Awww, the babies are growing up so quick. They’re nearly six months now, and will be going in for the snip-snip in a few weeks. I tried to take some photos of them this morning, but man! Its so hard to photograph animals, they don’t stay still, and I’m not a good enough photographer to know how to compensate. For every one halfway decent shot there were ten blurred shots. Very frustrating. But here are some of the not too bad ones:
Pip, bless his heart, is a little tubby. His belly is decidedly rotund. And his legs are short. As a consequence, when he sits, he rests on his belly. I’ve never known a cat do this before. But then I’ve never had a cat that was so tubby.
This intent look was produced by dangling his favourite toy over the top of the camera. Pip is a dedicated hunter, and has a little squeaky elephant that he carries everywhere in his mouth. I throw it for him and he launches himself into midair after it, then brings it back to me to be thrown again. Wherever he is hiding in the house, all you have to do is squeak that toy, and he comes pelting to get it.
He’s very brave, and very inquisitive. A few weeks ago, it was a chilly day, and I had the woodburner lit. And he jumped onto it. Poor sweetheart. He won’t do that twice. He didn’t seem hurt, and didn’t limp afterwards or seem in pain, but about a week later, the top layer of skin on his paw pads came off. Ouch.
Squeak looks rather anxious in this photo, and that pretty much sums him up. He’s a little worrier. The slightest noise, anything or anyone unfamiliar, and he hides under the bed. However, he becomes Very Brave whenever there is food around. He’s such a little pig (and yet is not tubby like Pip) and growls fiercely as he’s eating. And he’ll eat anything, even spicy food. But he hates the smell of pears, and hides under the bed whenever I eat one.
He is very, very loving, and has the same trick that Snickers had, of flopping onto his back right on top of your feet, when he sees you in the morning. He has another trick, slightly less endearing, of scrabbling at the bedroom door in the dawn, wanting to be let in. He doesn’t scratch with his claws, but his little paw pads squeak against the paintwork and wake us up. When you open the door he pelts in, leaving Pip standing in the background looking all sweet and innocent.
These two are such characters, and so lovable. Jaffa is slightly better with them now, especially Pip, who always has to have a good sniff when Jaffa comes into the house. But he’s become accustomed to sleeping in the workshop now, where he has a fat pillow to sleep on, placed in the window so its in the sunshine. I think he may reconsider when the weather gets colder though. I hope so. I want to see the three of them snuggled up in front of the fire.
ETA: Today has been a bit of a breakthrough, actually! The weather here is rotten, really rainy, and Jaffa doesn’t want to be outside. He has been in three times today, staying a good hour each time, sitting on the sofa and seeming quite calm even though the kittens are in the same room. He’s having a good old lick now, with the sofa all to himself. I daren’t move in case I break the spell!!
