The Great Escape

<p>As usual, I haven't written in a little while now. That's for a few
reasons.</p>

<p>Around this time, things get much busier with the kittens. We begin
intensive work on bite inhibition and manners. We begin grooming, face
washing, claw clipping and everything else they'll have to sit nicely
for in their new homes. We also start bathing, but I'll admit that I
haven't done that yet as they really are very clean at the minute.
Seems almost a shame to bath them when they're spotless, but it will
be done this week. I don't like to bath my kittens until they are at
least six weeks old, as I worry about them chilling when they are very
tiny. As they're six weeks tomorrow, I've got no excuse not to!
Despite them being clean, it's important that long hairs get used to
bathing at a young age so that they will be easier for their new
owners to bath.</p>

<p>I could have written today, but to be perfectly honest with you, I
just needed a day to myself to enjoy time away from work, and really
enjoy the kittens without any pressure. I've had a lovely time just
pottering, but I feel like I'm feeding these little porkers
constantly. I'd be surprised if they haven't easily gained their 100
grams this week, because they are eating shed loads. I don't think I'm
going to have enough raw to get me through till Tuesday which is
shocking bearing in mind that I ordered 6 KG of the stuff just last
Friday, and had 1 KG still in the fridge. I'm down to 1 KG which they
will have cleared by Monday afternoon, so I'm going to have to bulk
them out with normal tinned food which I'm not looking forward to.
Messy bums here we come!</p>

<p>Litter training and pen cleaning is incredibly easy with feeding
raw. Even if the babies do have an accident, the poos are so hard that
they don't smear them if they stand in them. That's the biggest mess
maker with weaning. One will poo outside the tray then step in it.
Another will come along and slip over in it. A third will then roll
around with his brother and soon you've got kittens and pen walls and
floor coated with such a thick layer that it would do a painter proud!
With raw, you get none of that, and the kittens are in fab condition
and so full of energy!</p>

<p>Today marked a big milestone for them. Today was the day they had
their first foray out of the pen, and they loved it! I took the front
off so that they could come out as and when they wanted. I, meanwhile,
crawled in and began my pen deep clean. What fun!</p>

<p>Red, nicknamed Strawberry by the friend with the penchant for names
(I despair sometimes), is the firm leader of the gang and was first
out, quite a surprise as it's normally Stripe who bulldozes her way to
the front. Whoever has Strawberry is going to get a handful. He's
manic! He races aroundin the pen bouncing off the walls (no, I'm not
joking) and onto everyone else, and the living room, while it was a
big, scary new place for most of the others initially, held no terror
for him. He bounced off under the TV (this kitten bounces everywhere),
and had a rip roaring fight with my TV wires. Thank goodness they're
all protected! After he'd beat them up sufficiently, he barrelled out,
piled into the middle of the kitten cluster of his siblings, bopped
Gabby on the head, then scarpered with her in hot pursuit. He had a
great time!</p>

<p>The rest of the kittens also enjoyed themselves. Blueberry decided
that, although she loves Gabby, playing pattercake with paws is much
better done through the bars of the pen than in person. It's really
funny to watch them do this. Gabby will stick a paw through the mesh
and Bluecream will smack it. Gabby, of course, pulls it away, so
Bluecream reaches out after it which leaves Gabby free to smack her
paw and Bluecream pulls it back... And the whole thing keeps going.
Only problem with being outside the pen is that when you pull your paw
back, Gabby just whaps the rest of you anyway, and when she's so much
bigger than you, the only recourse for a girl is to scream for her
mummy to come rescue her. After about the fifth time, Millie gave her
a severe telling off as though to tell her "Well, if you'll keep going
back, you deserve what you get!</p>

<p>Dreamy likes to copy his big brother and his sister Stripe, so he
spent the whole time out watching them, then running off to do
whatever it was they'd just done. Dreamy is a bit of a mummy's boy, so
kept scuttling back to her for a reassuring lick and a quick snuggle
before racing off to see what other trouble he could get himself into.
He's so funny. I think he needs to be called Teddy. Every time you
pick him up, he snuggles right in and just cuddles. He's got a purr on
him like a train too, and where red is a bit manic, he is quite happy
to give you lots of love for as long as you'll put up with him. I
think he's going to stay as one of our shyest in the bunch, but so was
Paws last year, and he turned out to be the most cuddly of all the
kittens.</p>

<p>Stripe is a little monkey. She was determined to get Gabby to chase
her and kept hassling and hassling the poor girl until she gave in and
played. Stripe and Strawberry are our greeter cats now, and love
everyone, so it was unsurprising when she happily went nose to nose
with Tia today to say hello.</p>

<p>And Apache? Well, she's still a little doll. She went on an
adventure under the TV, then was more interested in coming into the
pen and helping me clean up. She lent four helping paws to very
important tasks such as trying to climb into the dirty litter bag,
spreading clean litter from the trays all over the pen, jumping up at
and catching hands, biting a hanging strand of my hair, sitting
between my knees so that I couldn't lean back, and attacking my toes
when I was reaching right to the back to clean the corners. I couldn't
have got the pen spotless without her assistance! Man, I'm going to
find it hard to let that little lump go. She's a lover, but in a
quieter way like Dreamy. She cuddles right in at my neck which is
something her mum used to do when she was her size. I really hope I
get someone interested in this one soon...</p>

<p>Everyone stayed out for about half an hour, then they all decided
they would like to play some more, but as they were falling asleep in
mid pounce, I thought it best to pop them back in for a kip. Mind you,
once in there, they yelled until I fed them, pollished off a huge
plate of food, power napped for five minutes, then got back to
scrapping with each other! Millie is currently telling off Stripe and
Strawberry who are double teaming her tail. She's not happy!</p>

<p>They all scream now at feeding time, so much so that mum comes
pounding in to see what's wrong! All their little faces lift to watch
the food bowl as it comes over the top, and they yell and yell and
howl until the food goes in. As I've started an Audioboo account now,
I'll try and capture it at their next feeding time. It really is very
cute.</p>

<p>Tomorrow they will be six weeks old. My time with these lovelies is
nearly half gone already! This is where I start to hang onto every
little moment. I love breeding, but the parting really, really hurts,
and the lead up is almost worse in a way.</p>

<p>Hopefully, more photos tomorrow!</p>