Darcy's Darlings are five weeks old

Zephyrine is totally judging my photography skills..

Zephyrine

Photographing these kittens is a little harder since they are in a bathroom. There is no good place to set up a nice background to take their photos on and the lighting is horrible. I ended up rearranging the cage after doing this so there is a little more open floor space for them to run around.

I'm afraid that Darcy's unwillingness to be around me is rubbing off on the kittens so I am doing my best to be a 'good thing'. I've been trying to share the joys of canned food with them. They all like the taste, only Spottacus was able to make the connection to the food outside of his mouth with the yummy taste that was in his mouth. 

Spottacus

They still aren't all that interest in object play, but they might not like the toys I have for them in there. I'll have to bring some new ones in there and see what happens.

Wyatt

Zephyrine

Zephy still has watery eyes. I keep looking for signs of URI, but she has none. No idea what her issue is but I'm keeping an eye on her - and she totally is judging me for it..

Tune in tomorrow for a discussion if you think you might want to adopt one of my foster kitties.. 

#TeamOnyx is now four weeks old

Milo, Ren, Romy, and Kreb are doing well. They are fat and happy kittens that are starting to investigate the world and are just starting to interact with toys. Milo and Kreb have a bit of a belly waddle going on which is super cute. The excess skin was impeeding Milo's ability to get up on his back feet and I was worried that he might have "swimmers syndrome" but as soon as I mentioned I was a bit concerned to the rescue, he got up on his back feet the next morning. He's still not perfect, but he is improving.

Onyx is doing well. I have a hard time not calling her Michaela as she shares a lot of the same traits and personality quirks. Onyx isn't comfortable picking up the kittens like Michaela. Onyx gets a little nervous when the kittens are out of the nest like Michaela and she loves to play like Michaela and also gives up quickly when a kitten is nearby.. like Michaela.. Unlike Michaela, Onyx has a little kink in her tail, and I think it is just a little bit shorter than it 'should be'.  Onyx also has no idea canned food is food, so she is on a dry food diet only..

Milo is still learning where to place his feet. This photo is kind of deceiving as he has never looked this grown up in person.

Kreb is going to be a really cool cat when he grows up, I can see it in his personality, but right now he is still not sure of my grabby hands so he's a little leery of me.

Romy is in love with the CatMan.. but then what girl kitty isn't? She is a total sweetheart and is a bit smaller than her brothers at this point.

Ren is going to be hard to tell apart from Spottacus when they are finally introduced... well when they are free running in the room.  I introduced Spottacus to Onyx's kittens yesterday and Spottacus was quite unsure of what to do.. Onyx took one look at him and took two sniffs and then went off to count kittens.. it was amusing. She will go over to the bathroom door when I leave it open and look in and no longer hisses, which is encouraging, but if Darcy won't come down and introduce herself I am unsure of how to proceed.  I took a nap in the kitten room this weekend, leaving the door open and the lights off and nothing happened.

I would leave the door open and leave but the bedroom is on the top floor and the kitten room is in the basement so I know I would not hear a squabble if one came up *shrug* I am really unsure how to proceed at this point, but I'll keep leaving the door open and hopefully the kittens will make it easy on me. If not, we might have to visit one of the mothers going up for adoption while the other stays behind to do the remaining few weeks of care - but that several weeks from even being a consideration. 

Ren goes on an adventure #teamOnyx

I am going on an adventure! - Ren

It is a big world out there, but I'm ready -Ren

There are large swaths of land to cover, but I'm ready.. 

I mean look how far I've come already!!

Dude, you haven't gone that far - Onyx

Then I'll just go over here, this is far, right mom?? Right?? -Ren

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Just a reminder about the Michaela and her Minions Calendar.
They are currently having a sale of 15% off until Nov 8th, use the code "FIFTEEN"

Onyx's Objects of Affection - naming day #teamOnyx

Just a reminder about the Michaela and her Minions Calendar.
They are currently having a sale of 15% off until Nov 8th, use the code "FIFTEEN"
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Naming kittens is not easy.. Someone suggested that I use gemstone names for Onyx's kittens but I have done that in the past, and I wasn't ready to revisit it. A couple of these names popped up while I was watching Flashdance (MAN Kevin Bacon was young!!), one was a reader suggestion and one came from a clip on the morning news (the entertainment segment). So, without further ado..

Ren

Ren is just loving the camera these days. I have been getting some really great videos for my facebook page.

Milo

Milo is incredibly laid back. You pick him up and he just hangs out, it is adorable. He is solid black but he has a tinge of gray in some of the photos for some reason.

Kreb

Kreb has always been the most "vocal" hissing at me whenever I show up to visit them. He is starting to realize I am not a threat but there are still times that he will. The camera is also loving him quite a bit.

Romy

Romy had a white locket on her chest and a spot on her belly. She is also pretty laid back and she has a nice pudgy belly that I can't stop kissing.

I attempted to take some holiday shots so I can get some Christmas/Holiday cards out this year. I'd share the outtakes with you, but I have a feeling I'd get virtual rotten eggs thrown at my blog..  I'll probably share them when I announce sign-ups for cards. 

Darcy and her Darlings - Naming day

Just a reminder about the Michaela and her Minions Calendar.

Darcy is slightly better but still wants nothing to do with me. She wants time away from the kittens so she sits up on the shelf that is in the cage. She came out of the cage once, that I know of, to look out the window but I caught her out and she hated that.

When I feed her or change out the bedding she sits there with her ears up and looking at me like she expects I'm going to do something annoying but not like she expects I am going to hurt her. I guess I annoy her by existing. I can get her to come towards me a bit if I use food as an enticement and I don't push it too far. I can't get her to jump down from that shelf for food no matter how hungry she is. I can pat her while she is eating, but she really wishes I wouldn't.

I was dubbing around on the internet the other day and ran into two names that I picked for this litter. For some reason girl names aren't coming to me (I have a few other names for the other litter but not all of them yet) so I just googled around and landed on one that I like.. so let me introduce you to..

Zephyrine

Zephie has been having issues with her eyes producing more tears than she needs. I have been waiting and waiting for URI to break but so far she just has some black goop on her eyes and occasionally the lashes will stick together and "glue" her eyes closed. I wipe them and she looks normal. I check her conjunctiva and so far it looks very normal... I hope she outgrows this quickly.

She looks just like her brother except they are mirrors of each other, check out those front legs of her and.. 

Wyatt

Wyatt was not very cooperative when getting his photo taken, this was the best I got. He has a little eye drainage too, but not nearly the issue his sister has.. 

and introducing... 

Spottacus

Because seriously, with those feet, now could I not?!

You can tell he is just about ready to start being able to retract his claws.. poor thing can't right now and I am sure it is uncomfortable.

I have let them out of the cage a couple of times to walk around, but for the most part, Darcy keeps them isolated in the dark because that is where she is comfortable. They still don't have teeth yet, but I am sure that is coming soon.

I have gotten the all clear to attempt to introduce them. I gave it an initial go and Onyx hissed at the cage and when I tried to get her to come by again she refused. I'm going to keep trying because I think they can do each other some good and frankly Darcy's Darlings are going to be too big for that bathroom any day now.