I think we are now at the stage where the babies are changing almost daily. Just in the last 24 hours I have noticed that they have become a lot more active. They spend more time awake and not actually feeding. They wander round their box looking for mischief!

I was sitting there last night, just watching them. It was wonderful to see the beginnings of their play. It was interesting to see them begin to try out the same forms of play that I have seen so much in my adult cats. How they like to pounce on one another’s tails, and chew on each other’s ears.

They also seem really interested in what is going on around them. They were all fascinated last night by the gentle tapping on two fingers on the vet blanket, they all trotted over to investigate. When they hear my voice they look up, I am sure that they recognise me. Their little faces are just so cute and it makes me feel all emotional to watch them. I feel such a sense of achievement to have helped produce such lovely babies.

They have also found their purrs! When they are all feeding, there is a gentle hum from all of them, and then a very loud purr from Lily. It is really soothing to sit and listen to it.

I have 2 boys and 1 girl that are showing definite signs of caramel colouring. My little girl is looking very, very much like a solid Lilac, she is a complete darling.

Today I moved Tigerlily and her kittens into another room which I had prepared for them. Yesterday she had moved a kitten onto my bed, and this morning as I sat at the computer, she gently laid one at my feet. Well, I can take a hint! Fortunately the other room was all made up for them, so I picked up the whole box, with Lily and the kittens in it, and placed it in the new room. Lily seemed happy with the move thankfully, and there have been no more babies left at my feet!

They are in a small bedroom, with a pine cabin bed. ( A cabin bed is a raised bed above the floor, allowing a lot of room underneath). I have hung a rug and a towel over the sides of the bed, allowing them a cosy enclosed area. I have extended the box so that they have double the room in the box. All Lily’s food is under with her as well. It is really nice and peaceful sitting under there with them all.

I have just taken a couple of photographs of the new arrangement.

The babies are really growing now. They watch things that are going on around them. I was making an extension to their box a little while ago. There were 6 pairs of little red eyes watching me!

I took my children out for a walk for a couple of hours and left Lily and the kittens tucked up in my room, with everything that they needed. When we returned I made my way up to the bedroom to see how they were. Lots of little eyes looking up at me. 5 pairs of eyes!! 1 was missing, Fili or Kili. Quick panic as I realise that Lily must be in the process of moving them. I called Richard up, and after a quick look in the room, there was the missing kitten, curled up amongst the pile of duvet on the bed!! Well, I gave her 10 out of 10 for choice of place.

 So that was when I decided that an extension to their quarters was needed. I am also preparing the room next door for them, with lots of comforts.

 As I sign off for today, Lily is back in the box for her afternoon sleep with the babies. Maybe time for me to do the same (only not in the box!!)

The kittens continue to grow. The largest boys are weighing just under 300gms now. They are 2 super boys, and we have named them Fili and Kili (from The Hobbit). They have lovely gentle natures, love to be made a fuss of and have a HUGE appetite! We have 2 smaller girls, who are weighing 225gms. We have named one Arwen Star and the other Galadriel (from Lord of The Rings). They are sweet girls with very loud voices! We believe the middle size two are female and male, and we thought that we would name the boy, Legolas, but we have not thought of a name for the girl yet. 

They have just had a home visit from the vets to give them a check on their health, and he was very pleased with them. It was nice to have his reassurance. And Lily was really well behaved while he checked them over.

The kittens continue to eat lots and sleep lots. When I look into their box now and speak to them, some of the bigger ones will look at me, and mew, which is very sweet. They have such small voices at this age.

Today I cleaned out their bedding, a lovely new, clean vet bed. I put 3 kittens each into a little fleece hat while I was doing this. I wondered if Lily would object, but she just sat by them and waited. Her trust in me is very touching. Earlier this evening, I picked one baby up to weigh, and it squealed in protest. Lily looked to see why it was making the noise, saw it in my hand, and then turned away, apparently reassured. There is something very special in that bond that you have with your cat. And there can be nothing more trusting than to be trusted with her babies.

The babies are feeding very well and continue to put on weight. We have a lot of little red eyes open now, which look really sweet. Lily spends nearly all of her time in the box with them, coming out occasionally to stretch her legs and visit other places in the house. Then she hops back in. It is wonderful to watch the little ones grow, and already I am beginning to notice lots of different characters amongst them. Definitely 2 good sized boys.

The kittens have been feeding well all through the night. I sat up with them until midnight to make sure that they were all well fed. I then fell asleep close by in case I was needed in the night! They have also been feeding for a lot of the morning. There are lots of little pink eyes starting to look at me! Tigerlily is still the first class mum that she has been all along. This morning she wanted a bit more time to stretch her legs. The babies were sleeping so she spent a little time trying to reassure Merlyn. The sun was shining so the windowsill in the lounge was a good place to start.
Now they are all settling down for a mid morning sleep.

Day 2

Day 3

Day 4

The kittens and mum continue to do very well. Tigerlily continues to be a superb mum. She stays with them in the security of their little warm box, cleans, feeds and watches out for them. I am completely in awe of it all.
I have slept on the floor next to the box every night so far. She is reassured to have me close by and I can hear the kittens and be at hand should I be needed. Hopefully soon I will return to my bed (which actually is only the other side of the room!)
The kittens all seem to have very large appetites, they eat a lot and sleep a lot. Tigerlily occasionally comes for a wander around the house, but is rarely out of her box for longer than 5 minutes.
At bedtime, or after I have put the children to bed, she comes looking for me, and shepherds me upstairs too. I think she is telling me it is time for bed! She does not really settle again until I do lie down! Then she gets back with her babies and purrs contentedly. I think maybe he mothering instincts have extended to myself too!

Day 4

Day 4

Day 5

The babies arrived on Saturday 8th January. It was another day where we were anxiously awaiting signs that the kittens were on the way. Lily was showing signs, she was spending a lot of time in her kittening box, and she had been very agitated the night before.
When it started it all happened very suddenly. One minute she was asleep, the next she woke up, looked at me and then uttered a different sound, and it sounded distinctly like a cat straining. I was immediately alerted, and told other members of the house to prepare.
There was an anxious hour and a half when Lily was straining. I sat with her, stroked and encouraged her. Her breeder was on the phone with me, reassuring and calming.
After 1 ½ hours Lily was getting very agitated. She leapt out of the box towards the door, at which point baby number one decided to present itself! I caught it in the towel and Lily reacted instantly. She cleaned it up, and bit through the cord. I was really overcome with how quickly Mother Nature took hold.
The rest of the babies came very quickly, and I had to work very fast to ensure that all were delivered safely.
We had 6 babies, all of a good size, and a mum that was doing everything she was supposed to.
Needless to say that I did not sleep much that night. I slept on the floor close to them all, keeping an eye out for the babies.
My children were brilliant, especially my 8 year old, who spent a lot of time encouraging them all to latch on.
All in all, it was a pretty amazing evening!