LOOK at this pretty little poser!
She was posing, I couldn’t resist. Phoenix was listening to something upstairs and was sitting motionless for at least a couple of minutes. Thought you might enjoy this!
I’m so glad to know that the 12-week Posing for Pictures course I taught her while she was at Crooked Acres stuck! (Thanks, Debra!)
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Yesterday we (Fred) donned the welding gloves and shooed Katia out of the crate so we could take pictures of each of the kittens, weigh them, and get them sexed. We found that we have THREE girls and one lone boy. I haven’t named them yet, but hope to get names pinned down in the next couple of days. Hey! Maybe Kristi is waiting for me to name the kittens we already have before she has hers. Yeah, probably not.
#1 (who was also #1 in the pictures I shared last week), the all-black kitten, is a boy. He weighed the most, at 7.8 ounces.
#1 again. This looks like a cry for Mama, but it was actually a hiss. We’ve hit our hissy stage.
#2 is a girl. She weighed in at 5.8 ounces.
#2 again, at the beginning of a hiss.
#3 (mostly black, with a wee white goatee) is a girl. She weighed 6.6 ounces.
#3 again, showing off her hissing skillz.
#4 – the tuxie with the white tail tip – is also a girl. She was the smallest, at 5.6 ounces.
She was the most chill of the four kittens, and did not feel a need to do any hissin’.
There’s been a lot of concern on Facebook and Instagram that in most of the pictures I’ve posted of Katia and her kittens, she’s lying like this. Directly ON the milk bar. The kittens will STARVE! you might worry.
The kittens are not starving. Katia only gets into that position when a human is in the room. Most of the time she’s flopped over on her side with the kittens nursing.
See? On her side. Yes, I was in the room (you can see by the watchful eyes), but the kittens started yelling that they were hungry, so she went as far back in the crate as she could, and opened the milk bar.
Milk-drunk.
When Fred was moving kittens out of the crate (so I could change the bedding), before we weighed and sexed them, #2 started hissing the instant Fred touched her. We both laughed at her, which didn’t help matters any, I’m sure. She was all “I AM SERIOUS, HERE.”
Last night, Kristi came down from her favorite spot and ended up hanging out here (which is not far from Katia’s crate).
I sat down to take her picture, and it alarmed her and she ran away.
She totally looks like she’s trying to suck her stomach in.
Her favorite spot.
I posted this on Facebook, but for anyone who missed it: I woke up at 4:30 yesterday morning. I grabbed the iPad and checked the Dropcam in the foster room, as I often do. I saw that Kristi was in one of the boxes, and when I scrolled back I could see she’d been in there for a couple of hours. I just KNEW she’d had her kittens, and I FLEW to the foster room. Except that in the 10 seconds it took me to get there, she moved from the box to her favorite spot by the window, and laughed in my face when I asked where the kittens were.
HMPH.
So no clue when they’re coming; alls I know is that they’re not here yet!
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Videos! In the first one, Katia doesn’t hesitate to show her protective side when she thinks I’m too close.
And in the second one, we have a hisser. The part where she looks at him and then looks back at me cracks me UP. The maternal pride is palpable!
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Newt has such a serious little face.
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Previously
2017: No entry.
2016: No entry.
2015: “Am exhausted, lady.”
2014: Ferdinand was the last one to run off, because he’s NOT SKEERED OF NO STRANGERS.
2013: That’s right, still bakin’.
2012: Oh, look! Time to eat. That only happens constantly, we’re lucky I had the camera with me while it was happening.
2011: No entry.
2010: No entry.
2009: No entry.
2008: Sometimes the wait is so long and strenuous that he sits there, dozing.
2007: Sugarbutt does his Popeye impression.
2006: No entry.
2005: No entry.
Has Kristi shown any interest in Katia’s litter (her grand-kittens, heh)?
Kristi has shown ZERO interest in those kittens! What a terrible grandmother she is. 😀
Love little hissing babies! My last momma was so friendly I didn’t have a long hissing stage. What is the purple/violet cushion chair that Kristi is laying on? I have been wanting something like that for my foster room (for me )
Katia’s kittens are spotlessly clean and plump. She’s a good mom!! I think she will trust you with her beautiful babies soon.
Katia’s eyes remind me of those clocks where the eyes move bac and forth with the time. LOL! She’s a character, but a good mom.
the hissy stage is hilarious. no wonder the black and white ones are smaller than their siblings – they seem to spend a lot of time upside down trying to roll over
I don’t know how you have such patience to deal with all the extremely knowledgeable and concerned strangers that feel the need to point stuff out to you regarding cat care. It must be exhausting but I applaud you for always handling it with such a good sense of humour.
I mean, I guess I get it… they don’t know that you’re a pro at this, and sure there are folks out there don’t know what they’re doing… but a simple/quick scan of your FB page or blog and it’s pretty clear you’ve been doing this fostering thing for a while and have assisted many mama cats (when they let you!) with raising happy/healthy babies!
You know, despite the fact that I consider Instagram and Facebook as extras to the blog, I have a people on Instagram and/or Facebook that don’t even read the blog (hmph!), and only know what they see there, so don’t realize how long I’ve been doing this. I figure that if I pass along an answer to their question, at least they’ve gained some knowledge and/or reassurance. 🙂
Katia’s eyes are mesmerizing. I have to make an effort to look away towards the kittens, they’re so magnetic. And yes, the way she cut those eyes towards the hisser and then up to you? Perfection. The calm of a crime boss who knows any number of minions that would be only too delighted to take you out. She practically smiled.
PERFECT description. Crime boss indeed.
Does Katia have a little white spot on her front toe? So cute! She is so pretty and shiny and plush-looking… it would be hard to resist reaching in there to pet her!
Those baby tuxies are going to kill me!
I think that was litter on her paw, actually. 🙂
Hmm, you warn us about creepy-crawlies in your posts, but not about the heart-stopping terror of hissing kittens? And wasn’t it thoughtful of Katia to provide a variety of kitten options when she could have so easily have provided 4 solid black, impossible to tell apart kittens?
Oh boy, I’m going to have to start warning about everything, aren’t I?
I was SO worried that she would have a litter of all-black kittens, I’m very appreciative with what I actually got!
I hear purring in the first video! Was it her or the next door neighbour?
It was Katia! I think it was more for her kittens than for me, but I’ll take what I can get. 🙂
We really need a pic of Fred’s hands n his protective gloves.
Have a feeling that the only time that you’ll be able to hold Katia in (relative) safety is when she’s doped up after her surgery. Not sending any thawing here.