We are 13 weeks old now!

Apologies for lack of photos today, and both entries are exactly the same today because today was "Vet Day". In other words, 9 babies and 2 adults all had to go and visit Claire to have their vaccinations and you can imagine the fun and games this entails. 4 cat carriers, 1 for each adult, and 1 for each litter. 2 lots of bedding in each carrier, 1 daughter to help carry the carriers into the vets. All this was organised and then it was time to find (and catch) the kittens and cats. The adults, Drambuie and Cacao, were both fine, happy to get into the carriers, the babies on the other hand were a different matter. You honestly have no idea what it's like to find 9 babies and get them in the right carriers. Some of the babies were upstairs tearing around in the kitten room and the bathroom, some of the babies were downstairs snuggled in with the adults, having a snooze and the remainder of the babies were in the cat run, playing chase, climbing on the shelves, generally having the time of their lives and there was no way on earth the cat run babies were going to come inside. After standing at the window calling "Blackjack, Trigger, Del Boy, come on babies, time for a special trip" like an absolute idiot for 10 minutes, I gave up, had to go outside and enter the cat run via the door because whilst I may be tiny, I am not prepared to climb through the window into the cat run, so as I grabbed Trigger and brought him in, our daughter was bringing in Baccarat. So then it was "No, not that carrier, that is for the Trotters, she needs to go in this carrier, this is for the Gamblers". It took a good 15 minutes to retrieve all the babies and get them in the carriers. Drambuie, Cacao, and the Gamblers were wonderful, they settled down straight away and enjoyed the ride. The Trotters on the other hands were furry little monsters! Fortunately the car journey to our vets is not a long journey but the whole time, the Trotters had their little arms and legs all trying to poker through the carrier door, Racquel was even trying to stuff her paw through the the sides of the carrier via the air vents, and Rodders was prancing up and down the carrier, standing on his brothers and sister's head the entire journey. And do you think it was any better once we actually reached the vets? Not in a million years. Buie decided that this was not where she wanted to be at all so she buried herself underneath all the bedding and wouldn't come out. Cacao was sitting up in the carrier, watching everything that was going on in the waiting room because she is an experienced traveler now and not bothered by anything. The Gamblers just lay/sat down in the carrier, not a squeak from them, other than purrs, eyes open, watching what was happening. The Trotters, oh my word, they honestly are little buggers, in the waiting room, they continued to stick whatever limbs they had out of every hole they could find. Cao and Buie had their vaccinations, no problem at all, Buie wriggled as per usual, but she's always been a wriggler, Cao just didn't care. The Gamblers purred the whole way through, they purred while there was a thermometer stuck up their bottoms, they purred while they had their hearts listened to, they really were just so very well behaved. The Trotters, okay, granted, none of them bit me at all while the vaccines went in, but oh boy did they wriggle when it was temperature taking time. While one Trotter was being examined, there were paws of varying colours, all poking out through the carrier door, trying to grab me, or indeed anything they could get their paws on. Racquel had the most appalling language and didn't hesitate to swear from inside the carrier which was totally unacceptable baby. How on earth a baby so young has learnt such bad words is beyond my comprehension. An hour and a half later, everyone was brought back home, released from their "prisons", fed a meal of cooked chicken with Hi Life mixed in, and they all scampered off to play, I put all the bedding in the kitchen to be washed/bleached, threw the vaccination cards and other bits and pieces in my cupboard, had a sip of coffee and breathed an enormous sigh of relief that it was all over. At least until Tia Lusso's babies are born and we start all over again.................................

As you can no doubt tell, we have missed a few entries yet again. I ended up spending the majority of the weekend on plans for something cat related and as a result, I just didn't get the chance to put an entry online. This week is also going to be extremely hectic because between the 12th and the 14th, we have 4 babies leaving us, and then the rest will be leaving the following weekend so it will be a weekend full of paperwork. Before I start the entries, I will say that I've had some more emails in from very kind people asking after Rodney, so I would like to say, rather happily, that Rodders is perfectly fine. He is back to normal and has no problems at all. It does appear that it was a minor injury and we will never know how he did it, but he is just as normal as he ever was bless him.

Much to my surprise, the Trotters have been spending quite a bit of time out in the cat run. The reason this surprises me is that it's still quite cold and damp, yet they have not been bothered by this at all. It's not unusual for me to be sitting at the computer and suddenly in pops a Trotter, through the window, have been out in the run. I am pleased though because I do believe the fresh air is very good for the babies. As I type this entry, Toussaint is sitting in the cat bed on my desk and Racquel and Del Boy are both in there with her, feeding from her which is lovely and all I can hear are contented purrs from both babies. Rodders still has a fascination with the bags of used litter when I'm doing the trays and it's now at the stage where I have to put the bag somewhere that he can not reach it. It took me 10 minutes last night to get poo off his fur! He also thinks it's a very good idea to help mummy with the mopping ever morning and he is fascinated by the swish of the mop as it goes over the floor. I think Pauline will have her hands full with this guy but fortunately her other cats will hopefully keep him in line. Trigger never changes, day in, day out, he is still just a happy little boy who loves cuddles, loves his food and loves to play.

Rodney has developed a fascination with the rubbish bag full of used litter which is not really an attractive personality quirk I'm afraid. Last night, I was changing all the trays again, and I emptied one tray, sat the bag on the floor, took the tray upstairs and bleached it, came back down, tipped the contents of the other tray straight into the rubbish bag, on top of Rodney's head! I had no idea he was in there. He was having the time of his life playing in all the litter which really is quite gross. I took him out, made sure he was still clean, which he was thank goodness. Took the bag and sat it on the stairs while I bleached that tray. Once I had sorted the downstairs trays, I went up the stairs, picked up the bag, only to discover Rodney sitting in it going to the toilet bless him. I had to laugh. I then took the bag upstairs to the kitten room to do the trays in there, and every time my back was turned, he was in the bag like a shot. Just like the Gambler's kitten diary, I managed to take individual photos of our Trotters, however they are not particularly obliging I'm afraid. It was all I could do to get Racquel to stay still long enough to snap 2 photos and as you can see, I was not particularly successful. Trigger flat out refused to look at the camera in typical Trigger fashion. Rodney was incredibly rude and poked his tongue out at me, as you can see. Del Boy was the only baby happy to sit still and look sweet for the camera.

Just out of curiosity....................did not a single person reading this diary think to tell me that the start of Week 12 should have began with Day 84 and not Day 83? I realised my mistake today so I have put Day 83 in the Week 11 diary where it belonged in the first place :)

Racquel is a wicked, wicked girl. Do you know what that awful child did to me yesterday? I came home from Tesco's and a visit to the tip, sat down on my chair to check my emails, and suddenly I screamed out "Ouch". I turned around, here she was on my chair behind my, chewing on my clothes. She had bit me on the bum! I took her off the chair, she jumped straight back up and started nibbling on my clothes again. Now normally, when babies do that, it's because they are trying to get my attention and want to be cuddled, but not her. She did it purely because it was fun for her when mummy jumped up out of the chair over and over again. All I can say is...............good luck Jill and Sybil 'cause you're gonna need it :) Now back to I spoke with the vets today and they feel that as he is tearing about like a lunatic, and not in any pain at all, in fact he is back to normal almost, they didn't see the point in bringing him back in, so it has now been left that if he has any more problems, he'll go straight in, but while ever he is doing so well, we are just going to continue to monitor him.........my baby Del Boy just climbed up onto my lap, started rubbing his head against me and purring so I had to stop for Del Boy cuddles. Now why can't his horrid sister be more like him? He has an amazing purr and knows exactly that to get lots of cuddles, all he has to do is purr and look at me, it works every time. Anyway, back to Rodney, he has been moving about so much better today, which is a relief as you can imagine and he's not been crying at all. We are still monitoring him though constantly and forever running up and down the stairs to check on him. His very kind brother has been trying to aid his recovery because a few of the babies, Rodney included, where having a nap earlier on this morning, and Trigger walked over to Rodney and started grooming him and I thought "How sweet, he knows his brother isn't well and he is making better". Less than a minute later, he then jumped on top of Rodney's head and started biting his ear. I don't know who was least impressed, myself or Rodney.

I will try and take some photos later today, as I've not had a chance at all so far and I know some of you are waiting on news from Rodney so I wanted to get the entry online.

Rodney had a good night and has been eating extremely well. Last night he was running around a little, and pouncing on the other babies, and all morning this morning I have been watching him to judge his movement and on one hand, I am pleased, because he is walking, trotting/running, but it's still not a free flowing movement (if you know what I mean) and he is definitely having difficult jumping up because he was unable to jump up onto the ottoman this morning when he was trying to chase Two Up. Also when he jumped up onto the large scratch post, he struggled and used his front legs and shoulders to pull himself up, rather than grip anything with his back claws or use his back legs to spring from. But at least he is definitely moving around so much better than yesterday and he is not crying in pain as he was at the vets yesterday, but again, this could be due to the painkiller which would not have worn off yet. Presuming again, that this is an injury, he will take a few days minimum to recover and get back to normal, and I guess, that because he was seen straight away yesterday by the vets, that I am expecting miracles and was thinking he would be bouncing around as per normal today which I know is ridiculous because he will need time to heal. When I re-read what I have just written, it does make me sound as if progress is good, but also isn't good. But then that's how I am actually seeing it at the moment. There is a very big improvement, but he is not 100% fit. I'll be monitoring him again today all day and if there is the slightest change with regards to going downhill, we will take him straight back to the vets. The rest of the Trotters are all perfectly well and fine. Del Boy is feeling extremely insulted because each time Daddy sees him, he calls him Poker. Graham can't quite understand how I can tell Poker and Del Boy apart but honestly, they look nothing like each other. Body shape is different, head shape is different and the red colouring is different. Although Del Boy has become just as "purry" as Poker always has been which is quite nice. Trigger, bless him, is still incredibly soppy. All he wants is someone to pay him lots of attention, feed him, and love him. He also has a thing about water and if often dipping his paws in the large bowls to see what will happen and to play with the water. This was all going well until this morning when he was sitting on the bottom step, doing exactly that, when along came Coke, jumped on top of him and knocked him straight into the water bowl. I wonder if that will make him think twice about playing with water. I'm not really sure what to say about Racquel because if I were being honest, Jill might just change her mind! To say she is incredibly stubborn and a little cow sometimes, would be an understatement. She is uncontrollable I'm afraid. Yet when she wants to be, she can be incredibly sweet and loving. She also has a "thing" about bathrooms and is forever playing and jumping around in the bath and on the hand basin. She amuses herself for hours in there, especially when the washing hamper lid is in the bathtub because she dives under it, over it, and has a wonderful time. She is also extremely nosy and has to check out everything and is always exploring. Actually, now that I think about it, when she isn't asleep, she is forever on the go.

I had just finished typing this entry, made a start on the Gambler's kitten diary, and heard a massive thump. I turned around and Rodney had jumped from the very top shelf of the massive scratch post, straight onto the floor. Is it any bloody wonder that boy is having problems!!! I picked him up, carried him up the stairs, placed him on the cat bed, told him to "Stay there" rather firmly. He doesn't seem to be any worse for wear, but it's such a high jump for a baby, particularly one who is carrying an injury of some sort. I tell you, my heart was racing and I just do not need this.