Monday, July 27, 2009

The kittens get bigger

These are some of the best kittens I have ever taken care of. They are happy and friendly and healthy. They love their attention, too.

Even though Amelia is from a different litter, they are quite fond of one another.


With many kittens, this posture would be followed with pouncing, but not so much with Jasper.
He is the most relaxed kitten ever. He is also the biggest now.
Did I mention how very relaxed he is?
Amelia on the other hand is always on the go. She loves to be picked up, and to ride on your shoulder. She is also not shy about yelling at you until you do pick her up.



These kittens are clean, too. They do not spread their food or litter around like so many we have had. It is fairly normal to have to change the comforter on the bed in the kitten room at least every few days, but with these guys it was a couple of weeks before it got too dirty.



So very sweet, the kittens are.

Sunday, July 12, 2009

The fourth horseman of the Catpocolypse

Indeed, bath time has come for our filthy new friends. Kittens without their mom can get pretty gross. Of course, kittens with their mom get gross too, but it is her problem. Not this time. This time we have a box of dirty kittens, and a mandate to clean them.
Formal introductions: Adoring Universe, these are Amelia (white/tiger), Pluto (black), Persephone (gray) and Jasper (orange).

Kitten washing is a bit of an exercise in endurance (and blood replenishment). They have very pointy toes, and do not much care for the whole "being washed" situation. Each one needs to be wetted, shampooed and rinsed.
Then you let them drip dry a bit
before gently toweling them off. This part they do like.

Kitten burrito!






Pluto thought he could get away by hiding behind the pipes. This did not work very well.
It is important to keep the little ones warm -- these guys only weigh 12 oz or so, so they can get cold quickly. One nice place is on the backs of your legs while you are hunched over the tub washing the others. Just don't forget a towel or you will have little kitten tracks etched into your legs where they slide.
Once dry, a little more warming up,
And then maybe a bite.

Thursday, July 9, 2009

Mixed litter

We have a fresh set of babies. Three are siblings, the other is a bit older. They are all just about able to eat on their own, but they are still awful tiny. There are four of them, about 3/4 of a pound apiece. The most adventurous is white with tiger spots (behind are the gray and orange kittens)


Behind the gray and orange kittens there is a black kitten, who is shy:


We are keeping them crated at the moment, just to help them get used to the new place, and make sure they will not try to hide from us. That should not take long -- they are all quite sweet. A little skinny and skittish, but with high potential. Soon I will post pictures of the bathing of the kittens. You see, in addition to being adorable, they were also filthy and disgusting. We have the ability to fix this.