Monday, October 25, 2010

"C" Litter 9 Weeks

Since I've been sick and have not had the energy for a kitten photo shoot, I've taken more videos of the kittens playing. Hopefully, this will let you see more of their personality as well. I will be taking more photos as soon as possible though. I tried to get close ups too and will put descriptions under the video.

Crescent is still the most bold of all the kittens. You can tell him apart in the videos because he will appear to be darker due to the shading out of his black pattern. Next would be Castile. He has been coming up to me a lot to be pet and investigate the litter cleaning. Cove and Cassian are still pretty even, but as you can tell in the videos, like to play! Cassian will appear to be bigger and lighter in color than Cove in the videos. Caster is a little fire ball and gets along with everyone. Then there is Clary, the only princess, but doesn't let the boys get in the way of her fun. All the kittens are fairly self assured, but Clary, Castile, and Crescent like to be held more. The others don't mind being held, but they haven't shown much interest in instigating it on their own. If you pick them up and cuddle, they will let you and then ready to get back down and play. They are all still developing and I've even had some of the best cuddlers not turn out that way until they were in their new homes. Knowing this and comparing them to kittens in the past, I think all of them will turn out to be great pets and wonderful additions to their families.

They are all so strong and like to climb, so make sure you invest in a cat tree or cat condo. Also, they are really into learning about scratching right now. We recommend the Whisker City cardboard scratchers, but really, any will do. They are all eating a combo of dry and wet food, so should be good to go from now on. :) They all are rounding out well, have nice muzzles, and have a nice heft to their weight when you pick them up. Some of them are even starting to growl at the feather wand or whatever they are playing with to show their "catch." lol It' is so cute to hear these little guys growl like big cats! I have even heard some chirps, which Siberians are known for. They do a series of trills and I hope this litter continues to develop their trilling. Our pet Caesar is the biggest triller ever and we use him to teach the kittens and expose them to his varied dialogue. :D

Monday, October 18, 2010

"C" Litter 8 Weeks Old

The kittens are growing and active, active, active! They are mischievous little things. I have uploaded on flickr 4 videos of them horsing around. Next week, they will be exposed to the living room with the "Big Cat" condo. They have mastered their little kitten condo. :) They are even ready for their first vaccinations this week.

All the kittens made an appearance in the videos, so you can get a better idea of their personalities. Crescent is by far the one who attacks people. He loves hands, feet, ankles, tail of your shirt, whatever. Where you go, he will find you, and attack. lol I think it's time to introduce him to the feather wand!! He will love it. Cassian is more laid back, would rather observe than the others, but also plays when something catches his eye. Cove is a mix between Crescent and Cassian. He isn't as "out there" as Crescent, but not as laid back as Cassian. He loves to play and is curious, but he won't try to attack you unless he sees Crescent doing it and then decides it might be fun too. ;) Caster is an even mix as well. Very similar to Cove in behavior. Castile is a bit more quiet than Caster, but not as laid back as Cassian. He and Caster are often seen doing something together while the black silver boys are doing something. Isn't it odd how they pair up like that, red/silver red, and black silvers? :) Little Miss Clary is a great girl and turning into a real beauty. She is playful, curious and doesn't mind cuddles. She prefers the ball or ball toys to the more rambunctious scaling things, although she will climb with the best of them now. :) All the kittens like to be pet down their back and will arch when you get to their tale bone. At this age, they are more interested in playing than being held, so get your kisses in quick because they are ready to launch and go at someone. :)

Poppy is the brown classic kitten in the video. She is our newest girl from Snowgum cattery in England. Poppy is a VERY sweet girl. She purrs ALL THE TIME. Plus, she is very playful and very busy. I have learned that when I hear her thumping paws running behind me, just stand still until she runs past you, or else she will run between your legs and you just might trip. lol Poppy has been wanting to play with the kittens forever. Since everyone can see each other through the glass doors (you can see Leo in one of the videos looking in), they get to know each other through sight and smell without the awkward time of hissing, etc. The kittens were finally big enough we have been letting Poppy play with them. Part of the reason we keep our kittens past 12 weeks is the socialization and the time they get learning how to be a cat from the older cats. Proper cat behavior and how to react to things is largely learned from observing other cats, so the kittens learn when something is dangerous and when something isn't. Also, they learn how to play properly, not to use their claws, etc. They also observe the older cats using the scratch boards. Keep in mind, it may look like Poppy was a bit rough with them in one video, but I promise, she was being gentle. She did not use her claws or bat them hard. She was taunting them jumping back and forth, but never hurt one of them. Although, you will see Cassian or Cove, can't remember, arch his back when she jumps toward the end of one video. He wasn't quite sure if she was playing. lol Again, learning behaviors and different reactions.

They are still in the messy stage. Somehow, they even found a way to get part of a paper plate to stick to my wood floor and I'm having a time getting it to come up! Crazy cats. They like odd things to play with as well, plastic bins, little rattle toys, towels that they jump around in and scrunch, then take naps on! lol I forgot to pick up a towel after cleaning up a spill one time, came back and it was their new toy! So, I now leave at least one towel in there for them and they haven't hurt it. So, if yours ends up having an affinity for towels left out, you can blame me. ;)

Enjoy the videos!!

Sunday, October 10, 2010

"C" Litter 7 WKS

The kittens are just growing up so fast!! They are everywhere and into everything. The wrestle in their water, knock over their food, wrestle in the litter, wherever and whenever...wrestling is their favorite game right now. Oh, I can't forget catch whomever tail happens to be moving in their proximity. All the adult cats have been assaulted by one of the kittens grabbing their tail. lol

Crescent has also decided that human legs are meant to be scaled. That's right, my left leg was taken out by a 7 week old kitten. :) I was holding and talking to Clary, the next thing I know, Crescent has launched up my calf and made it to my thigh before I pulled him off. lol All the kittens are active, I can't say one is more of a ham than another right now. Clary is still bold and an instigator, but has a serene feeling about her. Cassian and Cove are almost identical in their looks. They are similar in personality right now too. both like to play, run up to me when I come into the kitten room. Castile and Caster are both misfits too. I honestly can't say one is more shy than another, or more outgoing as a whole. It will be interesting to see how they continue to grow and become individuals.

Caster was the king of the photo shoot today. All his pics came out well. Sadly, I didn't get any good ones of Cove. They were all blurry. But, when you look at Cassian's pics, you are basically looking at Cove as well. :) All the kittens are shaping nicely. Still a proud breeder. :)

Enjoy this week's pics! Here is the link.

Friday, October 1, 2010

"C" Litter 6 Weeks Old

The little monkeys are coming along nicely. They are doing all the messy and mischievous things they should be doing at their age. With every litter, I am always thankful we have the kitten room with hardwood floors because these guys traipse everything around with them. :) They are all using the litter, but still playing in it too. They don't quite have the art of keeping the loose bits in the boxes and somehow carry it on their feet all around the room. Sweeping is a daily activity for me. lol It will get better though. They are all loving the wet food and think every time I come in the door, I'm bringing food. lol I get a scramble of little kittens running up to my feet as I enter. They also like to get after my lighting cords, for the different lights I try to use when taking pics. Note to self, unplug after every use. lol

Some of the kittens are starting to show their individual personalities. Clary for one is an outgoing girl. She seems to be brave and doesn't mind little kisses. She really wants to climb the little kitten tree, but just isn't as strong as her brothers yet to pull herself all the way up. Caster is a playful thing. He does like to climb whatever he can and I love how his classic, swirl pattern is turning out. Cassian seems to be more reserved and doesn't really instigate, but will play when jumped on. Castile is a playful one too. He and Clary like to wrestle each other. Cove seems to do his own things and doesn't need the other kittens to get himself in a mess. lol Crescent is similar to Cassian right now, he isn't overly "out there", but does explore quite a bit. Granted, as they get older, things could change, but this is what I've observed thus far.

I am really pleased with how well all the kittens are developing. I think this has been our best litter to date that fits the Siberian standard the best. We are still observing two of the kittens for potential breeding, so we aren't allocating the kittens out just yet. Plus, I want their characters to be more developed to help match the right kitten with the family.

Here is the link to the videos. I went with videos this week, since they are so active and taking pics has been near impossible with them constantly moving. Enjoy!