Black Doggerel

Kittens are 58 days old now. I really need to start seeing about vaccinations and stuff, don't I?

( In which Callette and Squish play hide and seek, Shona and I play pat-a-cake and Elda falls asleep in everyone's way yet avoids getting stepped on. Ten pictures. )

Blade is around somewhere but he is a. antisocial and b. invisible. He's the only kitten I haven't managed to play with yet. He's not scared, just not very interested. He does play with the other kittens, but not as much as the other three do. He's inclined to be off by himself somewhere. If Shona's a pirate (and she is), Blade is a ninja. A disappearing fast-moving silver tabby ninja.

Day 55 of the kitten diaries, and Spike reminds everyone how he got his name:

( Kitten poker! Aces wild. Or something. Callette: not impressed. )

Oh joy. The plan was - and still is - to get Cassie spayed after the kittens had gone. She's still nursing, and I didn't want to mess with that. In the meantime, though, she's decided that my cat owning experience won't be complete unless I go through at least one heat with her.


( Here she is trying to convince Squish that no balls and different species needn't be an obstacle to Twoo Wuv )

x-posted to practicalcats

Spike just got told off by me and then smacked around by Cassie for nosepoking Shona a bit too hard and sudden-like. I have to watch him. It's very easy to say he loves cats and doesn't want to hurt them, and it would be broadly true, but it's too easy to subscribe to the Lassie myth, especially with a dog like Spike.

What's really going on with Spike and cats is that he wants to herd them. He does understand very well that biting is not the done thing when herding, but I don't entirely trust him to remember that infallibly. I especially don't entirely trust it when he's extremely worked up, when Cassie's losing her mind with protectiveness and attacking him, or when there's more than one kitten and they're moving fast in front of his nose.

Constant vigilance.

sadly, I just failed to photograph Shona lying on her back with Spike's whiskers touching her belly, Shona walking under his belly and rubbing against his leg and Shona pouncing on his paw, because the batteries in the recharger were in loose and didn't recharge. So no kitten pics today. But they're charging properly now and I shall be making forty-eight LJ entries tomorrow, so I think I can safely promise you kittens in the very near future.

Had another of my recurring dreams when I fell asleep this afternoon - one of the good ones. Another thing I'm saving to be subject matter for tomorrow.

I'm so very unprepared for this. But I will do it, even if the last twelve entries are breakdowns of my fridge contents or a catalogue of the unreachable items under the couch... I will do it.

Spike has begun to initiate playfights with Cassie when she's sprawled on her back. He's rather tentative about it; he's not yet certain of his ability to read her accurately and he has scars on his nose. She actually quite enjoys it when she's in the mood - nosepoke, batbat, nosepoke, wag, batbat, tail-lashing, nosepoke.

Squish and Cassie continue to have fun with the competitive flyhunting.

And Cassie has taken to joining me for baths. I was a bit surprised while washing my hair today to suddenly feel a warm furry thing leaning on my shoulder. Neither of the dogs will come near the bath when there's water running, even though I haven't bathed them in over two years now. I really thought Cassie was going to jump in. Toes under water are apparently the most fascinating thing she's ever seen.

...in other news, it's still hot, I still feel like shit on a stick, and I'm alternately watching Babylon 5 and trying to store up some extra sleep to carry me through Blogathon on Saturday/Sunday.

Watched Deathstalker this morning, and found myself musing on the fantasy/sci-fi McGuffin of McGuffins, the old immortality elixir. I'm always a bit bemused at people wanting it so much, myself. I mean, an eternity of boredom and stagnation never seemed like a good bargain to me. Talk about the long, dark teatime of the soul - but it also occurred to me that I'd probably lie, cheat, steal and do harm to obtain the anti-aging drug, not for myself but for my pets. I think I'd happily trade my soul to give the Monochrome Mob eighty-year lifespans.

"Immortality is only for the dogs; I wonder how they can stand it?

*snerk*

( One more kitten pic )

What the hell am I going to do when my cat-door bodge-job can no longer keep the kittens in the bedroom? I really don't think they're big enough to be allowed permanent run of the whole flat in amongst the dogs. Spike and Squish are both cat-friendly and all that but they're also bouncy, excitable and much much bigger than little fragile cattens. I've just had to add another layer of VHS cassettes to the stack blocking the gap because Shona managed to climb it.

Any suggestions?

Incidentally, Cassie has stopped beating Spike up just for being near the kittens, though she still watches him like a hawk. I guess he's proved to her that he can be trusted.

8pm, feeding time for dogs.

Me: *fetches 2lbs of rabbit from fridge, puts half in Spike's bowl, heads for Squish's bowl*

Cassie: I hear the FRIDGE! Gimme food! *begs for rabbit although she had a bowl of turkey an hour ago she didn't finish*

Spike: OMGCAT!!! *starestare*

Squish: I have a cunning plan! *swiftly eats Spike's dinner*

Spike: OMGCAT!!!! *starestarestare*

Me: *rolleyes*

*splits Squish's intended dinner between Spike and Cassie*

*feeds Cassie in the bedroom out of Spike's sight*

Spike: Wot no cat? Might as well eat then. *eats*

Squish: *whines* WHERE'S MINE????

( Today was a big day for the OMFGKittens )

They can walk now instead of floor-swimming, and Callette and Shona have been introduced to Spike. They didn't care - all the kittens have been smelling the dogs on me all their lives so Spike was just part of the furniture, but he nearly burst!

I didn't take pictures of the introduction, but I will when it's all a bit less new and scary for me. Spike was on his best behaviour, holding his breath, not moving a muscle though his whiskers and the tips of his ears were vibrating with pent-up excitement - but when I took them for a walk right afterwards he gave me the very best full-on rollercoaster shark-fishing barking steer-roping alligator-wrestling Spike experience in his power. Aww!