LostWoods Blog

Time truly flies when there are kittens in the house. In just a few weeks I’ll have to say goodbye to my little Leprechauns. It’s always a sad day (or days) when they leave, especially if I have to put someone on an airplane. I really hate that! But I love knowing that these babies that have brought me such joy will be blessing someone else’s home. And if I’ve done my job right, they will be even more loved and spoiled there (if possible) than they are here.

This evening I took them outside one at a time to try to get some outside “forest cat” shots of them. They aren’t so sure outside is a good place — which really is a good thing, if you think about it. I don’t want them to be too excited about going outside and would just as soon they thought of it as a bit scary. And they do. But it makes photos much harder because they are more focused on finding safety than looking at me. I had Keegan in a flower bed — well away from the road in front of the house — and a car came down the road. She immediately ran to the nearest tree and ran up the trunk to the first branch where she sat watching the car go by. Can’t say as I fault her judgement — a tree would be a pretty safe place for a climber like a Norwegian Forest Cat.

Eleven week weights:

Catriona - 36.6 oz

Keiran - 41.8 oz

Keegan - 33.5 oz

Their new pictures are on the website.

The long weekend is over and I’m back at work. I suppose I could have taken another day off — I had it written on the calendar at work — but since I didn’t go to Colorado I didn’t see any sense taking the time off now. I’ll save it for later when I need it — like Labor Day weekend in Albuquerque. I hope to make it down there for that long weekend to attend the TICA annual and show. ForestKatz Treat (Tori’s son) will be receiving his IW award and I’d love to be there to help celebrate. I’m also hoping to visit Brasen and Keiran with their family in Albuquerque while I’m there. Yes, Keiran is going to live with Beth, Jeff, and his Uncle Brasen later this summer.

This morning I was watching the babies with their mamas. Zakath was nursing on Talia, while Lelldorin napped beside him. They were touching their front paws paw pad to paw pad — they looked like they were holding hands. It was so cute! I got the camera from across the room, but when I got back, they had moved so I missed the shot. I also saw Zakath nursing on Kalispell this morning. That was the first time I’d seen one of the MBs with her. She occasionally grooms them, but I hadn’t noticed her nursing them — probably because there’s usually at least five of her own kids nursing and it’s easier for the MBs to find a spot with their own mother.

Kali is apparently the protector of the little tribe. This morning Lira Bug came into the room to see me. I’d noticed before that if Lira was out in the hall, Kali would be very alert. Well, today Bug came into the bedroom and Kali ran to meet her, all puffed up and ferocious. She hissed at Bug and stood between her and the babies. Bug just looked at Kali and walked off.  It’s not like Bug would hurt the kittens. She doesn’t much like being around them, but she just ignores them. Still, that’s twice now that Kali has became protective when another big cat came into the bedroom — and that with cats she knows well. She’s probably come completely unglued if a strange cat managed to get in the room. I don’t think it would be a good idea to bring Comet in to meet his children…

New pictures of the Belgariad Babies are posted to the website. They are starting to pay attention to each other and wrestle — it’s amazing how quickly they change from being centered solely on food and warmth to discovering the world around them. Both Kheldar and Garion are very interested in me and will often climb over the edge of their bed so they can climb on my lap. Ce’nedra seems to be more attached to her grandma Talia than the other kittens — she’s always snuggled up to Miss T. I still wish they’d grow a little faster, but they will soon be eating solid food and I may get my wish then.

Three week weights:

Taiba - 11.2

Lelldorin - 11.3

Belgarath - 11.8

Garion - 13.7

Kheldar - 11.4

Ce’Nedra - 11.3

Polgara - 12.0

I think Kheldar is going to turn into one handsome little wegie boy. Maybe it’s his great markings, maybe it’s just his sweet personality…

I need to answer a bunch of kitten inquiries and find the right homes for everyone. It’s just been a bit difficult knowing what to do about all the girls this spring. I’ve been waiting to see who really should go to show/breeding homes as I have several people interested. But I don’t want to place a kitten with a breeder unless I’m thinking he or she is a darn nice kitten. So be patient if you’re waiting for an update or answer from me. I’ll be in contact soon.

Zakath and Cyradis show no signs of being harmed by the shared mothering happening here. Both are gaining weight, both already have their eyes open, and both seem happy and content to be sharing the same bedroom with seven other babies. One week pictures of the MBs are on the website — even though Talia didn’t much like me making the babies cry by taking photos. You’d think she’s be used to it by now since I’ve taken pictures of all her babies again and again.

Zakath - 8.1 oz

Cyradis - 7.7 oz

Today Peanut was determined to escape from the cat room and go find himself a girlfriend. Since I was cleaning, I was in and out of that room numerous times today. One time he raced past me as fast as he could go, through the dining room, kitchen, living room and front hall. Then up the stairs and down the hall to my room. As he burst into the room and headed for the kittens (which was where the girls were) Kali — who usually loves being around Peanut — puffed herself up and stood in front of them as if to say, “don’t come near my babies! I’ll have to hurt you!” I quickly grabbed Peanut and held him while introducing him to the babies. Peanut has always liked kittens, so I wasn’t worried about him hurting them, but I did see it as my chance to catch him and return him to the cat room before he decided to start marking territory.

I’m not sure what got into him today but I’d guess that some female is about to go into heat. Oh joy. But no girls for Peanut for now. When I get back from a class in Seattle in June he has a girlfriend coming to visit. He’ll just have to suffer until then.

Little Miss Cyradis already has both her eyes open. Maybe she wants to see so she can hold her own with those bigger babies? She and her brother have no problem getting their turn to nurse, though, and are gaining weight like crazy. The BBs are starting to get interested in exploring and are making tentative attempts to wrestle. Or maybe they are just falling over one another.

That’s about all for this morning. We’re going to do more gardening this weekend — plant some trees and maybe some roses. After a week of rain every day, it’s good to see the sun again. How often does that happen — gloomy weather all week and a beautiful weekend? It’s usually the other way around!

To the casual eye, this looks like a mom-cat and her litter of kittens taking an afternoon nap together. Never mind that one of the kittens is a bit bigger than the others.

But at my house, this picture is an amazing turn of events, ‘causing us to ask “is Shira feeling okay?”

The big kitten is Fin — Shira’s almost five month old son whom she weaned over two months ago. Apparently that didn’t matter today as she let him nurse for ages without kicking him into next week as is her usual reaction — if she even lets him close enough to try!

The three smaller kittens are Kefira’s and Comet’s Leprechauns. Shira normally whacks kittens when they get near her — she’s just teaching them that she is the Queen of Everything and they should not for a second forget that. Why she came over and cuddled with them, even grooming them at one point, today is a mystery. But a pleasant one all the same.

In other cat news of the day, Talia and Kali are still sharing responsibility for raising the nine kittens and the kittens are thriving. This picture is what I saw when I got home from work today:

Yes, I did go to work today — for awhile. About 11:30 my boss came and told me to leave. He was getting a sore throat just from listening to me… and a couple of my co-workers seconded the motion. So home I came. Can’t say I minded as I didn’t really feel like I was all there this morning anyway.

I managed to get 10 week photos of the Leprechauns this evening. Keegan wasn’t willing to pose with her sister and brother for a group shot, but their individual shots all turned out pretty cute. Keiran looks like he’s been playing in the dirt, though. He has a dirty spot on his nose. Heaven only knows what he’s been into!

Talia and Kali continue to play games with their kittens. Kali today decided to steal Cyradis from Talia and put her under the shoe rack. Then Kali went and retrieved a couple of her own kittens and moved them under the shoe rack as well. I found all three kittens and Kali happily living there about noon today. Talia didn’t seem to care as she had the majority of the babies. Nobody seems any worse for the wear, but I am watching them very closely to make sure no kitten gets neglected or chilled.

I decided not to go to Colorado this weekend. My cold shows no signs of improving enough for me to want to spend all those hours in the car — not to mention being a hazard because my head is pretty fuzzy. So I guess I’ll be staying home and relaxing this weekend.

I never did feel good enough today to take pictures of the Leprechauns — I’ll make a big effort to do so tomorrow. I think I’ll be staying home again… This not being able to breathe well and coughing every time I lie down is a pain in the neck. But I did weigh the Leprechauns:

Catriona - 34.6

Keegan - 31.1

Keiran - 37.2

These slower developing lines (Kefira’s in particular) make it hard for my to judge how they are really coming along. But I look back at Bria’s litters and see that these weights aren’t out of line and I quit worrying. Slow but steady gains are perfectly okay.

I think I’ve found an accomodation for Talia and Kalispell that works for all involved. If I let Talia have one or two of Kali’s kittens in with Zakath and Cyradis, then she’s pretty happy to just stay and take care of them. Kali will then stay with the remaining kittens. If Kali has all her kittens, Talia will feed her babies, then go stay with Kali’s. If I put them all together, Kali leaves Talia to do almost all the mothering — it’s almost like she feels unwanted or unneeded. So I’ve been putting a couple of the BBs with Talia and her two. Everyone is happy and everyone is being cared for. I switch the kittens around some (always leaving teh MBs with Talia) so Kali mothers all of her own kittens part of the time. Both girls and their babies are now living in Ken and my room. The co-parenting doesn’t seem to have hurt the MBs at all. Zakath gained 1.0 oz today and Cyradis gained 1.1 oz. Obviously they are getting plenty of time at the milk bar.

Stayed home from work today because I feel rotten — stupid spring cold. I had to take Jeremy to school, so I’ve been up and around for awhile, but I’m going back to bed soon. I want to get rid of this cold because I’m planning to go to Colorado for the weekend. Taking Comet back to Brenda and then driving out to see my parents.

The co-parenting fun and games continue. I let all the kittens be together yesterday afternoon and evening, then weighed the MBs to make sure they were still gaining weight. Weighed them again this morning and yes, they are still gaining — at this rate they’ll be caught up to the BBs in another week. I have watched and the MBs are managing to get latched on to nurse, despite the bigger kittens nursing on Talia part of the time. I’ve also seen Kali taking care of the MBs right along with her own kittens. The only potential problem I see is that Talia tends to take over and Kali then seems to think she’s free to wander off and do whatever. Talia can’t take care of all nine by herself, so if Kali doesn’t stay engaged in the mothering, the kittens can’t be together.

So that’s the news from LostWoods this morning. Off to take a nap now.

I grew up on a farm in northeastern Colorado. As far back as I can remember we had cats. They were barn cats who only came in the house when one of us kids would sneak them in. We never spayed or neutered our cats — the population was kept under control by predators and accidents. So every year there were kittens around.

One summer when I was in elementary school we had two black mom-cats, Perky and Sassy. Perky was a wily older girl (probably only 3 or so, but for the farm that was old.) Sassy was her daughter from the previous summer’s litter. Both of them were pregnant at the same time. Sassy was the first to deliver, having her babies in a shed close to the house — 7 black and gray (yes, I know, I’d call them blue now, but they were gray then!) kittens. Perky apparently thought they were hers and she’d steal them, carrying them off to the shop a little further away from the house. Sassy would go retrieve them. A day or so later, Perky had her kittens in the shop — 4 more black and gray kittens. This did not stop her from stealing Sassy’s babies though. At any point in the day we’d see mom-cats carrying kittens back and forth between the shop and the shed. It’s a wonder any of the kittens survived. After a couple days, my mother and I staged a rare intervention into the lives of the barn cats — we moved all 11 (we could no longer tell who belonged to whom) and their mothers to the shed and shut the door. The moms settled down and co-mothered the kittens. I think this was the bunch that included one of my favorite kittens, TB (tiny beast) but that’s another story.

I was reminded of all this silliness last night when I was taking pictures of the Kali’s kittens, the BBs. Talia had been allowed to leave the guest room for some “me time” — something I’ve learned Talia needs to be happy. When Ce’Nedra starting crying because I’d taken her away from her bed, grandma Talia came running, every bit as concerned about Ce’nedra as she would have been if Ce’Nedra had been one of Talia’s kittens. A few minutes later, after I’d taken all the kittens’ photos, I went downstairs to download them to my pc. Ken tells me that Talia then went into our bedroom and tried to steal one of Kali’s kittens. He stopped her and she went back to her room. Next thing you know, I discover that Cyradis (one of Talia’s kittens) is missing from her bed. Talia is in with Kali’s kittens and sure enough, she’s taken Cyradis with her.  I took Cyradis back and before I could close the door, Talia ran in, grabbed Zakath and headed for the other room. Kali came in to see what was stirring up her kids and snuggled in to feed them. Although I took Zakath back, Talia apparently thought that soothing the upset BBs was more important, so she settled in to nurse them, too. (Click on the picture below to see a bigger version.)

I’m not entirely sure what I’m going to do. I’d planned to let Talia and her kittens get settled for a few days, then move Kali and kittens back to the guest room — a quieter and safer place for kittens than my room. But I’m don’t know if co-parenting is going to be good for Talia’s babies. Despite all this silliness so far, they are growing by leaps and bounds. There’s only 2.6 oz difference between Zakath and Taiba — and between Taiba and Garion there’s 1.4 oz, so it’s not like the BBs are that much bigger than the MBs. I have to think about this… In the meantime they are separate and all the kittens are doing very well. It ought to be a crazy place when these 9 babies get big enough to start romping through the house!