Saturday, July 26, 2008

More Kitten Photos Plus Product Reviews

The orphaned kittens, Dev and Belle, are doing just fine. They are still small, but they're only 3 months old, after all! Here they are about to attack a dangling toy. They are sitting on a normal, three-cushion couch in this photo, so it gives you an idea of how small they are - smaller than the average person's butt (arse for you in the UK, etc.), that's certain!

Dev is definitely the cuddler of the two, but both are absolutely devoted to Mr. Aleurophile, who did the bulk of their raising (as I was traveling for business). Belle is the noisy one, making big scary cat noises the entire time she is wrestling with Dev or playing with a toy. Mr. A did a fantastic job of socializing them with humans - so far they're not afraid of anyone. They also tolerate loud noises as Mr. A practices playing drums and other instruments fairly frequently around them. They've also been socialized with at least one other cat - Jericho - who tolerates them, but just barely.

We haven't seen the sibling that their mother took with her. That one, Belle's twin, may not have survived.

We are feeding them premium kitten food, but of course Jericho helps himself to that when he can! We also keep plenty of fresh water about. There are plenty of toys to keep them busy during the day. And their big playpen is available for them to play in if they wish.

Dev took to hiding to sleep for a while; he still does it occasionally. Here he was hiding under a pillow, which we moved to take the photo. Then we replaced. He did not stir! The first time he hid under the pillow, Mr. A was frantic when he realized he was missing and couldn't find him! It didn't occur to Mr. A that Dev would sleep under a pillow on the sofa, but when he lifted the pillow in desperation, there was Dev!

Weaning them from kitten formula to solid food was relatively easy. They now eat dry and canned kitten food. They have gotten over their fear of water, too!

Boo and Ivan haven't met them yet. That probably won't happen until some time in September. Boo and Ivan have met Jericho, and they do fine with him, so we are hoping for the best when they meet Dev and Belle.

Ivan and Boo are doing fine, by the way. We have purchased them some new little toys. They love the Fat Cat (www.fatcatinc.com) "Mouse-A-Roni & Cheese" toy - it's a stuffed fabric mouse with catnip. Ivan holds the mouse in his front paws and kicks it with his back paws, but he also licks and chews it (loves that catnip!). Fat Cat recently joined the Bamboo family of pet products. We have reviewed Bamboo products here in the past.

We purchased Ivan and Boo a new waterer: the Drinkwell Platinum water fountain. It took them a while to get used to it - at first they looked at it suspiciously! So I left their regular water bowl out for a week or so. They eventually came to prefer the Drinkwell. Boo will lap out of the fountain stream, then stop and stare at the bubbles that result from him disrupting the flow of water. Once the bubbles disappear, he drinks again. And he repeats this process a few times before he gets his fill of water. Ivan drinks from it, but of course he also plays in it (!). The fountain has a reservoir, and when it senses that more water is needed, it glug glug glugs as the water empties from the reservoir into the fountain. Ivan is absolutely FASCINATED by this. If he hears the fountain "glug glugging" from afar, he comes running. He even bats at the clear reservoir as it glugs (as he sees bubbles rising). Fun for the whole feline family!

We've got a few more cat products to review, so stay tuned.