Eyes Open, Eyes Closed!

There is a little game that I played with a little girl at bedtime. Very few children ever want to go to bed and one tries all sorts of strategies to lull them into sleep. Bedtime stories are one of these. I would read the child a bedtime story but find that her eyes remained fixed upon the book or upon me as I read. I would cry: 'Eyes closed!' and she would respond, 'Eyes OPEN!' It became a little game for the toddler, and she would laugh delightedly each time she cried out, 'Eyes OPEN!'

I thought of that as the newborn kittens began to open their eyes for the first time. In the space of two days, all four of them opened their eyes to take their first view, however blurred, of their new world.

Yes, capturing a photograph of this wonderful new landmark in their lives proved far more difficult than I expected. I am the one who would have to cry, 'Eyes OPEN!'
Either they close their eyes or their faces are hidden from me each time I try to take a photograph...

Part of the problem is that I must shoot downwards into their bed, which is not very promising where a view of their bright little eyes is concerned. Beauty does not help matters either. If I try to remove a kitten for a moment to place him/her in a location where I have a better angle for a photograph, Beauty becomes very distressed. The kittens cry, the Mother cries and I allow myself to be defeated very easily. After all, it's only a photograph...

I did manage to take one 'candid' photograph of a kitten finally with his eyes open. My first successful photograph, taken by holding the kitten's head firmly in the palm of my own hand to keep his head aloft, looked too grim for words, as it appeared almost as though I were throttling the poor little creature. In reality, I held him very gently, but the photograph of him in his own 'bed' will be far less disturbing, both to Beauty and to any potential viewers.

The Kittens on a Cold Saturday

We are being subjected to extremely cold weather here, but the Kittens remain warm, thanks to Beauty and their natural instinct to huddle together in a pile.

This morning, I found only three Kittens in the pile when I first awakened and performed my early morning inspection. Not hearing the sound of any desperately lost soul, I was anxious for a moment... but I found the fourth Kitten sandwiched between the duvet and the heavy blanket, sound asleep!

This represents a new stage in maturity for them actually. Previously, no Kitten would have gone to sleep unless Beauty or its siblings were close enough to touch. Nor would any Kitten allow me to take him/her from siblings or mother to hold. This morning, I was able to set a Kitten on my knee for a moment and rather than howling, he sat there contentedly for a brief interval while Beauty was catching a quick breakfast.

The eyes of all four Kittens remain sealed shut, but there are signs that this will change shortly. It almost looks as though their eyes are shut in sleep now, rather than being sealed.

Holiday Anticipation

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This has been a very difficult Autumn for me, and one that has been fraught with anxiety. With very little money and almost no mobility, I almost despair of being able to organise a proper Yuletide celebration.

Beauty's delivery of four healthy kittens on 2 December was the best Advent gift in the world. Now, each day, I look forward to the next little sign of progress in the lives of the kittens. It generates almost as much anticipation as the thought of opening the next little window on the Advent Calendars we had as children.

Nine days old now, the largest kitten's eyes may open in the next day or two. Another sign is a new tendency to roam a little when they are not nursing. Their movements would not be described as 'roaming' by any frame of reference other than that of a week-old kitten, I daresay, but for a tiny blind creature who has been in the world for only a week to strike out and explore his environment a few inches from his mother's warm belly IS courageous.

Beauty tends to them scrupulously. They are spotless, warm and their little bellies are rounded and plump. She still have an incredible appetite herself but never loses sight of their needs for a moment.

Any one who spared a glance for the photographs on this site probably would think them all alike, and not be able to see any significant change between the appearance of the newborns on 2 December and their appearance a week later.

To me, though, it is fascinating to note how their little heads have changed in shape, becoming less elongated while their fur becomes ever thicker and their legs fatter. Their future markings begin to show a little now.

The biggest chance, however, is the one that has occurred where Beauty herself is concerned. She had no hesitations in assuming the role of Mother but now, a week later, she is beginning to relax a little rather than convincing herself that the kittens need to be nursed constantly. She will throw herself down next to them and go to sleep now, which is something she would not have done a week ago. Dear Beauty, I really do think she is one of the best mothers I have known, and I am relieved to see her rest once in a while!

Meanwhile, Ashleigh finally has taken his courage in all paws to leap tentatively into the Kitten Bed Beauty abandoned two days ago as too small to contain her and her babies any longer. He now arranges himself rather disconsolately in the deep box, peering over the edge at the Kittens and his consort, once his constant companion and playmate, now completely absorbed in her new role. I do hear him playing with his toys, though, in the middle of the night, so he has not become clinically depressed... but he remains utterly bewildered and insecure in the face of the new invasion of tiny Ashleighs and the one little baby who looks like Beauty.

The BIG Nocturnal Move

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Snow again early this morning followed by sleet. My sleep was filled with bizarre dreams of white rats and squirrels who resembled kittens in a strange house. After blessing the instinct that led me to purchase stocks of dry cat food yesterday on a shopping expedition, I visited the kittens and discovered why my dreams had been filled with strange crying rats and squirrels.

Yesterday, while shopping, I had persuaded myself to invest in a proper cat 'bed' sold at the local chemist. What a waste of money THAT proved to be! When I came home to introduce it to Beauty, I discovered that it really was too small to fit both a nursing Cat and her litter.

I placed it on the floor for Ash to explore instead. Having done so, I reorganised her box because she kept destroying the bedding somehow. I found an old clean sheet and arranged it on top of the rug in the kitten box. At the same time, I spread an old thick blanket that Ash and Beauty both liked next to the kitten box.

Whether it was the growth of the kittens or Beauty's own ongoing dissatisfaction with the kitten bed, combined with the introduction of the sheet, I discovered this morning that a BIG move had taken place in the wee hours of the morning.

Beauty had moved all of the kittens out of the box onto the thick blanket I had spread next to the box. Both box and blanket are situated in an old defunct bathtub. I felt it would contain Queen and Kittens better than the floor. No doubt my dreams were prompted by the crying of the kittens as they were moved.

My hope that a new secure place had been chosen by Beauty was in vain, however. A few moments ago, I heard a desperate kitten's cries. I rushed to the site to find that Beauty once again had rearranged her bedding, this time with the unfortunate result that somehow a kitten now was caught BENEATH the blanket.

I managed to extricate one of them instantly, returning it to its mother's frantic attention. In fact, I was unaware of the fact that another kitten was similarly imprisoned until the piercing, heartrending cries continued... Beauty was shielding her kittens with her body. Often, when she changes position, one kitten ends up on the other side. At first I thought that was what had occurred but feeling for another warm little body beneath Beauty met with no success and the crying continued unabated.

I searched beneath the blanket then, but in vain. It was only when I tore everything to pieces that I finally discovered the poor little creature. He had been thrown or had wiggled somehow between two folds of the blanket. I actually expect that Beauty would have found him and rescued him in time. She is very enterprising and very devoted. Even so, I am glad that I was able to restore him to his mother and siblings. I am not certain what the future holds... I daresay my sleep at night will be punctuated with anxiety and frequent visits to the Kittens for the next week or so until their eyes open.

The kittens now have grown to the point where they can move about freely and one actually PURRS. Their genitals have become more pronounced. A quick glance has determined that two are male and two are female. The little Flame is a male. I had begun to suspect as much when his size quickly outpaced that of his siblings. Both males are larger than their sisters. The second female remains smaller than the other three but her appetite is good and I notice that she cleverly nurses while the others sleep, as they can be such bullies, pushing and shoving when they ought to share. I have posted a photograph of the littlest kitten nursing while her siblings sleep peacefully.

Bedtime on 7 December

How perfectly and peacefully they fit together to sleep when their Mum has satisfied every desire... From this idyllic vision alone, you never would imagine the thrashing and endless power struggles that occur when they are awake!

The little Marmalade kitten is going to be a Holy Terror. Last to be born, the Flame began as the smallest and weakest but now is the most active, always trying to steal a nipple from his/her siblings. Although this probably is not the case, the Flame appears to be the one who is most concerned to stay closest to Beauty, pushing all the others out of the way to take the best position.

Progress Report for Monday

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Late on Monday morning, I have nothing dramatic to report, thank God! I do not want any dramatic events to occur with respect to any of the Cats. I was able to change the bedding, after Beauty herself pulled it apart, almost burying the little kittens beneath the old duvet. The current bedding was not intended to be anything but a pad beneath a smoother cover. I will have to find a sheet or smooth towel for the bed. Beauty's claws hook into this multi-coloured throw rag and she tends to take it out with her when she leaps out of the box, throwing the kittens, who finally have been sent off to blissful slumber, into disarray and disorder.

Ash still prowls the boundaries of the box. No doubt he will investigate at some point IF and WHEN Beauty allows it.

Sunday, 6 December

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I feel I am becoming like one of those new mothers who takes hundreds of photographs of her newborn infant, all very much the same to an outsider. It is a sort of healing process for me, however, to document the health and growth of these four little kittens on a daily basis now. I daresay they will not change much until their eyes open, but it nonetheless gives me pleasure to photograph the tiny increments of growth each day.

At least I finally was able to move the bedding a little to turn it on the cleaner side for Beauty. She was slightly suspicious of it afterwards, even though it was the same duvet but accepted it ultimately as the home of her babies.

The tragedy in September has made me aware of every little nuance in the kittens' lives at this early stage. Although they squabble over the milk source, they nonetheless do bond with their littermates. When Beauty leaves the box temporarily to eat or drink, the kittens move into the traditional pile of bodies, snuggling together for warmth and comfort. How very different for the poor little premature kittens in September! Although the September kittens cried a little, it was a very different kind of cry, desperate and laboured. These little ones cry lustily when deprived of their desire, but their voices have no desperation in them. Strong little voices, capable of communicating DIFFERENT emotions... where the poor little ones in September were simply crying hopelessly and with some difficulty. I have heard a dozen different emotions from these kittens. They complain, they whine, they sulk and they articulate as they do battle with their siblings for a nipple. When their mother leaves the box, they usually are asleep, but if one awakens, he/she may cry out once or twice, but seldom with any urgency. Nonetheless, Beauty instantly returns if the kitten cries more than twice!

The photograph that I wished I could have captured was one of the kittens questing for the usual all-important centre of her existence, but finding her mother's mouth instead. It then appeared as though Mother Cat and Kitten kissed. It would have made a sweet photograph, even if that probably wasn't the true meaning. Anything warm and moist would have drawn the kitten... Beauty's mouth mistaken for a moment for another source of milk, no doubt...