Toddlers

This week saw Tabbytha’s kittens becoming 4 weeks old and Mowse’s 3 weeks.  The age gap is closing rapidly.  When the little Ts opened their eyes at 2 weeks, the little Ms followed the next day at just 8 days old.

cot is very full

standing room only for tabs

The cot is becoming very very full, and although most of the time they still squash into there, I’ve also found Tabbytha taking the odd break and having some space.  Often during those times Mowse is patiently dealing with the little Ts smacking her in the face.  Mowse does appear to be the more maternal of the pair.  Tab rushes to the food at mealtimes while Mowse stays in the cot feeding the little ones.  Tabs does come back and help with cleaning and getting them into their pyjamas and ready for bed, but she’s not as much of a slave to them as Mowse.

tabbytha with kits

mowse with kits

A few days ago we had the first adventurings of Timothy…. first kit out the nest and looks like he’s going to be trouble.  He toddled out, up the ladder on the scratch post, and then wailed until Aunty Mowse came to get him down.

Timothy leaving the nest

starting to climb …

… and getting stuck

Notice that its Mowse who rescues him.  Tabs, his mum, joined in the conversation about what to do to sort the problem out … but ultimately it was Mowse who came and sorted it.   He she is smacking his bottom and sending him back to bed

The rescue is full, but when we got an email on Wednesday about a tiny kitten found alone in a garden …… well ….

Simon arrives

Simon is probably a wee bit older than Tabbytha’s kits – he’s able to feed himself and use the litter tray – though he’s a little smaller than them. He has a big purrsonality though.

He’s hoping to be an IT consultant when he grows up.   Apart from being a wizz at Candy Crush, he’s so far managed to copy and paste my messenger conversation with one person and send it to someone else, and reorganise my drop box files.   Uncle Alan came on Friday to do some work on our new website ….. so Simon discussed apprenticeship options with him

As he’s about the same age as Tab & Mowse’s kittens I thought it might be good for him to spend a bit of time playing with them.   It felt very much like going to playgroup ….. being eyed up by the other mummies and not quite fitting in. Simon looked like he wanted to play but sat anxiously on my lap for a while.   I persuaded him that Timothy looked like a nice little boy and maybe they could play together, and he toddled off, occasionally returning to my lap for reassurance.

Simon showed Tim what fun it was to play in the litter tray, while Tim showed Simon how to play with Tab’s tail (no photos of that … focused on being ready to grab Si if Tab took exception to it).  Huge respect to both Tabs and Mowse who took another kitten completely within their stride.  Mowse gave him a wash because she had her flannel out and was generally grabbing kittens to clean them. They sit there patiently whilst the kits smack them in the face, play with their tails and ears.

simon invited for tea

Timothy invited Simon back for tea ….but Si was a bit unsure about it and after going into the nest ran back to me. He wants Timothy to come and play on the computer with him tomorrow.