Thank you all so much for your kind words about Jake. I know that y’all loved him too, and will miss seeing his sweet face.
The other permanent residents are doing fine. I would say that Khal is being ever so slightly more attention-seeking, but not very much (and he tends to do that from time to time anyway.) I think that cats know when other cats are nearing the end of their journey, so I think they understand what’s going on.
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Someone sent us a castle!
Jay approves.
Myrtle scaled the side of the castle, of course.
Jay got sent to the dungeon.
Zelda slept on the top. The better to watch for approaching danger, of course.
The only problem? I don’t know who sent it to us! They had it sent to Forgotten Felines, so I had to go fetch it. Then it sat in the garage until I had time to put it together, and finally I made the time. It’s made totally of cardboard, and was easy enough to put together. It’s nice and solid and holds up well under the weight of the kittens and also Daisy. It took them a few days to start playing on it, but now they love to go in, climb up to the second level and then throw themselves out the window to the floor because OF COURSE.
It is a Navaris Cardboard Cat Castle, and here is a link for reference. If you are the person who sent it to us, please email me – mizrobyn (at) gmail.com – so that I can properly thank you. (If you prefer to remain anonymous that’s fine – and THANK YOU. What a cool gift, and the kittens are having fun with it!)
And on that note: if you have recently sent us something from our wish list and did not receive a thank you from me through Amazon, please email me – mizrobyn (at) gmail.com – so that I can thank you. There have been a few things we received recently that didn’t have a gift receipt letting us know who’d sent them, and I don’t want anyone to think that we don’t appreciate it! (That was a clunky sentence, but I think you follow.)
I decided that the kittens are big enough now to have cat trees that stand upright, and Zelda LOVES sitting here and looking out the window.
Jay looks like he’s begging for Churu.
Myrtle with the tilted head cracks me up.
Daisy looks like I am ANNOYING HER VERY MUCH. “Just wanna sit in my box and have some quiet time, lady! Jeez!”
Then she felt nice and opened the milk bar briefly.
That look from Myrtle.
Jay apparently had better things to do.
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Rufous enjoys himself a belly rub.
And strikes a pose.
Wren appears to be working on mastering Myrtle’s head-tilt pose. (In the background: Rufous goes explorin’.)
Starling’s all “Rufous! Hey! Does I got teeth yet?”
“Ummm… maybe. What’s teeth?”
Here’s a look at their current setup. To the right is where the crate is (that’s where they spend most of their time still.) This little playground area is surrounded by clear panels that are attached at the tops and bottoms. I’m about to make it a bit bigger later today or tomorrow, so I’ll get a better picture of the setup at that point.
There’s a little litter box, as you can see. Wren has used it many times, though she’s had the occasional accident too (thank god for pee pads.) Rufous has no desire to use the litter box yet (he is a bit younger, after all), but see that bowl of kibble there on the left? The day after he started drinking from the bottle again, I looked in as I walked by the dining room, and Rufous was eating from the bowl! (One of the things I need to do when I make their playground bigger is to add a small bowl of water.) I haven’t had to tube feed him since Friday morning (and I didn’t really need to do it then, I was just being careful.) I am SO RELIEVED to have that behind us!
ALSO, I am now doing their last feeding of the day at 12:30 am (or I guess you could consider it the first feeding of the day if you’re a stickler for details), and then their next feeding at 6 am, which means I am getting a good, solid nearly 5 hours of sleep at night and it’s WONDERFUL.
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Charlie’s really filling up that ham-mick these days!
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Posted on social media (Facebook/Twitter/Instagram/Tumblr) yesterday (and over the weekend).
Jay VERY MUCH WANTS to grab Daisy’s tail, but he’s forcibly restraining himself because he knows she doesn’t like it.
Jake
June 14, 2009 – May 12, 2023.
YouTube link
Starling at the bottle, and then Starling purring (I cranked up the sound on the purring clips, hopefully you can hear it.) I like that you can see her eyes slowly opening (the clips take place over about 10 days.) I thought for a while her eyes were neverrrr going to open (they’re all the way open now.) For the record, Starling is the SLOWEST eater I’ve ever had. She takes forever, really likes to savor her formula.
I adore the spattering of orange spots on Wren’s belly.
YouTube link
Wren eating breakfast (I am still playing catch-up as far as sharing videos of the Nestlings, so this is from the end of April. She’s much bigger and less screamy these days.)
We had a thunderstorm yesterday, and the sound of thunder made Nick and Myrtle run under the bed and hide (and then reluctantly come out). Jay’s not sure what they’re doing, but he thinks he might want to do it too.
YouTube link
Sometimes Jay gets a little too rambunctious – but luckily mama is there and happy to teach him his manners.
Good night innernets. (Nick & Zelda)
Jay’s sleeping in.
My cup runneth over. (Wren)
Happy Mother’s Day to Queen Daisy, who’s celebrating by blocking access to the milk bar for the day.
Daisy pie? Yes, please! (My favorite!)
YouTube link
The kittens, playing. I swear, if I had half that energy…
Nick and Myrtle have a snuggle.
Good night innernets. (Wren is pretty sure that Rufous, Starling and Plover exist solely to provide a comfy bed for her.)
Myrtle’s all “I sees you, innernets. Is that what you’re wearing? I’m not judging, but… is it?”
Good morning, sunshine. (Rufous)
YouTube link
Plover at the bottle – first at about a week old, and then just a few days ago (she just turned 3 weeks old yesterday!)
I forgot to share this over the weekend – the Crate Catsby kittens turned 8 weeks old on Saturday, and this is what they look like now!
Their current weights are:
Myrtle: 2.75 lbs/ 1.25 kg
Nick: 2.8 lbs/ 1.27 kg
Zelda: 2.31 lbs/ 1.05 kg
Jay: 2.68 lbs/ 1.22 kg
Zelda’s still the smallest (no surprise there), and Nick is the largest. This week, Myrtle’s slightly bigger than Jay – he probably burns off a lot of energy bouncing off the walls!
You can see the spreadsheet of their weight progression here (I switched over to pounds/KG this week).
YouTube link
Zoom zoom zoom!
Looks like TROUBLE. (Rufous and Wren)
Good night innernets. (Yes, there’s plenty of room for Myrtle in the cubby, but she marches to the beat of her own drum.)
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Previously
2022: Mondo’s all “Who, me? I wasn’t gonna jump on Hollyhock and wake her up! I’d never!”
2021: Looks like we’re having 6-kitten pie for breakfast!
2020: No entry.
2019: Almanzo’s all “HI Pa! Whatcha doin’ down there?!”
2018: Torvill sitting in a giant teacup watching his little brotherunclecousinfriend drag a toy mouse around whilst softly growling under his breath.
2017: “LADYYY. What did I SAY about takin’ my PITCHYER all the durn-dang TIME?!”
2016: “No, Mama, no!” says Princess Consuela.
2015: Roseanne waits for the mother ship to call her home.
2014: I love the look he’s giving Dennis.
2013: “I AM TOTALLY THE CUTEST GIRL EVER!”
2012: No entry.
2011: I called her Dorfy and when I was looking for her Saturday evening, I called her KittyDorfin’ and then EnDorfin’.
2010: No entry.
2009: No entry.
2008: “She did WHAT?!?!”
2007: “WHO’S READY FOR THE SNACKIN’?” I bellowed
2006: No entry.
2005: No entry.
The Crate Catsby litter is so adorable! I can remember stressing that they rolled around too much, but they have really grown into themselves.
Love the pics of the extra little ones, too. I can’t wait to see them grow up and be rambunctious, too.
Since Rufous is allowed outside, is he a new permie in the making?
He’s not really allowed outside – Fred took him out briefly a couple of times to get a good picture of him (since the lighting in the kitchen is so awful). And, no. 🙂
Glad to hear you’re getting the chance to sleep again!
My deepest sympathy on the loss of Jake, he was a treasure and will be very much missed. I couldn’t comment yesterday, having a hard time doing it today 🙁 I started reading your blog when you had the True Bloods and had just gotten Jake and Elwood. ((hugs))
Robyn,
I can’t do a lot but I made a donation in Jake’s memory to FFH. One more sweet soul that you’ve taken in and loved.
Thank you so much, Kar!