Is the tape around the litter box hole to smooth the edges? I make my litter boxes out of tubs too, but have found that using a lighter to melt the opening makes them smooth with no sharp edges at all. And no tape to grab at furs. There’s a little smell when melting, but they don’t catch fire or anything.
That’s exactly what the tape is for. I did try melting the plastic after I cut the hole in the box, but the plastic was already melted so jaggedy (I used a hot knife to cut the hole, and it was VERY slow and nightmarish) that a lighter didn’t really work for me. On the other hand, I made another litter box yesterday (this one with a much lower opening, to make it easier for the kittens to get in and out of it) and this time used the Dremel that I bought specifically for that purpose, and then sanded it with coarse sandpaper, and it worked well.
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I got the new banner! The one of Les Chatons! The slightly bigger format works well – showing off the varying shades of eye color and furs, and of course that famous Francois grin! I hope you have more plans for that shot: mugs, cards, T-shirts, posters, etc. It is fabulous! Merci beaucoup!
I don’t have any plans, but you guys tell me what kind of merchandise you’d like to see that picture on, and I’ll see what I can do.
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I don’t know what kind of stats you keep on your litters, but how does this litter stack up, behavior-wise? The constant movement of the little ones, not all sleeping in a group at the same time, apathetic mama, etc. There doesn’t seem to be much cohesion in this group compared to the last two. Very curious, indeed.
I don’t keep any stats other than weights, but I would say that this litter is comparable to all the others we’ve had. Moving the kittens happened more with this bunch, but the apathetic/disinterested mama thing is absolutely par for the course. Margeaux’s keeping them well fed and checks on them if they’re in distress, but like most mothers at this point I think she’s ready to be done (and I imagine she’s thinking “I SAID I NEVER WANTED TO BE A MOTHER, LADY” at me). The kittens pile up and sleep together all the time, and if they’re not sleeping or nursing, they follow each other around the room and play-fight, check out the litter box, and so on.
Also, as far as the moving-kittens thing goes, I can’t remember if I ever wrote about it when it was happening, or if I just refused to because I was so mad while it was going on, but I’ll tell the story and y’all can tell me if it sounds familiar.
As you may or may not recall, Charles and Caroline had the run of the entire upstairs even before she birthed her kittens because Charles dislikes a closed door and HE’S GOT LUNGS. So Caroline had her kittens, and she and Charles still had the run of the upstairs, and all was well. She’d leave the room to relax, but was vigilant and would run back in to check on the kittens at the slightest peep.
AND THEN.
All of a FRICKIN’ SUDDEN, when they were a couple of weeks old, Caroline decided that the kittens needed to be MOVED, and she started MOVING THEM from the foster room to under Fred’s bed, which is a bit of a haul when you’re carrying chunky kittens, and Charles would actually help her move the kittens, but I’d hear a screamy kitten yelling, and would go upstairs to see what was going on, and there’d be a few kittens under Fred’s bed, a few kittens in the foster room, and invariably one abandoned kitten shrieking in the hallway as though Caroline had moved a kitten or two and then said “Oh, forget this – let’s go get a drink.” She and Charles would be LOLLING around in a far corner of the upstairs without a care in the world. Finally, we got into a routine where I’d move the kittens into Fred’s room in the morning, block the doorway with some litter buckets (so the kittens couldn’t escape the room), and then at bed time everyone went back into the foster room. It worked, for the most part, although every now and then Charles or Caroline would decide that the kittens needed to be moved, and would do so. Clearly the moving-kittens thing is instinctive (and I imagine that under a bed is appealing because it’s a closed-in space and less obvious to potential predators.)
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Does Luc have extra toes on his front foot? He’s lookin’ a little polydactyl in a couple of those pics.
Nope, no polydactyls in this bunch.
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Josephine has a serious.
::sniff::sniff::SNIFF::
Oh, that Beauregard.
Luc didn’t grab that tail, but he certainly watched it long enough.
Gabrielle has a think.
Gabrielle and her mama.
Auntie Kat’s keeping an eye on this one.
Beauregard makes use of the spice rack steps.
Luc, watching in awe.
Yes, he did use the litter box. He seems to have it all figured out – I wish he’d teach the others!
“STOP BITING ME, LUC!” yells Gabrielle.
Henri’s turning out to be a bit of a poser.
The milk bar is open… and a little bit loony!
“Sorry, lady. There’s no room in here for you. You go ‘way now.”
I believe we’ve got a lights-on-no-one-home situation here.
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Archie’s keeping an eye on things.
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Previously
2018: She doesn’t eat with the PEASANTS, thank you, and will wander along later to eat some leftovers when the crowd has dispersed.
2017: Wherein Fred predicts Mercury has another week before she has her babies, so she has them immediately to spite him.
2016: Breakfast time isn’t always an orderly affair.
2015: No entry.
2014: No entry.
2013: Stop showing off. No one’s paying attention to your silly disco moves.
2012: Meet Tony Rocky Horror Pickle.
2011: The many moods of Harlan Peppers.
2010: On vacation!
2009: No entry.
2008: No entry.
2007: Yes, miss Maryanne has made herself at home here, but no – we’re not keeping her (I know y’all don’t believe me – but we’re not!).
2006: No entry.
2005: I think he might be all talk, though.
That picture would be awesome wrapped around a coffee mug!
Thanks for the behavior explanation. I think the adorableness of the kittens causes me to forget the consternation you endure with each litter.
No polydactyls? Maybe Luc will have big feet, or the angle you both were at makes his paws appear wider. Whatever!
….that is not a black and white kitten.
Ha – it’s not, is it? I didn’t even notice!
I think an oblong poster would be perfect for that picture. 11″X 25″ would be an ideal size!
I love that Charles would help Caroline move the kittens. He will do anything for her!
And Margeaux certainly does seem to have her loon on there. I would guess that nursing gets pretty boring after a while, so she has to float away to someplace better (which would be someplace without nursing kittens!).
Oh that poor little baby!!! Great rescue, Carol!! So very sorry about your Dad… 🙁
As for baby Beauregard making use of the spice rack steps, up and down… how cute is that?!
An idea for that cute pic of the six older kittens….a speaking “balloon” coming from one of the kittens saying, “Hey! Who farted?!?” Francois’ grin gives it away! 🙂
Ok, I know roughly how big those bins are, and the little baby looks positively teeny next to it! These babies…
Yup – That picture is great for mugs and posters as suggested. How about notecards as well? Or even holiday cards, if you are able to photoshop a strand of lights at the bottom and perhaps around the sides? Certainly, it should be a nominee for a page in the 2020 foster calendar! Thanks for considering suggestions, Robyn!
I love you and your sweet face, Archie! (smooch)
“y’all can tell me if it sounds familiar” – LOLOLOL
Madame it is I, Meowrot, the famous Belgian cat detective, who solves this Meowstery of the Disorient Express!
In your own journale, Madame, of 11 March you confess: “I put a couple of short (flat) boxes up across the doorway so that the kittens wouldn’t accidentally venture out into the hallway” and Ma and Pa “pushed the boxes out of the way. I put them back. The next thing I knew, Charles had picked up a kitten and carried it into the hallway…”
And on 22 July, you said it yourself: “I decided that Saturday morning I’d swap that crate for the larger one…” because “…it’s harder for kittens to crawl out…” and then “Margeaux decided that that crate – which she hadn’t been sure about to begin with! – was the enemy…” and then “she’d moved all the kittens out of the crate and abandoned them in various places in the room.”
It is your good intentions, Madame, to see that these kittens, Les Petit Chatons, they are safe, non? But it is directly below Monsieur Fred’s bed where we find you have paved the way!
Hastings! The little grey tabby cells need tuna!
Is there an update on Kristi and Katia? Did I see them in a picture from Petco? Or was I hallucinating? I sure would love it if these two sweeties found a good home!