Day 8/9

Nothing much to report today, except that Hamster continues to gain! I keep moving Porker to a front nipple and plugging Hamster into the same back one, hoping to cultivate a preference in them both for these particular ones. As I said yesterday, the front produces less milk, but that's fine as far as Porker is concerned. He cross the 200 gram mark today, weighting in at a whopping 202 compared to poor Hamster's 161. 41 grams doesn't sound like a lot, but that's a quarter of Hamster's body weight! And Porker uses his bulk to great advantage. I watched him headbut the baby off her nipple, even though it's a bottom one that he won't drink from, then stick his paw over it and repeatedly smack her in the face every time she tried to get back on. I know he isn't old enough to really calculate what he's doing, and it's just as well, otherwise I suspect world domination would be on the cards! I tickled him for a bit today too though. He tried not to like it, he really did. He fought for all of about two seconds, then cried for a while longer. The crying was done while he lay on his back with his paws spread though, so I don't think he thought I was killing him! I was doing all this right under Tia's nose so that she could see what I was doing and wouldn't get upset. When the crying didn't bring mum running, he stopped, lay back, wriggled into the tickle so much that his back was arched, and just enjoyed it. He finished off by tucking his head down on my finger and going to sleep... Yeah, I know he thinks I'm a real mean person!






Porker is purring solidly now, and the baby's making a real good attempt at it. hamster's still too busy fighting for a drink to purr much, but I've heard him once or twice. Poor little man is just a bit slower than the rest of them.





Tia was unsettled last night, spending most of her time shouting at me because I wouldn't let her out of the pen. I didn't give in. She has everything she needs in there; food, water, litter tray, and most of all, hungry babies. If I let her out, she camps under the bed where I can't get to her, and just ignores the babies while they call for her. Their weight gains suffered because of it. hamster only gained a gram overnight, and the Baby only three. The only one who piled it on was Porker, but that's because he's the only one who has managed to work out how to feed from Tia even when she's sitting up. He doesn't gain so much during the day though, due to being moved to a front nipple, so it all works out for the good.





Tia discovered fish today. I was cooking a cod fillet for myself, and she kept asking and asking for some. She doesn't ever hassle anyone when they are eating, but a suckling mum is an eating machine, so I guess she was hungry. I gave her a little piece, and I've never seen food disappear so fast! So when I was finished, I went and cooked her one of her own. They're not huge, but for a cat, they're pretty big, and for Tia, a small eater at the best of times, they're massive! She ate a half a one in one sitting which I was very surprised about. I've got the other half in the fridge, and will give her it with her normal food later on.





That's about it for today. I'll update again tomorrow.