Hello! I hope everyone had an excellent Christmas and Happy New Year! So hard to believe that we're already finishing up the first week of 2023! I've written "2022" a couple of times so far at work this week, and I hope my brain switches over to the new year soon!

There are a lot of male kittens around right now! Galadriel had 3 and Lúthien's entire litter is male! Usually there's at least one of representation of each gender in these litters; this might be the first or second time that I've had a litter comprised completely of just one. :/ It's made it a little tricky to match people's preferences for a kitten or pair of kittens without having a good balanced mix of genders and colors. Most of Galadriel's are a dark champagne, but Lúthien does have a good color mix this time around: sables, blues, and I'm pretty sure one platinum. I need another week or so (and better lighting) to feel more confident about that last call.

It's been so fun watching Galadriel's kittens grow into their personalities and gain confidence over the past few weeks! Keeping them in a (large) confined area has been wonderful for litter box training and keeping their bodies on a schedule. We only had two or three litter box "accidents" this time around, for the whole litter! They were little pros by the time 6 weeks came around and I let them out into the larger cattery area for supervised run and play time. They go absolutely nuts for wand toys and balls (they love the kind with bells inside!). They chase each other, hide behind an object and then launch themselves at a passing sibling to tackle them surprised, and just prance around (literally) exploring their new environment. (See how much Pink loves her sister Purple - who she's playfully biting below!) When it's time for sleep, they all curl up together, usually in a large hammock (as in the first pic above). Galadriel is such a good mamma! she sits and watches them run around and play, and every now and then walks over to them, "talks" to them, then lets them resume without parental oversight. It's cool to watch out adult cats will "teach" young kittens how to behave. For those of you who have existing cats right now and are bringing home a kitten, you'll see that too, likely. I've even seen adult cats give kittens a (gentle!) swat on the nose if they're misbehaving - that's how they learn! :)

It's hard to believe that they're going to be 8 weeks old tomorrow! I will give them their first round of kitten booster shots tomorrow and then the following week they have their wellness check with the vet. Soon after that they'll be going to their new homes! I'll bring them in the main house prior to that for closer observation and more intense human socialization. I have found that keeping them contained not only helps with their litter box training but also their socialization too; they can see us at all times, but still feel safe in their area - and are much more confident than previous litters where I did not use this method. I've never had a kitten have adjustment issues when they go to their new homes, to be clear, but these past three litters or so have been even more confident than expected. We started feeding them wet food about a week ago (see pic below) and they love it! Some litters will have a "take it or leave it" attitude, but all but "Purple" love the wet food this time around. She'll eat it, but she doesn't race up the stairs to get it when we bring it in. (For more information on this wet food, see my Resources page.) They know the routine now - Burmese/Thai imported breeds are so smart!

Galadriel's kittens are all claimed except for one little guy. I'm working with current waitlisters for him this weekend and I should know early next week who's the lucky family who will take him home! Galadriel's kittens have a planned pick up date of January 28, 2023. The tentative date for Lúthien's will likely be February 25, 2023. I have not begun official offers for Lúthien's kittens yet but will in the coming weeks.

Lúthien's kittens are growing! They are 3 and ½ weeks old now! Her little troop of boys are doing really well; I've moved them all from her small birthing "nest" to a larger contained area and they're just now starting to stumble around and explore their new environment. I have food and water in there, but they're not too interested at the moment - their first priority is nursing (when not sleeping of course!). It's adorable that when I come to "talk" to them, several will hiss at me - so cute! :D They'll change their perspective on human attention that soon as they always do :) A few of them will start to walk/crawl towards me when I talk to them, too.

Lúthien is a great mom, as always; she stays with them almost all the time right now, but will start to ease up in the coming weeks as she is needed less vitally. Kittens cannot regulate their body temperature until about two weeks old, so it's dangerous for them to be left unattended for long from momma. Amazing how instinct works in all that - they just know at what "time" they can start letting them have more independence and when they can survive without her constant presence!

Well, I hope that you enjoyed this update on these adorable kittens! For those of you currently on the waitlist, I'll be reaching out with availability for Lúthien's litter in the coming weeks! If you would like a kitten in the future and are not on the list, please visit the Application page for how to get in line for one of these beautiful kittens!