Twins

Marta and Louisa, my two blue solid girls. They really look very much alike. Marta's face is rounder though, she favours, slightly, the Burmese genetic strain I think. She has a very sweet, open face. Louisa's is more classically Tonk-y and Marta is still darker than Louisa but for all that I still confuse the two at times. Good thing Louisa has a red mark renewed every so often, so I can tell which she is eh?

I think Marta's been the subject of my post three days in a row now! That's just how the photos come out I guess! I'll feature someone else tomorrow, I promise!

Kurt- now Bailey- has been distinguishing himself... by piddling on M's lodger's bed. *sigh* Only the once though, and he's been OK since, so fingers crossed all round that he just got confused. This was after snuggling up with said lodger in the bed all night so what he was thinking I have no idea. He's stopped being nervous now and is very active, especially, it seems, at night. Everyone's feeling a bit sleep deprived at the moment I gather! Really having a small kitten is like having a toddler! (this is where having the one is more tricky I guess, or one way anyway) Hopefully Bailey will cotton on very soon that people become really very boring indeed in the middle of the night, and playtime is best kept to more sociable hours!

Marshmallow Fluff

Miss Marshmallowfluff Marta... and Mama! I swear if you opened Marta's head up you'd find cotton wool and other fluffy, squishy materials- she's just made entirely of adorable.

Oh, Behave!

In the comments section, Amanda Cox wrote:

How do they behave? I've found training older kittens (ie stopping them climbing curtains and getting on kitchen surfaces etc) very difficult, I'm going to see an older Tonk kitten at the weekend (way more than 13 weeks) and I only hope its not been allowed to run riot!
We got Dom from a home where all the cats were allowed to do what they liked because some rooms they were simply locked out of, but we dont lock or shut rooms so Dom has to learn boundaries. But its hard work. He even got into the fridge today and wouldn't get out!

And I thought it would be a good subject for today's post! *sniggers at thought of stroppy cat refusing to come out of the fridge* (Hope you had a good weekend visit AC, how did it go?)

Well, I must admit that at the moment, the kittens en masse can seem pretty overwhelming (less so now the boys have gone) As I open the kitten room-the living room- door of a morning, they pour out like a tidal wave, meowing their little heads off for breakfast.  And letting them into the kitchen has become awkward now because keeping an eye on all seven (five now) whilst cooking or whatever is positively dangerous. Even when I'm just getting their dinner plated up they can and do jump onto the work surfaces and if I let them in I am continually chasing them off. Apart from the safety issue, it simply isn't practical. So I leave kitchen behaviour in the main to the new owners who will only have one or two to deal with!

They aren't generally allowed into the bedrooms, as this is not only my older cats' space but they might be going to a home where the family doesn't want bedroom access. However they are occasionally allowed in, one by one, for some time spent learning how to meet and interact with strange cats. I discovered, accidentally, with this litter that Ava doesn't mind meeting and greeting the kittens as long as its in the bedroom- her territory I guess. If she meets a kitten in the hall she's horrified! Poor Ava!

Here's Kurt last week, actually, he's just touched noses with both Ava and Sofia, and now he's sitting at the far end of the bed keeping a respectful distance!

*glare*

Ava glares at the kitten from the security of her cardboard box!

The bathroom- well they are allowed in when I am in there. Again its a safety thing, after Marta jumped in the toilet one day I've really cracked down on that. All my cats enjoy visiting me in the bathroom though, and the kittens are no exception, they like to prowl along the side of the bath as I am washing, and fortunately no-one has fallen in yet!

This isn't to say they aren't taught boundaries- they are. Gretl's penchant for curtain climbing was heavily discouraged, for example- I've not seen her do that for weeks now. Freddie used to bite (not hard) almost constantly, and now he's just an occasional nibbler. And ALL the kittens know that if I clap my hands loudly together I jolly well mean business!

For me the trick is lots of one on one time with each of them, which as you can imagine is incredibly time consuming. Julia over at Rameses (read the website, so informative) says that a breeder should really spend half an hour PER KITTEN PER DAY as a minimum, and I reckon she's spot on there. That's a lot of time you have to spend socialising. Ok, some of it can be combined with other things- stroking and talking to a snoozing kitten on your lap whilst watching CSI of an evening is something I love to do lol- but a lot of it is time you have to specifically find to play with and interact with the kittens.

Of course it's a journey isn't it- I start the (hopefully) good work, the new family will continue that to fit in with their particular needs as a family (bedroom access etc) and fingers crossed by adulthood one has a well rounded adult cat! Of course Tonks are intelligent, which can make them mischevous, and that's part of their charm. And they are highly social, which can make them needy, which can make them misbehave when they aren't getting that attention and that's not so charming but that's Tonks for you. And all kittens have a toddler phase ( at the breeder's) and an adolescent, bratty, test the boundaries phase (at around 6 months, and again neutering on time plays a BIG part in keeping this in check) so when it's time, don't delay!

Any good breeder will tell you the same though- raising kittens well is hard work!

Missing You

Bye Freddie (yes, this was the best of a VERY bad series of photos... Freds would rather lick the camera than pose for it)

Bye Kurt! Kurt on the other hand has the pose down to perfection!

Settling in is always a little precarious. I never feel entirely comfortable until 1) the kitten has used the litter tray and 2) had something to eat. And by default I guess, 3) if they are hiding, which is normal, that they have come out for short periods of time.

Well I know that Kurt has used the litter tray and had a brief explore about, so that's all going brilliantly, thanks M for letting me know! I don't know about Freddie but he seemed very confident whilst I was at his new house. I haven't seen any horrified 'OMG kitten has piddled on my children's school shoes' messages on D's Facebook, only nice ones about what to call him and how much they love him... so that all seems to be going OK as well. Apparently he isn't to be Jack any more. I'll let you know what he does eventually get called!

So all seems to be going pretty well with my boys. Hurrah!

Oh and Indigo is calling. Joy of joys... she can't have the Pill yet, not until the kittens go, so we're in for a couple of very noisy days. Apologetic bottle of vino to the neighbours I'm thinking!!!

Bye Bye Boys

Kurt looking handsome and Freds looking... loony!

*sniff*

Both Freddie and Kurt went home today...

Freddie of course is a special case. Today I drove to his new home, a 3 hour journey each way, to settle him in. It had to be this weekend, as next and the week after I am expecting to be home for the girls to be collected! So it was either today or in three weeks.

I love all my kittens, but I don't think it will surprise anyone to know I was especially attached to Freddie. It wasn't just his leg... Freddie has such a lovely personality that anyone would love him. I could very easily have changed my mind and kept him myself. *sigh* But I know he has gone to the right home. Before I left he had already begun to tentatively make friends with another cat, and had won over his humans. He has a little lad to play with, who says Freddie will be his 'one true darling'- aww! But gosh I'll miss him :(

Now for Kurt. Now I know next Wednesday is the first pickup date, and I hope no-one will feel bad that Kurt has 'jumped the queue', but I hope when I explain they will understand. You see Kurt's family live 2ish hours drive from mine, but not 5 minutes drive from one of the roads I was driving down today. I passed right by them. So I thought, rather than Kurt's people doing an extra and unnecessary 4 hour round trip next weekend, why don't I bring Kurt too? His family were amenable, so that's what we did. It also meant Kurt had a buddy in the carrier with him for the journey, and Freddie had his brother half the time, which was probably a comfort to them both. It was my idea though, and not something I'd usually do. It's just the way things worked out this time.

(of course I got lost and couldn't find Kurt's house, so it wasn't exactly the quick detour I thought it might be... but we'll ignore that! ROFL!!!!)

Anyway, my boys are gone, we are down by two. And I am cream crackered after all that driving today... and am off to bed. Goodnight!

Far Too Old

Definitely far too old for all this nonsense... but Mama cats will keep letting them! Poor Indigo looks ridiculous, hidden under that sea of kitten!

Weights today and nothing else as I'm really busy, may not get an entry in tomorrow either but Sunday I will finish the weight comparison and do a proper entry I promise.



Liesl

Birth 96g
1 week 172g
2 weeks 226g
3 weeks 250g
4 weeks 325g
5 weeks 420g
6 weeks 586g
8 weeks 880g
9 weeks 1050g
10.5 weeks 1310g
12 weeks 1460g
FriedrichBirth 101g
1 week 187g
2 weeks 239g
3 weeks 271g
4 weeks 349g
5 weeks 449g
6 weeks 630g
8 weeks 950g
9 weeks 1180g
10.5 weeks 1380g
12 weeks 1500g

KurtBirth 102g
1 week 205g
2 weeks 280g
3 weeks 341g
4 weeks 448g
5 weeks 570g
6 weeks 740g
8 weeks 1020g
9 weeks 1220g
10.5 weeks 1460g
12 weeks 1550g

LouisaBirth 82g
1 week 157g
2 weeks 219g
3 weeks 260g
4 weeks 334g
5 weeks 394g
6 weeks 530g
8 weeks 820g
9 weeks 960g
10.5 weeks 1160g
12 weeks 1260g

BrigittaBirth 83g
1 week 179g
2 weeks 248g
3 weeks 301g
4 weeks 374g
5 weeks 497g
6 weeks 641g
8 weeks 890g
9 weeks 1070g
10.5 weeks 1300g
12 weeks 1400g

MartaBirth 91g
1 week 178g
2 weeks 249g
3 weeks 311g
4 weeks 389g
5 weeks 468g
6 weeks 603g
8 weeks 840g
9 weeks 970g
10.5 weeks 1130g
12 weeks 1270g

GretlBirth 81g
1 week 150g
2 weeks 220g
3 weeks 269g
4 weeks 342g
5 weeks 402g
6 weeks 516g
8 weeks 780g
9 weeks 950g
10.5 weeks 1140g
12 weeks 1260g


Comparison:

Birth

REM litter 83g-103g. Average 92g

Von Trapp litter 81g-102g. Average 91g

1 week

REM litter 182g-217g Average 195g

Von Trapp litter 150g- 205g. Average 175g

2 weeks


REM litter 257g-294g, Average 272g
Von Trapp litter 220g- 280g, Average 240g

3 weeks


REM litter  338g-390g. Average 359g.
Von Trapp litter 250g- 341g. Average 286g.

4 weeks


REM litter 437g-524g. Average 466g
Von Trapp litter 325g-448g. Average 365g

5 weeks


REM litter 539g-604g. Average 581g
Von Trapp litter 394g-570g. Average 457g.

6 weeks


REM litter 712g- 792g, Average 752g
Von Trapp litter  516g-740g, Average 606g

9 weeks

REM litter 1070-1340g. Average 1238g

Von Trapp litter 950-1220g. Average 1057g

10.5 weeks

REM litter 1130-1530g. Average 1368g

Von Trapp litter 1130g-1460g. Average 1268g if Liesl's weight is correct.

Needle

Freddie and Louisa rumble in a basket...

Vaccinations yesterday! Of course it didn't pass without incident. When I got the carriers out, Mama went to hide, uttering agonised howls that I felt sure would set the kittens off too. They seem to be made of rather sterner stuff than their mother, however, and when I came into the room again I found four of them already curled up in the baskets and the rest all thinking about leaping in. Thanks kittens! Of course as soon as I shut the tops they realised what was afoot and howled at me... sorry babies, too late!

Then there was a very loud and bouncy dog in the waiting room, which set Gretl off, hissing and growling. She is a little bit hissy, this one. I didn't dare get her out to calm her as the dog was massive and the owner... shall we say rather less in control of it than I was comfortable with? and I feared my kitten might make a tasty little morsel for it! So they all had to stay in the plastic carriers.

Brigitta was a little freaked as well. She was silent up until she got on to the vet table, coped with being examined and weighed and all the rest, (I'll post weights tomorrow) but once that needle went in, oh my she wriggled like a good 'un. There was vaccine all over the table and all down her back. I looked at the vet and the vet looked at me, and I said 'I don't think that much actually went in'. So we discussed it and Brigitta had to have a half dose of vaccine all over again, to be sure. Poor Brigitta!

They were very sleepy yesterday, as usually happens after a vaccine, but today are back to their usual rambunctious selves. So, for our new families, its counting down the days now I guess! The vaccinations are done, pedigrees are back, kitten packs ready to be assembled. And as of next Wednesday, the 29th, they will be free to come home. Just let me know which day you want to come and when. :)