happy/sad

When I take my babies to Petsmart I always tell them they are going to camp.  Well, I was the camp for 2 days.  The feral mom of the 5 babies I got was caught this morning.  She was reunited with her babies and welcomed them back.  I am very happy they are with their mom as that is where every baby should be.  But I am sad as I miss them and really enjoyed feeding them.  They were all strong and eating well and little darlings.  I named the twins Riff and Raff.  It is like having 5 adoptions all within a minute.  So now my little "S" baby will be spoiled rotten as she can get all the attention.
.    .      .    .    Jamieson, Nugget, Nox and Lacey all gained a lot of weight today.  Maybe they ate not long before I got home.  They were mobbing me for their supper though so were hungry enough.  Jamieson sleeps on my bed during the night so he is close when I wake up in the morning.  He likes to come right beside me and roll over so he can have his tummy scratched.  Lacey is the serious player whether the other wants to play or not.  Nugget and Nox are the quietest of the 4.  Too soon they will be going to their forever homes.  I am preparing myself.

welcome to my new arrivals

Yesterday I added to my family.  As often happens they come in bunches.  The calico "S" girl is just over 2 weeks old.  The 5 "R" babies are 5 days old today.  The mom had 8 babies but 3 died.  They were very cold when I got them but the heat lamp soon fixed that problem.  The "S" baby (names to be determined today) is very vocal though after a few good feeds seems more content.  I walked her last night and she seemed to enjoy that.  The 5 babies are eating well.  The tiniest one is only 92g so I will be seeing a lot of growing I am sure.  One has white on the tummy and face, another has white tips on the paws, another has white tips on the front feet.  The last two are identical as far as I can tell right now.   They are only 2 g different in weight so it will be a big challenge to tell them apart.  I am having a hard time deciding if they are boys or girls so we will check in with the vet today and get some extra help with that.  Hopefully the twins will be different sexes but somehow I am suspecting not.  By the way, 4:15 this morning was beautiful.  Back to interupted nights but that's okay as long as they keep growing and doing well.

It has been a good week

All the babies are doing well.  They are another week older.  On Thursday Lacey was finished with the bottle.  On Thursday night I fed Jamieson his bottle.  When I checked on them before I went to bed I found a great big spot of puked up milk.  I decided to wait until morning to feed him so his tummy could settle down.  A few minutes before midnight I was woken by a loud cry (I sleep soundly but seem to have one ear open when I have babies).  I got out of bed to check what was going on.  Poor little Jamieson was frothing at the mouth and was in distress.  Instinctively I grabbed a blanket from the closet and wrapped Jamieson up.  He sounded wet inside as if he was filled with water.  I knew he could not get any in his lungs or he would die.  I held him at a slight angle with his head down and gently patted his back.  I walked the floor with him and went through a hard 8 minutes until he was better.  I figured out that though he had never eaten canned food before he had tried to eat a morsel of the hard food in the hallway for Hoover and must have choked.  I took him to bed with me so I could keep an eye on him.  After a few minutes he got wiggly and was nibbling on my fingers so I got up and got him a bottle as he was hungry.  He drank well and I tucked him in with the others.  I got up around 3 am to see if he was okay and he was.  In the morning he was playing with the others and it was as if nothing was wrong (though I knew it would be a substantial coffee morning for me).  On Saturday he decided he was a big boy and ate canned food for most of his meals.  Sunday it has been only canned food.
.           .Lacey is a little sweetie.  On Thursday I left the babies out of their cage for the night.  She has decided that sleeping with mom is a great thing.  She quietly comes to bed and settles in vey quickly.  Nox and Nugget are growing and love to play a lot.
.        .       .Jersey has settled wonderfully into her new home.  She loves the daycare kids and seems to wait for them at 3:30.  They say she is perfect in every way and cannot be improved upon.  She comes when called and loves to be loved.  An easy transition for all.
.     .     .Thanks for the comments.  I am so glad Griffin is a great kitten and still a sweet boy.  Thanks for giving him a great home.

Hoover's New Love

Hoover is in love again after his break up with Jersey.  He really, really, really loves Nugget.  He washed her for 30 minutes.  Lacey thought she would try and sneak in.  Hoover gave her a token 2 licks then was back loving his Nugget.  He loves his little harrem and likes being "the man".  Nugget will be clean until at least tomorrow.  Now I know who I can go to to help out with the little kittens.

It has been the best morning! I thought I would share pictures of the morning as I had so much fun and many smiles watching the babies.  All the babies are healthy, growing, gaining weight and getting older.  They are starting to play which is one of the best stages.  All 4 were having a great time with each other and the toys they are discovering.  Even Hoover and Maggie were part of the fun.
. . . . . Jersey left last night for her forever home.  When she was in the cage getting ready to go Hoover went over and put his toes through the bars as if to say goodbye and good luck.  They are the best of friends and I know Hoover will miss her.
.  .   .  .  .Jamieson is becoming a little boy.  As you can see from the picture he is starting to sleep like a "big" kitten.  He still loves his bottle and swaggers when he walks.  He does still love his nap time and is not ready to give them up any time soon.   Just yesterday I was holding him and wondering when did that little 118g kitten become a 420g little boy.  When did he grow up so fast?
.  .  .  .Lacey is becoming a mama's girl.  She comes to sit on my lap often.  She is eating canned food but still wants a bottle once in a while.  Of course I am not in a hurry to make her switch over.  I want to make sure she continues to gain weight.  Lacey scampers when she runs through the house.
.  .  .  Nugget and Nox are quite the pair.  Nugget loves to come to me to have me give her some loving.  She is feeling better since the antibiotics and has gained way more than I ever expect.  She is enjoying feeling better and running around.  Nox as always does his own thing when he wants to.  He loves Maggie and had a good nap with her this morning. 
.  .  .  All 4 babies are catching a nap in the cage.  They got tuckered out from all the playing.  It feels good to watch them all sleeping.  The best time of the day for me is at night when all have had their own bit of loving, are fed and are down for the night. After I get into bed I sometimes just sit and listen to the silence knowing all is well and all are another day older.  I take in every moment of the good days when no one is making me worry and all are happy and playing and loving each other.