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Week 1/Week 2 ~ Week 3/Week 4 ~ Week 5/Week 6 ~ Week 7/Week 8 ~ Week 9/Week 10 ~ Week 11/Week 12 ~ Week 13
You can select a day number if you prefer
21~25~26~28~30~31~32~34
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| Day 34 |
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Today’s entry will be a quick entry because I have to take my youngest child to the doctors. Lily is sitting on my lap while her babies are sleeping in the tunnel. They have had a very active morning so I think they have earned their sleep!
Last night I slept in my own room without any cats, for the first time since the babies were born. Richard slept in the room with them for me. If Lily makes a noise he can sleep through anything!
I was woken by the sound of lots of scratching at their door. I went in and got the sorted out, offered them some food, encouraged them to use the litter tray, some managed, some didn’t! Meanwhile, Richard slept on for a whole hour while this was going on.
They have had a good play. They have fed, their little bellies are feeling full and nicely rounded. Later on I will weigh them again to see how their weights are going.
Arwen, who was by far the smallest at birth, and the one I was slightly worried for. Well, she now has a huge appetite and has well and truly made up for it. She seems to eat anything that is put in front of her. Little G, the girls we are keeping, is showing signs of being just like her mum, fussy!!! Chicken and fish please and nothing else, at least they should get on well on the eating front! |
| Day 32 |
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I did not write a diary entry yesterday because my youngest child has been poorly, so I have been busier than normal. Tigerlily also looks like she is starting to call again, so life in the house is a little chaotic!
Yesterday saw the beginnings of my little ones starting to use the litter tray. They have taken some persuading, and I suspect that they will need a touch more practice before they really get the hang of it. I had to laugh at myself, getting all excited when I was 2 of them weeing in the litter tray! Lily seemed to get the idea that she needed to teach them also. She has started to use the litter tray in the room with them instead of the one downstairs.
I weighed them again yesterday, and they are continuing to put on weight nicely. Lily is still feeding them a lot of the time so the food that I am giving them is very much a supplement. 1 or 2 of them like eating finely chopped cod, they certainly tucked into it this morning.
They are such sociable little things. And they are getting so much stronger by the day. The change in them seems to be so rapid now.And when all 6 of them are haring around in the room, it really is hard to keep tabs on them all! Once they have the run of the house it really will be fun. But I want them to be fully litter trained before I let them out of the room that they are in.
I am very tired today, a combination of my child being poorly and the kittens needing a lot of my time. But they really are the most lovable little things. They have come so far since January 8 th.
Today’ photographs show the kittens trying to muscle in on Richard’s game on the Play Station! They also show them climbing all over a friend who came to see them last night! |
| Day 31 |
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The kittens have been bounding around with so much energy, that poor Lily has been getting quite stressed by them. They will insist on leaping all over her, attacking her tail, and generally being little menaces! So I decided that they needed more entertainment to give mum a break.
At Christmas we bought an excellent cat toy. It is a long tunnel, with a few open holes along it, some of it crackles, and it has catnip and a few dangly toys inside. I put this down on the floor last night, and the 6 little terrors were all over and in it like a shot! They absolutely loved it. Lily was much happier, as she could now see her babies playing, and they were safe where she could see them all. In fact they liked it so much that they all curled up in it and went to sleep! Lily went in and joined them, and I could hear the sounds of kittens suckling from inside. It certainly keeps them nice and cosy, and it kept them nice and quiet last night. I actually slept right through from midnight to 6.30 this morning, wonderful.
Richard set his alarm clock early, so he came in as I woke up. The babies all leapt on him and when worn out, cuddled down into his lap. I put some finely chopped cod down, and 2 of them had a good feed. Some of the others had the biscuit and milk mix that they like (crushed up Royal Canin Baby Cat biscuits, a little mix of cat baby milk powder and some boiled water. When it is left a while, the biscuits become lovely and soft to eat, they seem to really like this). The fish they will eat off the large blue plastic plate that I put down. The biscuit mix, they still come to sit on my lap so as to eat it out of a tablespoon!
They are currently all sleeping in the tunnel. I took a little photo of some of them just now. The other picture taken today was of the babies greeting Richard in the morning.
When I weighed them yesterday, their weights ranged from 450gms to 550gms ( 550 being the largest boy, Fili, who is showing signs of having more of a Lilac colouring)
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| Day 30 |
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Since my last entry, on Saturday, there have been a couple of interesting things happening. But the most significant overall change that I see daily, if not hourly! Is the increase in their energy, confidence and sociability.
They really do run around the little room now, it is so funny to see them bounding along. When they play together, they really do get stuck in!! Especially Fili and Kili. They are the 2 boys, and they are wonderful to watch. They are very fond of one another and it would be lovely if I could find a home for the 2 of them together. I think that they would provide hours of entertainment! They are gentle natured, they have GOOD appetites and they are good looking guys too. I think that they will take after their dad in the looks and temperament department.
Arwen, who was the smallest of the litter, is just so grown up now. She is no longer the smallest, she eats really well and she is growing up to be quite a stunning little girl. I am pretty sure that she will be a solid caramel point now.
When they were all leaping around the room the other night, I had to laugh as Richard, my oldest son, called out to me,
“Mum, I think we have a Dwain Chambers and a Rock Climbing Ricky here! “
Last night saw a first. I was doing the pre bedtime feed. I took Lily up some chopped chicken, left over from our tea. When I put the bowl down, all the kittens came by to smell and have a look. Lily had a small mouthful, and a couple of the kittens decided to get stuck in too! They seemed to really enjoy it. So this morning I offered some more. There was just the one that showed interest this morning, but, by golly, she tucked it away.
We also had our first ‘accident’ last night. I was sitting with them, when I noticed one of them squatting! Well, I lifted it up and put it straight into the litter tray. I wasn’t quite in time to get all of it; so a little cleaning up was in order. But I left the rest of the ‘produce’ in the tray, and all the others duly came and inspected it!!!! Litter training, how I am going to love this part!
I am still looking keenly with regards to how many tabby points are in this litter. I would say that at the moment, there are definitely 2, the little girl that we are keeping, and Kili, one of the boys. I think that Kili is going to be the same colouring as his mum. There is a third, but I am not sure. There are stripings on the tail, but the ears are maybe a bit too solid, so I am keeping a very close eye on her.
Oh yes, and one funny thing to finish on. Before bed, I decided that I must clean the litter tray, not something I have had to do in that room before really as Lil will go downstairs. I brought a nappy sack in, and the scoop. The nappy sack obviously was quite noisy, as bags can be. Well, there were suddenly 5 kittens, all with their tails fluffed up, making themselves ‘LOOK BIG AND VERY SCAREY’ It was so so so funny to see. Little G, (the girl we are keeping) was sat in my hand, cuddled up to me, and didn’t bat an eyelid. I did try to take a photo of them all, but it has come out a bit blurred.
And really finally this time. The babies are getting really sociable now. Morning time, and the little ones were getting restless, so was mum, she needed to get out of the room by now. Richard comes into the room, and 6 noisy little things bound over to him, and proceed to climb all over him in their eagerness. I sit on the ground, and the next thing I know I have little needles clawing their way up my back and arms too! Lovely to be greeted so enthusiastically in the morning. |
| Day 28 |
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The kittens are so very much on the move now! Tigerlily is becoming less anxious as they run around the room. She is happier when we are in there with her, 6 is such a lot for her to keep her eyes on! They have been very active this morning. Lily woke me up at 7.30, which meant that the babies woke up too. They were bounding EVERYWHERE! Poor Lily did not know what to make of this. So I called in reinforcements, i.e. Richard and Timothy. As soon as the boys came in, and sat on the floor, they were besieged by kittens doing their mountaineering training! I watched from the comfort of the cabin bed, which meant I was well above them all; it was very amusing to watch. If it was climbable, they climbed it. I think Rich and Tim had a few tiny scratches from over zealous kitten claws!
They have had 2 meals offered to them so far today, and Lily has been feeding them continuously, she still has plenty of milk for all of them. That is a lot of milk for 6 hungry babies! They are currently curled up together sleeping, something I could quite happily be doing too………. |
| Day 26 |
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I have to admit to feeling jolly tired this morning, as I have for the past few days. The kittens are really getting mobile now! I have adapted the boxes so that they have free access to the room that they are in. I have blocked off the doorway with a nursery fireguard, Lily can get in and out, but the kittens stay firmly in!!
Last night, my oldest son and I, sat in with Lily and the kittens for a good 3 hours. Letting them play, encouraging them to eat and at the same time watching Taggart. It is only a small room, so I was a bit stiff by the time I finally stood up. I have taken a few photographs of little G (or Lady Galadriel) with Richard. She is the little girl that the children have insisted they wanted to keep right from the very start, and if you look at the photo, you will see that she is VERY happy snuggling up to Richard.
The others were a lot more active, I had some climbing up my shoulders and down my back, ploughing through the food and water on the floor, with no regard to the mess their little footprints were making. Generally stressing their mum out because she could not keep her eyes on all 6 at once!
I was worried that Lily would try to put them into bed with me, but fortunately, once the light was off, everyone seemed to get the message that this was bedtime, and all went relatively quiet (apart from the sound of sucking….supper time). And it stayed peaceful until 6.30 this morning.
So now the babies are asleep in a warm spot by the radiator, they have lots of space to explore, and soon I will attempt to give them some breakfast. I have a feeling that it is going to be a busy day! |
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Today I have seen real progress in the kitten’s development. It has been a really exciting day for me, and I feel really proud of them.
They were getting quite lively in their network of boxes, and one of the bigger lads was almost climbing out! So I decided it was time to let them have some supervised time out in the room. I combined this with their ‘feeding time’, the time when I offer them a little milky recipe as part of their weaning program.
They were brilliant. Their legs are strong now, and they had great fun exploring. Tigerlily sat by all the time, and just watched them. If one of them wandered too far and cried out, she would go and shepherd it back with the others. (It is only a small room, and there is nothing that they can hide behind or under.)
While they were exploring, I used the time to offer each in turn a little taste via a teaspoon. All of them happily licked off a small measure of breakfast, and then went back to play. At the moment, feeding them from the teaspoons works for me because Lily will watch them eat, and not try to steal it from them! She is also reassured as she can see what they are doing. But it is fascinating to watch her; she watches all the babies and is forever the brilliant mum. But she is also incredibly trusting, always watching from a distance. I have been flattered by her trust all the way through.
One of my friends visited today. I was curious to see how Lily would be, as this is a friend she has not met before (in fact this friend owns Lily’s sister!). But Lily was great. She purred and wanted to be made a fuss of, and she was more than happy to let her babies be admired.
They are such friendly, cuddly little kittens; it is hard sometimes to put them down. And their eyes are now turning blue, which makes them even more lovely.
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| Day 21 |
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It is hard to believe just how quickly these kittens are developing. It seems to be hourly that I notice something different. I am very aware now, that they can be snuggled up with mum, all cosy and dark, but when I come along and say hello to them all, and start talking, they all look at me and mew back. I really feel part of the family now!
They are leaping around the 3 boxes now, and I can see that it won’t be long before they are out of them! That is where the fun really begins. This morning I bought them a small scratch post/tree toy from Argos. We have a very large scratching post in the house, but it is too big for them at the moment. So now they have their own small one. It fits in the boxes so they can explore it when they are having one of their active sessions.
Tigerlily still spends most of her time in with them. They are 6 hungry babies! I have started introducing them to other milky tastes, just a little lick. 3 of them seem to really like it; the other 3 are quite suspicious. Lily, given the opportunity will gobble the lot!
It is wonderful to see them all playing together and they love to have their tummies tickled, they must get that from mum!
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