Day 64, 12 April
Guide to kitten behaviour:
10. Submit to parental discipline with good grace

Day 65, 13 April
Guide to kitten behaviour:
11. Submit to confinement with bad grace

Unfortunately, as they've managed to escape over the high barrier now, I've had to put up the wire door. This is extemely frustrating for them, and means a difficult time for Missie and Reckless, who've been accustomed to coming and going as they please. They both resent having their access determined by whether I'm there to open or close the door, and they both also believe the kittens should have constant free run of the house. Unfortunately the other cats in the house don't agree about the free access bit (and let me know by leaving puddles around the place if I'm not careful), so the kittens have to be limited to bucketing around the upstairs when I let them out. Since they still sleep for most of the time, being confined to the nursery isn't so bad, as it's a nice sunny space and there are plenty of toys.

Day 66, 14 April
They're getting nearly as big as Missie now...

Day 67, 15 April
Guide to kitten behaviour:
12. One of the best feelings in the world is that 'litter tray' feeling

Day 68, 16 April
Guide to kitten behaviour:
13. The cuter you are, the more you can get away with

Day 69, 17 April
OK, so I'm a sucker and the kittens have moved back in under the desk. Trouble is, they have an almost suicidal wish to plummet from any high point in the house, so I can't really cope with them rampaging for very long at a time. At least if they're rampaging in the nursery they're about as safe as they can be, and they're pretty good about the confinement overall. Just sometimes they HAVE to come out and run riot.

DAY 70, 18 April
I have a houseful of vandals! They rocket around winding each other up, and I despair of surviving until they're 13 weeks old. Tonkinese are notoriously precocious, and this lot are well and truly ready to leave home NOW! They are big, confident and exuberant, and only the vaccination protocol and the GCCF code of practice is keeping them here. They no longer need their mother at all, and they are longing for their own space to go nuts in. Burmese and Siamese are far more babyish at this age, and would not be ready for homing, but anyone who breeds Tonkinese knows that they are way ahead of their genetic parents in developmental terms, right from opening their eyes in half the time it takes the other breeds.