Getting Older (and Cuter)!

Zotz

 The candy kittens (Zotz and Zagnut) are seven weeks old today (5/20) while their cookie "siblings" turn six weeks old on Wednesday (5/21).

Zagnut

Stroopy eating in the middle of the plate!

Biscoff the lap cat

The kittens continue to grow and are constantly learning new things. Shortbread and Fudge Stripe are the smallest (Fudgie is a smidge lighter than her sister). They have finally cracked the pound mark. They are behind in weight but that's nothing to worry about. One kitten has to be the smallest. They are both gaining weight every day and as long as that continues, there's no cause for alarm. Zagnut is the largest at 32 ounces, a full week ahead of where he should be. He's a mighty two pounder whose feet are an inch and a half wide. They are unbelievably - and comically - big. Biscoff, Stroopy, and Zotz are pretty much tied around 25 ounces. Biscoff and Stroopy are slightly heavier than target (24 ounces) but considering they're medium hairs, perhaps that extra ounce is all fluff. :-) Zotz is behind. She should be 28 ounces. Again, since she continues to gain weight, there's nothing to worry about. Double Stuff is constantly doing his own thing and his weight is right smack dab in the middle of everyone else's. He's a little underweight at 22 ounces (since he should be 24). Most of the kittens are still trying to play catch-up from all of Nadya's illnesses.

All of the kittens are eating canned food now - and even a few have ventured into eating dry food. They still nurse from time to time. When they'll stop is determined by a combination of desire and accommodation. If they still want to and Nadya still allows them to, they will continue to nurse. Some momma cats shut their kittens off around seven weeks; some momma cats have been known to nurse well into five or six months...

The kittens all use the litter box. Nadya has stopped cleaning the litter box, removing its contents... (thank goodness!)

The kittens have learned how comfortable cat beds are, even when it's a small bed piled high with siblings. They now have several beds in their room.

They also have tons of toys, although the cube and the tunnel seem to be the favorites. Biscoff and Double Stuff have really embraced toys and can often be seen batting them around or carrying them in their mouth. Biscoff was the first to figure out how to play with the ball-in-track toy. He's a very smart boy!

The smallest - Fudge Stripe

Their personalities continue to emerge. Biscoff and Stroopy love lap time. Biscoff is incredibly smart and quickly figures out new toys. Stroopy... is a bit of a scaredy cat. He's often the first  - and sometimes the only one - who runs and hides. His favorite spot is behind the litter box, tucked into the corner. Zotz is the trouble maker - and is quite good an instigating the other kittens into getting into trouble. Nadya is constantly chasing Zotz and yelling at her. (Nadya refuses to believe that she's lost control of her kittens; they don't listen to her constant chatter but she insists on scolding them) Shortbread is turning into a sweetheart. She often wrestles with the big kittens (Zagnut, who is almost twice her weight, is her best buddy... after Fudge Stripe) and then climbs into my lap, looking up at me with her big eyes, asking politely to have her cheeks rubbed as she falls asleep. Double Stuff is the talker. He must get that from his mother. He talks in the litter box; he talks when he's hiding under something to leap out at his siblings; he talks when he's in No-Kitty-Land (the side of the room the kittens aren't supposed to go into but do anyway), which totally tells his mother that he's up to something mischievous. He's a bit zany, too. Fudge Stripe is the ultimate crazy cat. She's tiny but she's got great speed. She's often so fast, her back legs can't keep up (and then she's running on just the front two paws - I kid you not). Zagnut, the giant, is a bit afraid of me. He gets freaked out when I try to pick him up. Once he's on my lap, he loves to be petted. He doesn't seek out affection much. I'm working on that.

Shortbread looking worried.

The kittens play amazingly well together. No one hates another kitten. There isn't sibling drama. In a lot of litters, the same colored kittens gravitate towards each other (the grey kittens cuddle with other grey kittens; orange kittens with orange kittens, etc). In this litter, it seems as though size is the defining factor. There are definite friendships - Biscoff, Stroopy, and Zagnut are buds. Shortbread and Fudge Stripe are friends. Shortbread and Zagnut are friends. Zotz and Double Stuff seem to be the liaisons - neither one of them has developed a tight friendship with anyone yet but they do play well with all the other kittens.

Double Stuff

Nadya has been off antibiotics for three full days now. Her temp is holding steady at 101 (the range of normal is 99.5-102.5). Her appetite has decreased significantly, which is understandable now that she's not solely responsible for feeding her kittens. She is teaching her kittens to be finicky. She'll eat anything... for a couple of days. And then she decides she doesn't like it anymore.

Everyone is doing well.  Everyone continues to grow and thrive. Everyone continues to develop. Everyone is pretty happy (as long as the carpet sweeper isn't being used).

(All photos taken by KrisKreativ)