Cattery of Arda
- Oct 4, 2021
- 4 min read

27. Lots of purring and playing

I now have Lúthien and Elbereth's kittens all in one room (yikes!) until their pick up day - which is this Saturday! I walked in just now to get some updated pictures and three were in a hammock and as I'm walking towards them (not even touching them yet) two start to purr in anticipation of attention! Schatzi, Tonks, and Olive were the three who woke up from their nap to purr for me :) they're so adorable :) Most of the others were too busy playing for such things, but that's cute in its own right. When I brought them into the house last week a few of the kittens were a bit shy, both of us and unfamiliar sounds, and with each other. Now? Nope. Hardly any shyness going on now! They don't even seem to mind the vacuum cleaner much anymore - which gets used a LOT with all 10 kittens in the same space - good thing they're all so adorable as they can get quite messy as a large group! Because there are so many of them, I do keep them in their 'cage' at night and also if we have to run out for groceries or something - but they don't mind. They have a hammock in there and they all settle into respective kitten piles pretty quickly when the door is closed as they're used to the routine now. They get their homemade wet food at night and know that they sleep after without much fuss. Lúthien's been nursing them all, still - and I do mean all! It took her a few days but then she accepted Elbereth's kittens no problem and doesn't differentiate caring for them all. She's such a good mother :)

Tonight the kittens will be getting their last dose of Pyrantel (de-wormer) from me and then it's up to their new owners after that! Hard to believe that at this time next week they'll be settled into their new, fur-ever homes! (These kittens do not need long to settle into their new surroundings and completely take over your house - er, heart!) :D I'll go over any specifics or questions you may have about these first few days when you pick up your new kitten(s) on Saturday.

Some of these kittens will be going home in pairs, and I've receive questions about how well they're bonded. So far, because they have so many other siblings and half-siblings to be around, I don't have any that are super particular with whom they cuddle up to or play with. However, once their in their (your!) new home, they will naturally gravitate toward each other and bond more visibly.

Update on Galadriel: She's huuuge! The babies are so active, too! I expect her to have her babies at any time, now. (I'm regularly visiting them and checking the webcam I have in their tiny house as it could be as early as today, even.) I learned my lesson about guessing how many the girls will have, because there have been times when I've thought, "oh, she's probably got 3 in there" and it turns out to be five, and vice versa. So, we'll all just be surprised together :)

Elbereth is hopefully pregnant, but not by more than a couple of weeks, so I don't have any confirmation on that - she won't start to show "signs" until another month or so if she is in fact pregnant. Lúthien just went back in heat, but I'm going to hold her off for just a while longer so there can be some space between Elbereth and Lúthien's next litters. There were some upsides to having these last two so close together, but it also made things more complicated and I think I like having a little breathing room between their ages. But, I know it can't be completely controlled :) I do know that Lúthien doesn't usually need more than a day or two of quality time with Radagast - whereas Elbereth does seem to (which makes is so much harder to count her pregnancy weeks/expected birth time). Maybe that will come in time...

Future possible timeline: Galadriel's litter is due any day now - they will likely be going home either the weekend before Christmas or week of Christmas. Assuming she is pregnant, Elbereth's next litter would be born around Thanksgiving or so, then would go home at the very end of January or beginning of February. If Lúthien is a few weeks after, then hers would be going home mid to late February or so. Again, I cannot predict accurately anything dealing with nature here, but this is a possible scenario for the next few litters for the planning purposes of those who are on the waitlist. The girls seem to average four kittens per litter. Lúthien has had litters of three in the past, though.

Ok, enough of all that - here are some recent pictures :)

Olive - such a sweetie!