LostWoods Blog

I admit it — I got so caught up in doing things around the house (in between coughing my head half off) that I didn’t get pictures of Rand and Avi yesterday. I’ll do them as soon as I get home this evening. Promise! I also will get the ForestKatz site updated, so check both LostWoods and ForestKatz for new kitten pictures later tonight or tomorrow.

Rand and Avi have discovered a new game. It’s called running across the bed. Avi had figured out how to get up on the bed the other night — I woke up to a noise about 1:30 in the morning and there she was — sitting at the foot of the bed looking at me. But Rand didn’t master the bed climbing skills until yesterday evening. Then the game was on! One of them climbs up on the bed, with the other in hot pursuit. Once on top the bed, they pause for a wrestling match, then run to the edge of the bed and dive off. Repeat until exhausted…

I think I’m repeating myself here, but this is the absolute most fun age for kittens. They are mobile. They are curious. They are mostly fearless. And they are so funny to watch. It’s a wonder I can close my eyes at night because they are usually getting really wound up and wild about the time we go to bed. I sit on the bed and watch them chase around and just have to laugh.

Apparently, the other cats in the house agree about what fun six week olds are. Taiba, Polgara, and Basia all love to hang out with Rand and Avi to play. Taiba spend almost all her time upstairs. Although, the little brat is probably partly motivated by her Grandma Talia still letting her nurse now and then. I think Taiba will still be looking for someone to nurse on when she a year old! Fin and Spaz also like to hang out with the kittens. Talia stays with them most of the time, just lying on the floor quietly keeping an eye on them. Shira conducts daily inspections while Bug tries to avoid anything to do with any pesky kittens of any size. Zeke, well, wherever I am, Zeke is. And if that means putting up with getting his tail swatted and bit on a regular basis — well, he’ll put up with it. Grudgingly. Occasionally growlingly… (Is that a word???)

The Christmas decorating is not yet complete. I still need to put up the village. Probably won’t happen tonight, with photos, website updates, and chaffeur duty (Jeremy’s girlfriend is playing in the school holiday concert, so he needs a ride to and from the concert besides the usual duty of picking him up after drivers ed tonight.) At any rate, going to be a busy evening.

Not everyone will agree with me, but LET IT SNOW! I’ve been waiting and waiting for snow and finally this morning we had snow on the ground at our house when I woke up. And it’s still snowing — lightly, but steadily. Basia was sitting at the patio door watching it this morning, purring. When I get home from work I may let her meet snow up close and personal, camera at the ready to see how my little Southern Belle likes her first taste of Montana winters.

We had another busy weekend of construction work, cleaning, and laundry. I taped and mudded the sheet rock in the stud room. We put up the new chain link panel between the boys areas and attached the netting to the walls and ceiling to safely divide the stud room into a dog space and two stud cat spaces. I still need to sand the places I put sheet rock mud on the walls and then I’ll be ready to paint. That will probably not happen until the weekend of the 1st.

I have increased respect for the Queen of Everything — and for her subjects — after this weekend. Fin was harassing Bug and the beginnings of a cat fight were on. Bug raced by me, headed under the couch to get away from the Brat Cat, Fin fast on her trail. I reached down to grab Fin so I could take him to time out (not just for toddlers any more!) at the same time Shira came running over to discipline him. Instead of whacking Fin, Shira got me on my hand. OW!!! The place where she got me is still swollen and sore this morning — and she’ll only whacked me once! Think of how bad it must feel when she does it to the other cats! It’s no wonder we all fear her.

I’m planning my usual weekly photo shoot of Rand and Aviendha this evening.  They are now extremely mobile — going everywhere in my bedroom and bathroom. Avi even followed me down the hall the other evening. They are climbing the little half circle climbing/scratching structure. It sits right underneath my full length mirror. The other night Rand ran up it, then turned to see if Avi was coming after him. He caught a glimpse of himself in the mirror and jumped. “Where did he come from?!” I laughed and laughed.

It won’t be long before the two of them are in bed with us. This morning the phone (work again!) rang. When I hung up the phone, I looked down and sitting on the pillow beside the bed was Avi, looking up at me wondering how to get up where I was. Soon…

Rand is eating solid food now, but Avi still isn’t interested. Both of them are using the litter box, though.  Good kittens!

So… other news… Cyra had another wonderful show in Houston this past weekend, finalling in nine of twelve rings. Way to go, Fish! I suggested they let her go for a swim as a reward. ForestKatz Treat continues to do very well and rise in the TICA International standings. Here’s hoping for another IW for my grand kitten.

And, when I’m not laughing at kittens, doing construction work, fixing work problems, and praying for snow… I’ve been working on getting the photo cd’s done for my kitten owners. One set went out last week and two more sets are sitting here on my desk waiting for me to take them to the post office. I take hundreds (that is not an exaggeration!) of photos of my kittens and only pick my favorites for the website. But I eventually get them all — good and bad — copied to cd so the kittens’ new moms and dads have an electronic baby album of their kittens growing up. It sometimes takes me a while to get it done, so if you’re waiting for your cd’s to arrive, be patient. I’ll get them all finished soon. Now, off to the PO to get the ones I have done mailed.

Eyes wide with wildness

A tiger beneath the fluff

Ferocious kitten. 

Intently crouching

Seeking prey for his attack

Tail lashes warning. 

Little white daggers

Close on unwary victim

I yelp with surprise. 

Tiny sharp needles

Hiding in velvet paw sheaths

I am pin cushion.  

Legs made for jumping

Kick to repel prey’s defense

Is he part rabbit? 

A contented purr

Rumbles from the predator

The battle is won.

This was something that I wrote in my head in the middle of the night when Fin was a kitten. I’ve been meaning to add it to the Cat Tails section, although it’s not truly a “Tail”. Tonight I came across it again while cleaning up my email and since I have no real news or insights to share, I thought you might enjoy something silly. (I don’t know why the haiku formatted so oddly.)

All the kittens in the house have been silly lately. Taiba has always been a wild girl and that continues unabated. Polgara was quite a bit quieter than Taiba and I think she was somewhat intimidated by her sister’s craziness at times. It can’t be all that fun to have another kitten jumping on you every time you try to play with a teaser. But the two of them are taking turns more and Polgara is jumping around almost as much as Taiba. And now Polgara chases after Taiba, hiding then popping out to get her. I love watching the two of them.

The funniest thing, though, was not the teaser or chase games with the two sisters.

Bug — who is about a 16 pound cat — was sitting by the patio door, looking longingly outside. Polgara ran up behind her, swatted her rear end, and ran off before Bug could get her. Bug looked so surprised! It was too, too funny.

Basia is also getting more comfortable and so playing is becoming a bigger part of her day. She doesn’t yet join Taiba and Polgara in their silliness — soon, I think — but she plays with everything else she sees. Her favorite things seem to be legs, hands, and any kind of toy. She’ll run around the living room randomly pouncing on things. Then she’ll leap into the air and run off another direction, arching her back and acting fierce for no good reason at all before pouncing on yet another toy.

Then there’s Rand and Aviendha… The two of them are getting around well now — up on all fours and almost running from here to there. They try to pounce on toys and each other — which is pretty silly to see when they fall over or miss. They run all over our bedroom. At night they are confined to the big kennel, but it won’t be long before they’ll be able to climb up the sides and escape. Taiba, especially, has decided they are interesting and tries to play with them. She can be a little rough — knocking them over in her excitement — but she is also nice to them, grooming them and cuddling with them.

Kitten chaos reigns… I really miss this when we don’t have babies in the house. I guess that one good thing about Taiba and Polgara still being around. I didn’t go into kitten withdrawal when the babies left at the end of the summer. Taiba still doesn’t have a home — as you may have guessed. That’s okay — she will have the right home someday and until then we love her feisty spirit and enjoy having her around. Polgara still has cruddy sounding breathing although she seems healthy enough otherwise. But under the circumstances, she’ll stay with us until she’s been spayed and fully recovers from that. Then I may try to place her as a pet with someone who is willing to take on a less than perfect cat. It’s a shame as I think she’s one of the best kittens (as far as the NFC look) we’ve ever had.