It has been fall here for some time, but unseasonably warm. Usually our gardens are out by mid September, and it is folly to leave them in longer - a type I regularly engage in that sees me chopping frozen carrots out of the earth. A first light snow by mid October, and we watch the snow creeping down the mountains, coming for us, the frost driving into the dirt. I attempted to bring the growth inside to ease the transition. With great intentions I planted cat grass and cat nip, as I have done in the past, as well as some herbs and small greens. Very shortly, the muddy cat foot prints tracked everywhere (because the minxes did not stop at just nibbling the grass, but rather preferred to enter and prance about in the dirt and rip out great wads of cat grass which they would then leave laying about on the floor). I relocated it all to the bootroom, where they are wilting for lack of light and heat. We built a "Leroy Screen" a few years ago to protect seedlings from Leroy the Plant Eater, but haven't accepted the need to re-install it yet. I may give the cat grass another chance. We did indeed get a first snow, on the 8th. But the lovely sun and uncharacteristic rains did it in, which is fine by us. We fall asleep to the sound of the rain and feel like we're in Vancouver. The kittens were fascinated. And probably glad they were inside. Other things have been falling, too. The minxes are sporting their big cat teeth. We had several days of obsessive checking, precarious teeth and little sore mouths, an one incident of me waking in the night with a sharp pain in my ankle (I was under attack, but I concluded it was completely unrelated to kitten teething). I only found one tooth. I am reasonably sure that the youngest human among us, who has taken to crawling about and eating whatever she finds on the floor, did not find any. They now have as far as I can tell, all their adult teeth. So big and fierce! All the better to attack smore man and 8-year old's lunches with! And though they have been happy to sink them into all manners of things (cardboard boxes, kickers, my leg, eachothers' necks, ratties ...) they are being coy about big yawns so I can photograph them. We shall resume the kitten teeth brushing that we suspended during the great wiggly teeth episode. We have also been trying to stay updated with the progress of the cheese siblings as we marked their 6 month birthday and the falling of teeth. We are so happy to hear of Aura's successful surgery! We are thinking of her and sending bitey, sunshiney, minxey healing love. What a testament to the dedication and love of a human and a community; such a stark and heartening contrast to the misunderstanding and meanness we can encounter out there. We were so so happy, and it is such a balm to see Aura thriving. We have been trying to get reconnected on social media, but keep getting foiled for one reason or another. Perhaps we don't fit the mold or something about tortoiseshell cats arouses suspicion. Nevertheless, we press on. Meanwhile, we have costumes to make! Last year there was a Leroy costume (and in previous years, the dogs), and this year I have two little costumes to make. I hope next year I will tackle Eyebrows and Chestpatch, but this year we are honoring the Great Anais (the wirey dog eyeing the peppermint toy on our about page - a force of a dog) and Mama and baby shall be koalas, quite a departure, but appropriate. Wish me luck! My heart is glad that I have help again on the sewing table.
23 Comments
I thought I might write about my obsession with photographing cats yawning (almost as much as wrestling or shaking dogs), tiny nail trims, the intersection between babies and kittens, hair-raising stunts, or favorite cat toys repaired .... But then life happened, and time passed, and then Brie's adult teeth appeared (yesterday! No big teeth for Fontina yet. And Aura? Soon, we guess!) And it was suddenly Thanksgiving weekend (here in Canada) and the Cheese Kittens will be six months old soon, and I started to think about our lively kittens and the progression of time, and different perspectives on pets as part of our families. We love our animals beyond measure. We go to great lengths for them. And when we were looking for kittens to join our family, they needed to be rescued. So often I have had conversations with people about this choice. I try to make it clear that I do not judge others for acquiring animals from accidental litters or on kijiji or breeders or any other means, it is just not my choice. And when our animals age or require specialists or special care or exceptions (like coming with us everywhere because of separation anxiety) we do what we need to do, which is maybe different from what others might do. And that's okay, it's just our choice. I have been occasionally saddened and frustrated having these conversations when they turn accusatory or hostile, because there is a gap in understanding. Why. Why would I do what I do? And the answer is, because their lives matter to me. Anxious, or feral, or sick, or blind, or cleft palatte or congenital defect. People, dogs, cats, coyotes. They matter, and they deserve a chance. And that is why I am so grateful that we found these kittens, that we could arrange to bring them home, that we have the means to help TinyKittens and other rescues, and to provide what our animals need, and that we have found a community of people who understand these choices. I am grateful I have the means to share the hilarity and the cuteness and the joy. We are all doing our best, in the ways we can. I am grateful for the beautiful animal lives that have graced mine. Hopefully they made me a better person. They certainly filled me with love. I hope I filled them with love, too. I hope they felt loved, and cared for, and safe, and accepted, no matter what.
We are grateful for these minxes, and for the TinyVillage, and grateful that we are a part of it. Minxes are grateful for high ledges, fallen baby food, sister's necks to bite, and sunny soft beds. Oh, and patient mamas and the collective love of the Tiny Kittens community. The minxes finally got their (not so little) microchips implanted: they are doubly identifiable, just in case. More importantly, they got snuggles from our favorite vet and technician, got a clean bill of health, and their last kitten vaccines. The girls were very brave. And only a little hissing ensued. (Erm, Brie ... ! Apparently she has very tough skin!) Otherwise, they perched on shoulders, sniffed things, and explored the room. I am certain they forgive us for the indignity, especially since I brushed them after. As we suspected, they are giants. GIANTS. Brie is 2.4 kg and Fontina 2.8. They barely smushed into their travel carrier together. They are so BigLittle. They retain their plaintive kitten mews. They are scampy and both fit in my lap or draped over necks. And Brie retains her sweet-weird penchant for comfort nursing my neck. (If Fontina could shake her head in dismay, she would. Brie has attained the nickname Lamprey.) Yet they are independent and brave and long and glossy. Like Big Cats. Lest you worry, they were not deterred by their vet adventure. Full shenanigans during supper making and sleeping carried on, as usual, including great clattering of soap dishes during fly chasing, ambushing of ratties, and obligatory racetracks over sleeping children.
Oh, they bring delight, and giggles, and full hearts. In some ways it seems like they have been here indefinitely; in others, it seems impossible that we brought them home (almost) two whole months ago. We have a lot of window space in our house, a kitten paradise. There is also a long ledge along the south side looking out the high windows (which scampy kittens like to race along at bed time. It makes a delightful racket!) The minxes like to spend time watching out the windows. There is much to see! Some time a week or so ago, kittens were hanging out in the smallest window sill, in the bedroom, trying to catch the pernicious little black flies that were entering through the screen. Suddenly, Brie, looking outside, became still, looked startled, and looked at me. "What do you see?" I asked, and went over to the window. A lovely leggy fox was quietly making his way along the border of the trees. We see fox sign quite often, but rarely the actual creature, careful as they are to slip through unnoticed. Brie has never met a fox, I am guessing, but maybe Chloe has. Whatever she thought it might be, she suspected it could eat her, and she clearly didn't like it. But she was safe inside. We assured her. I grabbed my camera, but our leggy friend was too sly for me, and disappeared before I could get a photo. Fontina has already made friends with the inside fox, however. She was highly suspicious at first, but discovered that it is pretty inert. Except sometimes it talks which is creepy. Good thing they are ferocious-predator-cats. Watch out, bugs. Meanwhile, we'll keep them safe from things that might eat them, like this giant snowshoe hare.
We set up the play tent in the living room so we could do some living room camping (there is no shortage of environmental enrichment around here; last week the dining room chairs became the audience for a dancing show, and Fontina puffed up in fear.) We soon discovered these are not regular cats. They are NINJA cats. Or something otherworldly. As we played in the tent we came under attack. Kittens were flying against the side of the tent, entering through the window, scampering across the sleeping bag, and scaling the walls. Our indoor camping ultimately descended into hilarious laughter and giggling. Such a balm. These kittens are WILD! The tent was closed yesterday to accommodate actual camping, out in the yard, thus the sleeping bag had to come out, and Mama can only take a tent in the living room for so long. As we ate our supper we watched Kitten Racing Circuits, which included a loop through the (now closed) tent. We fully expected one to come leaping out the window. The tent has sustained some damage. Some frayed ties hang limply, and velcro and corners have suspicious tiny holes in them. Hmmmm. Must make tent kitten-proof.
*in addition to Shelly It turns out that the humans are warm and kind and actually really good snugglers! The other day, Brie was on the change table in the bathroom (a new favorite perch from which to observe the interesting bathing activities) and Fontina joined her for snuggles. Brie kept shifting away from her and I felt such immense sadness - had Leroy (long haired grey tabby) or Anais (our dear sweet dog, the black one on the bottom left in the photos) been here, perhaps the kittens might have snuggled up with them for some living comfort. I hoped soon they might discover that we are exceptionally snuggly, too, and maybe we would serve. They have snuggled before, for short bursts, most often in the morning with me at the computer desk, after kitten breakfast. Otherwise, kittens are far too busy for cuddles! That night as we said good night to the minxes, they seemed lonely to me. I reminded them again that they could come upstairs with us and cuddle, and that it would be nice! Lo, they did! First Brie, then Fontina appeared. More sedate than usual, they skipped Racetrack and played Small Mammal Under the Blanket with my toes for a while. I thought that as on previous nights, that might be it and kittens would retreat to the cat tree. But to my surprise they snuggled in by my legs, one on either side, big purrs rumbling from their tiny bodies. In the morning I awoke to find they were *still* there. So sweet. And then we had a very strange exchange wherein Brie tried to comfort nurse on my neck, Fontina investigated to find out what she was doing, they bit eachothers' faces, and then everyone settled down for more purrs and snuggling. It was ever so satisfying to cuddle with these sleek little creatures. Purring cats (on my head) is on my top ten list of best things in life.
Last night before bed, L and a kitten were snuggled on the couch together. Bliss. This is what you look like after chasing your sister around madly while humans are in the tub, and you discover that the edge of said tub is treacherously slippery! It turns out TinyKittens can swim quite well, and leap out of the tub all on their own. We were reminded of the infamous story in our house of the incident of The Little One ambushing Fruitcake who was standing on the side of the tub innocently pawing at bubbles, and the swirling frothing chaos that ensued after contact. Fortunately these tiny sharp kitten nails were trimmed earlier that day, and no one was harmed. Tubbing was abruptly over at this point and, amidst alternating sympathy and laughter, Fontina was toweled off and set up with a hot wheat bag in the crow's nest where she retreated to help her dry. Her adventures didn't deter her, or Brie, from spending tub time in the bathroom with us on the following nights, considering the physics of bubbles, and if they should investigate further. This morning as I watched Fontina investigating the bathroom, I observed her great reluctance to jump down from the window sill onto the tub ledge. It seems she has filed tub ledges in the category of "slippery things." I wonder if she'll tell Brie.
This is a screen lock. This is a scampy kitten scaling a screen ... which is safer, now. We were alarmed to discover that our screens were not Fontina-proof, and would wiggle out under her scaling attacks. Thus, plans changed for the day and instead of working in the garden, we acquired and installed these devices, instead. Climbing resume ... if you must. Brie is always first on the scene, but Fontina seems more physically bold, performing hair-raising (and eyebrow-raising) maneuvers (of which I need a faster lens to capture, so, here's a tamer moment). No kitten noses in the morning yet. They prefer to wait until my appearance to purr at greeting pets in the crow's nest and then come for breakfast. However, sleep last night and the night before was interrupted due to 2 AM kitten wrestling on the bed [the cheese girls send their love to Auradorable!], complete with killing of the blanket. Last night's exploits included extended races over heads and down the racetrack, uh, hallway. L says good night to kittens now with a lengthening list of behaviors to avoid, summated by "make good choices, kittens!" The minxes have taken over the house. They are feeling much more at home and confident. Here they are powering up for their next exploit. They trill and purr and follow me, especially if it is snack time. I now know why Shelly walks so gracefully and carefully ... so as not to step on kittens winding around her feet. They enjoy assisting with meal preparation. And cleanup. And last night Brie rode around on my shoulder while I shut off the lights. Goodnight, kittens! No climbing screens, or going into the crawlspace, or knocking things over or leaping from one high ledge to another, and please try not to run over my face. Make good choices! We love you.
We set up a kitten safe world in a room adjacent to the main living area (our house is quite open, and relatively small, so everything is close). The minxes have taken to retreating there and they particularly like snuggling and grooming in their carrier. They are eating like champs, and I am happy to report, using the litter box consistently! (Breathes a sigh of relief, looks slaunchways at Brie.) We have definitely been making friends, but, as we have an empty house of animals save these two at present, I wonder if they aren't feeling a little sad. Grandpaw Leroy would have given them an enthusiastic furry welcome, and my heart breaks that he is not here to do so. Nevertheless, kittens have been exploring. They discovered most fascinating paper fairies. They ambushed sisters. They groomed their little white bellies to preserve dignity. They heard some unfamiliar noises and watched unfamiliar footsteps. And, this evening, discovered the crow's nest in the cat tree. When we returned from errands this afternoon we found they had set up stations on the dining room chairs (favorite haunts of past cats, Leroy in particular. And no human shall sit on chairs occupied by cats, of course.) I hope to be greeted by two black noses when I open my eyes tomorrow morning! I think they are settling in.
We're home.
We're overwhelmed by the TinyKittens community, all the comments, and toys, and care, and our hearts are bursting with delight and joy for these tiny (and, they are more wee than they appear!) minxes. They have touched noses to fingers, rubbed up against us, explored their new world, and played with a very very happy little girl, and heard the delighted giggles of her little sister. We are making friends. We promise lots of photos in the days to come! ~c |
We are passionate advocates for animal rescue and hope to spread the message to spay/neuter and adopt! ArchivesCategories |