Poopy human and sharp-toothed thieves

Friends, yet again, those kittens of mine have stolen something from me, but this time, I spose I should be fair and mention that they did it indirectly. They stole my blog time!






As you know, I don't bother to tippy-tap all of my things I want to say into the man in the box Computer. That's one of the principle reasons I keep the human, the other being that she can open tins of food. Up until now, she's been, well, sort of all right if you discount the times where she's been really lax and hasn't updated for me at all, but that all changed last night. As usual, she left writing till the very last thing. Yeah yeah, she says she had other things to do and was running all over the place yesterday, but we all know that a people's concept of importance is so flawed that being busy isn't an excuse. My dictation comes before meetings. It comes before stupid peoples food shopping. It definitely comes before the de-furring of the house with the sucky monster.





Anyway, she started writing our Moonspun Blog
which charts the growth and achievements of my kittens from her point of view. Again I say yeah, yeah. We all know that peoples are selfish when it comes to our needs, and that we cats are supremely unselfish. I graciously allowed her to continue in peace until she was finished, but you know what she did? She turned off Computer, put him to bed and said it was time for sleeps! Well, I was furious. I had so much to tell you all, but I couldn't. I tried tippy-tapping once or twice, but the problem is that you can't get a good foothold on the blasted keyboard. There's always little square bits melting away when you step on them, and to be honest with you, I don't like it. So I'm stuck depending on her to do it for me.





The human says that a lot of stuff that I wanted to tell you is already on the Moonspun Blog
so I suggest you pop on over there for a really quick read, as I'm certainly not gonna give her the satisfaction of listening to me repeat something she's already written!





There is something she didn't mention though. Yesterday, our really nice vet lady people, who wasn't so nice to me last time come to think of it, came to the hous. The human had asked her to come have a look at me cuz she's felt a lump in my side ever since the kittens were newborn mousies. She initially thought it was the uterus, but as it hasn't gone down yet, she thought it best that someone took a look. however, whenever she arrived, the lump went and hid itself! It does this from time to time, and the human was furious that it had happened just then. However, the vet lady people had a feel of my yummy tummy anyway and said that she thought it was my kidney. This is apparently normal in skinny cats, and I do feel like a bit of a skinny minny at the moment cuz those kittens are sucking me dry, literally! But when they weighed me, I'd put on 200 grams compared to before the pregnancy. It's very, very strange. We're going to keep a close eye on that lump, the human and I, but let's hope it's nothing terrible.





My milk flow hasn't been as good lately, and the kittens are suffering from it. They only feed for short periods before losing interest altogether. Their weights are yo-yoing, and nobody's gaining like they should. Even when the human gave me urtica stinky tablets which usually keep my milk going for days, it dried up quickly again. She wishes they weren't losing weight, but she says it's only to be expected. It's around the time when the little monsters should be weaning. Their teeth are too sharp to keep feeding anyway, so I'm not fighting her. Well, I am, but not very hard. I will push them away from the dish whenever they come too near, and if the human's feeding them from her fingers as she did yesterday to try and encourage them to eat, then I'll push the kitten out of the way and eat it myself. Oh, food always tastes so much better from my human's fingers. I don't know why I'm doing this. It's some sort of instinct, but I really don't understand it. All I know is that it has to be done. The human says that in the next few days, she might separate me from them for a few hours so that they can get a little hungry, then eat undisturbed. Porker is the only one who has actually eaten from the dish, so he'll have a head start in the weight department... As usual.





As much as I love them, and I think I do love them now, they are disgusting little monsters. they're all pooping in the bedding now, or at least, one of them is, but as none of us knows who, and the kittens aren't telling, I blame them all. That is something I can't put up with. I'm a very clean cat, and this drives me mad! How do I stop them doing this? I'm not eating this stuff. It's solid. It's one thing cleaning their bums when they're tiny and can't do it for themselves, but I'm certainly not doing that now!





Anyway, that's all for a bit. Feel free to send hate mail to my human for being horrid enough not to write for me and only consider her own selfish needs instead of my unselfish requirements. Her address is selfishpig@dontcareaboutcats.com. Also feel free to lambast her in the comments. The more discipline she gets, the better!

From mousies to kittens

Friends, I've had my mousies around for a month now, and I think the time has come. Yep, that's right. Today they graduate. They are no longer mousies. They are now kittens! It's true. They look like kittens, they talk like kittens. They are clumsy and fall over like kittens, and most of all, they smell like kittens! At least, Hamster does.






My human woke up this morning, and when she went to do what she always does, which is to climb in the pen and smoosh and cuddle us all to within a very inch of our lives, she found Hamster with a very dirty back end, and a little pile of stinky poo on the bedding as a present for her. Now, just for a moment, allow me to reflect on the injustice of the whole thing. If I'd done that, I would have been told off, but when he did, she made lots of silly smooshy noises and told him what a good boy he was. She says this is a big thing, cuz it's the first solid poop he's done, and on his own too, but really, did he have to do it right where we sleep? She has put a kitten tray into the pen now though, right where he went before, and everything got washed, so it now smells lovely and clean and like my human's clothing things that she uses instead of sensible fur. The kittens all had fun investingating the litter tray. They romped and rolled all over in the litter, and when my human did their bums tonight, she made sure they were in the tray when she did them, then buried the wipes so that they would get the smell of their own wee to guide them back there again.

Hamster

They are all making leaps and bounds, literally! Whenever she takes the front off the pen now, Porker and the Baby automatically try and escape. hamster is a little more reserved, and will just put his paws up and watch, but the other two make a break for freedom. I don't like it. I tell them off all the time, and try and herd them back into the pen, but they just don't listen to me! They're so disobedient! If the front is on, all three will climb the mesh and squeak. The Baby squeals at my human to come and pick her up for a cuddle, and sometimes the boys do too.

Baby

She's so quick at everything. She's the first to really understand what a tail is for, and she's already talking to me with it. When they walk, she keeps herself low which means she can really move when she wants to, but the others try hard to stand up tall when they move, which usually means they fall over. I must admit, it's cute to watch.


I take myself out of the pen when they start to fight though. I've had to discipline them so many times for getting too carried away and clawing my face! I won't have it. It's rude, and they need to learn manners! Whenever they do this, I take them in my two front paws, wrap them around the bad kitten, then squeeze them in very tight to my chest and sort of give them a little shake. I'll hold on until they go limp and stop whatever it is they're doing. The human is now doing this as well when they bite her, as it seems to be much more effective than tapping their noses. She says that she thinks the cutest part of them is their noses at the minute, and that she could just eat them all up. I hope she doesn't!


She made me some yummy blended stinky goodness today which means that it's easy to eat, and it won't hurt the kittens if they want to try some. I sorta hope they don't want to try though. It's mine!


Soon, the babies will be getting their propper, forever names. They will be registered soon, you see, so will need them. We think that we already know what the Baby's name will be, but we aren't sure yet about the two boys. There are a number of options, actually, as the Baby could still be registered under a pedigree name, and we could use the name we have for her as a pet name, like the way it is for me. Anyway, we could have a themed litter. My human likes some drinks names. Maybe Georgia Peach for the Baby, then the choices of Southern Comfort, Heart Stopper or Cryptonite for the others, but we don't know. Remember, Moonspun will come before all of those names. We could also have Arianwen which means silvery white for the Baby. It's Welsh, and we really like this one too. There are so many choices! What do you all think? We'll keep the pet name of the Baby a secret for a little while longer, we think, just till she gets old enough that she can decide for herself if she likes it or not. I think it's only fair!


Porker is doing well, although when he talks, his miaow still sounds a little bubbly. He is still beating everyone up though, and he gained good weight today. I swear, whenever I'm in there, he's constantly at the milk bar! He's such a greedy kitten! Hamster lost lots though, so I'll need to make a special effort to make sure he gets fed more tonight. Because it's their fourth week, I'll give you the weights again so that you can see just how much they've all grown. Pictures will come soon, and, if you're lucky, perhaps even some videos! Watch this space, but they'll be here soon! Thank you all so much for praying for Porker. It means so much to me, and you can see that the power of the purr is working once again!

Porker

The Baby: 392 grams.
Hamster: 395 grams.
Porker, 481 grams.

And here is some video!

If the video won't load, see it HERE

Friends, if any of you are up for a spot of wrasslin with unruly children, please, please, please, be my guest! I could do with some peace!

Highs and Lows

Friends, this last weekend has brought so many milestones that I don't even know where to begin. Not all of them have been good though, I warn you.






The HG and her family friend, now called FF, arrived late on Friday, but straight away, they wanted to see my mousies. That was fine by me. The mousies were all sleepy and easy to handle. The HG did fine, but FF managed to drop Hamster. Luckily, he was sat on the sofa, but it meant that Hamster fell to the sofa, then slid off the edge and landed on the floor. The human has very, very thick carpets in the house though, so he wasn't hurt in the slightest. Despite this, she got that look about her that she gets when I've done something real, real bad. She didn't say anything to FF, but she was so mad that she says she was shaking. I was worried for my mousie, but he was just fine. I'm not going to say more on this, cuz it makes the human mad all over again just to think about it. Poor FF was so shocked and upset that he couldn't even say anything. She knows that it was an accident and that he didn't mean it, but she looks at those mousies as hers too, and she says she just wanted to scream and shout at him and tell him what she thought! She knows he'll beat himself up more than she ever could though. It's clear to see that he loves us all. He wanted to cuddle me, but as you know, I'm not very into snuggling at the moment. He watched me a lot, but he didn't pester me once. He talked to me all the time though!





The HG on the other hand. Well. I like her, or at least I think I do, but sometimes I just wish she'd leave me alone. If I'm anywhere near her, she wants to touch me. I understand that she loves cats very much and that she doesn't have a cat of her own and desperately misses them, but really, does she have to stroke me all the time? She says nice things to me though, but one thing I can't understand is the name she calls me. She calls me Matilda, and that's not my name. My human says that she gives pet names to all her animals, and even other peoples', but normally they're not another propper name. they're something silly. I sort of wish she wouldn't call me the weird name, but she does, so that's that. She loved my mousies. She told me how cute they were, and she said to the human that she wanted to take the Baby home with her! No way though. She's staying here with us! I do like the HG. She buys cool toys for me!





On Saturday, the human told me she was abandoning me again, this time to go into town with the HG and FF. She gave me some foods before she went, and as Porker was very interested, she decided to wait and see if he'd take his first mouthful from the bowl. It's just as well she did wait!





Porker got hold of a chunk of my stinky goodness. The human had been told by another breeder that mousies can cope with soft chunks, as their teeth are sharp enough to chew through. Porker sucked, then chewed, then... gagged, choked, and finally stopped breathing. I've never seen my human move so quick, nor shout so loud. Swift movements frighten me, so she tries to keep her hands slow when they come towards me, but this time, she swooped in, grabbed him, and before I could even say miaow, she had him upside down, was tapping his ribs and shrieking at the HG to phone the vet. Well, they told her she was shrieking, the HG and FF, that is, cuz she can't remember a thing about it. She says she's felt less panic even when resussing people patients, but panic she did. At long last, the food popped back out again, but now she was worried that he might have breathed in some tiny pieces of it. She listened to his chest with something she calls a stethoscope, and sure enough, it sounded noisy.





Straight away, she dosed him with glucose to avoid him going into shock, and put him back in with me, but I didn't want to know anything about him. I pushed him away, but the human put him right under my chin to lick. She said that a thorough wash might stimulate him to cough up anything lodged in his chest. But I pushed him away again. For some reason, this upset the human no end, but he smelled wrong to me, too much like death or illness or, well, just something not good, and I didn't want him near.





The human phoned the vet lady people, but all she said was that my human had done everything that she would have done herself, and she'd done a good job. She said we were to watch him till Monday, and if he'd gone downhill, we were to bring him in. By the time she got off the phone, Porker was at the milk bar filling his face! I didn't push him away from there. I knew he was hungry, and I'm not that cruel.





His miaow still sounds rusty even after a whole day, and he lost weight today, but then, the Baby didn't gain anything either, and it's not unusual for them to do this during the day. The night will tell though. Porker always gains massively at night, well, they all do, so it will tell whether he's getting sick or not. he's still moving around just fine, and fighting for his spot at the milk bar as ferociously as always, but you know what the human's like. She can't help but worry.





They've all learned to fight now, and are regularly having massive tussles with each other. I spend more time out of the pen now, cuz I don't like being involved in their fights. Also, their teeth are getting sharper, and to say it's uncomfortable when they feed is an understatement. I'll be glad when they learn to eat on their own.





Tomorrow they'll be four weeks old, and what an achievement that will be to get them all to that milestone! Pray for Porker, won't you? It worked last time, so perhaps it can help him not get sick!

Stealing my friends!

It seems, friends, as though this is going to be a weke of stealing posts. First, they stole my attention. That was all right though, cuz I went and cuddled the human and reascerted my position of number one catness in the house. Next they stole my foods, but thanks to all of your reassurances, I'm not so worried about that any more, cuz you've made me be able to hope that I won't starve! But I don't know what to do about the next thing they've stolen. They've stolen my friends! Well, not mine, but the human's, and what belongs to the human is mine by proxy, so they stole my friends!

The human had a friend over this afternoon. She always cuddles me and says nice things to me, but this afternoon, most of those nice things were said to the mousies instead. She made talk noise to them and told them how cute they were. She cuddled them, she stroked them, she even sat on the floor with them! She took lotsa pictures of them, and she forgot about me! She didn't even look at me, not once! I showed off my great mummycat skills by washing my mousies, then by brrrrping at them, and even showed off how well I was eating my stinky goodness! But it was all in vain. She didn't even know I existed! My human says that she did make a big fuss of me, that she came and made a point of cuddling me and telling me how beautiful I was, for a long time, but for the other eleventy zillion hours that she was here, she was with the mousies. What's a girl to do! If I was a people, I'd put my feet up, put on a good movie and have some chocolate to make myself feel better, but as it is, if any of you are up for a mammoth snuggling session, then I could do with one. Who needs peoples friends! Well, I spose my human is a good one. She always gives me all kinds of love, and I'm sorta glad she doesn't use the baby talk she does with the mousies with me.

Hamster ate some of my stinky goodness this morning, but the Baby wasn't interested at all. Thank Cod, I say. more for me! My human abandoned me again this morning for 13 weeks, or it seemed that long, and when she came back, she wouldn't even talk to me but went straight away to get into the shower. She smelled funny too! She says she was only gone for about an hour and a half and that she smelled funny cuz she'd been horse riding. An hour and a half? I could have died of starvation in that time, and she wouldn't have cared! Horrible human! She did give me all kinds of lovin when she was done with her getting soapy though. And she gave me a fresh plate of stinky goodness, cuz I'd eaten all of mine. Well, I spose her priorities are right when she's here, cuz she reminded me that she didn't even have breakfast this morning so that she could make sure I was fed before she left.

The mousies all gained weight through the night which pleased the human no end. She does worry so when they lose, but she doses them with drops which give them a ravenous apetite, so it all comes right in the end.

The HG is coming tonight to see my mousies, and she's bringing someone with her. The human says I'm not to worry, cuz he loves cats just as much as the HG and he'll love me. Well, I had no doubt of that. After all, what's not to love! But I wonder if they'll give the mousies all the attention too and ignore me? They'd better not!

I got my human to steal some of the pictures that her friend took today. Do you see how big the mousies have gotten? The first one is Porker. I'd say he's big enough now that he's almost a kitten. What do you think? The next one is Hamster. He's still pretty small, but he's getting there. The last one is the Baby, and isn't she yummy! My human says that Hamster and the Baby are so similar in size and shape that she wouldn't be surprised if Hamster turned out to be a girl when they go for their check up at nine weeks. Well, we'll just see about that! I hope you enjoy the pictures. Can you tell them apart yet? I know I certainly can!

Porker

Hamster

Baby

Tia & Porker

Stealing my foods!

Friends, A few days ago, I told you that my mousies were stealing my human's attention. Well, they've progressed now to something even more hanus. They're stealing my foods! And they're aided and abetted by that human!






As you know, friends, I am a clever ladycat when it comes to getting what I want to eat. I'll pretend to like something, then wait for the human to bulk order it and go off it completely. Case in point, my Hills stinky goodness that I loved for ages. She ordered 8 boxes day before last, and yesterday and today, I've hardly touched a mouthful. Well, today actually, cuz yesterday I did eat a fair bit.





She had to go out today (that's peoples code for abandon the cat and make up some pathetic excuse about needing something important), and her travels took her to a pet shop so she bought a few different brands of stinky goodness for me to try. When she got home, she gave me something she calls Nature's Menu. Man, I thought all my christmouses had come at once! The stuff smelled heavenly and it tasted even better! I got down to some serious eating.





When I eat, my human usually mousie watches for me so that I can munch in peace and not worry about them escaping, so I thought nothing of it when her hands came into the box and started to move the mousies around. I didn't even look up when they squeaked. Her hand came towards the bowl, but then it went away again, so I carried on. Then it came back again, and again. I looked up, and there was Porker licking and licking at her finger. What was this! Her finger was covered in my stinky goodness! Porker only liked the juice though, and spat out any bits that went in his mouth, and Hamster wouldn't taste it at all. I stopped worrying. Juice was nice, but I could live without it. She took some more stinky goodness, and this time, she fed it to the Baby. Well, something unexpected happened. Unlike Porker, the Baby didn't spit out the bits. in fact, the more she got, the more she wanted. When she started to chew on the human's finger, that human took a big gob of food and held it in her fingers. The Baby licked, then, liking what she was tasting, she sucked and sucked and sucked. She doesn't know you're sposed to chew, you see. When the human's hand came back for some more food, I knew I was in trouble. I know how much those mousies drink, so if they eat just as much, there'd be no stinky goodness left for me! I began to gulp, but the human's big fingers kept scooping more out for the Baby.





When I looked back again, she had finished. She says the Baby ate about a teaspoot full of stinky goodness, but she got more on her than in her. Her little face was covered, which meant I had to clean her. Hamster and Porker too, but I didn't mind all that much, as they tasted of stinky goodness. I did a thorough job on them!





I have this feeling though. I don't think it's gonna be too long before they are stealing my foods on their own, and I don't like the idea! Do you think there's any way of getting the human to give me more foods so that I'll still have some to eat? Is there even a small possibility that their new apetite will mean that I might starve? Is my life drawing to a prolonged, hungry close? Is that a light I see at the end of the tunnel? Stay tuned to find out!

Attention stealing mousies!

Friends, I hate that stupid little man in a box that my human calls Computer. He's so moody! He got the huff last night cuz I called him names cuz he'd had my human's attention all day long, and you know what he did? He stopped talking! But it's even worse than that. he waited till my human had tippy-tapped everything I wanted to tell you into his box, and then he wouldn't read it back to her, and he wouldn't keep it in his memory either! The human said a lot of words that she usually only says when she's angry. She said she felt like kicking Computer. I told her she should. I don't like the man in the box, and it would have served him right cuz that was a mean trick he played, waiting until he could spite me by getting rid of my mewsings! It was late when he did this. The human had stayed up specially so that I could talk to you all, so when he got in a mood and wouldn't let her see what I'd said so that she could post it, she got in one and told me she had to sleep on accounta it was stupidly late and she was tired.






My mousies were three weeks old yesterday, and I didn't even get to share it with you! I think they will turn into kittens soon. In fact, I think they already are, cuz they're starting to talk to me now, and it isn't in mousie language. My girl mousie will miaow at me and she even answers me when I brrrp miaow back at her, well, she does sometimes anyway. So does my big boy, the one the human calls Porker, although he usually just screams when I come into the box, whereas the Baby will actually have a conversation with me. I like them more now that they've stopped drinking absolutely all the time, and have started moving around and actually getting interesting. Cuz they are moving now. Porker is walking pretty good, and the Baby is too. Hamster tries, but he's still very wobbly. The Baby fell out of the bed the other night which she wasn't happy about, but she was Ok once the human rescued her and put her back in.





They're also starting to play more too, although Porker is a bit rough. He has no manners yet. He doesn't realise that he has to be gentle with the human. She will let him play with her fingers, but I know he shouldn't be doing it, cuz she has taught me that that's a bad idea. She says it's Ok while they're still learning that she is a nice bean and not a big scary monster, and when they have, then she'll start to teach them right from wrong, but I don't like to see it. he's grabbing her with his claws, then biting her. Sure, he doesn't have any real teeth yet, just tiny little points, so it doesn't hurt, but soon he will and soon it will!





Today I was cuddling him when he saw the human's hand and started to attack it. Now, he was right up by my face at the time, and his claws kept thwapping me in the nose and eyes. I didn't like that one little bit. I told him off with a loud chirrup, and when he didn't listen, I took him round the middle in my two front paws, then hugged him in really close to me and squeezed him tight. I didn't hurt him, but he got the message real quick and stopped his bad manners. The next time the human played with him, he held onto her, but he didn't bite her as hard.





She's just had a good play session with the Baby too, although she prefers to lie on her back and bat at my human's fingers rather than holding on and biting. Her teeth are really through now though! I'm not enjoying feeding them as it is, but when they come all the way through, well, I can tell you, those kids better start eating solids mighty quick, cuz I'm not going through that!





Hmmmm, what else to tell you. There isn't much other than that. They do what they've always done. Sleep, eat, and now play. The Baby purred twice when the human was stroking her, but after only a few seconds, she opened her eyes and realised it was my human and then boy did she scream! I had to reassure her that the human wasn't gonna do what the Catnip mom Trish people does and put her in the stew pot. I wonder if one of the boys who's been kitten sitting has been telling stories to frighten them? Fess up, boys!





As they play more, the human is giving the mousies more and more attention. I tell you something, I don't like that one little bit. It's not cuz she's touching my mousies. That's fine. I know she won't hurt them. I trust her totally. In fact, even when they scream when she's weighing them, I do no more than brrp at them to tell them it'll be Ok. But when she's giving them attention, she isn't giving it to me. I've gotten used to being the only cat in the house and having her undivided attention, but that isn't the case any more. If she plays too long with my mousies, I get in the box and brrp at her, and if she still ignores me or thinks I'm talking to them instead of her, I lie down on that mousie, or put my head on them so that they can't play any more and the human will have to cuddle me instead. She tells me that it's rude, and that it's important for the mousies to learn that she's not big and scary. I do agree it's important, but her attention should be all mine, not divided between them! I've even been letting her pick me up more since I realised what was going on, and I've sat with her each time for about two minutes instead of a second. It's not cuz I feel sorry for her. I'll never admit that! No, it's cuz when I'm sitting on her, her attention is all mine and not the mousies'. That's the way it should be, right? When I demand attention, I should get it!





When I climbed in the box just now when she was playing with the Baby, she actually put her hand under me and refused to let me lie down on her. She told me sternly that I was being rude, and reminded me that I'd just ran away from her when she offered to cuddle me. I'm sneaky though. I worked out real quick that I wasn't gonna win, so I started to do the Baby's bum instead. I know that she'll never get in the way when I'm cleaning my mousies, but this time, she just kept on playing, and cuz the Baby was playing too, it was real hard for me to clean her! The human did hold her still while I did the messy bit which I appreciated, but when I started again as soon as she started to play, the human did a dirty trick. The boys were at the other end of the box, and that human put one of her big hands under a kitten and rolled him over. He was awake, so it didn't startle him, but they will squeak when she first touches him, and as soon as he did, I had to go investigate and see if he was all right. I thought I'd wash them both while I was up there, and while I was, that sneaky human carried on playing with my Baby! She says that she'll give me attention whenever I want it, and that she'll even cuddle me if I'm in the box, but she says that just as the mousies have to learn manners, I too have to learn not to be so jealous, as it may hamper their development. She took me out of the box when she was done playing though, cuddled me on her knee, gave me loads of yummy treats and told me I was and always would be the bestest cat ever. I flounced away in a huff though... After I'd gotten all the treats. My human should know that I'm the only one who deserves all that attention!





We did have some photos taken today, but the computer thing that Dogman's friend uses to transfer them from his flashy box is broken, so we'll have to wait a little. the human says she'll ask Dogman to take pictures tonight though, so you should have them tomorrow. Oh, to finish off, I'll give you the mousies' weights just so that you can see how much they've grown. They're getting big, and fast! And there's a surprise in the weight gains. Look closely at Hamster in relation to everyone else...





The Baby: 316 grams
Hamster: 325 grams.
Porker: 384 grams
Isn't it super!

More kittens and an apology

Karen, as you so rightly said, we haven't updated in ages! Blame my human for that, no please, I insist! She says she doesn't do no sleep plus full days very well, and wants to spend all her free time resting rather than writing. I don't understand it. We cats do all right with catnaps here and there all the time, so why can't she!






But why wasn't she sleeping? Well, you see, my mousies have gone through another period of losing weight. First it was Porker which worried her no end. He's the biggest, so should have the least trouble feeding. When Hamster lost that same day, she knew that a sleepless night was coming. She had to stay awake and help Porker and Hamster find one of my nimples, then hold them there while they had a drink, stop others fighting them, stop them fighting each other, and still leave room between her big paw hands for the Baby to have a space at the milk bar. It really wasn't easy. She says it wasn't helped by the fact that every time the mousies cried, I'd curl round them instead of stretching out. Well, I was worried for them! I thought if I could hide them, they'd stop crying, but it only made them worse which made me curl tighter which made them scream. In the end, I thought it was the human's fault and really shouted at her, but she took no notice, pulled me out to be stretchy again, and just went on plugging them in. Of course, they stopped crying as soon as they got a drink, so gradually, I learned that the human would help me to stop them instead of making it worse.





By the time the next morning came, the human was exhausted, but she couldn't sleep. She needed to keep going. By the time bedtime rolled around, she was really ready to make her snore noises, but it turned out that the Baby had lost weight during the day, a lot of weight, so now it was her turn to get the special treatment.





Dogman came up the next day, and the day after that, she abandoned us all to attend something called an exhibition. She says that's rather like a cat show, sept that the things on show are computers and technology, not cats. It sounds boring if you ask me, but she enjoyed it. She said she had to go cuz she'd committed ages ago. I punnished her though. When she came back, I totally ignored her. I wasn't left alone. Dogman's mummypeople came in to watch us all and feed me and make sure everything was all right, but I didn't care. She wasn't my human!





Speaking of ignoring, I've been doing a lot of that lately, and the human says it's making her miserable. As you know, I prefer to play at being a mummycat from afar, but even though I don't wanna be in the box with my mousies, I don't wanna be with the human either. Well, that's not true. I don't mind being nearby, but every time she tries to pick me up, I jump down again and go somewhere else. She says she's really missing her snuggle time with me, but I can't bring myself to care. She says it's probly the tiredness, but she feels like she's doing a lotta work for little return. She also knows that's stupid, cuz the mousies are all thriving, and, besides the milk bar, that's thanks to her for all of them now. But she wishes that I'd show her some appreciation, even once a day. I do still purr for her when she comes to help the babies access the milk bar, but that's about it really. Oh, and I shout at her for food. I followed her halfway to the litterbox room today, but I wouldn't come in with her like I normally do, and I wouldn't let her pick me up either. Well, it's a compromise, isn't it? She says that she needs to touch and hold me on accounta her broken eyes, but I think she's probably asking a bit too much. I mean, I've got a lot of demands on my time. What do you all think?





Porker is playing now whenever the human tickles him. The Baby thinks about it, but would rather cry and squeak so that I'll come see what's wrong with her. She did climb up the box to stand under where the human's chin was though, and she doesn't run away, so I know she's not frightened. Hamster plays sometimes, but not very much really. He and the Baby should break the 300 Gram marker today. Porker has already done that days ago!





I can't think of what else to tell you, so I'm afraid that's it for the time being. I'm sorry that some of you were worried, I really am. I promise not to leave it as long again between posts. Thank you all for caring though! It's particularly helped my human today. She says it's helped keep the black dog at bay, but I dunno what that is, as I see no black dog anywhere! My human's strange sometimes. Well, most of the time, actually.

Mummycat Monday: two weeks old!

Friends, today my mousies are two weeks old, and already they're looking less like mousies all the time! They're too big for one thing. They've grown massively in the last week! Also, they're now starting to miaow rather than just squeak. I've begun to talk to them which my human finds very amusing in the daytime, but not so great when I mingle that with my shouting at her at night.






I did feed all the babies just like I said I would. There's pictures to prove it! See the first one? you can see I'm being a good mummycat! Don't you think they've grown?





The next one shows Porker, and boy is he bigger than everyone else! His weight tonight is 268 grams. Isn't he a handsome fella! He doesn't cry now as much when the human cuddles him. He still has his moments, but they're getting less and less all the time.





Then there's little Hamster. He's still the smallest at only 234 grams, but he's slowly catching up, and he gained 13 grams in the last 12 hours which we're both very pleased with! He feels much skinnier than the others though, and the human says she has this funny feeling about him. She says something just doesn't feel right. She's hoping she's wrong, and so am I, but she thinks he might become an angel quite young in life. Why she thinks that she can't say definitively, but he's just different to the other two in so many ways. He's quieter. he doesn't fight, doesn't struggle, doesn't cry half as much, and doesn't suckle with the same dedication even now that he has the energy to do it. he also feels different when she handles him. I guess only time will tell, but please keep him in your thoughts.





Next we have another picture of Porker. Isn't my boy cute!





Then there's the Baby. She's the human's favourite, maybe because she knows we'll most likely end up keeping her, but maybe, just maybe, cuz she's the cutest. She loves tickles, and licks the human whenever she obliges. She has a tiny little squeak of a miaow, and she is the only one who will stay totally limp and asleep in the human's hands when she picks her up. She's just a little poppet, and I love her a lot! She weighs 240 grams today, so Hamster is catching her up nicely. She's the only one who has trippled her birth weight, although Porker is getting mighty close.





Wow, that's quite a lot of news! I'm all tuckered out! Anyway, as you can see from the last picture, there's no rest for a busy mummycat, so I think I'll head off now. I have hungry babies to see to. Ahem, I mean mousies!

Sunday Sadness

Well, friends, I don't know what's wrong, but whatever it is, is't stopping all of my babies gaining weight, and I don't like that one little bit! I've been feeding them, honest I have, and the human even gave me some stuff she calls homeopathy to increase my milk flow, but nothing is helping. Porker actually lost 4 grams last night, and that's without me even bothering to scream at the human for attention. I've been super duper good, and it's still not enough! Am I a bad mummycat, friends? Have I done something to them by ignoring them for so long that now they've decided they don't want to be my mousies any more? I'm confused!






Tomorrow they'll be two weeks old, so there'll be some pictures for you to look at! They've gotten mighty big since the last pictures. They're almost twice the size they were then! In fact, Porker is easily twice the weight, even though he did lose some last night. Dogman's mummypeople says that Porker's colour is coming in round his mouth. Can you see it in the pictures?





There's not much else to tell you, sept that I got fish and chicken today! I didn't eat my morning foods and the human said I felt a tiny bit dehydrated, so she made me some fish and mixed it with my foods. Well, I wasn't gonna say no to that! She also fed me some of the chicken that she made for her, Dogman and his mummypeople for their dinner, and boy was it nice! She says I can have some more of that tomorrow with my food if I like. I say yes please!





She says she'll leave us all alone tonight sept for when my mousies cry. Then she'll come help. I've decided that I'm gonna be so good to them that they won't need to cry at all!





I've been in my propper litterbox again today. To answer your question, no, Tori, they don't eat anything yet, let alone litter. They just drink from me. And anyway, they aren't able to get into my box. They're too small. When they do they'll probly have a go at eating it, but every mousie does, and it's Ok cuz the litter won't harm them if they have a taste. They'll soon learn that that's disgusting and stop doing it though!





I learned something sad today though. It's part of the reason why I haven't been eating so good, as it quite took the heart out of me. My dear friend, Whicky, crossed the bridge five days ago. It was quite unexpected by us all, never mind his family, and he's left a hole behind him much bigger than he was. I had a soft spot for that handsome mancat. Do you know that he was the first cat ever to come see me and leave kind words? If you'd like to visit his blog, I know his peoples and his brothers could do with your love and support. The blog can be found Here."
Whicky, my friend, have fun up there at the bridge, and make sure to play as hard as you loved!





Well, that's all from me till tomorrow. It's the mousies' bedtime, and my time to think and remember.

Quick update

Just a quick note from me to tell you that the mousies' weight gain today has been horrible and we don't know why. Sure, I left them, but I always leave them and I didn't do it for any longer than normal. My human thinks that the nimples on top when I lie on my right side aren't as good as the ones on the left, so after she weighed them tonight, she turned me over for a little bit. The mousies are all feeding now, and the human says she hasn't seen them stay attached so long all day, so they must be getting something! She says she might be a bit stricter with me tomorrow and ask me to go back in the box more. I hope she doesn't!






Well, me pooing on the mat had a good side. Sure, the human got mad, but it means that now every time I go in my litterbox in the right place, I get more treats than you could shake a stick at! I don't know why you'd want to shake a stick at treats mind you. It's wasting time that could be spent eating them! I make a big thing about going in the right place now. I get in and scratch about a bit until the human says "Good girl, Tia". Then I know she's noticed, and treats will follow. I make quite a ceremony out of going to the bathroom now!





All of the babies enjoy the human's tummy tickles now, and the Baby so much that if the human stops before she's had enough, she'll cry and squeak until she starts again. She's taken to washing the human's finger clean too while she's being tickled. The human thinks this is adorably cute, but I'm just pleased that my little girl is learning manners and helping the poor human keep herself clean. They do such an inadequate job with their own tongues, you know. It's particularly nice cuz she's never seen me cleaning the human, so she learned that one all on her own!





Last night I stayed so quiet in the pen that the human was awful worried. She thought I wasn't staying with the babies. you see, she changed things around. She took out the small litterbox and put my big one there instead, only she put it outside the door. She blocked it all off so that I couldn't get out, then put my foods and water at the back of the pen, and the baby basket at the front. So I would have had space to go lie away from the babies if I'd wanted. And I was so quiet that she thought I'd done just that! But I hadn't, cuz when she weighed them this morning, Hamster had gained a massive 11 grams in 12 hours all on his own! Just as well, cuz today he gained the most, and he only gained 2! Poor Porker actually lost weight today! She hopes everyone will do better overnight. In fact, she's banking on it.





That's all for today, friends. I'm too busy feeding to write more right now. I hope you'll understand!

Thirsty Thursday

Friends, my babies were thirsty all right when the human finally got up this morning. Why? Cuz I did exactly what I did the night before. I yelled and yelled, and when that didn't work, I chirrupped at her. That woke her up. She told me to lie down and give the babies a drink. I listened to her the first time, but the second, third and fourth I pretended I couldn't hear her.






She gave in at three in the morning and took me out for a cuddle. Of course, I tried to run off, but this didn't work so good, as it got me put very smartly back in the pen. She says she hopes I'll learn soon enough that if I whine (how dare she call it whining!), I can come out, but only for a cuddle and not to abandon the mousies and go adventuring. I say forget it, lady. Anyway, when she put me back, she laid me down again and helped me stretch out. Then she plugged the babies in and went to bed thinking she was scot free...





She gave in again at 5, and then again at half 6! Boy am I good! The chirrup seems to wake her more thoroughly than just yelling. She says she's able to tune out the usual yelling, but she can still wake up if Hamster is crying too much, or if my screaming turns urgent or distressed. She's far too clever, my human.





Hamster's umbilical chord fell off today. His was the last to go. The human held each of my mousies today while I had a really good wash of their bums and tummies (they aren't as yummy as mine yet, Ok?). It's easier when she holds them. If she doesn't, they squirm away from me, and I end up having to follow them all round the box. I get fed up of trying halfway through and come back to it again later, but when my human had them today, no matter how much they squirmed and wriggled and squeaked, they didn't go anywhere. I was able to give them a very vigorous cleaning, and I wonder if it was that which made the chord fall off. Either way, his tummy is yummier without that hanging off it.





The baby had another tickle from my human today, and she even got to licking her finger, the tickling one, that is. Then later, when she was sleeping, the human came and stole her for a cuddle. I didn't mind. I'm slowly learning that my human always brings the mousies back to me, and even if they cry when she has them, it's not cuz she's hurting them or being mean or anything. She curled the baby into her hand, and even when she woke up a little, all she did was sniff the human, then settle back down to sleep again. This is the first time she's been able to pick up any baby, asleep or awake, without them crying like someone was killing them!





I'm still not too sure about this mothering thing, but I like the little mousies well enough. I think they'll be good company, and anyway, it's cuz of them that my human gave me a whole cod fillet yesterday, all to myself! I've never had cod before, and this was fresh and still warm, and oh so juicey. Friends, as you know, I don't eat a lot, but I ate half of that in one sitting, and then the other half with my stinky goodness! The human says she has one left which I might get next week as a treat, but only if I'm extra special good. I can do that, oh yes I can! And if I can't, then all I gotta do is come and smoosh her for five minutes and she'll give me whatever I want! She has her faults, but at least she's easy to manipulate.

Weary Wednesday

Friends, it's a weary Wednesday all right, and my human is a heartless pig! She doesn't listen to me!






I spent all of last night, Ok not all, but some of it, screaming at her to let me out of that stupid, stupid pen that she put me in with those squealing mousies! They were crying, I was crying, and the human said it sounded like she had a zillion cats instead of only four! I was sat at the front of the pen screaming at her, while my babies sat round my feet and cried for milk. But I was bored. I'd fed them once already. I wanted out to do things. What things? Well, hide under the bed, in that little spot where the human can't get me, then not come out for love nor tuna! The human says that's why she didn't let me out, cuz I need to stay with my babies to warm and feed them. Codswallop, I say.





I got excited when she opened the pen door, and tried to dart past her, but as usual, my human was too quick for me. She managed to catch me, then she told me that if I wanted a bit of loving, I could come out, but that was it. I had everything else I needed in the pen; food, water, a litterbox. She picked me up and I squirmed like mad to try and get away from her, but she was having none of it. She sat on the bed with me and cuddled me in the blankets, just the way I used to like. Friends, I let the team down. I enjoyed it for a few minutes. Then, suddenly, I remembered that I'm a torttureshell, not a mousie. I made a flying leap... And got nowhere. She'd been waiting for me to do it and she caught me. With a final stupid kissie on my head, and a last stupid chin tickle which I'll never admit I liked, I was put back in with the squealers who were really noisy by this point.





She laid me on my side, then stretched me out so that the mousies could get at my nimples. Almost straight away, the noise stopped and I calmed. I don't know what it is, but when they have their mouths on my nimples, everything doesn't seem so bad any more. I'd say I go to mush, but of course I don't. I'm way too fierce to go to mush just cuz of a couple of little mousies. But it does feel good. Makes me feel like I'm lying in front of a warm fire, but inside me. Does that make sense?





That sneaky human knows that I get quiet when the mousies are on my tummy, and she very silently eased the pen door shut and crept away to bed again.





This scenario repeated itself quite a few times, but she didn't take me out again. Instead, she gave me scritches when I let the mousies find my nimples. She says their weight gain suffered because of it, with Hamster only gaining 1 gram overnight, compared to the 9 he'd gained during the day. Well, she shouldn't be so mean to me! Who cares if the mousies get cold and hungry! Well, I spose I do, but come on! A cat should retain her independence, no matter what!





I've had no more litterbox issues. She blocked my access to the kitchen, stupid human, so I go in the one by my babies. I do have one that's nice and far away that the human thought I'd use, cuz mommacats don't normally like to go too close to the nest, but as with all other typicalities of mothering, I've totally flouted this expectation.





That's about it for today, sept that Porker has started to consistently purr now. Oh, and the human has started her own blog. She says it's to chart the mousies' progress from a human point of view. Sounds boring, but if your beans want to read it, it's Here
We're sorry, there's no pictures yet, but we're working on it. Oh, she's also almost got the Moonspun cattery website launched, but again, we're just waiting on pictures and something to do with a database connection something or other (I stopped listening at that bit). Anyway, we'll tell you when it's launched! We'd love you to come visit and give us feedback!

One week old!

Friends, I'm exhausted which is why I haven't been writing so much lately. It takes too much effort to think of things to say, and then when I do think of something, these eating machines decide it's time for their next feed and I can go nowhere! They are a week old today, and it's been the longest, longest week, both for me and the human. For her, it's been long cuz she's so tired. She's up in the night with little Hamster still, and it does take it out of her. Well, I'm up with them all the time, and let me tell you, they take it out of me... Literally! I'm sure each mousie drinks sixteen million pints of milk a day, and they're still hungry! They are still fighting fiercely over my nimples no matter how many times I tell them off, but at least little Hamster is doing it too now, so that gives us one lest thing to worry about. He's getting fatter too. The human says he gained 11 grams yesterday all by himself! Well, kinda by himself, even though she's still helping.






Hamster is the last to do everything. The last to fight, the last to learn to suck and the last to purr. Cuz oh yes, my babies have started to purr. The baby was the first. The human heard this funny noise coming from the box after she'd plugged them all in on Saturday night, and when she touched the Baby, her body was vibrating! Porker was the next to pick it up, and this morning, we heard the first tentative purrs from Hamster. I think he's always gonna be slow, but I can't wait till all three of them purr at once! nor can the human. It'll be marvellous!





Their eyes are almost all the way open now, and their ears are beginning to open, but the umbilical chords are still attached! I know I'm sposed to lick them off, but they're icky and gross and I don't wanna! The human says they may well fall off, but I'm not so sure. What do you all think?





They're starting to try and stand more now too. Soon it won't be long till they're walking around, and then the fun really, really starts!





I keep trying to leave the babies behind and run away to escape them. My human wouldn't let me leave them for long the first few days, but as time has progressed, I'm allowed to come out for longer as long as I don't do it frequently. I even had a little play session this morning! I also did something else that I know I shouldn't have though.





Last night, the human heard me scratching at the mat in the kitchen. I don't normally do this at all, so she came to investigate. It wasn't long before her nose told her what had happened, and I tell you what, she got real, real cross. I'd left a number two on the mat for her. Just a little one, but it was enough to send her absolutely hopping mad! Why? Cuz I had a litter tray in the pen with me. I had one in the living room. I even had one in the hall nice and far away from the babies. So really, I had no excuse to do what I did. She caught me at it again this morning. Both times, she scruffed me just like an angry mommacat, and said lots of angry words with a big hiss thrown in for good measure. I got the message right quick, I can tell you. This morning, she even took me to my hall litterbox, put me in there even though I didn't wanna go, and made me dig in it with my paws. The indignity of it! I decided I didn't want that to happen again, so I ran straight back to the pen and went in the tray in there. I got massive praise for doing that, and a whole handful of treats and ages of snuggling, so I guess it was worth it in the end. My human's scary when she's cross though. Do your peoples ever get mad at you? Is mine the only one that does the mommacat grab and hiss? It's far too effective for my liking!





So, back to mousies. They grow bigger by the day! I'll tell you their weights so that you can see. Tori, to answer your question, the human will record their weights right up until when they leave us, as it's a good indicator of how well or poorly each mousie is doing. When they start eating and gaining well, the frequency will go down, but that's about it. Keeping detailed records is so, so important when mousies are depending on you though!





The baby:
Birth weight: 71 G
Today's weight: 165 G





Hamster:
Birth weight: 101 G
Today's weight: 151 G





Porker:
Birth weight: 92 G
Today's weight: 192 G





As you can see, the Baby and Porker are very healthy weights. Kittens should double their birth weight in the first week, or at a stretch, 10 days. Hamster has only gained half the weight of the others and half his original birth weight, but he's picking up now, so let's hope it won't be too much longer before he's doubled! He's not much smaller than the Baby, but he's a bit weaker which means he works so much harder. Porker is so big that he just bullies everyone else until he gets his own way which neither me nor the human like to see. We know this isn't necessarily an indicator of his personality, but it's hard to remember that when we watch him shove Hamster out of the way to steal his nimple even though Porker has one of his own right at the back, and those are the best ones! Ah well, in two weeks they'll start eating propper food anyway, so this won't go on too much longer I hope. Then maybe I can have a break!





Thank you to those of you who keep stopping by. We love to hear from you and cherish every comment!

Babies and Boredom

Friends, I'm not gonna write much today, cuz I'm tired and out of sorts and the human is exhausted. We just wanted to let you know that little boy is doing well. The human has been helping him latch onto me instead of syringing him. He was struggling so much against the syringe that he was using all the milk for the energy it took to fight her, so he wasn't gaining at all. She tried and tried, but that just wasn't working. He's stupid. He sucks wherever his mouth lands, whether that's my stitches, my skin, my fur, the human's finger or, just occasionally, a nipple. So for ages, well, ever since I last posted, actually, the human kept sitting with us every time my other little mousies were having a drink. She would find a nipple (I quickly got over my embarrassment at her touching them), then put his mouth against it and just held him there. He struggled, he fought, he screamed until I was convinced she was killing him and I tried to lie on him to protect him. That made the human even more frustrated, so she had to hold my head away with one hand, and plug him in with the other. After about half a day, I realized what she was trying to do, and although I wasn't happy with it, I did just let her get on with it. Well, it's not that I wasn't happy with her. It's just that I don't like to hear any of my mousies cry!


That first day, it took him about 20 minutes each time just to latch onto the right place. Then the human would have to hold him there till he was done and stop the others fighting him off. She was up on average about every two hours she says, but really it was more, cuz I feed my babies more often than that, and she was awake every time she heard him crying cuz he wasn't getting any.


Gradually, he's gotten stronger and stronger, and now he doesn't fight as much when she plugs him into a nipple. She had planned to stay up and feed him last night, but he had a massive weight gain during the day and seemed quite strong, so she thought it was time to leave him to it and see if he gained anything. It was the hardest thing she'd ever done, she says, and she lay in bed with very leaky eyes, making the strangest kinda gasping, hitching noises every time she heard him cry, but she knows that he needs to learn to fight for himself, cuz she can't be there holding his head to me every minute till he's nine weeks old. She couldn't resist helping him before she slept just once though, and again when she got up this morning, but guess what? All on his own, he gained a whole 7 grams! That made her feel less like a cruel, evil witch, but she still says she can't help helping him in the day.


My little girl lost a gram last night and didn't gain a thing. The human is so on edge that she went into a total panic thinking she would go the same way as the little boy, but then she looked back at the weight chart and reminded herself that little girl had gained a massive 25 grams the previous day, which is 2.5 times the recommended daily weight gain. She's almost the same size as her little brother now, but the big one is 31 grams ahead of her! He's massive, and such a bully! When the others fight to keep their nipple, they just push gently with their paws to maintain a distance between them and anyone else coming too close, but the big boy will hook them with his claws and physically drag them off their nipple, even if they aren't even trying to get hold of his! I told him off, but it didn't work. The human says that's cuz he's deaf and blind at the moment, so he won't hear or see me. He must be, cuz he makes an awful lot of noise that I'm sure would bother his ears as much as mine if he could hear it!


I noticed their eyes starting to open on Friday afternoon, and they're much more open today. The human says that's pretty quick for Persians, cuz they're usually the slowest to do anything. We might be lazy, but we ain't stupid!


She's been helping the little girl all day today so that she'll hopefully gain some more weight, and the little boy, but not as much as she was yesterday. I'm bored though. Every chance I get, I'm leaving the nest for a walk around. My stitches are sore from them sucking on them, and my nipples are for the same reason. They've scratched my yummy tummy which hurts too, and you know what? I just need a break. The human keeps putting me back in all the time, saying that they will get cold and hungry without me in there, but honestly, I can't bring myself to care some of the time. I love them, but they are an awful tie. My human tried to put a heat pad in which helped the little boy get warm enough to gain weight initially, but it made me too hot and I was even more insistent about getting out, so that had to go too. She took it out yesterday. I also decided that the lovely tray that Mom Trish sent just simply isn't suitable for nursing. I can't stretch out enough, so I made the human take it away. sorry Mom Trish. I know you posted it for us, but I just don't think it's right at the moment. I think I'll use it when they are a bit bigger, and I do still use it at night, but not in the day time.


I finish my antibiotics today too. I'll be kinda sad about that, believe it or not, cuz the human always feeds me them with treats, and I've worked out that if I eat the treat but spit out the pill, she'll give me even more treats until I swallow it all down. Oh yes, I know how to milk a situation! So do those blasted mousies. They're calling me again, so I'd better go. Smoochies to you all, and thank you so, so much for purring. You don't know how supportive it has been to me, and to a very, very worried and upset human. We really thought we were going to lose the little boy, but the power of the purr came through yet again! Oh, by the way, we have informally given names to the kittens which we are sure will change. The biggest is Porker for obvious reasons, the middle one is Hamster, cuz when the human picks him up, he curls into her hand and reminds her so much of a hamster, and the little one is the Baby, again, for obvious reasons. She is the cutest though. Today, she's started rolling over with all four feet in the air whenever my human tickles her chest. She doesn't scream so much now when she's picked up. In fact, she had the loudest scream when she was born, but Porker does now. he screams like a little girl! The human thinks that the boys are pushing the Baby away when she goes for a drink at the milk bar, so that's why she'll need the help. No way is my only girl gonna become the runt, not after doing so fantastically well after she was born so small! I hope you enjoyed the pictures from yesterday. Thank you again, Mom Trish!

Kitten Pictures, and a Purr request...

Kitties!

Katnip Lounge Mommy here with a quick kitten report:

All the babes made gains yesterday which is good, but little boy Two is still having difficulties latching onto the milk bar.  Can you spare him some purrs?

Tia's Human is dead tired.  Who knew tiny tots were so much work?

I think she could use some purrs, too.

I think the kits are, from L to R:

Little Girl, Little Boy Two and Little Boy One, aka "The Porker"! 

And a close up of Little Girl...so tiny!

Tia hopes to post later.

xx  Trish