Bubbles and Her Kittens

The continuing saga of Bubbles and her kittens---Piano, Lightning, Goatee, and Feisty.

Click on the thumbnails to get a larger picture or to watch the video.

8/21, ~4pm: video: "Piano Comes Home" : After play, the kittens all huddle together to sleep---except Piano, that is, who finally comes in from the "outside" around :30. Piano, who is the biggest since birth, was the first to climb out of the nest by himself, and come back by himself---pretty big achievements all in one day! The glass stirring sound in the beginning is Taina making ice tea.

[Droid X]
8/20, ~9:30pm: video of Lightning and brother Piano somewhere in a state between wanting to stay up and falling asleep like the rest of their siblings. They had just come out to play, so I guess they're exhausted but can't sleep---sounds like me on many a night.

[Droid X]
8/20, ~9:25: They all look like they're asleep, but the two in the middle were faking---as can be seen in the video above.

[Droid X]
2010 193
8/16, ~7pm: video of "Piano", one of Bubbles' kittens. He's the biggest one of the 4, and is usually very sleepy, but he was the only one that was up, and curious at the little rectangular Droid X in front of my face. He's probably just a little bit scared too, and that's why he's trembling in the beginning. He hisses at me around :09 and :20 when I got just a little too close. You can see the exhausted mother, Bubbles, around :32.

I'm still learning how to use the video on the Droid X---it is so light that every little twitch is captured, and I'm still not too sure how it focuses in video mode.

[Droid X]
8/16, ~5:30pm: Bubbles guarding her kittens, who are asleep all huddled together, as usual.

[Droid X]
081910194928
8/06, 12:54pm: Mother and midwife take a rare but well-deserved break for a moment away from the kittens---they're cute, but a lot of work. Technically, I wanted to keep Bubbles and let her have her kittens at our house, but realistically, Taina's the one who actually does all the work. I do feed them and take out the litter every now and then, and I take lots of pictures and videos, but Taina's the one who actually does the day-to-day chores of taking care of this family. Truly my better half.

[D700, 50 f/1.8 Nikkor]
8/06, 12:42pm: This is Piano (you know, ebony and ivory...). He is most like Goatee---they both have mostly black fur on white fur---but he has the larger triangular white patch on his face. He was the first one I scooped out of the cave, since he was the closest to the entrance. He is also the biggest one, and the one who sleeps the most---you can't wake him up unless he's ready to get up.

[D700, 50 f/1.8 Nikkor]
8/06, 12:41pm: Bubbles nursing Piano, Goatee, and I think Lightning and Feisty, but I can't quite make out the last two from this angle. Bubbles is nursing all the time. She eats like 8 meals a day---full cans (and sometimes 2 cans) of Fancy Feast---and drinks next to nothing. I don't know how she's making milk without more liquids, but the kittens are growing. She's a very good mother.

[D700, 50 f/1.8 Nikkor]
8/06, 12:37pm: This is Lightning, so named because he's got a white streak on the right side of her face. He looks most like Feisty---they both have somewhat brownish tabby on white fur, but Feisty doesn't have the white streak on his face.

[D700, 50 f/1.8 Nikkor]
8/06, 12:21pm: This is shortly after I scooped the kittens out of Bubbles' "cave", and their first sight of sunlight. That's Feisty on top looking sheepishly around, Lightning sleeping under him, Goatee after that, and Piano in the corner quite out of focus.

[D700, 50 f/1.8 Nikkor]
8/06, 12:20pm: Mommie Bubbles guarding her kittens. She's not too happy with me taking them out of her cave, and in fact, brought 2 back down a few hours later when we weren't looking. We had to cover the cave with cinder blocks so she wouldn't do it again. We all (including the vet) think that our first floor bathroom is a much safer, warmer, and more comfortable nursery. Not to mention there's more light for photos and videos, but that was a secondary concern (really).

[D700, 50 f/1.8 Nikkor]
8/06, 1:24pm: "Brother and Sister": that's Goatee on the bottom, and Feisty on top with his arms stretched out.

Goatee is the only girl in the litter, and is the smallest. But she holds her own against her brothers. I started calling her Goatee before realizing she's a girl, but by then the name stuck (sorry, Goatee, I'm sure whoever adopts you will give you a better name). She's most like her brother Piano, in that they both have black on white fur, but her white triangular patch only cover half of her right eye. And of course she has that Goatee.

Feisty is, well, the feisty one. He was the last one I scooped out, and it took quite a while because he kept running away from me. Well he can't really run yet, but he keeps putting his siblings between me and him by crawling around them. When I finally got him out, he hissed and hissed. He is just like his brother Lightning, but he has a symmetrical face, while Lightning has that lightning streak on his face. Feisty is the second biggest.

[D700, 50 f/1.8 Nikkor]
8/06, 1:06pm: Sleeping kittens---they do this all day long. That's Lightning facing us, with his head on Goatee's butt, and Feisty's back. Piano is off to the bottom.

[D700, 50 f/1.8 Nikkor]

+

Bubbles and Her Kittens