in and out and around

This scratcher is a big hit in the foster room. So far all the kittens can still fit in the holes and that leads to all sorts of fun and games.

Versace half in the scratcher from the front

Gucci going in from the side

Armani sneaks up from the other side

suddenly - Chanel appears

no wonder the boys were so interested

Versace and Armani wage an epic battle for the scratcher

After everyone finally leaves, 

Chanel sneaks off hoping to avoid future battles

They really do have a blast playing with that thing. We suspect they will be seriously heartbroken when they won't fit in the holes any longer.

Mom forgot to get weights this week, but everyone continues to do well - eating and playing hard. Amazing to think they are 6 weeks old now.

the shelves

Mom thought she was being smart. She didn't want Millie moving the kittens to the bottom shelf of the cabinet, so she put a small carrier and a bunch of towels in there. You can see how well THAT is working....

Fine...whatever....so long as they aren't big enough to get into trouble and get up on the second shelf.

Ummmm....about that....

And getting down is even harder:

We think if mom had been REALLY smart, she would have bought a cabinet with doors! MOL

weekend report

It was pretty quiet around here. Pretty chilly for May, so no open windows. Mom spent lots of time with the kittens. They are pretty bitey - especially Versace.

Dior and her momma's tail

Chanel

Armani

(he always looks startled)

Chanel again

Gucci, Dior and Versace getting a snack

Mom forgot to weigh them over the weekend, but they did get their first vaccines. Hard to believe they will be 6 weeks old tomorrow.

intruder alert

Well, there was a minor incident last Friday night that we thought we would share. Before we get into the details, let us just say that everyone is fine....

momma cat

Millie is fairly protective of her kittens. Not from our mom - that is fine. But if she hears something on the other side of the doors, she is VERY alert (see above) and in fact has been known to growl at us on occasion through the doors. She will also lay right next to the sliding door and right in front of the entrance to the foster room and stare at the crack where the screen door hits the wall. But...she doesn't charge the door or try to get out so that is fine. Thankfully she will also back up when mom opens the door and sticks her foot in Millie's way.

Now, most of us have a healthy fear of are well trained to ignore momma cats. We had one a few years ago that charged out of the bathroom several times and caught Tim, Mozart and Ivy before mom sent her back to the humane society to be spayed and adopted (the kittens were weaned thankfully).

However, Daiquiri has never experienced a momma cat in full protection mode and therefore keeps pushing the boundaries. Daiquiri is mainly the one on the other side of the door or up on the shelves.

Friday night, mom went out with a friend, came home, took care of all of us, watched some TV, read some and went to bed about 11pm. A few minutes after it was dark, she heard a cat scream from the other side of the condo. She was sure that it was us, so she got up to check. Nope.... but another scream led her to the foster space. Where she found that Daiquiri had managed (somehow) to get into the room and Millie was protecting her kittens.

Mom cracked the foster room door open and thankfully Daiquiri knows her name - mom yelled and Daiq headed for the door and made her escape (and went straight under the bed). Millie was ALL puffed up....as were the kittens....but everyone in there looked fine. Mom wasn't about to go in there and risk annoying Millie, so she went to check on Daiquiri. After about 15 minutes, Daiq finally came out from under the bed and mom was able to at least get a good look at her. With her being mostly white, mom was able to see there wasn't any blood. (and has since grabbed her and run her hands over Daiq to be sure she didn't miss anything) However - there were bits of Daiquiri fuzz all over the foster room.

Hopefully Daiquiri learned her lesson and will NOT try that again.

Mom isn't sure how Daiquiri got into the room. The only options are over the doors (see above) or through the pass through from the kitchen (see below).

While mom has never seen Daiquiri on the counters, she suspects it was the pass through. That being the case, she is going to have to find a better way to block the opening while still being able to see through....

snoozing

FYI: be sure to click on the web camera. Mom bought a new router, got it set up, screwed up the camera, managed to get it reconnected (thank you Wayne from MeShare) and now we are up and running. Hopefully with no interruptions!!

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Of course with all that bouncing around, the kittens then crash and burn. They play hard and sleep hard.

3 tuxedos

Armani at the top, Chanel to the left, Dior to the right

sweet sisters

Dior

They are discovering new and inventive places to sleep. Mom went in the other day and Gucci was sleeping inside the scratcher. The bottom shelf of the tall cabinet has a carrier and towels on it - and several kittens have still climbed up and jammed themselves into the space on top of the towels. The castle is still a popular place as well. And the LOVE the happy duck from our Fairy Catmother.

wordless Wednesday

Armani

Gucci

wrestling

The kittens are definitely learning to pounce and wrestle. Their favorite targets are each other of course and Millie if she is close by. Or mom if she is sitting in the room.

one of the girls getting a snack

while Armani attacks his momma's toes

same girl still snacking

now the orange boys have rolled out of the castle

you have to love those expressions of "what?"
Gucci on the left, Versace on the right

Of course, with wrestling come biting, and now that they have teeth, the screaming in protest begins as well. They are bitey little monkeys with no respect for anyone - their momma, each other or our mom.

toys

The kittens will be 5 weeks old tomorrow and are getting more and more playful. Obviously the best toy is a sibling (it seems if you can make them scream, there is more points), mom's tail is a good one as well. But they are discovering toys. A friend on facebook sent us some felted toys and they like those along with a mylar ball.

And of course climbing the scratcher just because they can.

Weigh in time (from Sunday)
Gucci     1 pound 3/4 ounces
Dior       1 pound 1 3/8 ounces
Chanel   1 pound 1 5/8 ounces
Versace  1 pound 3 3/8 ounces
Armani  1 pound 3 3/4 ounces

Random Fridays

Armani says - enough with the camera

(actually mom was tickling his belly - MOL)

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Miss Connie asked (a while ago) where we got our " C A T" art. That is a genuine, one of a kind, original art work from the kid (aka mom's niece). She made it for mom for Christmas last year.
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Also, last Friday there was a comment about the window screen inserts.

The comment was that the window was up and not flush with the insert and the insert could be pushed out. While it does look that way, what isn't really apparent in the picture is that the screen extends and fits side to side into the window rails themselves - meaning the screen is actually pushed into the window frame and has to be maneuvered to get them back out. That is a terrible explanation, but let's just say we appreciate the concern however no cat is getting that insert out themselves.
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It is supposed to be nice here this weekend, though maybe rainy. Mom discovered the other day that Daiquiri is actually afraid of thunder. One big BOOM and she is GONE! Poor baby....  Otherwise nothing too exciting. 

toy review #ChewyInfluencer

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This month there was a neat looking toy being offered. Since we can't pass up something new to play with (seriously...we only have a bazillion toys here), mom requested this and opened it up as soon as it arrived.

Mozart of course was a little more interested in the box that the toy came in:

The toy is an interactive treat and puzzle toy from catamazing.com. It came flat in a package and required some assembly, but went together very quickly. There is a video on their website, but mom figured it using the information in the package.

Some cats were a little TOO helpful in the package opening process.
Tommy on top, Daiquiri chewing on the package

left to right: Diaquiri, Ivy and Spud (with his head in the hole)

The outside of the box has various holes in different shapes and sizes. Inside the box is an insert that waves up and down creating barriers.

Everyone was interested at first, but mom got this figuring that Daiquiri would be the one spending the most time figuring it out. To add to the fun, mom found one of Daiquiri's foam soccer balls and put that inside the box as well.

Spud watched as Daiquiri tried in vain to get the treats and toys out.

So far the biggest "fun" has been everyone pushing the box around the living room as they try to use their faces to get treats out of one end or the other. Daiquiri did manage to get her toy out though mom didn't see it happen. She and Spud spend the most time with this and mom has put more treats in every day.

The biggest concern mom had was that the box is cardboard and Daiquiri is a certified cardboard destruction expert. However, other than getting in one good chomp on the box as mom was putting it together, she has left it alone. How long remains to be seen....  :)

The toy is priced at $14.99 on Chewy's website and remember shipping is free over $49. The puzzle has been a big hit here and we give it 6 paws up! While some play with it more than others, everyone has checked it out at least a couple of times and tried to get those treats to come out.

wordless Wednesday

4 weeks old

4 days old

4 weeks old. Time flies.... The kittens certainly seem to be having a good time loose in the foster room. They have discovered the castle and spend a decent amount of their time sleeping in there. They will generally tumble out when mom comes into the room....or if they are looking for their momma. Millie is pretty relaxed unless she sees another cat outside the foster room doors, but we can hear her chirping in there at the kittens on a regular basis. She is going to have to learn to relax or it is going to get worse as the kittens get more active.

Chanel and her momma

All five of them are in the picture - Armani is between his brothers getting a snack. Gucci is on the left, Versace on the right. The girls are in front - Dior on the left and Chanel on the right.

Weigh in:
Gucci     13 3/8 ounces
Versace  15 3/8 ounces
Dior       14 3/8 ounces
Chanel   14 3/4 ounces
Armani  15 3/8 ounces

They are starting to bounce around a little more each day. Gravity still gets the best of them however. And their teeth are starting to come in - which means now there is howling when they bite each other. They like to try those teeth out on mom occasionally too....she says she feels great sympathy for Millie.

weekend report

Ivy and Daiquiri had their annual v-e-t check up on Saturday. They both got clean bills of health and Ivy felt the need to growl at Dr W just in case.
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When mom checked the web camera on Thursday afternoon, there was one kitten in the box and everyone else was out. That evening mom reset a few things. Millie came over and stretched out with the kittens, so our guess is that she was finding the box a little small. She may be sorry though as the kittens are now all over the place and we can hear her in there chirping at them. Good luck momma cat.  MOL

girl kitten checking on her momma

Dior

freedom!!!

she heard....something