Meet the babies (2)
DAY 8, 16 Feb

I don't remember other litters being this contented! Huge weight-gain today, but then I think they'd just had a feed when I got the scales out.

DAY 9, 17 Feb

I got my first purr yesterday (some litters come out purring!) but today there was a definite rumble during a big feed. I can't believe how they suddenly look so much bigger. They're all really nice and beefy, and all still putting on weight like piglets.

DAY 10, 18 Feb

Missie is bored out of her brain today. She says she can't hold a sensible conversation with the babies, and they're too fat and dozy to play with. So to relieve the boredom she's been ripping up the fleece, and then getting up and lying down right on top of the kittens, and just lying there making them scream their heads off. In the end, in desperation, I banished her from the room for a couple of hours, and spent some time playing wild games with her downstairs. This seems to have helped - though I think this would be a good day to go for the 'newspapers all over the floor' game that an e-mail friend suggested.....

DAY 11, 19 Feb

The kittens look so big now - their weights continue to go up very nicely, with no bumps, and their colour is beginning to come in: their ears are now quite dark. The smallest of the white ones is definitely a brown pointed variant (looks like a seal point Siamese), and the other two whites still look like some sort of blues, but it's too early to tell if they're tabbies or not. The brown could be a variant or a Tonkinese pattern. Still too early to tell with him too!

DAY 12, 20 Feb

I decided today would be a good day for Missie and the babies to move house. They're now in the nursery tucked up against the radiator, with a hammock hanging down for a 'lid'. I can actually see the box better from my seat at the desk now, than I could when it was underneath my legs! Missie has to be the most accommodating mother ever: if this was Pumpkin the kittens would have been back under the desk by now, but Missie seems to trust my judgement, and is just as happy across the passageway. Bliss!

  
View from my desk

DAY 13, 21 Feb

Everyone is well still, but there is sad news about 'Cochese', the little one who came first. We had to grab her tail to pull her out, and it is clearly broken. This is such a pity as she's a beautiful kitten with an otherwise beautiful tail. It is likely that it will have to be amputated, but she's too young for an anaesthetic. It is a bit worrying as damage like this could cause a blood clot, which is dangerous in any animal. Apart from that she's very well and happy, but I'm keeping a close eye on her.

DAY 14, 22 Feb

I spoke to the vet today, and he said to leave Cochese's tail unless it became a problem for her. They're at the "SCREAM if you see a human" stage now, which is hilarious!

The rogues gallery (in order of birth)