A fun morning!

Day 23

Had a fun morning with the ‘Brady Bunch’ – kittens were very playful and mom was in a good mood.

In the evening they had another playful spell, so I went downstairs and was able to take two of them in my hands, lift them up and give them a kissy cuddle. How nice! Mom was watching from the new bed and payed attention but was none too worried.

I should bring the kitchen scales to weigh them, one of these days. I picked one up before, but not to my face or really in my hand.

Earlier today I repeated the effort to hand feed Mitsy and lo and behold, she did it.

I could tell that she remembers the first time; she had then eaten the treat first and then softly put her teeth on my fingers to search for more but it caught me off guard and I pulled back my hand and then she, in reaction, pulled back her head.

It took some repetitions to re-install the trust and it worked this morning. After she got the treat she picked it up quickly and pulled back.

She loves the new treats I bought from Sobeys. Lurves them! So I am kind of buying her trust…

I was finally able to put to rolled up towels behind the Nest door. It became necessary because we saw one of the eldest kittens making a serious effort to climb onto the Nest! It fell down (softly in the new bed), but when it manages to get up there it could fall into that space. But not anymore. Or at least not easily. The kittens are getting heavier. When I lift them it feels like they could be at least 250 grams.

This is a quick screenshot from a video that shows that space. I have filled it with little white towels and none too soon: the kittens are starting to climb on the nest and if that space behind the door would not be filled, they could fall in and get stuck. Now it is finally safe! Note to manufacturers of cat carriers: why not put the hinges of the door more to the side of the carrier? My big airport carrier has that, and that is a lot more safe.

I have put together the birthing footage in one video and it looks like I am right: Pumba came first, then Kabiri, then another tabby.

Then a little pause, then in quick succession two of the tabbies and Vampy, the little black one, came last.

I think I have yet to really handle her and the two middle kittens. They all look nice and fat, pot bellied, and are all active, although the smallest tabby is very timid and scratches her ear a bit too much to my liking.

I asked the vet at what age we can check and treat for fleas and they say not before 8 weeks, so that will have to happen at the moment of adoption, as needed. We are not there yet… We are on one third of the journey and before long those kittens will be bigger and bigger and literally more than a handful!

The socialisation process is going well. It is turning more into desensitising. Like today, I thought it would be OK for Wim to come with me to maybe play with the kittens. But Mitsy was very alarmed. I think she associates seeing the both of us at the same time with changes we have made recently. Like, making sure the litter box irritation did not get too bad, opening the second crate and stuff like that. So he went back upstairs. I am lucky that he does not hold it against me… He is OK with her in the morning, fortunately, so that is his moment with Mitsy. She is friendly and comes to eat almost before he can close the door to the crate. But for some reason she was not OK with us being there together tonight so we did not go through with it.

And just now (9:40 pm) I went downstairs in the dark to refresh the litter box after seeing her deposit a nice big stinky turd. I used my phone as a source of light and to keep me humble she hissed at me. It had been a while… she did not like me barge in and refresh the boxes, so next time I will let it stand till the morning. She is lying in the Ensuite now and I am wondering if she expected a treat. I understand the hiss, because it was dark and I did not acknowledge her and with her lying there I am reminded of the Velociraptors of Jurassic Parc, hehe. Did I lock the crate…?

Nah, it looks like she is falling asleep there. Getting away from the kittens perhaps. With them getting more and more active, she probably craves some privacy…