The fur balls are now 22 days old

The kittens are growing very quickly and are staying awake for longer periods of time,

When they were newborns all they did pretty much was to eat and sleep, they are now developing little nubs of teeth and they are walking around better on all four legs, they dragged and scooted the back legs for the first two weeks,

The little black kitten, I call him Cinder, is by far the most advanced to date. He was the first to get his back legs moving well and now goes so fast that he is almost running and then his big fat head throws him off balance and he falls down. They are beginning to play in a clumsy sort of way with each other and trying to bat at strings, balls, mom, etc. They are still quite wobbly and uncoordinated and will lay on their backs waving their little paws at your finger and strings, I must admit that they are quite adorable and are the softest little fur balls, I have really enjoyed watching them grow..

They recognise my voice and come to visit me and sniff my hand whenever I am changing water and food etc. .Mother Abigail is still a good mom and growls at my son and his girlfriend when they come to visit, she is also obsessed with trying to move them at times. Daddy Zack still does not pay much attention to them but would love to do the wild thing with Mom again, I have to make sure he is on the screen porch or in another room when she does take a break from the babies. Just as in real life the mom tends the young and dads have all the fun.

Last weekend, I think it was Sunday morning I came in to check on everyone and Abigail was in her cage which is 4 ft high x 4 ft. wide with three benches at varying heights, Abigail was all alone in the cage. (we call it her kitty condo as she has always slept in it since she was a tiny kitten with the door open) No kittens anywhere. I knew that they had to be in the room because the bedroom door was closed. I have an old Waterfall full size bed in this room , as it serves as a guest room when we have visitors, the bed sits very close to the floor, two inches off the ground I would say, as I can barely get the hose to the vacuum under it when cleaning. I knew the kittens had to be under the bed, so I get down on my tummy with a flashlight and see them way in the back of the floor, near the wall, out of reach, under this bed that practically sits on the floor.

I go get my husband Gary for help, in rescuing the babies, because his arms are longer and perhaps he can reach them. He gets down on his belly with the flashlight and the little black kitten which I call Cinder comes right out wobbling towards the light. All the others are sleeping in a heap and no amount of calling gets them up and moving. I figure that when they are hungry that they will come out just like Cinder.

I get absolutely nothing accomplished this day as I am watching and waiting for the babies to come out, This fiasco begins at around 10:00 am. and continues until 5:30 in the evening. I, meanwhile am laying on my tummy, shining a flashlight with one hand and gently poking the remaining three kittens with a long stick trying to wake them up and am by this point frantic because they have not eaten in many hours and am afraid that they might be comatose or worse. (I stress as bad as mother Abigail about these fur balls)

I finally get Gary to take the bed apart and we rescue the babies and return them to Mom who is in the kitty condo with Cinder, who has had mom all to himself all day and has been nursing most of the day. I told you that he is smart, this kitten is a genius, he has had it made all day long.

Now that I know they are safely tucked away inside the kitty condo with Mom, who has lost open door privileges for causing so much commotion, I feel much better.

Monday morning I open the kitty condo door as I have blocked up all possible openings so that Ms. Abigail cannot take the kittens back under the bed, Zach is asleep on my bed and Abigail is downstairs being social with Zoe and Ms. Lew for a few minutes while the babies are napping. I see Abigail going back up the steps to check on her babies and before I can climb the steps she is running across the upstairs hall with a lilac Himalayan kitten by the scruff of its neck. ( I am keeping this kitten and I have named her Ms. Mischievous Izzie Bella Fuzzybutt. I rescue Izzie and return both of them to the kitty condo with the door closed, as I cannot be constantly chasing Abigail and returning the kittens to the kitty condo. I do realize that it is normal for moms to move their kittens for whatever their reason might be, but in this three story house with three other cats also in residence, I think it is much safer to keep the kittens in the bedroom confined in the kitty condo, away from the other cats, until the babies are big enough to have the run of the house. I can picture the future in my mind already, Abigail is not going to be happy in the next few weeks when the kittens climb out of the kitty condo and become independent, and are not constantly underneath her feet where she can keep an eye on them.

Stay tuned for more of the perils of Abigail and the growing kittens.