size the babies are now, it might be more viable to have flat scales, rather than get them to try to sit still in the container. Unfortunately there's no photos for today's entry because when I went to take some, the darn camera batteries died so they are currently now on recharge which is just typical really!

Right the first thing I have to do is explain about the set of photos below of the babies downstairs eating with the adults. However, before I go any further, I will say to please excuse the paint on the carpet and the skirting boards, to say nothing of the colour of the floor on the front hallway now! It's a very long story and I have no doubts if Julie is reading this she will be in fits of laughter. Okay, I didn't bother closing the little kitten door during the adults evening meal last night. Normally the babies have their access to the downstairs cut off by around 6pm when our adults are fed, but last night I still hadn't closed it so the babies still had the run of the home. I prepared the evening meal for our adult cats, put it on the floor as per normal, the adults decided to have some dinner and next thing I knew, little babies started appearing from nowhere. They all saw the food, figured it must be for them, and came bolting down the stairs, through the kitten door, to squeeze themselves in around the plates next to the adults. To say I was stunned was an understatement. I didn't want to stop them eating because it's good for their social skills to be comfortable enough with our cats to be happy to eat from the same plate as them. At least that is what I thought, until Phar Lap decided that this food was for him, and him alone. By the time he came to one of the plates, it was only Red Rum, Sage and Amarula eating from it and honestly, I had to laugh, I was just in total disbelief as I watched Phar Lap start eating, and then he stopped eating, gave Sage and Amarula a warning glare, he then proceeded to growl at them both, and he carried on eating. Sage took no notice whatsoever as he's a pretty big boy and it takes a heck of a lot to scare Sage. Amarula on the other hand was debating whether or not she should move on to another plate or whether she should carry on eating. She made the choice to carry on eating and Phar Lap looked up at her, growled, and then punched her in the face. I know I should definitely not have laughed but I just couldn't help myself. I went and picked up Amarula and put her at one of the other plates. Bless her, she is such a sweet, non confrontational girl, but I was surprised to see her put up with that from a over confident young kitten. I was really pleased though to see that the rest of the babies were happy to be mingling with our other cats and were not phased at all by being sniffed, groomed, or anything else really. As for today, well Phar Lap had a lovely visit from his amazing new kitten family, Pauline and it was really lovely to see her again. Pauline has Rodney who is one of the Trotters, and Phar Lap will be wonderful company for Rodders which will hopefully give Pauline a bit of peace and quiet :) Phar Lap didn't hesitate to show his new mum exactly what a sweet natured, and loving boy he is and he was happy to have lots of cuddles with his mum. As a breeder, it is such a wonderful feeling to know that our babies are going to permanent, loving, homes where they are wanted and where they will be cherished for the rest of their lives and Phar Lap will have the time of his life in Pauline's home and I know she will spoil him just as much as she spoils Rodney, and her other fur children, LJ, Alfie, and Lulu. Parsley and the rest of our adults were delighted to see Pauline again, and were very appreciative of the toys she bought for them all. Many thanks also Pauline for the lovely chocolates and bottle of wine. That was a really nice surprise and one that I certainly wasn't expecting so thank you very much. And on that note, I must dash as we are having visitors stay for a few days :)

Everything went very smoothly overnight and so far we have had no side effects at all from the vaccinations which is always a huge relief. We will continue to monitor the babies though and they aren't allowed downstairs today as we like to keep them isolated for the first 24 hours after their initial vaccination just to be on the safe side. The vaccinations also have not affected their appetite at all and they are still consuming huge quantities of food although they definitly seem to prefer the kitten biscuits to wet commercial foods. They do still eat their cooked meals and commercial kitten foods, but I'm seeing a definite preference for James Wellbeloved kitten biscuits. The photos below of the babies downstairs were taken yesterday afternoon about an hour before everyone was packed up to go to the vets, whereas the photos of the babies upstairs were taken today.

The problem with having vet appointments late in the afternoon, is that by the time the appointment is over and you get back home, then shoot off out to Tesco for the daily shopping, and come back. Well, it's time for dinner, time to do the stud boys house, and then all the evening chores start such as litter trays again etc. What on earth made me think I'd manage to get a diary entry online today? So yet again, this entry has gone on 24 days behind. Vaccinations, okay, the first thing I have to say is that never have we had a litter to have first vaccinations that were so beautifully behaved as the Racers. I was totally amazed, as was Graham. All 6 babies were happy to be examined, a couple of them were a little nervous but that is to be expected, but every single baby was beautifully behaved and did not cause a moment's problem for Jo as she examined them and gave each baby their vaccination. They really were absolute angels and we're extremely proud of them. They were also very good in the carrier on the way to and from the vets. It was also really lovely to hear Jo pronounce them to be good size, healthy babies. Remembering of course that Jo saw them a few weeks' ago when Tia Lusso was calling and her milk was upsetting the babies tummies. It's all a massive relief now that the first jab is done and dusted. It had no effect on the Racers behaviour either because when we brought them back home, I took them straight upstairs and fed them. They then ate a little bit and tore around like lunatics, had a nap, had a late meal and the games started all over again.

Ten weeks old today and the time is simply flying by as per usual. As you can imagine, the babies are little buggers, getting into absolutely everything and creating havoc when they are awake. However, as you can see by the photos below, when they are sleeping, they look like perfect little angels. I hope by now that all of our new families have received their "welcome letter" which I posted to them last week? If you haven't received one from me, can you please get in touch and let me know? Once we reach this stage, it can be a bit difficult in the respect that I do have to constantly remind myself that our Racers will not be with me for that much longer. I know that to some of the families, time seems to go very slowly while they are waiting for their new family member, but for me, the time definitely goes too quickly. Someone was asking me the other day what sort of routine the babies had so to give you a brief insight into how they spend their days, here you go..................around 7am, the door to the kitten room is opened and the babies are fed their breakfast. They they run around and play, both upstairs and downstairs, depending on where they want to be. At around 10am, they all take themselves upstairs to their beds and snooze for a few hours. I wake them at around 1pm to give them another meal, they then either eat and go back to sleep for a while, or they eat and tear around until about 3pm where they then go back to sleep. They wake up at around 4-5pm, and start creating havoc, both upstairs and down. At around 7pm, they are fed another meal and are all put into the kitten room for the evening. At around 11pm they are given another meal (the last meal of the day is always chicken), and they then tear around in the kitten room for quite a few hours and go to sleep for the evening. This routine will change again in a couple of week's time when they are evicted from the kitten room altogether and will be spending days and nights with the rest of the feline family.