Cats, Cats, and Kittens

I'm keeping a photo diary of the new kittens. It will span their first six weeks in this world. I've never done this before and have found it amusing, amazing, and cute to watch them grow day by day. The following photos are not all that we have, but daily photos are hard to place in a blog.

Chrissy (her name is Christmas) appeared in November around the time we were putting up the Christmas lights--thus her name. Our cat Max is getting old and we hadn't really planned on having any cats after he goes to the Great Kitty Bed in the Sky. He is 14-years-old and doesn't like anything, and at the top of the "I Can't Stand List" is Chrissy. He's not even aware that there are four kittens in our bathroom waiting in the wings--so to speak--to torture him.

The kittens are two weeks old, today, and almost all have their eyes open. The smallest of the litter is still somewhat without sight. We think it is because it's the runt of the litter, but still adorable. They don't have names, because three of them already have new homes to go to when they're weened. One of the white female cats will stay with us. I suspect that my husband will name her Missy. It's in honor of a cat that he once had and loved.

One Week

The kittens were a week old in this photo and you could tell they were growing. Chrissy has been a very attentive mother. She doesn't like for me to pick them up because I had to remove the first kitten. It was still born and she knew that I did not bring it back. Most of the time, she is very relaxed with my daughter handling them.

This is the little Calico kitten that will leave our home to live with my daughter and her three children. She hasn't told me what she intends to name her, but she is the little one that whines when she's removed from the bed.

This is the little one that is somewhat of a drama queen. It's all about her and she tends to stay near her mom and on the teat most of the time. She isn't, however, the largest although it might look that way in the photo.

This is little Ms. Adventure. It's not her name, it's her personality. She was the first and only one so-far to find her way out of the bathroom and into our bedroom, although I suspect it was by accident. I awakened to Chrissy trilling (she doesn't meow much, but she trills a great deal) and another voice, a soft meow that I didn't recognize. They were beside my bed and that is when and how I discovered that Chrissy doesn't know how to pick the kittens up. I assume--and we know what that makes me--that it is because she is only 9-months old herself. She will be spayed when the kittens are weened.

This is the only male and he's going to live with my son when he is weened. His name should be Jokester or Firecracker, because he's a funny little guy. All the kittens were trying to get milk and his sisters were all on a teat. In the process of him trying to find one of his own, he ended up head first, feet flying in the air between his mother's stomach and his sister's head. He is just too cute. We don't know exactly what colors he will be, as he was born solid black and has developed some brown in his fur.

Kittens are cute. Cats, like Chrissy are precious, and old cats like our Max are still hanging around because we love them. Max is cranky, hard to get along with, and does some fairly gross things--at times--but when you're not feeling well, he will come to comfort you. Cats are cats and everyone would have one if they stayed kittens. You're either a cat-person, or you're not.