LostWoods Blog

While you’re waiting for new pictures of the kittens — which I plan to take tonight — here are some photos of the new cat run we made over the weekend.

The back door to our house opens from the cat room out to a cemented patio area. Just off the patio is a five foot wide dirt area covered with bark, surrounded by a six foot high fence. This area is where Colter’s dog house and food and water dishes were. I’ve long thought that it would make a great place for the cats and now that Colter is living in the Seattle area with Jeremy, I finally mentioned it to Ken.

We had all the materials we needed to make the area “cat proof” so last weekend, Ken suggested we get it done. It didn’t really take that long and the cats are absolutely delighted with their new playground. We don’t allow them to go outside when we’re not home, but as soon as we get home from work in the afternoon, we open the door and off they go. We’ve taken the lower part of the screen out of the screen door, so they can just hop through the screen door to go play.

Dawnflower is probably the happiest with it. She goes out the second the door is open and she doesn’t come back in until I go make her come in before I go to bed. Everyone else comes and goes, but she takes advantage of every minute of outdoor time she can get.

Here are some pictures of Shira and the kittens outside in the run.

I took pictures of the Beloveds last night, but I didn’t get them edited and uploaded to the website. Bad lisa! But I put them on a usb drive and did them during some down time at work. Because I’ve been neglecting the blog so much lately, it seemed like a nice thing to do — posting the pictures here before I even get them on the website. Aren’t you glad you read the blog?

They are so much fun to watch these days. Last night Kendi was an absolute wild man! He must have jumped off the dresser four or five times going for the teaser. I didn’t think I was ever going to get any decent pictures of him because he was all over the place. Later on, he was playing on the floor, attacking everything he saw. The other three kittens were in another room, so he was there by himself. Kendi would puff up his fur, arch his back and go hopping sideways after the rabbits’ feet and toys on the floor. Bug came in the room and he went hopping after her, trying to scare her. She ignored him… Shira was watching from the dresser and you could almost hear her thinking “I’m not going down there with that little brat!”

Kali, in the meantime, has been very busy “killing” rabbits’ feet for the ktitens. Once again I keep waking up with rabbits’ feet inteh bed because she brings them to the kittens at night. She no longer feels the need to kill spoons, and that is a good thing.

As for the Royals, I did try. But my patience supply was low and I gave up wrangling them. I will do it after work today, never fear. They are too cute not to photograph. They are starting to play with each other now, which is always so cute to watch! And now that Buzzy has quit moving them under the bed, it’s looking promising for the return of the kitten cam — because you will actually have something to watch rather than an empty kennel!

I was going to do two different posts with the bonus shots of the Beloveds and the Royals, but given that I’ve been so bad about posting at all, I’d better just put all of them in one post.

The kittens are all growing up so fast! The Beloveds have conquered the baby gate and are up and down the stairs many times a day. They usually sleep with us at night. As is usual, a little girl kitten has decided Ken is just about the best thing ever in her life and most nights I find Kaela snuggled up to him, happy as can be. Ken, of course, denies that she likes him. But I can’t argue with the evidence right in front of my eyes. Kaela is still the quietest of the litter, but she is always around us — watching to make sure everything is okay before she jumps in.

Shiara continues to be an adventurer and the first to come running when she hears my voice. She going to give me more gray hairs because she is the worst about crawling under the stair railing so she can walk along the ledge above the front entry hall. She and Keefe are almost always together.

Keefe is just plain naughty! He loves to wrestle with his siblings and hasn’t quite figured out that he’s supposed to stop when they cry. He’ll learn one of these days, but in the meantime he seems to always want to wrestle and play about the time the other three — and I, too — are falling asleep at night. All that noise is hard to sleep through. He also likes to climb my legs.

Kendi is still my needy little boy. He LOVES attention from people and will cry until he gets it. He’s not picky about who provides the loves, he’ll take whatever he gets. Our friend Charlie was over the other day to get his kitten fix and Kendi was whining. Charlie picked him up (the first time Kendi had ever seen Charlie) and Kendi immediately stopped crying and was content.

I’d hoped to take their seven week photos outside last week, but it was raining on Thursday night. Yes, that’s a day late, but it’s so much easier to do everyone’s pictures (both litters) on the same night, then update the website with everything at one sitting.

The Royals eyes are all wide open and they are starting to explore a little bit. I moved them into Ken’s and my bedroom yesterday evening. I still need to move my computer and get the kitten cam running again. That’s on tonight’s agenda. The last few days when I was in the room with them and using the computer, I’d leave the door open so Buzzy could come and go. That also meant that the other cats and kittens could come in. Kendi acted fascinated with the Royals and I got a cute picture of him with them. I haven’t downloaded it from my camera yet. Hopefully I’ll remember to post it here soon.

Basia was mostly okay with me moving the kittens to our bedroom. She’s very happy that she can jump up on the bed at night and get some loves from me. Last night instead of her usual early morning visit to me, she came and laid on top me four different times — catching up on all the visits she missed, perhaps? She did put Riordan under our bed twice. And she took Alaric back to the other room and put him under the desk once. But after that she settled down. We’ll see if that is still true when I get home this evening.

Here are the bonus shots of the kittens from last week.

A few goodbye photos of Carwyn for you all. He was so incredibly sweet at the airport this morning. I’d let him out of the carrier (it was going to be a long enough day for him without having to stay in while I did paperwork) and was letting him walk around on the counter right in front of me. To keep him from going too far, I was petting and scratching his back. He purred and purred and purred. He leaned into me and flopped over on the counter and purred some more. I picked him up for some last snuggles and he draped himself over my arm and purred some more. As usual, everyone who saw him there thought he was the cutest kitten ever. And me, all I could think of was this was the last time I’d see him (probably) and how much I love this sweetheart of a kitten. Sad lisa-mom. But he has an excited Katie-mom who should be picking him up in New York in about half an hour. He’ll have a good life.

When I examined the kittens yesterday, they were still fairly wet. I should have known better than to absolutely decide on things based on colors of wet kittens… Sigh… So, on closer examination of a dry kitten #5 led me to conclude that he’s a boy, not a girl. The color I mistaked for red was really just warm brown in his tabby markings. These markings are very splotchy, which I think contributed to my thoughts of red. And like an idiot, I didn’t bother to check his sex because the red and brown together would almost certainly be a girl. (Yes, it can happen that boys are tri-colored, but it’s rare.) He’s been renamed Brendan ’cause Alexandra is a silly name for a boy. LOL!

All of the babies gained weight in the first 24 hours so it appears that Basia is not having any problems with milk production this time around. That seems to confirm my thoughts that the c-section was the reason her milk didn’t come in right away with the Joyful Litter. Since this is a common problem, if any of the girls have to have a c-section in the future, I’ll be sure to ask what we can do to help stimulate milk production. But with these babies it doesn’t appear to be a problem fortunately.

The kitten cam is running so you can meet the babies: www.lostwoodswegies.com/kittencam. Also, the individual pictures of the kittens are on the website.

Now, on to other promised goodies. As hoped, the Beloveds were much easier to photograph this week and I got some cute pictures of them to share — besides their website photo. But you can also see in the photos that the boys were feeling quite mischievous and their antics meant no decent litter shots. I’ll share a photo of how they were behaving. Badly.

Yesterday morning as I was going back and forth getting stuff moved to the room where Basia and the kittens were, I noticed that all four Beloveds and the three Valentines were all running and playing on the bed, while Ken tried to sleep just a little bit longer. I suspect he wasn’t very sucessful at that. It was cute seeing them all up on the bed playing, though.

That about covers it for now. Carwyn is leaving tomorrow, weather permitting. Tanith’s mom is coming to get her and should be here tomorrow afternoon. I’m happy for their owners, sad for me. I’ll try to get some last photos of them both tonight.

I had planned to post the bonus shots of the Beloveds here today. I have them and maybe tomorrow I’ll post them. They are cute — even though the boys were being naughty. But today’s scheduled blog post has been pre-empted for this breaking news:

The Royals have arrived!!!

Basia spent a good part of the night in bed between Ken and me. She was perfectly content. I thought. About 2:00 I got up to go to the bathroom. When I came back to bed, she was still there, half under the blankets like she’d been tucked in for a good night’s sleep. About 10 minutes later she got up and left. I felt a cat settle down by my legs and I thought it was her changing sleeping spots. I went back to sleep.

About 5, I was awakened by kittens crying. I thought it was Kali’s babies playing — Kendi is especially vocal and I’ve gotten used to tuning him out. Then I realized 1) it’s more than one or two kittens. 2) it isn’t stopping. I got up and followed the noise to my closet. The other cats were circling around outside my closet and every time someone poked his or her head in there, I heard growls. I opened up the doors — causing more growls — and started pulling out all the shirts that were hanging on the lower rod. More growls. But as I removed shirts, I found Buzzy and three kittens.

The kittens and Buzzy were not cuddled up together — I think that’s why the babies were crying. So I got the birthing basket from the other room and moved the little family down the hall. I turned up the heat and petted Buzzy for a few minutes. Shortly after, with a half grunt, half growl, kitten #4 arrived. And #5 arrived shortly after that.

I was a little concerned at first because two of the kittens that were born in the closet were on the cold side, although active and mouthy. But once the furry family was moved into the other room and into the basket with Buzzy, they warmed right up. All five of them are nursing, moving around, sleeping, and acting healthy and normal. Basia is also happier and more settled in the other room. They are in Jeremy’s former bedroom for now because it’s mostly empty and Buzz has fewer places to move the kittens — fewer places that I might object to! I will have the kitten cam up later this evening. That is, providing my internet service is up. We were having problems with it last night and this morning.

So… this litter is the Royals with names meaning royalty (king, etc) or names of kings or queens. Partly it’s because of a name that Brenda likes and since she might be taking one of the girls I wanted to use it for her. Partly it’s because Buzzy and her maternal ancestresses are Queens of Everything. Just seems to fit her kittens.

I suppose you’d like a few more details about the kittens, huh? And maybe some pictures or something? Glad to oblige!

Tatiana – female – brown torbie and white
Riordan – male – brown tabby & white
Reagan – female – brown torbie & white
Alaric – male – brown tabby & white
Alexandra – female – brown torbie & white

They weighed between 3.8 oz / 106 gr (Alexandra) and 4.7 oz / 132 gr (Alaric). Since my list is at home, and I can’t remember who weighed what between the other three (3.9, 3.9, and 4.2 oz) that will just have to do for birth weight info.

As for pictures, here are some of Buzzy a couple days ago when she was still fat and pregnant, along with a picture of her with the babies this morning and a picture of the Royal kitten mosh pit just a minute after I’d changed their blankets and put them back in their bed. Basia was sitting beside the bed cleaning herself and allowed me about 30 second to take a picture before she jumped back in with them.

I do have individual pics of each of them that I’ll put on the website tonight, so look for those later.

The little babies, aka the Beloved litter, all managed to escape from the kennel Monday evening after they were supposedly tucked in for the night. Shiara had escaped Saturday night and Sunday morning, but the rest had stayed put. Well, until they decided that it was very unfair to be locked up and all climbed out in rebellion. So free they are.

Shiara is always the first to come when I call them and she follows me everywhere if I’m in our bedroom and bathroom. She’s living up to the promise of adventurousness from her day early birth. But all the kittens are very sweet and quite interested in us. The Valentines are very interested in the Beloveds and think wrestling with them is perfectly acceptable. It’s fun to watch them at about 6 in the morning as they all play and climb on things. The Beloveds are already good at climbing up the litter kitten condo to get to the cedar chest. I’m hoping tonight that familiarity with the top of the cedar chest will result in them willing to watch the teaser rather than a desire to peer over the edges and escape. One can only hope…

One minor mishap was the result of them climbing up on things. I was in the hippo room across the hall and heard a kitten crying loudly, obviously in distress. This was more than the yelps and cries I hear when they get too rough playing with each other. I ran into the bedroom, looking for the kitten who was the source of the sounds. I found Kendi caught between the back of the cedar chest and the footboard of the bed. Apparently, I’d moved the cedar chest just a little too close to the bed the last time I’d cleaned. It was far enough away for a little kitten to fall in the space, but not far enough to let him fall all the way to the floor. Kendi couldn’t get loose and he was extremely vocal about his displeasure.

I think every cat in the house had come running to see what was wrong with the baby. That made getting him out a bit a of a challenge, with cats on the cedar chest and the floor all around. I was afraid I’d set it on one of them as I moved it. And I didn’t want Kendi to fall and get hurt. So Ken helped me shoo cats away and moved the cedar chest while I reached behind to catch Kendi. All is well now and the cedar chest has been moved an inch or two further away from the bed.

Tonight is picture night for the Beloveds. I hope to have them posted to the website later tonight. With any luck, I’ll have bonus shots here tomorrow sometime.

Where do I start? I know, I haven’t done a blog post in ages — which is strange considering I have two litters of kittens to photograph and share stories about. I don’t know what to say. I just haven’t been very motivated to write here lately, although I’ve been doing a bunch of other writing.

First, some good news. I took McCoy out to Washington State University on Monday for his HCM screening echocardiogram. It was normal. Yay! For any of you in the Pacific Northwest who are looking for a place to have HCM screening done, WSU is a great place to go. The cardiologists there know their stuff — the NFC HCM research project is being headed by Dr Kate Meurs at WSU. The staff is friendly and efficient. The price is comparable to what you’d pay at a HCM clinic at a show. And if you’re coming from the east like me, the drive is beautiful. So maybe that’s not a criteria for you, but it does help me enjoy the six hour one-way drive.

Valentines news… Carwyn is leaving on May 29th for his new home in New York. Look for him at a show or two out that way, since Katie is planning to show him. He’s such a sweet boy and loves to cuddle with us in the mornings. Ken is home sick today and when I left for work, Carwyn was snuggled up to him purring. He still is the cave kitten and loves to crawl under the covers with us if given the chance. Or more accurately, if not prevented from getting under the covers!

Taavi’s new mom is coming to get him around June 3rd. I hear she may have additional company on the trip out here — everyone is excited about getting him. Taavi will have a furry “sister” at his new home. His owners are also adopting Torianna’s little girl, Calypso, from ForestKatz. Taavi and Carwyn both have become great jumpers and climbers and love to get on the counters in the bathroom and kitchen, where they get told “no!”. This morning Taavi jumped onto the window sill in the bathroom and was climbing up the screen. Bad kitten!

Tanith’s new mom is coming out to get her in early June, too. Tanith is going to a show and breeding home, just as I’d hoped. She’s still my little sweetheart and purrs at a touch. Sometimes the touch isn’t even necessary. She hops up on the bed in the mornings and comes trotting over the blankets, purring and begging for loves. She has the “flop and purr” gene and as soon as I touch her, she flops over. But I should say she has the “flop, purr, and chomp” gene — perhaps getting the chomping part from her Dawnie-mom, aka Chompers. Tanith flops over and then chews on your fingers while you’re trying to pet her. At least until she falls asleep.

The Valentines know that they are way overdue for their story and they assured me that they are planning to write it soon. They did try to use the excuse that their Dawnie-mom’s litter never had to right a letter, but I told them that she only got away with that because she didn’t live at LostWoods when she was little.

Beloved news… the kittens turned four weeks old yesterday and are all doing great. The photo sessions (yes, sessions — I tried twice) were frustrating because the only one who was interested in the teaser was Shiara. She paid attention to it and posed a little for me. Everyone else was more interested in how to get down from the cedar chest I’d put them on for photos. However, when I went through the pictures, I found a few of each kitten that were decent. Thank goodness, because my patience was running out. I’d about decided to give up and try again tonight.

Shiara and Kendi are reserved. Keefe and Kaela are available. Although, I might have to keep Kaela to replace Kali and Fin in the LostWoods breeding program – both of whom I’m thinking of retiring this year. (Shhh! don’t tell Ken I’m thinking about that!) She’s a smoke — which I love — and has a unique look. We’ll see how she develops, but I really don’t want to lose the smoke/silver gene in the lines. I suppose part of this depends on if Kefira gets pregnant and what she has. She didn’t get pregnant back in early April, but she’s in heat again so I hoping this time she will.

Okay, back to the Beloved. They are living in our bedroom now and just starting to eat solid food. I’ve had the camera off because both Ken and I have been home sick a number of days in the past week (don’t worry, nothing serious, just miserable colds) and I don’t think seeing us wander around the bedroom in our night clothes is exactly family entertainement. And the kittens have been hanging out under the bed a lot lately. Why do they do that?! I’m seriously thinking of buying Plexiglass and building a barrier under the bed so they can’t get under there. Anyway, I hope to get the cam turned back on this weekend if they are spending more time playing in the rest of the bedroom.

They are friendly little kittens and it’s easy to coax them out from under the bed. I don’t know that I’d even call it coaxing. I just talk to them and they come to me. Shiara is especially friendly. She’s usually the first one out and she follows me everywhere. Kaela is on the quiet side. Keefe and Kendi are playful and silly — they love to wrestle. Kendi is still mouthy and complains when I give him kisses.

Basia is getting very round. She went through a spell of being a complete witch about everything, including biting my arm because I was combing her back legs. But this week she’s being the sweet Buzzy, lying on my chest purring and petting my face in the mornings. She’s spending most of her time in the splat cat position on the floor — preferably the cool vinyl, tile, or wood floors in the house. This weekend I’ll start confining her to the hippo room since her due date is the 29th.

Bonus pictures of the kittens… So I’ve been bad again. The extra shots of both litters are uploaded to their albums on the LostWoods Facebook page. It’s just so easy for me to put them there. I select the pictures, click upload, and then publish them. I don’t have to think of anything interesting to say or find some time to write. And since I usually write here during a break at work, I have to remember to send the photos to myself at work, too. But I’ll try to do better and get them posted here, too. But it would be so much better if you just joined Facebook and became a fan.

Last thing for today. Fiala’s owner Betsey sent me a couple pictures of Fiala yesterday. It’s so nice to see my beautiful little girl. She’s retired from breeding and now lives the life of a spoiled pet. Olly (as I called her) lived with me for about a year and as a result, I was more attached to her than most of my kittens. I cried when I finally let her go. But I know she’s loved and that always makes me happy for my kittens. Here she is.

I’ve had some baskets sitting on top an entertainment cabinet for awhile. I had them out for Easter and have been debating on filling them with something else for spring or just putting them away. The cats have voted that I leave them there, just as they are. Time and again I find someone sleeping in them.

There are three baskets. The multi-colored one is the smallest. The tan one is medium. The white with flowers is the largest.

Yesterday I walked by and spotted Dawnflower trying one on for size. It looked like a fairly tight fit.

But she did manage to curl up in it for a short nap.

Later I saw that she had decided to try on a larger basket for size.

If you look closely at the white basket, you’ll see why she didn’t just settle into the biggest basket.

Still later in the day, after Taavi had decided to go play, I saw Dawnie sitting in the biggest basket. Unfortunately, I didn’t have the camera handy to catch her there. but she finally did get to nap in comfort in the big basket.