Kitteh Siblings rock!

I haven't been so good about keeping up with reporting on the kittehs now that they are getting older, but they are all doing well and adjusted into the bigger kitteh family.

Ash is the rambunctious teenager who knows that he shouldn't be doing things but can't keep himself from trying new things & repeating old silly things. He is our climber in the family. He will find a way to get to any high perch in the house.... and not always the easiest way. He will make his way to the top of open doors (propped open securely) and then to the top of a ledge above a closet.... and then back down a different way. He ... as much as we try to stop it, we can't seem to... will climb up the window frames & hang by one nail from the window curtains and then jump down and repeat it over again. He is the one to keep me on my toes for sure. When Ash has had enough play though, he will completely collapse into the cuddliest ball of fur in Mike's lap and stay there for hours.

Smirk on the other hand is a completely different sibling. He is the quiet one and loves to have his head rubbed but isn't as big on cuddles. He will be cuddly for short periods of time but he is taking after Pickles more in being a proximity kitteh. He wants to be near you and see what you are doing but not really want to cuddle.

So I am pretty sure from those descriptions, you can see who would be easier to try to sew around and who makes it a complete challenge...

Smirk sometimes gets annoyed at his brother for his constant pestering but more often than naught, the two of them have some of the best play sessions. Watching kitteh siblings together rocks! It is such a different dynamic than 2 cats who grow up apart and then were brought into the same house.

Today's The Daily Kitten has two kitteh siblings and I think their pictures demonstrate how cool kitteh siblings together can be.

Brit & Nugget Update

It is always so nice when Lauren sends us updates about Brit & Nugget. They are doing really well and it sounds as though they are being as wonderful to her as she is to them. We couldn't be more pleased with the family that they have made together with Lauren.

Along with her updates, she sends photos of the little guys who like ours, aren't so little anymore. They are going on 8 months old and definitely beginning to look more and more like little adult cats.

Here is a photo of Brit & Nugget that she sent which I couldn't resist scrapping.

Kurious Kitty...

Today, I blogged about an adventure with Ash over on my scrapbooking blog as it fit into my blogging class prompts from yesterday and today. You can find the post Kurious Kitty here. Just a hint of Ash in the photo but it is very typical for his curious nature to show up in my photos like this.

A change of times for kittehpile!

With Mydnight's departure to her new home this week, we are now entering a change of times for kittehpile!

Ash and Smirk remain with us and are in the process of becoming Guenthers. Smirk attached himself to us early on and let us know that he wanted to stay with us and we caved. Ash, originally had a home to go to but as I believe I informed you, due to allergies, that fell through. We haven't received any further inquiries about him and he has taken Smirk's path of twisting us around his little paw. They are two of the sweetest and biggest cuddle monsters ever so we have caved and are in the process of teaching them to be permanent Guenthers.

We took a vacation recently and had a cat sitter in to look after them. That seemed to be exactly what was in order for the kittens and older cats to come to an understanding when the humans were away. They appear to have sorted out their problems and we came home to a much happier and cohesive household. The kittens and older cats are co-existing & interacting with one another more rather than keeping distance from one another.

The last few months have been both trying at times to also being extremely emotionally rewarding. Clousette and 4 of her 6 kittens have all been adopted out now so we have achieved our mission; seeing them find loving, forever homes.

Therefore, kittehpile will now be taking a slight change for the times. It will still feature updates on Ash and Smirk (as well as any other updates I get about the others' from their new parents) but it will now also expand to include our 3 adult cats. Cosmo - our 6 1/2 year old orange tabby grumpy but cuddly boy. Piccolo - our 3 1/2 year old blue russian proximity girl. Tasha - our ~ 2 year old orange tabby girl stray rescue from earlier this year. They all have distinct and amusing personalities and quirks so hopefully you will still continue to enjoy following them along with the kittens as they grow up.

Clousette & Mydnight update

So it has been a few weeks since Clousette went to her new home. She has continued to be the so sweet and lovable cat we came to hold a very special spot in our hearts for. Her new mamma is showering her with lots of love.

Mydnight had her surgery a couple of weeks ago and was ready to have her stitches out & rejoin her mamma in her new home this week. She made the journey and rejoined mamma on Friday. They picked up where they left off and had a beautiful reunion.

Their new mamma is really enjoying having them in her life and we are so thankful that she was able to give them both a home so that they could stay together.

I received a few photos of them today and will try to get them posted shortly.

Kitten & Mamma update

Today, mamma Clousette is on her way to her new home via an overnight trip to her new mamma's friend's house. Her new mamma, Robin, works with a lady, Amy, who has picked up Clousette and is taking her to her home for the night. Amy works in the same office as Robin on Fridays up in northern Georgia so is acting as transporter for us.

In a couple of weeks, Mydnight will be rejoining Clousette in her new home with Robin as well. Mydnight is scheduled to go in for her surgery the middle of next week and then needs a couple of weeks recuperation time before the stitches come out and she is ready to travel to her new home.

We think that they will be happy in their new home and are anxiously awaiting news as to how Clousette adjusts to her new home tomorrow. She adjusted very well to ours so we expect it to go well. She is such a loving kitty and hope that she will continue to show her sweetness and love to her new mamma.

The remaining kittens have been with mamma for almost 14 weeks now so should have a great beginning and ready to be without mamma. They did fine when she went in overnight for her surgery and even were cuddlier with us while she was at the vet's so we are excited to see how they are now with her gone.

Ash playing dog

A little video of Ash playing with Mike... we are beginning to wonder if he has parts dog to him. The sounds isn't the greatest but if you listen closely, you can hear him growl from time to time when he has the toy in his teeth. He does this when playing with toys, he will grab it in his mouth and then pull at it & shake it about, growling the whole time. It is his play style. He does it to his little octopus toy all the time and is adorable to watch.

Due to unforeseen allergies, Ash is still looking for a home. Wouldn't he make a lovely addition to yours?

Some new kitteh layouts

Here are a couple of new kitteh layouts. Thank you Lauren for the photos of Nugget & Brit!

Computer Kittehs!

It turns out that we've managed to raise a bunch of computer obsessed kittens. Smirk is always watching my screen and then going for a nap on top of the router. Both Mydnight and Ash will also watch the computer screen intently and bat at the moving things.

Kitteh Update

Ash is still with us. Unfortunately, his mom to be found out this weekend while looking after friends’ cats that she is much more severely allergic than she realized so is unable to take him afterall.

Ash, Mydnight and Smirk are all doing great and having fun playing around with one another. Our other cats are beginning to warm up to them more and more everyday.

Clousette has been going in and out of heat this last week or so which has been annoying but also informative. While she is in heat, she is friendly to the other cats and they just think she is an annoyance but get along with her better. When she is not in heat, she gets more protective and the other cats avoid her like crazy. She has been going in and out of heat every couple of days.. fertile little girl but she is not going to see ANY action! We have been very careful to make sure that she doesn’t get out looking for boys.

Her appointment to be fixed is this Tuesday so that will take care of that issue and hopefully, her mood will be better once that is out of the way. However, it is not looking great for being able to get our other cats to accept her as she has been so nice and then smack them protective insane mamma.

She is an absolutely amazing people cat. So cuddly and attentive and wonderful personality. But other cats near her babies is a completely different story. So we are going to see if we can find her a home with no other cats as she would make someone a fantastic companion!!

Sad but Happy Times

It is sad but also happy times... 3 of our little guys are headed off to their new homes this weekend and another one is heading out in another week.

Nugget and Brit will be the first to head out tomorrow afternoon. Originally, Nugget was just heading out tomorrow but the lady adopting him has decided that she would like Nugget to have a companion. She had originally been debating between Nugget and Brit and then decided on Nugget for sure as his photos just tugged her emotions hard as being the one. Today, she inquired about whether Brit and Nugget were good friends and they are best buds. So she has decided to give them both a home with her. I am sure Brit and Nugget will appreciate being kept together as they are often playing with one another and have similar personalities. They both love to play tackle and sneak up unsuspectingly on the other one and then chase each other.

Then on Sunday, Masq is headed out to his new family and home. He is going to a couple’s home with their other family member, Maggie, a 38lb dog. Maggie and Masq seemed to get along well when Maggie came over to meet him. At the time, Masq was more interested in playing with his brothers than with Maggie but was one of the few kittens to not be phased one bit by Maggie and even was curious and investigative as soon as she came in. Once he had investigated her and determined she was okay, he went right back to playing with his brothers. So as kitten and dog combos go, we think they will work things out fine and become good companions for one another fairly quickly.

It is going to be nice to know that they have new homes to go to and people to love and get attached to them. We love them and are fairly attached but we have known from the beginning that we would have to let them go so have been preparing for this day... it is just still hard that it is coming now. Time has flown by!

On Thursday, the boys went in for their “special vet visit” to be fixed so we only had mamma and Mydnight home as we have decided to wait longer before having Mydnight fixed as the female operation is a lot more involved and we would like her to be a bit older first. It was amazingly a LOT quieter just having our own 3 and mamma and Mydnight around. Mamma and Mydnight are both pretty calm kittehs so it didn’t seem like much difference with those 5 home as our normal 3 seem. When the boys returned on Friday morning, it was back to the fun but chaotic times of a full household. With the boys around, Mydnight plays a little more and the boys definitely play a lot more.

So having 3 boys leaving this weekend, the 3 most active boys, it is going to be a noticeable difference come Monday morning I am sure.

Ash has a home to go to but won’t be leaving until about Labor Day as he is going home with our friends Amy and Jared. They are taking him back to a friend and coworker of Amy’s who fell in love with Ash at first sight. He is an adorable and cuddly “little” guy. Hard to really call him a “little” guy as he is by far the sturdier build of all the kittens. He is built differently than the rest and such a different coloring than anyone else. He is a mix of cuddle monster and play with me monster. He is an adorable monster and I am sure is going to make Dana a good kitten.

That leaves the two that Mike and I have been going back and forth on wanting to keep for ourselves, Mydnight and Smirk, without homes yet. We are playing it by ear. If we find them homes, we will try to as we believe it would be more fair to them and to our other cats if they had families of their own. However, they are welcome to stay with us as long as is needed to find them good homes.

We think it would be best if we went back to just our 3 so will continue trying to find Mydnight, Smirk and Clousette homes. We love them all but those 3 really have bonded much more with us than the 4 that have found homes so it will be especially hard when it comes time to let them go off to new homes.

So it is sad times but also happy times... new families, new beginning, everlasting in our hearts and memories...

Oh noes! The hidey hole is blocked!

I tried to get back into the bed hidey hole today and daddy blocked it! He was all "You don't have to go in there!" and "Hey! Stop trying to pull that out!"

Spreading Out

A bunch of us are spending a lot of time sleeping in the biiiig cat tower out in the living room. The pink people are always surprised that we can get all the way to the top :)

At night, we took a vote and we are trying to take as much of daddy's side of the bed as possible. No more piles for us! Yay for spreading out all over!

Weight update

Today, we gave the kittehs another weighing to see how they are coming along nearing the 8 week mark when they could be fixed. We need them to be at least 8 weeks and 2 pounds in weight in order for them to be able to handle the anesthesia.

Their weights are deceptive as some of them appear to be much larger than the others in build and some appear quite petite. However, when weighed, they are all fairly close in weight. Ash looks the biggest in structure and fluffiness and as expected, is the heavy weight of the litter at 2 pounds 4 ounces. Masq looks the smallest in stature however, he comes in just slightly ahead of Mydnight to stay out the light weight spot. Mydnight, the only girl of the litter, is the light weight at 1 pound 15 ounces. Masq is next at 1 pound 15 1/4 ounces. Nugget also looks small but weighed in at 2 pounds. Smirk was 2 pounds 1 ounce and Brit weighed in at 1 pound 15 1/2 ounces. By this time next week when they are officially 8 weeks old, they all should have surpassed the 2 pound mark.

We aren’t rushing to get them fixed as soon as they pass the 8 week mark as it is still a bit of a risk doing it so young but will make sure that they are fixed before they go to their new homes. Being mostly boys as well, it isn’t quite as risky as the more involved surgery that Mydnight will need. She can wait a little longer as we haven’t lined up a home for her yet... surprising a bit as she is such a beauty and sweet little girl.

So far, we have potential homes for Ash and Masq. Ash won’t be going to his new home until the beginning of September so we knew he had time to put on weight if needed but Masq’s prospective parents are coming to meet him tomorrow so we wanted to see how close he was to being able to be snipped once he is old enough and he is doing well.

Oh! There are more rooms!

We found out that there are more rooms and some more cats outside the bedroom through the climbing door.

After much exploration and play we had a nap on the big cat tower and then more play. Momma was worried and kept following us all over the place.

Been a good day for 'sploration. Having another nap now!

Sleepin' on the people

People are interesting to sleep on. They are warm and soft, but you have to be careful if they move. They also don't appreciate sliding down their back with claws.

Smirk

The Daily Kitten

The kittens are now being featured on The Daily Kitten. Yesterday was Ash’s feature day and today is Brit’s. Over the next few days, each kitten is going to be featured on their own day.

They are continuing to grow and play more and more and snuggle more and more.

Will update more over the next few days but today I am trying to get through all of the photos of my wonderful weekend away with friends.

Peaceful & Sweet Mydnight

When Mydnight takes a moment to rest, she looks like a little angel. A precious soul full of love and desire to be near you. She loves to make sure you know she is at your feet and is tickled happy if you pick her up and let her see the world from higher up.


Scrapping Note: More of MaryAnn’s new products over at twopeasinabucket.com in addition to some familiar favorite items from Anna Aspnes, Katie Pertiet and Lynn Grieveson over at Designer Digitals.

Silly Smirk

A layout about Smirk and his fascination with getting his paws wet in the shower after we leave and then shaking them off and having a little slurp session of the shower floor water. He is so adorable and such a sweet kitteh! even making funny faces, he is adorable.



Scrapping side note: So happy to see that designer MaryAnn Wise has a new home over at twopeasinabucket.com so I don’t have to lose out on her great designs. I really am loving her new antique sewing machine journal boxes! and isn’t that date stamp just gorgeous?! Click the photo for a larger size including credits.

Feet! ack wet! ... Feet! ack wet!

Found dadeh's feet and started playin, then I gots wet! I went off to play with Ash and then came back to attack dadeh's feet again and got wet AGAIN! I'm leavn da feets alone for now.

Nugget

(I started using the water spray bottle to teach them not to attack socks/feet. It seems to be working)