Eight Weeks Old; no Privacy

Friends, my babies are eight weeks old today, and they're hardly babies any more!Porker is so big that he weighs a third of my body weight already! Well actually, probly more like a quarter on accounta the extra padding my yummy tummy now has.

Hey, guess what? My jacket came off last night! I got a photo of it taken this week by Dogman. He's so horrible to take a picture of me in such a compromising outfit, but there's no reasoning with him. It looks simply ridiculous! I feel better now that the jacket's off, but I'm right back to wanting to suckle my babies. The human says she wishes I wouldn't call them to me cuz she doesn't want them to suck too much and make the nimples start producing milk again. I must say, I'm not fighting her too much on this as they have teeth now, and they aren't afraid to use them! I do call them frequently though, just to see her jump up and have to distract us all until we lose the urge to suckle and be suckled. It keeps her on her toes!

My last bastion has been breached too, and I'm not happy about it. They've worked out how to get on top of the scratchy post, and I can do nothing about it! I can't push them off cuz it's an awful long way to fall for a kitten. I can't smack them in case that makes them fall. No matter where I go now, they can get me. They've even made it to the back of the sofa and onto the human's shelves where even I'm not allowed to go! To be fair, she isn't pleased, and keeps moving my babies off them when she catches them on there, so at least she's not showing favouritism with discipline. She keeps shrieking about how the shelves are wobbly and she has really nice ornaments on there, yada, yada. If she wants to keep them, I think she'd better move them to a safer location, like the moon!

They've been stealing my toys again too, and yesterday they even started growling while they were playing with one of them, or at least, Porker and the Baby did. Hamster wasn't interested. I was so proud though. Both of them tried to drag the kill away. Both bunny kicked it till it was good and dead, then chased it every time when it came back to life again. And both growled so fiercely that if I was a toy, I think I'd run and hide and never come back!

I have another problem though. I once overheard someone telling the human that the moment you have kids is the moment when you lose all of your privacy. Sharing a bed with me is one thing, and even stealing my scratchy post, well, I can't say I didn't see it coming, but when they share the same toilet as you, well, that's taking it a step too far. It began when I started using the open tray by the TV. They didn't want to use that one until I started, and then they all piled in and left smelly little piles everywhere. I don't mind so much sharing with an adult, cuz at least with them it's only a few clumbs a day, but when you share with babies, they leave tiny, but very numerous ones, so that you can't help but stand on them as you move around in the tray. It's disgusting!

I stuck it out for only a day or two, then changed my toilet spot so that I was going in the tray by the computer. Only problem was that they followed me there. So I used the last resort; the covered one by the kitchen door. I'd rather have open than covered, so this was a big sacrifice for me. It's also quite a deep tray, so I was fairly confident that they wouldn't be able to climb in and out. I was wrong. My stupid human folded a towel and put it just in front of the entrance to make a kitten step. Suddenly, it became a huge adventure to see how many poopies and peepees you could do in the big cat covered litter tray. Friends, I despair! Can't a ladycat have any privacy at all? I was good to them. I ate their poo for four weeks! Doesn't mean I should have to stand in it as well! The human says that soon she's gonna give them access to the hall, and that she'll make sure there's lots more litter trays out there for me to use so that I might just get one of my own. Role on that day!

The human's still feeding us all super good stinky goodness, and she's got this dry food called Babycat which tastes just divind. She says I'm eating like a horse though and that I should stop eating so much soon. My response to that? Slurp, slurp. If it's in a bowl and in the feeding area, I'mma eat it!

My human says that this time next week we all have to go back to the vet lady people again, and she says I'm not gonna like it. We all have to have our vaccinations done. For the kittens, it'll be their first, so no doubt they'll feel quite ill for a day or two. For me it's just a needle. My human says I'm such a good girl when they give me injections. I don't cry, I don't struggle, I don't even flinch! I just sit there and let them get on with it. I do put myself back in the PTU pretty quick though. I know, I know, nuts isn't it, that I'd voluntarily go into a PTU, but it's better than being stuck with needles when you're outside.

I can't think of anything else to tell, sept that my human got some photos of the times on Fridays when she abandons us all and comes back smelling of something strange that she says is a horse. I don't know what a horse is, but it smells like grass and poop and sweat. Maybe Horse is her man friend same way the kittens' daddycat was mine? or maybe it's a place. Anyway, she says she goes riding once a week, but even that doesn't make sense. She says if you'd all like to see photos of this horse thing, then she can put some up.

We've asked Mom Paula to put some pictures in for us today, so if they aren't here when you first read this, keep checking back, as they're coming soon! To finish off, I'll give you their weights as usual.

Note from Mom Paula - So sorry it's taken me so long to get some pictures up of the kittens.  With the loss of Beignet last week, I just couldn't do it.  I hope you enjoy some of the pictures that have been posted today.

The Baby: 807 grams.

Hamster: 893 grams.

Porker: 977 grams.

Seven Weeks Old!

Friends, my babies are seven weeks old! Least, they were this morning. And they're crazy!

Many of you have suggested I find a high place to get away from them, but unless they're in their pen, no high place is safe! They chase me all over. They slepe on my spot on the sofa. They hog my human's lap. In short, they are everywhere at once, and I don't know what to do about it!

Going crazy with the red cube!

And get this, they're even stealing my number one favouritest toys in the world! First they stole all my ping pong balls, then they even stole my pipe cleaners that The House of Cats
sent for me, not them! But now, they've stole Da Bird! They played with him for ages today while I tried too. Course, I'm stronger and faster than they are, so I caught him whenever I wanted to, but the problem is that what with all their toys and their pen, the running space is quite small, and I need to be careful where I jump so as not to hurt them. They can zip around everywhere cuz they're so fast and tiny, and there's three of them, so they had an unfair advantage! In the end, I just lay down and let them play on their own. It doesn't matter that the human gives me individual playtime when they've been put to bed for the night in the pen. It's not the same. And the Da Bird is mine, not theirs!

Playing on the scratchy post

I had to wear the stinky jacket again today, but not before we went on a trip. It was back to the vet lady people again, not for my nimples, but for a worming this time. All my babies had to have it done too, but the vet lady people and my human were good. They let me sit on the table and watch everything that was done to my babies. I didn't like it when they cried, but other than that, they didn't hurt them at all, so I didn't need to put the bitey on them. They're lucky!

Having a little wash

Speaking of biting, Hamster's been really bad for that lately, but he's my favourite, so I dont' discipline him. Instead, I just give him a good old wash all over. I love him lots! My human says I should give him smackypaw when he's bad like I do the other two, but I can't find it in me to do it.

Snuggling on the Human

I did something the human wasn't pleased about too. I started using the teeny weeny babycat trays for litter that my human has around the living room. I'm an edge pee-er. I like to get my pee as close to the wall of the box as possible. Only problem is that these boxes are so small that not all of me can fit in them! So when I go close to the rim, I overshoot a bit. The pad that she has down around the trays was getting soaked with my peepee before she realised. She's been mean. She took that tray away and put my old covered one there instead which she says I gotta use. Course, I ignored her and chose one of the other, larger trays instead which she'd put down just for me but which I'd been ignoring till now. That'll teach her!

My babies go back to the vet lady people tomorrow to have the second day of their worming, but I don't need to go cuz I'm big enough to have a tablet, and I only need one of them. Lucky me! I could do without seeing vet lady peoples for a while. I'll have to go back in two weeks for my booster injection though, so the rest will be short lived!


There will be pictures later on today courtesy of the Katnip Lounge Crew
so please check back so that you can see just how cute they've gotten!


And one las thing. The HG has a new stupid dogface who is writing her own blog to tell all about how cruel the HG is when she's training her to be a guide dog! It's sort of fascinating to read, but I didn't say that. She has hardly anyone who comments, and we know how bad that feels, so if you like what you see, please tell her so! The blog is Guide Dog Wannabe
and it's great! Ahem, did I just admit that?


(Note from The Lounge Mommy:  More photos over at Moonspun Cats!)

No rest for the wicked

Friends, I'm not wicked, am I? But if I'm not, then why is there no rest at all for me sept at night time! It's terrible, awful, and what happened before is even worse! There follows a tale of cat cruelty. Those of a tender disposition should not continue as this story contains scenes of a graphic nature.






It all started with a swolen nimple, just one. A nimple is such a tiny little thing, useless for most of your life except when you turn into a living milk bar, that you'd think it wouldn't be able to cause major problems, right? Wrong. My swolen one was very uncomfortable, so painful in fact that when the kittens tried to feed from it, I had to beat them up until they stopped. I'm not proud of that, but I'd asked them nicely, then told them, then smacked them when they tried, and nothing but nothing was getting through to them! My human, who keeps a check on me every day anyway, wasn't helping matters. She kept trying to plug the babies into that particular nimple all the time, telling me I'd feel better once they'd drank all the milk I'd been storing, but I was having none of it. The next day, she took me to the horrible vet lady people. Well, she's not horrible if I'm honest, but she's not our really nice vet lady people who knows everything.





The vet lady people agreed with the human, and I was diagnosed with mastitis. I wasn't happy when I heard I'd have to take stinky pills, and that my babies weren't allowed to drink from the milk bar as that was perpetuating the problem. And get this, I was supposed to survive on reduced food!





A cat's body only makes milk under two conditions; firstly that there's a demand for it, i.e, the kittens drinking at the milk bar, and secondly when the cat has enough food to sustain her own weight and to produce the required amount of milk. The reasoning was that if food was reduced, my body would go into survival mode and I'd stop the milk. The stinky tablets were to make sure that the infection, which is usually present, didn't spread anywhere else. I also got some more stinky tablets called urtica which makes milk dry up real quick.





Friends, that first day she took away my dry foods, and she only fed me one sachet of wet stinky goodness, all day! And all night! I don't know how to describe the horror of that day. Imagine your stomach being so hungry that it decides to eat itself... Literally! I could feel it gnawing away inside me. I cried at the human, but she didn't listen. I screamed at her, pawed at her, crawled on her with the last of my strength and begged. She went out. Can you believe it? She left me, at death's door, and went out! She did something even worse though. She put a huge plate of stinky goodness in with the kittens, then closed the pen so that I couldn't get at it. I could see it and I could smell it, but I couldn't eat it. Chinese water torture has nothing on this. I was sure I was going to die. I didn't even have the energy to write and beg you all for help in my hour of need.





The light began to fade, or perhaps it was evening, I don't know, and I wearily lowered my head onto my paws. As I closed my eyes, my last thought was, "Well, at least the kittens are well fed. They will survive." My heart ached for them, and so did my nimples! The pressure of the built up milk was unbearable, and I needed them to suckle, but I couldn't get at them. They howled and cried for me too, but, as I said, the light was fading. Alone, cold, hungry and no more than a skeleton, I laid myself down in front of the cage and my eyes closed for good...





A ting, ting sound intruded on my senses. Strange, I thought, for feline eutopia to be tinging. But then I realised, that was the sound of my food bowl! Oh, eutopia would feed me! I leapt up, hurtled towards the sound, and pulled up short. I was in my own kitchen, and there was the human in front of me. Immediately, all my lacitude came flowing back. I slumped pitifully at her feet, let out the faintest of miaows, and fixed my eyes on the bowl. Was it true? Was she really going to feed me? It seemed she was, but the amount she gave me was terrible. It just about took the edge off the ravenous beast that was my yummy tummy!





For three days that continued, and for three days, I teatered on the edge of death itself. There was one good point though. She bought me a clever little cat jacket which is loose enough not to restrict me, but secure enough that it covers all my nimples. That meant that I could socialise with the babies, but only when their stinky goodness was taken away. My human is too careful sometimes! The other one good point was that she phoned the vet lady people again the next morning, as my other nimples were beginning to swell. That vet lady people, a different one, told her to let the babies suckle, just not lots, as that would keep the milk flowing and make me more comfortable. With a bit of coaxing, she was able to plug a baby, Hamster I think, into the really sore nimple, and cuz she held my paws and tickled my chin and said all sorts of nice things to me the whole time he was feeding, I didn't even beat him up! Ok, perhaps I tried and she had my paws so I couldn't, but that wouldn't be so romantic, would it? I surrendered to my child, gave him life-giving flluid, even though I had little strength myself, and prayed that it would be enough. There, that's much better, isn't it? It's no lie when I tell you it really hurt though, or at least, it did until he got the flow of milk going. Then it wasn't so bad until near the end when I wanted to beat him up again. It's just as well he'd had his fill and all the milk was gone, cuz the human says that she wasn't going to keep restraining me for too much longer!






Yesterday though, everything changed. On the one hand, I'm glad, cuz I get to eat normally again. On the other though, half of me wishes that things were the way they were this time last week. Why? Cuz the kittens have been let out of the pen. While many might think this is a good thing, let me tell you, it isn't. Now they can chase me everywhere, and they're much harder to keep together too! They run in three different directions, and no sooner have I gone and got one and put them where I want them to stay, but they've run off again. I can call and call them, but of course they don't listen. I ran myself ragged yesterday, then gave up and just lay down. There was nowhere for them to go. My human has closed off the doors to the living room and has put a baby gate with a screen sewed to it over the kitchen door.





As soon as I lay down though, they all came and jumped on me and attacked my tail and bit my nose and chewed my whiskers. In frustration, I went to the top of my scratchy post, but then all they did was climb it. That made it shake, and I don't like shakey things, so I ran to the sofa instead. Well, it didn't take them long to discover that either! Now all of them can jump up on it really really well, so I'm not safe there either! No space is sacrosanct sept for the human's bed, but that's only cuz they can't get in there yet. It won't be long, I'm thinking. Help! Can anyone look after them for a bit? They're wearing me out! Now that I'm allowed to eat normally again, I'll share some stinky goodness with you Oh, and if anyone knows a humane disposal method for cruel peoples, do let me know, won't you? I'd be tempted to dice my human up into cat food for what she did. After all, it would be just desserts. But I wouldn't inflict that on other poor cats. I'm sure you'd be able to taste the evil in her, no matter how much seasoning was used!

Week six, and changes afoot

Friends, yet again it's my human's and the kittens' fault that I haven't been writing in a while. If you read the Moonspun blog, you'll know that she hasn't helped because Computer wouldn't listen to what she was tippy tapping in, and kept ignoring half the letters she was tapping. That's because she cut up an old box (I was most angry!) and put lots of yummy selotape on it and stuck it round the wires at the back of Computer. I thought she was packing him up and sending him to a new home. I got hopeful. Sadly though, that wasn't the case as he's not moved an inch. What it does mean though is that the signal that goes from the tippy-tapper to Computer is apparently dulled and not as effective.


Anyway, my babies were six weeks old yesterday. Well, they're actually all the way 6 weeks old at 10 this morning, cuz that's when they were born. I understand that my human put seven weeks on the CB. Just shows how tired she was, cuz she actually put seven weeks on the blog initially too until she realised that she was having another case of the sleepy stupids and changed it.


My kittens have already been asking some questions. They're getting to that stage, you know. Everything is why. "But mummycat, why should I not eat the yummy smelling stuff that I do peepees in?" "But mummycat, why should I actually do a poopoo in the yummy stuff when it's nicer and more fun to do one on the floor?" "Mummycat, why do you make the happy rumbly noise that you do when we are having a drink when the big scary monster picks you up and changes its voice so that it sounds real soft and stuff?" Why, why, why, it goes on and on! And no matter how much I answer, there's always another one in the next miaow! My little girl is the cleverest. She's occasionally pulled herself past the why stage and has started asking what instead, which is a big improvement! "Mummycat, what is that place outside of our world (the pen)? I like it out there a lot, but is it safe?" "Mummycat, what happens if I beat my brothers up? Would you mind?" Of course, I told her I would, but did she listen?


They're fighting so badly now that I don't even wanna be in there a lot of the time cuz they all jump on me and bite me and generally put paid to the idea that well raised children will be well mannered! I'd say that myself and, yes, even the human I spose, have done a great job in bringing these kids up, but you wouldn't know it to look at them. If you're a mummycat, your tail is subject to pouncing, your ears are subject to chewing, and your whiskers were put there purely for their enjoyment. If you're a human, not The Human mind you, your hands will be attacked, your fingers will be bitten, albeit very gently, and your clothes will be clawed. Now, with consistent handling they have learned that a bite to the human will get their noses tapped, that attacking with claws will get the same, or get them put back in the pen, and that if you climb up the human's hand and miaow pitifully, you're guaranteed to be picked up for a cuddle, a tummy tickle and even kisses! My little girl has this down to a fine art now, and just loves peoples company.


You'll notice that I haven't been calling her the Baby lately. This is because I really need to come up with a propper name for her. She's staying here, so whereas we're trying hard not to give official pet names to the boys (it'll make it much harder for us when they go), we do need to find something soon for the troublemaker. My human and I really like Dora, but we also love Tilly. What do you all think? And do you have any other ideas? If so, we'd love to hear them!

My human's been putting boxes and rolled up towels and screen everywhere. She calls this kitten proofing, but sadly, it's Tia proofing as well. As many of you will remember, I don't like to jump. We Persians as a breed prefer to have our feets on the floor and keep 'em there. The highest I ever get is the window sill which is about 3.5 or 4 ft off the ground, and I don't stay there for long, I can tell you! But with the babies, things at floor level have to be blocked off. This means that, thanks to a baby gate which is screened, I don't have access to the kitchen any more, and when they do come out, the human tells me that for the first few days, I won't have access to the hall either, cuz the door will be closed. I'm not happy about this, I'm really not! I spose they have to come out some time though.


I've been eating lots of stinky goodness lately. My human says I'm gonna grow to the size of an elephant! After giving her smackypaw for her rudeness, I sweetly explained that I was doing this for her benefit. She loves the yummy tummy and has always said that I could do with putting on a pound or maybe two just to fatten me up a little. Well, I've taken her at her word! "I said a pound, Tia, not 20!"


Those babies get some mighty fine foods too. And they're eating it like little hoovers! My human has to put down almost half a tin now overnight. That's only 100 grams, but when you think about it, that's in a 6 hour period, and most of it's gone the next morning. I may have had something to do with it, but I ain't admitting nothing. Anyway, they eat just as much in the daytime when she's around to be horrible and prevent me clearing their saucer. That's incredible really. A 3.5 kg cat needs only 200-250 grams of this food for a whole day! They're not even a kg yet and they're eating far more than that already.


I'm afraid I've gotten no further on the photo quest either. Stupid Dogman hasn't given me the ones he took last week, and what with the human on a kitten proofing rampage for the last few days, I didn't manage to persuade her to take some yesterday either. She's gonna ask Dogman to take some today though, but I ain't holding my breath that he'll give us them today too. Stupid Dogman! I'll have them up as soon as I can, I promise you.


As usual, I'll give you their weights so that you can see how much they've grown. They've gotten very big in the last week!


The Baby: 596 grams.
Hamster: 655 grams.
Porker: 774 grams, the fatty!

Gooshy Food!

Friends, you might be forgiven for thinking I'd died a horrible, lonely death in the freezing wilderness of Oxfordshire, or that I'd been catnapped, stuck in a PTU for a year, tortured, poked with sticks and generally abused. Well, you'd be right! About the abused part anyway. I've been neglected, forgotten, thrown by the wayside by that human of mine who can't even be bothered to write for me any more! The words I hear her say are, "Not enough hours in the day," or tired, oh so tired, shattered, need sleep, other things to do. Well, you get the picture. I won't go on about the inadequacies of my slave. We've been there. you're smart. You get that she's a challenged people, so I'll not revisit.






My kittens have reached five weeks old today, and boy have they changed from the mousies that they used to be! In a way, I wish they still were mousies, and that I'd cherished that time more, cuz now they're crazy! If I leave them, they come to the front of the pen, climb the wire and scream and scream and scream at the human to be picked up until I'm convinced that they're being brutally assaulted even though I can clearly see they're not! I have to climb in with them then, pull them down off the wire and get them in a headlock or lie on them or lick them until they be quiet. All that crying makes my ears hurt, and it leaves me feeling awful anxious!





But if I'm in there with them, they jump on me, attack me, claw my face, bite my tail, use me as a spring board to attack someone else... The list goes on. When they're not running around like something possessed, they're either sleeping or trying to drink from the milk bar. I don't like it when they drink now. They have teeth, and if they're fighting for a nimple, the one holding on will bite hard to make sure to keep their grip and not be pulled off by someone else. For those of you who have nimples, just imagine how it would feel to have someone rip one off and you're getting close. It's unpleasant! Thankfully, they only feed for short periods. Since they started eating propper gooshy food, they haven't been as hungry which means that the milk bar is starting to dry up. They lose interest pretty quickly when nothing comes out of my nimples.





There is a massive plus side to having babies around though, and I've already mentioned it. The gooshy food. To say that it is heavenly doesn't do it justice. To say it's the best thing since life's tuna doesn't even come close. Normally I avoid stinky goodness once I've licked the sauce off, but with this stuff, I'll eat everything the human sets down, which frustrates her no end. "That's for the kittens!" she keeps telling me, but I ignore her. Why? Cuz it's fun, and anyway, she deserves it! I'm getting a very nice yummy tummy with all this food. In fact, when the vet lady people came to look at my lump the other day, I got weighed and I'd put on 200 grams! That's good for a ladycat who could never get above 3.5 kg. I wasn't even 3 KG when the human took me on as her new owner, so I think I've done all right!





The babies' food is gooshy, not just stinky. The human mashes it until it's very creamy so that they can eat it easily. It's Bozita, the stuff she got me before and the stuff I wouldn't touch. Well, tastes change! She says that she only has one more carton and then she's run out, so we switch to another type tomorrow. I bet I like that just as much though.





Hmmm, I can't think of what to tell you other than that. I did mention that my lump was nothing, didn't I? The vet lady people thinks it's my kidney. The organs often become more prominent after pregnancy, and ever since she's been to look at it, the human hasn't seen it again, so I know I'm all right.





Ok, that's really it now. I'll have pictures for you tomorrow of the babies. We think we know what colours they are too! Until then, I'll leave you with their weights.





The Baby: 448 grams.
Hamster: 488 grams.
Porker: 588 grams.





Oh, one last thing. Today, my human got featured on a very popular blog written by another breeder. To read it, visit The Cat's Whiskers
Please do comment, as I'm sure she'd love to hear from you! Until next time, friends.