Wednesday 29th March 2006 Photos added to the personal pages.

 Monday 3rd April 2006 Photos added to the personal pages. Since Friday the F's are getting solid food to taste (pureed canned food with milkpowder). Some like the taste of it so much they will bite my finger for more. Fortunately for myself they don't have real teeth yet, they shine through their gums already. So it probably won't take that long until these little cats will have added more sharp weapons ;-) (remember their nails). They are also beginning to play, biting your sibling is fun. Just as washing yourself (even though it's more the movement of washing than really getting any cleaner). Absolutely mini-cats already!

Monday 10th April 2006 Photos added to the personal pages. Yesterday the kittens were 4 weeks old. High time for their first deworming... they all ate the paste like big brave kittens. They like the solid food more too, some even try the dry kibbles. Royal Canin Babycat kibbles of course, because those are tiny kibbles for tiny cats. Today a few kittens used the litterbox all by themselves as well, poor things, passing faeces from solid food is a bit harder. I hope they all understand the use of the litterbox soon, then I won't have to clean up after little 'accidents'. I love the kittens of course, maybe it's because I have a weakness for blue? A litter full of Blue Points has to be wonderful then ;-P.

Wednesday 19th April 2006 Photos added to the personal pages (and short films to the filmspage). It's been an enervating week. After Monday everything went well, kittens were litterbox trained, eating solid food... until Thursday. Then one of the boys had diarrhoea and a few others were throwing up. After a phonecall to my vet I went over there. They had appointments throughout the afternoon and evening, but Natasja (one of my vets) was going to help me inbetween. When I arrived with my travelbasket full of kittens the client with the next appointment hadn't arrived yet, so it was my turn right away. Only the kitten with diarrhoea had an upset stomach, the others felt normal and looked healthy. To be sure all of them had to get a few days (2-3 days) of Kaomycine, which would take care of any upset intestines. The only bad thing about this medication (and also of some other medication for the gastrointestinal tract) is that it tastes terrible for the kittens. So you need to cover the taste with some other taste, otherwise they will spit it out right away. I gave it to them with diluted honey, it went in okay. By Saturday the kittens were doing fine again, gaining weight, and no more diarrhoea or vomiting. They did adopt the travelbasket... I left it on the bed (where Gloriana decided was the nest) and Gloriana approved it for sleeping and feeding the kittens in. So it stayed there and is being used for kitty naps all the time. It is also under attack inbetween naps, they try to climb into it, which fails because plastic isn't a good material for kitten nails to hang on to. They haven't succeeded in climbing on top of it either, they are too small and hardly have any strength for jumping now. I moved the climbing piramid yesterday as well, it's now situated next to the bed, the kittens are now able to explore the rest of the room. They are only allowed to do this when they are fully litterbox trained. If you give the kittens too much space before they use the litterbox they will use corners as toilets. In a smaller space they will learn to use the litterbox faster, cats are very clean, they won't make a mess of their own nest. I haven't seen the kittens use the piramid yet, but it's now there for them to use. Especially convenient when a kitten falls off the bed (towards the big adventure). They play a lot now too, fighting, they also wiggle their bums when they attack a brother or sister (or mum's tail). Gloriana likes to play as well and is "bothering" me with a chewed on toy, I have to throw it away so she can fetch it again. She's just wonderful.

Monday 24th April 2006 Photos added to the personal pages (and short films to the filmspage). Yesterday they were 6 weeks old already, time to be dewormed again. Like last time they swallowed the stuff like they should, real big kitties. The climbing piramid I put next to the bed last week is being used frequently now as well. They now know how to use it to climb off the bed and how to climb on it again (they sleep on the bed). Gloriana's litterbox has been discovered too, and is being used when they are "downstairs". They also found out that there is more room behind that big door... the hallway is being visited on a regular basis as well. Even though they are getting "big" (in fact they are still very small, compared to mum), they still love to drink from the milkbar. Falastur is a difficult boy to photograph, he always tries to wriggle his way out of my hand (which is therefore being scratched each Monday). This is why his photos are not as clear as the photos of the others, he moves too much ;-). Fenumë on the other hand is very calm in my hand, and very heavy, the fatso of the family. I think he's getting more gorgeous by the day, perhaps I will decide to keep him.... I will wait another few weeks I guess.

Wednesday 3rd May 2006 Photos added to the personal pages (and short films to the filmspage). Photos made two days ago, but today the update, sometimes my life is a lot busier during the vacation in comparison to a normal week filled with work ;-). The old kitchen of my friend Inge (and owner of Cundu Legolas Elvëa Mëoi) had to be demolished.... more work than we had hoped. Legolas and Pikatchu witnessed it from closeby (Legolas is a half brother of the F's, his mother is Gloriana too, his father is Pikatchu). They decorated the sofa with white footprints (of the plasterboard). Past monday the first kittenbuyers visited, Fantur is now sold. Today I also made some photos, which are below.

*to be translated soon* Maandag 22 mei 2006 Foto's op de persoonlijke pagina's toegevoegd (en filmpjes op de filmpjespagina). Ik beloof mijn leven te beteren en wat eerder mijn site bij te werken, het is alleen een beetje druk geweest de laatste tijd, vooral privé. Ik ben namelijk net verloofd ;-), ook al is de grote dag pas over ruim een jaar, het regelen begint nu al natuurlijk (vooral bedenken hoe alles moet lopen). Maar in de tussentijd heb ik gewoon elke maandag foto's van het grut gemaakt en filmpjes, alleen zet ik ze er nu pas op (ook van de afgelopen weken dus). De kittens zijn nu alweer 10 weken oud, dus twee weken geleden hebben ze hun laatste ontworming gekregen (de volgende ontworming is met 4 maanden en dan zijn ze bij hun nieuwe eigenaars). Vorige week was hun eerste inenting ook aan de beurt. Ze zijn meteen door mijn dierenarts bekeken en ze hebben nu een heus paspoortje. Hierin dus het eerste klinische onderzoek, waarbij naar de basisfuncties wordt gekeken en daarna zijn ze ingeënt met Merial Purevax RCP. De herhalingsenting is over twee weken, dan kunnen ze er een jaar mee vooruit. De assistente mag elke keer weer de paspoortjes voorzien van de kittennamen, ik schrijf van te voren de namen uit, dan komt 't er meteen goed in te staan. De kittens vonden de autorit ook maar raar, zeker omdat ze nu niet het mandje uit konden (dat normaal open op bed staat).