Feline Friday: A Kitten Update

I realized I hadn't posted a report on The Wild Bunch in a while, and since I just took them all to the vet on Wednesday for shots and exams, I figured this would be a good time.

They're all doing very well--getting along with each other and Angus. They're technically not kittens anymore, since Harry Dresden is 15 months old and Koshka and Ember are about 17 months. But they still ACT like kittens, ramming around and getting into things and occasionally breaking something. (Sigh.)

 This is Koshka, playing with all the toys at once.

 Harry seemed to enjoy his first Samhain/Halloween. He went dressed as a witch's cat.

 Ember is turning into a bit more of a cuddler than she was in the beginning, although when she comes to bed with me she still insists on sleeping down by my calves.

 Two black cats, but as different from each other as they can be.

 I call Koshka my "Fluffernutter," because he is both fluffy and nuts.

Angus gets along with everyone, thank goodness. He's enjoying being the one in charge for a change.

The vet report was good. Everyone is healthy. Ember is actually the heaviest, at 10.4 lbs--and because she's small, I'm going to have to watch her weight. She's a tiny bit tubby. Harry Dresden weighed 10.3 and is sleek and fast as a demon, and Koshka is 9.7 lbs--all that fur is deceptive, and he looks larger than he is. The other two have probably stopped growing. If Koshka is part Maine Coon, as we think, they can keep growing for 2 or 3 years, so he might get a bit bigger.

I still miss Magic and Mystic terribly, and these guys aren't as consistent about keeping me company in bed, which is rough and makes me threaten to get another cat...but mostly they are wonderful and I feel very lucky to have found them all.

Kitty Update: Koshka

The new kitties are getting big enough that it is hard to look at them and think "kitten" instead of "cat." Until they start ramming around, getting into everything, and then it is clear that they are still kittens at heart.

Koshka is a little bit bigger than he was, but at about 10-11 months old, it is still clear that he isn't likely to get nearly as large as he probably should have been, because of his rough start at life (in a 25-cat hoarding situation with his sister Ember). He looks more and more like a Maine Coon Cat or a Norwegian Forest Cat every day, with long hair and a tail that looks like it has a mind of its own! Thankfully, he is very cooperative about being brushed.

He gets along fine with Harry Dresden and Angus, as well as his sister, and is generally a very mellow kitten. But he does get into EVERYTHING, especially if food or paper are involved. Luckily, he is so sweet, I mostly forgive him... He also chews on my shoes, so maybe he was a puppy in another life?

Here he is:

He loves to sit in the window and watch what's going on outside

with his sister

Brush my belly now!

With his favorite toy. I had to get three of them!

 I call him my "Fluffernutter" because he is both fluffy and completely nuts.

What do you think? Isn't he gorgeous?

Meet Ember and Koshka

I'm still recovering from the loss of Magic and Mystic last month, but little Harry Dresden has settled in well and he and Angus are already pals. So yesterday I added two more (the last two, really) to the household. Ember (the little gray and orange girl) and Koshka (the long-haired lion-cat boy, named after the dragon-cat in Wickedly Powerful) were rescued from a 25 cat hoarding situation, so no one is completely sure of their ages or if they are brother and sister, although that's probable. It's thought they are about 7-8 months old, so not that much older that Harry, who is 5 months old. For now they are hanging out in the kitchen, but I hope to integrate them all soon...

Aren't they gorgeous? I hadn't intended to get three more--just two to take the places of Magic and Mystic. But up until a couple of years ago, I'd had five for a long time, and when I saw Koshka when I went to visit Ember, and could see that they were attached to each other, I just had to take him too. I wanted to give Harry and Angus a chance to bond (which they have) and didn't want to overwhelm Angus with three new kitties at once, besides, Ember still had to be neutered (and the cat sanctuary woman who had taken her in was willing to pay to get it done), so I've been waiting to bring them home.

But now they're here, and my house is full again. I'm still grieving for Magic and Mystic, but I'm pretty sure Magic sent me all three of the new kitties, as I asked her to, and that really helps.

Now we just have to get everyone settled in...

Ember. Look at that sweet face!

Koshka. Can you tell he'd been crawling behind the cookbooks?

Ember. I suspect she's going to stay pretty small.

This one, I'm not so sure about!

Apparently they call this coloring a blue tortie or a dilute tortie or calico.

Fluffy!