All torn up

What’s torn you ask? Me. 

I am listening to my beautiful girl as she is warbling away mouse in mouth as she wonders about trying to interest her children in learning the vital importance & merits of mouse hunting - which frankly I feel must be entirely motivated by her wish to reclaim her body since let’s face it, she herself has zero skills in hunting never having stepped foot outside in her life or seen a rodent! And, while she doesn’t help herself here by sending them very mixed messages allowing them to feed then getting up & walking away or llaying with her front firmly pushed to the floor, I just can’t see those growing lads finding the felt or fibre mice particularly appetising. 

Since the ending of their group appetite of loss last week, when I was very grateful for her feeding them (albeit, her milk might actually have caused/contributed to it), I’ve focussed very much on feeding the chaps up by giving them meals as often and as they wished to eat, both night & day. This was of course to get the muscle mass & meat back on them but as Prune continues to try to discourage them from suckling (sometimes) I’ve also fed them as an aid to try to reduce their demand on her. 

I’ve had her in clothing which is something I do so rarely - despite them possessing an extensive wardrobe of matching outfits. Clothing is cute, and it does help to keep their skin oils from transferring onto furniture and bedding thus helping me keep house too, but I personally find that, though they love being under cover of blankets come rain or shine (and on their heat mats all summer long too) they prefer to be as nature intended; naked with all of their delicious wrinkles on show. So, she has had clothing on, I’ve accessorised with a minky peg (other pegs are available) at the back to hold it closely to her front & at night I’ve swaddled her in a blanket (rather than just under it) all in efforts to try to prevent those crafty little muzzles digging in. 

Now, these kittens - they can sleep through a nuclear invasion, yet, if one single begins to purr its like a dinner gong has been rung at 190 decibels. First 3 sets of ears prick up, then 3 heads raise out of the curled up sleep position before as one 3 bodies begin their commando crawl toward the purring sound. Prune has probably got hot and loosened the blanket or she been up to get a drink/snack/visit the loo and access is no longer blocked. 

As I say, Ive been doing my best to help her, but, and here’s where I’m torn, they are with me only for just over another 2 weeks(!!!!)  & their new families will NOT thank me, no matter how keen they are to welcome their kitten, if I’ve primed them to demand they get up to be fed at 3am.

They’re now pretty meaty again, so I’m thinking I need to stop trying to intervene on Pru’s behalf. Cats have been tearing kittens for thousands of years & successfully stopped their most determined kittens continuing to feed, so I must now let her deal with it herself. She can get up and leave them, she can press herself into the mattress/floor, limiting them. Instead with kittens growing daily and their tummies able to hold larger fillings, I can start them onto a routine that will aid them in their new worlds. Most feeds now are 3-4 pouches between them. It’s not evenly split I do know that. Humphrey & Grogu are gobblers while Basil & Vincent like to take more time over it. I’m careful that they are not bulldozed, they do actually push their heads in and take the food they want & I always open another pouch keeping it coming until each kitten is 100% satisfied & walks away - shaking their back legs as they go. So, now we’re on safe footing the plan is a routine of 4 meals, which eventually their new families will get to manoeuvring to 3 and then 2 - helped with grazing food down for snacks. 

When they go to their new homes their feeding plan might then look like this:

• 1- 1 ½  pouch(es) in the morning for breakfast quelling an empty tummy 
• ½  -1 pouch lunch as a top up.
• ½ pouch for high tea as a snack
• 1- 1 ½  pouch(es) pouch late dinner

To help sustain a kitten when moving to three and eventually 2 feeds which should be evenly spaced out beginning with breakfast and ending with late supper. He should also be offered a suitable grazing dry food available to him all the time. 

Dry food should be introduced to a kitten slowly so that diarrhoea doesn’t ensue.

Water: it is essential that fresh & clean water is available always. Kittens must not ever drink cows milk and do not need the ‘cat milk’ in the supermarkets. 

Meanwhile, I may have been thinking carefully about the feeding regimes … these guys , when not hungry. They either sleep or do this…

9 weeks old & getting bold!

 I say getting bold because these little dare devils are getting everywhere, I find them in the most unusual places. 2 were in the kitchen on my dining room table - Vincent has enjoyed shimmying up the chair backs (I daren’t look under the stretch cover at the puncture marks in the pleather) and has taken faux flowers from a vase on the table this week, but now he has a climbing buddy, both had perched themselves on top of my sewing machine, happily watching me as I toiled mopping the floor. I have a wicker basket near by and he has surprised me by clambering over and being hidden in there too! 

While climbing & exploring strange areas has been a theme (inside my rise & recline chair ) the getting down is often (Humphrey) a comical splat! He will just confidently launch himself and while I might have had my heart in my mouth at some of his dare devil ways, he’s happy to trust in the impact as he hits the laminate floor being safe. Bravo!

Loss of appetite you say? When? Who? Not us! This morning was a FOUR pouch affair & throughout the day since it’s been meals of two or three. They have some catching up to do from earlier in the week it’s true, but they’re still growing rapidly & so the food they put away is fuelling this beautifully. 

The video below was playfully filmed this evening when we were in the kitchen. (Sit back, it’s a long one this time!) 

been  

Happy Days Are Here Again (whoooo hoo)

While this is the name of a track I love by The Broken Family Band (click link to listen) the reason it’s Happy Days again is of course because of this…..

Yessss!!!!! the Natures Menu is now deemed as being entirely acceptable & with a stampede of limbs racing toward the kitchen tails in the air in anticipation I didn’t even mind that it was 3am! 

There’s mixed blessings on the poop front come with this, with variations on the theme from whippy to one sighting of a completely normal log! 

The antibiotics will continue for the full 5 day course, but as the day has gone on I’ve been rounded up &  herded back toward the kitchen to partake in a day that’s been very much eat, eat repeat with the amount of food being consumed returned to the almost the 2 pouch polish off per feed. Here they were again at 7:30 am (no I hadn’t been to sleep!) 

I’m thrilled. We are back to wrestling with each other plying with a few toys and soon will be generally causing mayhem as the meat goes back onto those very lovely bones. 

Beautiful Days

Bit of background: I came across The Broken Family Band in 2009 at a music festival called Beautiful Days which is run by The Levellers and held at Ottery St Mary. Devon. The line up that year and included bands like Hawkwind, artists like Imelda May, The Peat big Fairies, and more, however the gig I saw in the Big Top by The Broken Family Band was I later discovered one of their last. The band members had matured after several years together having played Glastonbury & featured in a Channel 4 documentary along the way but with that their different lives now meant some members were ready to leave the music business. My loss as I’d like to have seen them again perhaps? 

I liked them enough that day to purchase a CD & while I’ve since purchased more my favourite remains the one bought there entitled Its All Over, which is a best of album. The track highlighted above never fails to make me smile and feel like the sun has just come out. The use of the track name Happy Days Are Here Again was not meant to lead to this, but as I wrote it and whoo-hoo came into my head, I felt an explanation of some sort might be warranted, even if only in sn attempt to prove I’m not completely barmy. Or am I?