Kittens born 28th March 2008

Pontaby Testarossa (Rosa) x FIFe IGCh and TICA Triple GrCh Riverfern Back In Black (Indi)

(Both parents PK deficiency normal)

Rosa has given birth to four kittens; two usual girls, one sorrel girl and one usual boy. Rosa coped amazingly well with the births and again is proving to be an excellent mother. All the kittens are doing well, putting on plenty of weight and getting lots of attention from their mum. The photos on the right are of the kittens when they were just a couple of days old.

The kittens are now a week old and are all continuing to do well. They have all more than doubled in weight and the little boy is rapidly catching up with his sisters. The eyes of one of the girls have even started to open. The kittens now all have their 'posh' pedigree names and in keeping with the Greek mythology theme of my prefix (Abderus) they are all mythological characters. In the left hand photo they are from left to right: Amalthea, Aphrodite, Acastus, and Ariadne.

All of the kittens now have their eyes open and are becoming increasingly mobile. When not sleeping they are tottering about and tousling with each other. The little boy has already overtaken one of his sister on the weight front, though it will be a while before he catches up with his big sorrel sister. Rosa continues to be a really good mother and is doing well.

There have been big changes for the kittens this week. They all started to find their feet and decided they were ready to explore the world outside their nesting box. Rosa was only too happy to help them out and decided to move them. So to help settle her, the kittens have been moved to a room of their own with a small penned area to stop them wandering too far from the nest.  As you can see from the photos the kittens are at the impossibly cute phase and have started to take an interest in the world, greeting me with tiny miaows when I enter their room.

Left to right: Ariadne and Amalthea snuggle up, Ariadne and Acastus explore, Amalthea and Aphrodite play

The kittens now have the run of the kitten room as Rosa was not happy with them being confined to their penned area and kept moving them out to give them more freedom. In the middle of the week all the kittens started to use their litter trays, even though they weren't yet eating solid food. Since then I have been tempting them into eating some solid food. Ariadne and Amalthea took to it straight away, Acastus still takes some persuading but Aphrodite isn't that interested yet. It appears that the little fatty is doing so well on her mothers milk she doesn't see the point in eating solids yet!! As you will see from the photo below the kittens ahve now met Dillon the dog and were completely unphased by the experience.

Left to right: Aphrodite meets Dillon as Mum Rosa looks on , Aphrodite, Amalthea, Ariadne, and Acastus

It's been all go this week, hence the slightly late update on the kittens progress. They are all pretty much litter trained now and are all enjoying tucking into solid food and have even had a go at eating biscuits. They have started to explore the rest of the house and are enjoying tearing about the place. Because they have been so active it has been very difficult to get any good individual photos so this week we have some action shots of them all playing with their toys and each other.

Left to right: Acastus and Amalthea take a breather, Aphrodite thinks plastic is edible, Amalthea kills a piece of litter, and Ariadne show .off her football skills

Not much to report this week. The kittens are getting bigger by the day and are enjoying exploring the house. They are starting to look like little cats now and are starting to resemble what they will look like as adults. I have finally figured out that the best time to get some decent individual photos of them, as opposed to action shots, is to catch them when they have only just woken up so I am actually quite pleased with this weeks photos!

Left to right: Aphrodite, Ariadne, Amalthea, and Acastus

This kittens are getting really big now and are ruling the roost. Their favourite game at the moment is bullying the poor dog and chasing him around the house! They had their first taste of wormer this week and although they weren't impressed there were no nasty side effects. All the kittens have been visited by their new slaves (often known as owners) and have some wonderful new homes to look forward to in a few weeks time.

Left to right: Acastus tips us the wink, Ariadne, feeding time, Amalthea (now called Noodle) and Aphrodite.

This week the kittens have been out and about around the house and are becoming increasingly adventurous. They have met all the other cats and have had a mixed reception! Milo is an old hand at accepting young  kittens and isn't fussed at all. Laurel just ignores the little monsters, but Flora is really not impressed by the little ones. Rosa is spending more and more time away from the kittens now and is a lot more laid back than she was with the last litter.

Left to right: Aphrodite and Amalthea at play, Acastus, feeding kittens, Aphrodite, Amalthea and Acastus.

The kittens visited the vet this week for their first vaccinations. They all coped well with the trip and there didn't appear to be any adverse side effects from their vaccinations. They are all growing by the day and eating us out of house and home, though there's a lot more growing and eating to be done before they will be ready to leave in a few weeks time.

Left to right: Acastus, Amalthea, Ariadne and Aphrodite

Rather an uneventful week this week. The kittens are all doing well and are becoming increasingly independent with their own individual personalities. They all like to be in the thick of things and enjoy taking part in whatever you are doing. No decent individual photos this week, but quite a nice group shot.

Left to right: Amalthea, Acastus and Aphrodite, with Ariadne in the background

The kittens are all continuing to do well and are constantly up to mischief, as proven by the photo of Amalthea below. At the end of the week they will get their second vaccinations and once they have had time to recover from that they will be off to their new homes. Ariadne is going to stay with us, for  while at least, so that she can go to a few shows. It's going to be nice watching how she develops and to see  the first Abderus kitten on the show bench.

Left to right: Aphrodite taking a break, Amalthea climbs the curtains (!), three usual kittens keep Auntie Laurel company.