Chronicles of the Xmas Kittens – Journal Entry 5

I'm hugely busy at the moment and am working 12 hour days in my office so this is a quick update post on the progress of the Xmas kittens (I promise you lots of pics soon).

• They are doing well but progress is slow – it's two steps forward and one step back, as I am introducing myself to them each time I go into the old home gym room where they are currently living. It takes about ten minutes for them to come out. I am walking around on all fours like a cat to keep close to the ground so as not to intimidate them, and am getting quite filthy from the concrete and old carpet in the process. Never mind ... it's all for the greater good.
• They did not eat for the first 24+ or so hours until I introduced my "Big Brother" buffer cat Samson into the mix. They came out to communicate with him and followed his lead at the eating bowl. Now they are comfortable doing it by themselves in front of me.
• Out of the two of them, the black one is the lead cat. However, I am happy to say that the other white one with rust patches is beginning to relax. I think he's a he, because I caught sight of his genitals underneath the tail the other day. I won't be able to confirm this until I have him on my lap and can check it out more closely.
• The key times to get them to come out of hiding are in the morning between 6 and 10 and in the afternoon/evening after 4pm. This is important information and is consistent with all other cats I've socialised.
• They are interacting with me via the ping pong ball game I talked about in previous post and via the side-sweeping leaf.
• They are exceptionally alert and intelligent – they have figured out that the corridor in the folded over mattress in the fold up bed is an excellent place to navigate for fun or to hide in.
• They have delicate triangular pixie features and long dainty limbs. The black one has a little white diamond at its throat and its belly has a big white patch on it. He/she has two little white claws on its back paws.
• Good signs – they are eating from their bowl, playing in the cat tunnel and prowling around the perimeter of the room while I am there. I am able to sit within about two feet of some of their activities.
• More good signs – their body language is revealing that they are progressively relaxing. I They clean themselves in front of me, their eyes often look dreamy, and they have dropped onto their sides on the floor near to where I am sitting.
• They have had a growth spurt since they have been eating more and are now slightly longer than their two siblings I still have to catch from the drain.
• The two in the drain are extraordinarily smart. I nearly caught the black one on two occasions but he/she darted away. I am having to adapt the original plan because they are onto me. I have changed the position of where I sit and am making it more difficult for them to predict what I am going to do. They are being more cautious, but I have to be smarter. I am feeling the time constraint of catching them and getting them into the gym with the other two. I need them all to remember each other so they don't get territorial.
• More when I surface again.