Day 32 Cuteness Increasing

Day 32 Cuteness Increasing

I'm not sure it's possible even for Tai and Chi to get any cuter. They have cute little faces and bodies, but their personalities are adorable too. They are so well behaved. Rambunctious at time, but manageable. 

Chi is nearly done with her medicine. She's taking them so well, Jan had the brilliant idea of giving a dropper of water to Tai the same way for a few days, so she learns at an early age to medicine this well. She will at least be familiar with the action if not the flavor later on down the line in case she ever has to take medicines orally. I think that is a great idea. I also think it might not be a bad idea to put in a liquid vitamin supplement to get used to taking something that has a taste to it. How many cats and kittens later are these old cat moms learning new tricks? 

Both kittens carry on the practice of running full tilt across the keyboard. The good news is that they do stop doing that eventually. Anjolie and Bootsy did and after inserting only one major error into the text of my first poetry anthology. I caught it early on, but not before a few copies got into circulation. I figure those few ought to be worth something, particularly once Bootsy publishes his own memoirs. He's the one who did that race across the keyboard. I couldn't for the life of me figure out what he'd done. I wrongly concluded that he had somehow missed any important keys. NOT! He'd hit the enter key and separated a line of poetry in a rather odd place. 

Chi ran across a note I'd written to a good friend of mine in a Facebook message. This is what she managed to type in a split second cross-keyboard jaunt:

=]======================]]

Smart Chi!

The grrlz take turns accompanying me on my litter box cleaning rounds. This is a good practice because it reminds them every day where all the boxes are in this rather large (to them) house with lots of kitty bathrooms. Very smart kittens. 

Day 31 Catnip Catch-up

Day 31, I posted: 

My dear friend, Flo Harrah, sent along Christmas catnip bags for the kitzenkatz to increase the holiday fun. She even sent along enough for the whole crew. I had quite an audience opening that package last night. Now this morning I have strangely turbo-charged kittens. Someone has also dragged out the Brett Michaels catnip Christmas ornament from last year's after holiday sale in one of the local stores. Don't ask me who thought up that. Oh wait a minute. It was probably Brett Michaels himself, right? A few minutes ago, Chi came running down the hallway, dragging Brett behind her. Sweet Eyes was right behind her chasing Brett. That was really cute. Now Brett is up a cat tree without a kitten. 

These kitz keep coming up with "new" toys we haven't seen since the kittens who had been playing with them lost them under tight places. The kittens and Sweet Eyes are small enough to discover them all over again. Sweet Eyes is so precious with how much she plays. I think her teeth told lies about her age. There's no way she's 4 years old. I don't think she's more than 2. I think the wear and tear of motherhood and abandonment took a big toll on her health, making her appear older. That happened to my Bingo too. He appeared to the vet to be about 5, but after a few months in my household, they changed his estimated age to about 3. He definitely played more like he was three once we got his nutritional needs squared away. It's not taken long for Sweet Eyes to come around too. She loves these two like they are her own. She keeps a very close eye on them. So close the first night that I was a wee bit concerned about them since they were so small yet.

Jan got new kitty beds at the pet store the other day. They were marked down, so she scooped up 5 of them. Catnip bags and nice new cushy beds. Colo(u)r these kitties happy, safe, well-fed, and warm this holiday season. Everyone but Beebee has already acclimated. We all knew Beebee would be last, but even she is begrudgingly giving up ground to them. It's hard for even Beebee to be convincingly threatened by a couple of adorable little kittens. Beebee is just spending more time outside. She manages, however, to get along with everyone at night while it is cold. LOL 40s at night makes all manner of accommodations possible.

Chi is still finishing up her medicine, but she is well for all I can tell. Yay! 

Active kitten dream life... priceless. 

All three of the new girls continue to communicate via chips, chirps, and squeaks. They don't mew or meow unless they need to talk to us. I would so love to understand what those chirps and squeaks mean. I want to speak kitten. 

Day 18 through 20--Time Flies When You're Having Cats

Day 18 through 20--Time Flies When You're Having Cats

Somehow the days have slipped by in a blur. I was surprised on day eighteen with the news that my housemate was going to adopt a new cat (a four-year-old), and while I'm on board with the rescue, it felt a bit fast. Even one extra day would have helped. I've been trying to resolve the litter issue for Li'l and Boo. We are switching out litters and are not happy with the first new kind and are switching to a different kind. They are both natural, but one was the pellet kind, which simply doesn't work in this household. Now we're going to a walnut-based clumping litter. I've ordered 2 more new boxes and more bags of litter. By tomorrow, any trace of the bad kinds should be gone and even several of the boxes with them. We figure this is a good time to start anew totally. 

On day nineteen, I think, the new cat arrived. Sweet Eyes is really small for a grown cat and very sweet. She's rather protective of humans, but I don't need protection from my own feline children, so we had to have a talk. She's extremely smart though and understands a lot, so that has already been resolved and she's starting to feel more comfortable and part of this household. 

Li'l has healed and gotten worse a couple times in the last few days so I hope by the time I get everything switched out tomorrow and he makes a second trip to the vet, he will be on the mend for good. He has been miserable and does show signs of improvement regarding his itchy red patches. Hopefully that will be a thing of the past soon. 

Ever since I got a big box from Amazon with new litter boxes in it, the kittens have had their own "condo." I cut holes in the box and they use it for a playhouse. They have a great time. By the second day, Sweet Eyes, the new addition, was playing with them in the box. 

Early in the morning on day twenty, Chi's sniffles moved to vertigo, That freaked me out at 6.30 am when I discovered her wobbling instead of walking. I awakened my housemate, who then took Chi to the vet because she couldn't stand up and walk straight. They determined that it was vertigo and treatable, rather than anything that would have been unthinkable. She has started on antibiotics and ear drops. She still plays like there's no tomorrow when she's not sleeping. She just plays a drunken sailor on a listing ship. She goes full tilt with head tipped to the left and mostly running in circles. I hope to see her righting herself tomorrow. My heart goes out to her and Li'l. I'm really glad that my sister is coming for a visit in a couple days. I need someone else to help with sending healing energy to the kitzenkatz. I love these kitz more every day, and I already wonder how we did without them. Sweet Eyes is already fitting in fairly well. She's very adaptable so I suspect she'll be fully acclimated and assimilated by the end of this week at the latest. She will, no doubt, enjoy having a third human around for cuddles and will think my sister lives here too by then. 

I got a photo of all three newcomers sound asleep in the chair all in a row. Since Chi's playtime slackened off somewhat today because of the healing sleep, Sweet Eyes and Tai have been playing together one-on-one, so that is speeding up the assimilation process. They were all three playing together by the afternoon today.  

Day Seventeen--Characteristics Become More Distinct

Day Seventeen--Characteristics Become More Distinct

Tai & Chi continue to win hearts in this household.Pixie has advanced from watching to playing with the sisters. I'm enjoying watching Pixie play in ways I never saw her play when she was a kitten. Li'l Grey took over with her the moment she arrived so that Jan and I hardly did anything for her beyond meal times and some petting during bathroom breaks. That's when I had to give her lots of affection and teach her to be gentle with human hands all at the same time. That was the only real rearing of Pixie that I ever did. Li'l did everything else. They played a lot mind you, but not the way the girls play. The girls tumble and tussle, but they also do some rather inventive play. Tai is a master leaper while Chi is a master at putting two or more items together to create a new play toy. Today's combo is a mylar balloon and a little fluffy pom pom. Pixie was playing with that too when the twins took a food break.

Li'l was really more of a life skills and personal trainer kind of instructor. There was not a whole lot of inventive play with them. Anjolie and Bootsy were very inventive too. I guess that's why Li'l wanted a play buddy so badly. He didn't have that and missed what my twins had. I'll have to rethink that next time around. It's so apparent that while Bootsy was fun, Li'l was pretty much on his own during that inventive play learning stage. I know he went through this stage because I have him on video doing it on his own with minimal input from Bootsy. Bootsy is good at watching the younger kids, but he's too timid to jump in there at this point and play rough and tumble with a kitten. It was one thing when he was a kitten. It's no wonder Li'l adopted Pixie when she showed up on the scene when he was less than nine months old. He wanted a playmate. I think he's taught me a new trick that I will be sure to remember even if I end up with uneven pairs occasionally down the road. They do so much better when they get a lot of kitten play time with another kitten. Mother is learning too. 

Two can be more adventurous because they urge each other on. When one tries something new, the other is emboldened to do something new too. It's good for their development, but perhaps not always good for keeping a perfectly tidy house. I've decided that if you're going to keep kitties happy, you should have a kitty romper room where your rules of neatness don't apply. Thus, our catio. They can play with abandon in the house when they are little and need more supervision, but once they get bigger, the catio is the place for the truly wild play.You can clean once a week. Otherwise, just stay out of there. I can totally see my future with a kat trail built in so the cats can play and roam creatively and safely out from under foot. Kitchens being the one place where they truly need to tow the line. 

We're starting to get into a rhythm in this house now with the kittens as part of it rather than the center of it. Everybody is getting used to everybody. Well, maybe not everybody. Beebee has retreated to being outside more than in until it gets too cold and/or she gets accustomed to having the kittens around. Yeti is spending more time outside too. Fortunately, much of his outdoor time is on the catio. I think with the kittens here, we may have to extend his catio time until well after dark. Winter daylight hours are too short right now. Although the kittens sleep a lot, they are pretty good at sleeping overnight. They wake up sometimes when I make a bathroom run, and other times they don't. They do better when they sleep with their mom. When they sleep in my closet, I guess I disturb their repose so they want to get up and play, which prevents me from getting right back to sleep. At least I got to sleep until 4 am without being awakened by pouncing kittens. That was nice. Now I just need to go back to sleep for a while during their morning nap. 

Day Sixteen--Kitten-Licking Good

Day Sixteen--Kitten-Licking Good

When Zuki was my kitty (years before she came back as Jan's kitten, Chi), she used to communicate with me telepathically. She mostly spoke in images. For example, when I made it known that we were going to have to move across country from Seattle to Orlando, she made it very clear that she wasn't going to have any part of that. With a combination of images and a sudden breakdown in her health, after having been perfectly healthy, I made peace with that fact and saw the wisdom in her choice, given that she was nearly 17 by then. When it came time for her to let go, I had to work that day at the family home of the little girl I'd been taking care of. Sometimes I watched her at my house and sometimes I went to hers. When the day came that Zuki decided would  be her last, she sent me telepathic images of her meeting me at the door when I got home from work and going outside to die. Considering that she had not been able to walk more than a couple of wobbly steps lately, this was going to be quite a feat, but I agreed to let her go. I had planned to take her to the vet that day anyway, but she didn't want treatment. She wanted to let go. 

Against all odds, this feeble little girl made it to the door to meet me so I let her go past me and outside to the utility room that was in the same building as the garage. She lay down in a corner on the floor in there to die. I at least made her lie down on a towel so she's be warmer and more comfortable. Then I told her that I was going to go inside and get a bite to eat and call my next door neighbor for help so I could hold her while I drove her to the vet if she was still alive after I ate a late lunch. My neighbor agreed to drive me the couple of miles to the nearest vet if I needed that, so when I came back out after lunch, and she was lying there looking rather determined but miserable, I gathered her up in the towel and went to the vet with her. She hated her carrier, so I drove in with just her in my arms in a towel. After the vet checked her out, she did suggest that she might respond to treatment, but that she most likely wouldn't live long anyway. A few months at best. After what I went through with Bingo, only to have him end up with cancer twice and suffering a lot, I had made a decision then never to put a cat through that much just for a few months with them. I know that they can come back, so that it by far the kindest thing to do for my beloved kitties. 

With Zuki, she and I made a better decision. She made it known what she wanted to do, and I honored her wishes. I'm pretty sure Bingo had wanted to fight so we'd have a little more time together, but I suspect now that he's on his second full life with me as his mom that he'd be more inclined to let go than to go through all of that again. I sure hope so. That was hard on my soul, and I suspect not all that easy on his either. Now as Bootsy, he has a full, robust life again with the same caring mommy, a new sister soul mate, and the same soul mate brother in a new body too. 

This time Zuki is the one who is back, and while I'm her aunty, the mommy has changed, and she seems to be quite happy with that. We all back together again--Anjolie, Bootsy (Bingo), Li'l (Dustin), and Chi (Zuki). Since Tai is Taz, who passed a couple of months ago, and Yeti is Jack, who passed a couple of years ago, the reunion is even more grand as well as astounding. I know other pets have reincarnated to be with their people, but I'm not aware of any other major feline soul groups appearing in families and reincarnating over and over again on such a conscious level. It's interesting to watch. One of the most fascinating things about it is observing the traits that carry over from lifetime, which is what brings me to the title of this blog. I have had only one cat in my life who liked to lick my face, and my mouth, if she could reach it, and that was Zuki. Until now. Chi, who was originally Zuki, is back and still a face licker. It's every bit as cute as it was last time around. She's been licking her new mommy too, so she's definitely an equal opportunity face licker. Here's the kicker, Taz used to lick Jan on the face too when she was here, so it will be interesting to see if she still does that still. If so, that's going to make for a whole lot of kitten lickings.   

Day Fifteen--Ninja Kitten/Sleeping Kittens

Day Fifteen--Ninja Kitten/Sleeping Kittens

In the shuffling of kitties, Li'l has been finding some creative places to sleep these days. Bootsy too. The kittens are always finding interesting places to sleep. Tai, who has revealed herself as "Taz" returned has tipped us off in several ways. One is her favorite places to sleep-- on the back of the sofa, for instance. That was one of Taz's favorite places, and there are millions of fine sleeping spots in the house, so that is telling. The first little sign was on the very first day, I believe, when Tai got settled good on her mom, and in true Tazzie fashion, sighed deeply. Jan pointed it out to me, and I wondered then it she was Jan's Taz girl. I asked her when I asked Chi if she was my Zuki returned, but Taz didn't answer. But in tuning in, I did pick up her energy. The fact that she didn't answer was pure Taz anyway. She usually "thought" answers to me anyway. I'm thoroughly getting to know both of them as kittens. I didn't meet Zuki last time until I adopted her at fifteen. Taz was five or six when I came to live here with her mom. They are a lot of fun to watch and both incredibly smart. 

The pair are definitely officially as active and aerial as Anjolie and Bootsy were when I got them. They must now be about the same stage and age they were when I got them. They have definitely ramped up the playtimes. They're sleeping now, but the living room looks as though a tornado hit it. Two kitten tornadoes to be precise. 

Speaking of creative sleeping spots, many nights/mornings, I awake to either one or two kittens in my closet, nicely nestled into the side of one of my rolling backpacks. I'm not sure why, but that is one cozy place to sleep. When I made a 3.30 am loo run, I found a two-headed kitten in my closet. It was so adorable, I had to get a picture of it. Only my memory card was still in one of my laptops in the living room, so I stole the one out of my video camera long enough to take a shot, only to have the battery die on me. I switched the card back and managed to get a little bit of footage from the video camera. I'll have to check it to see if anything came out okay. In the meantime, I wrote a poem about their morning romp to finish off yesterday's account. 

Ninja Kittens

There is nothing quite like raising a pair of Ninja Kittens.
Nothing warms the heart more, not even woolen mittens.
Just when you think you're finally safe and alone in the dark,
a little form runs up your chest, right to your face, on a lark.

Watch your typing fingers and guard those wiggly toes.
Cover up your ears and face and hide your pointed nose.
One sits up and boxes, while the other one sits up and begs,
but no one in the house is safe until sofas lose those extra legs.

They find new ways to play until they've refined it to an art.
Just as they lie down again, some clueless friend hits "start."
The kittens are on a romp, squirreling from here to there.
No, there's nothing quite like watching kittens without a care.

© 2013 Beth Mitchum