I am 8 weeks old now!

Prior to beginning today's entries, I would like to warn you all that there will be no kitten diaries tomorrow. I have a very full on day tomorrow with one baby leaving, I have something else on, and then we have friends visiting so I will not have a spare moment.

I really must try and get some photos of Thames when he is actually awake and running around. The problem is that he is one of the fastest babies in the kitten room, and when he is playing and tearing around, each time I take a photo it ends up being nothing other than a blur, or all I get is the back half of him. The only time I can ever get a halfway decent image is when he's actually asleep. Despite being the youngest baby in the kitten room (not the smallest as he is bigger than Sherlock), he doesn't hesitate to take on all the older kittens and instigate wrestling matches and chase games. He also spends as much time downstairs as the Nuts and the Detectives do which is really lovely.

We'd like to start off today's kitten diaries by congratulating Julie of Lorimnailie Siamese & Orientals on the birth of her new kittens, sired by our own Ashanti.

There really are no entries today as my day has not gone according to plan at all. In fact, I've ended up being very behind with absolutely everything and had no hope at all in doing kitten diaries.

I know I've said this countless times, but Thames is such a very "happy" boy. He always looks as if he is grinning at me, even when he is sleeping. Nicky and Karl have a fantastic pet name for him which is "Shambles" and I think this is great because when Thames is running around and playing, he really does just create chaos and mess wherever he goes so it is a very fitting name. I can't help but think though that once he is living with them, Karl will secretly be referring to him as "Batfink" :)

The kitten diaries for the Water Baby, the Nuts and the Detectives are all the same today and basically they are just "photo" diaries. I have had an incredibly hectic day. First thing this morning I did the diaries for the 2 younger litters, the Chef's and the Ray J's and for these 2 litters I needed individual photos as we are still trying to determine colour and pattern. After that, the camera batteries died and by the time they were charged back up, it was 3pm. So I do apologise for not having any text to go with today's entries but at least there are photos :)

Our home does seem so much quieter without little Ock. Yesterday at lunch time we had taken her into our bedroom, made her comfortable in one of the posh boxes and as a last attempt to help bring her round, we syringed electrolytes to her every 30 minutes throughout yesterday and last night/early this morning. During the early hours of the morning, she left us for Rainbow Bridge and she is at peace now, leaving broken hearts behind. Thames continues to be a ray of sunshine and all day today, every time I have been upstairs, no matter where I seem to look, Thames' head pops up out of nowhere and I swear he is grinning at me. He is such a cheeky little man but he knows that it is this same aspect of his personality that makes him so irresistible.

It is with a very heavy heart that I type this entry today. I ask myself, if I had seen the link earlier about the FKS would it have made a difference? To be perfectly honest, I really do not know. The one thing I do know is that Ock has decided it is time to stop fighting. She made this decision on her own and it is a decision we will respect so she is no longer being syringe fed. What we are doing is ensuring that she is comfortable, and that she is with her family. I have been spending as much time as possible with her, in between Heston's feeding, and am going upstairs every 20 minutes to check on her and just to be with her as that is all I can do for her now. I am not really sure if she is aware of my presence any more, or that of her family. Her mother, Toussaint knows what is happening and I am so grateful that Thames, the Nuts and the Detectives have been running riot all day because this is helping to keep Toussaint occupied. Both she and Tia Lusso are doing exactly what I am doing, and that is going to check her periodically and to just sit with. As much as it is breaking our heart, and no matter how soul destroying this is not "stepping in" and trying again, the time has come to now let go of our little girl and to let her be at peace.

There are no photos in today's kitten diaries as it's been a "relaxing day" as we had our very good friends, Caryll, Ray, Jim, Jacqui and Marcelle visit us (and their respective babies) so we have had a lovely relaxing afternoon and quite a few laughs.

Our Water Babies are 7 weeks of age today and I don't know how Ock is still here, I really don't. We didn't have a good night with her at all as last night she was refusing to eat, so 2 hourly she was being syringed cool boiled water with a bit of honey in there. The aim was to syringe 5 mils into her every 2 hours. The reason behind this is that she can not be allowed to dehydrate at all and the water will help keep her body hydrated, the honey will give her a little bit of energy and I do believe that honey has some healing properties. This morning, she did eat breakfast and has continued to eat throughout the day, still not huge amounts but at least it is something. I have also seen her on the floor on a couple of occasions now as well so she is somehow finding the strength to climb out of the bunk beds, or off the chair, or off the bed on the activity centre. She is still incredibly weak though. Thames is just a little terror bless him. He really is a darling though although even now, I still am not sure exactly who he looks like. I am almost certain he will end up a ticked tabby as well because his pattern is starting to diminish on his body now and the hairs do appear to be ticked so it will be interesting to see just what he ends up being.