Diary: X-men
Almost 12 weeks of age
Time flies! Tomorrow it is time for their second vaccination and
the veterinary check-up. Thereafter the first of the wild bunch will
move to his new home... Sad to see him leave, but will happily
receive the first report later this week :) During the weekend and soon
thereafter, three of the others will leave and Phoenix will stay here until
the beginning of March.
The kittens have been just fine since last entry. Growing a lot,
sleeping a lot, eating a lot and cuddling whenever they have time ;)
In all we are quite pleased with the outcome and it is not entirely
improbable we will repeat the mating in 2006-2007... We will see.
They have all got a nice temperament, marvellous look and the
coat quality is just wonderful. It will be a pleasure to see them
as adults!
8 weeks of age
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| Storm, Wolverine, Xavier, Nightcrawler, Storm, Phoenix |
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| Storm, Wolverine, Xavier, Storm, Phoenix |
Now the ears are almost all unfolded... Still the tip to go, especially on Wolverine, but... next week!
The little ones are coming to terms that the world is big and full of strange things and maybe it's actually fun. Today they got their first vaccination and they were curious and took it all well. I'm happy that they didn't complain during the trip by car and it is always a relief that the vet did not find anything wrong with them.
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| Wolverine underneath the Christmas tree, playing |
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| Storm underneath the Christmas tree, playing |
7 weeks of age
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Gathered in one place, somewhat tired
Phoenix, Xavier, Nightcrawler, Storm, Wolverine |
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| Kiwawa loves kittens! - here she hugs Wolverine |
Now they have all transferred into wild, playful furballs...
Our old lady Kiwawa has adopted them all and spends most of her time
with kittens cuddling up into her warm and thick coat. Älva seems
to be happy to get some time off now and then, as the kittens also
have a big kitten to play with in Ivette, the wildest of them all.
What else? Well, their ears have finally started to unfold, and now it's
not much of the curled look left!
They eat a lot, play a lot and occasionally they have time to fall asleep
in our (or guests') laps.
6 weeks of age
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Gathered in one place
Xavier, Wolverine, Storm, Phoenix, Nightcrawler |
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Gathered in one place
Xavier, Wolverine, Storm, Phoenix, Nightcrawler |
Well, another week has gone by and as usually, the little ones have
grown and changed a lot. We had better stop comparing them to other
relatives as they develop in different directions (but still very nicely)
all the time... But, we recognise more and more from Enigma's side but
with a bit more length and in some cases different look, coming from
Älva's side. They now regularly escape from the 4-5 square meter
large kitten run in our bedroom. Earlier it was just Xavier who took
a trip now and then to the world outside. They eat lots of
dryfood now, and grow fast. We love their long coats and the guardhairs
are coming very nicely! We are also very happy to see that the eartufts
are still there. Their temperaments are what we expected with that
set of parents - super. Ears then... still folded, but we are told
from others who have seen the like that they will be just fine in the end :)
Not much differs between them all as they all come running when being
called upon and all climb into our laps to play and cuddle.
Storm - a cute girl with lots on her mind. When she is calm, she
has a look that melts hearts... More like dad in body shape, which is not
a bad thing!
Xavier - running fast whenever he hears or sees a two-legged one.
Follows our daughter with curious steps and falls on his back to
be cuddled when we come close.
Phoenix - a sad look, but very happy and sweet always. The first
to venture downstairs without falling through the steps. A copy
of mum.
Nightcrawler - funny-looking ears but so beautiful! The boy with
lots of lengths and a coat with harsh texture. He looked a bit
like a rex at birth, but now the waves cannot be seen.
Wolverine - a soft temperament and sweet nature. He is still the
teddybear and a bit rounder than the others.
5 weeks of age
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Gathered in one place
Xavier, Storm, Phoenix, Wolverine, Nightcrawler |
Cuddlier than ever, they are completely relaxed when being handled.
We are quite pleased with what we see so far :)
4 weeks of age
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| One has to just love Xavier! |
The little ones started eating wet food this week and they have also
tried (and liked, of course) ground meat. They are even more
wild and tries to find out fun things to do, like climbing the pole,
trying to escape from our kitten run (located in our bedroom) and
bite each other.
I just wish sometimes that we had kittens in summertime, just to get
a better light for the photographs... It is not fun at all to use
a flash as they react differently and the light is so sharp :(
Xavier got to pose when I tried using the daylight and a
good lense :)
So, to describe their temperaments and differences then...
They are all very social and calls out for us when they see us
through the kitchen door. Entering the cat run means having
at least three kittens in the lap or on the legs in less than a minute :)
The others are probably asleep if they have not joined their siblings.
All kittens are also very easy to handle and cuddly with a loud purr.
Comparing the girls first: Storm is a bit more talkative and she
has got a look I just could not put my finger on but I believe I
recognise it from her fathers side. An eager girl who just wants to
be close - just like her sister Phoenix. Phoenix is a quiet girl,
and soft in her ways just like her mum. She is also a copy of Älva
in looks. I have no doubt she will turn into a beauty!
The boys: Nightcrawler, the quiet boy who walks away to find out what
the world beyond looks like. Xavier, the cuddly boy who just want
attention. Wolverine is the gentle giant, quiet, big and strong.
3 weeks of age
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| As if tiny kittens want to pose for the camera... |
Älva has had more milk this week, so we do not give them as much
as before. Anyway, most of them eats from the milk bowl now and then
so we will introduce food this week. The little ones are very social
and as soon as one sits down amongst them, our legs are filled with
tiny ones who just wants to cuddle and play :) Trying to leave when
half of them sleep and the other half just want me to cuddle them
is impossible.
The little ones still have very funny looking ears and I have no idea
whether they will turn out the way I like ears to be or not...
But, we are very proud and happy over that all kittens have long
tufts on their ears and that the ears are much more pointy than we
are used to. The profiles are all very smooth (even though they are
curved as kitten profiles are) so they seem to be entirely straight
on all of the babies. All of them also have promising coat qualities
and they seem to have a bit longer coat at 3 weeks of age than we are
used to. One can clearly feel the difference in the feeling of the
coat on the silver girl (yes, she is silver, even though
it might not be the clearest silver ;) But still!)
All in, two of the kittens resemble their half brother Caraïbe
but with sharper look, one is a spitting image of mum and
two, well, they are just special so far :)
2 weeks of age
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| As if tiny kittens want to pose for the camera... |
The little ones are already two weeks of age! They are already trying
to walk around and succeed pretty well since a couple of days. The
stomachs do not touch ground all the time :) As Älva's
milk supply is not as large as me and the kittens would like, they have
received a little extra this week and the weights are accordingly not very
impressive. I do not like to give them their full ransons as it might
make Älva's milk supply even smaller, but instead just enough to
give them good appetite and they eat until they are full from mum.
The little ones are extra cuddly as they get extra attention and
think of human beings as very usable and nice ;)
We think the entire litter is promising and we have our favourites as
always. It is, as always, so fun to watch details in the kittens and
relate to which parent it comes from :) Finally they are easier to
separate from each other.
Two of the kittens have already tried and succeeded drinking
milk from a bowl! In general they are early in their development,
but we have seen this before. A cuddly and social bunch of furballs :)
The little ones already have rather clear personalities:
Storm is a girl who speaks her mind, but is sweet and cute nonetheless.
Xavier is always the first to climb into our laps for cuddle and
he talks constantly. Loves to lie on his back and play and cuddle.
A kitten I already feel I will have trouble parting from ;)
Phoenix is just a little princess, sweet and mild in her temperament
just like mum. Nightcrawler is a teddybear who quietly accepts
what happens around him, curious and calm. Big Wolverine is also
the teddybear kind of kitten, but more in the playful way.
They are all very social and climbs into our laps as soon as they have
the opportunity :)
1 week of age
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| Älva and her firstborn kittens. |
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| Just love their eartufts! |
Day 3
I guess I'll have to accept that the boy isn't silver after all...
Day 1
Älva surprised us in the morning with five dry and content,
nursing kittens! She had managed everything and the only trace
of the birth was the wet sheets in the kitten basket. And the
five beautiful little ones, that is. It took the entire morning
to sort out sex, weights and learning which one is which but
cuddling newborn kittens is just wonderful. The rest of the day
went to taking photos and add to the website. Everything takes
so much longer when one has to cuddle the babies, tell people
on the phone that the most beautiful litter ever has been born
and to keep Joanna (our daughter) happy. Even though her dad
did most of that.
This litter surely is tough to keep apart from each other.
They have some differences, of course, but in general they
all look very much alike. We are very proud of their promising
profiles and ears (with tufts!) and in all they look quite nice :)
But, most litters are the most beautiful ever...
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| Älva and her firstborn kittens. |
Making of
