I haven't posted very much about the kittens of late. I'd like to report that they're doing well. A friend (incidentally, the person who taught me how to knit, lo those many years ago) visited the kittens a couple of weeks ago, and upon the conclusion of her visit she said "I look forward to hearing about their... career's." Frankly the thought of them having careers--particularly when I don't really seem to--was a bit frightening.

Nevertheless the concept has stuck. So here is a report on the careers of Kip and Merlin:

Here's a picture:

  • This is from a period when they were lying together on my desk. Very cute. Note the ball winder in the background. Kip is in the foreground.
  • They've taken to having rolling night time battles which occasionally interrupt my sleep as I become a substrate for these battles.
  • Though they didn't purr very much when they first came to us, now they'll both purr pretty much any time you pick them up. I'm in favor of cats that purr.
  • I'm starting to realize that my cat allergies are something that I need to pay a little more attention to managing, particularly given the long hard quality that these cats have. I think this will likely just turn into a more regular face and hand washing behavior.
  • Kip and Merlin have longer hair than other cats we've had in recent years, though, when I was a small child we had a Mainecoon-type cat who had longer hair than these boys. And lets be fair, one of our big cats has medium-length fur which is particularly silky and not staticy (which means that its airborne more than it should be.)
  • Kip has developed a fondness for a ball which he caries around and growls adorably over.
  • Merlin has discovered two things. One, he can pull the mag cord out of my computer with ease when I'm sitting at my desk with my computer on my lap. This is ok, because I have one of the mag cord on my new computer, but it's annoying. The second thing that he's discovered is that he shouldn't unplug the computer. So he grabs and runs.
  • The grown up cats are starting to come around to the new cats. Their initial response was fright (Nash) and Curiosity-Followed by viciousness (Montana). Nash is still afraid but less so, and has engaged aged in some parallel play, while Montana has had some more positive interactions. I think if we didn't have concerns about keeping food separate for a while I think they'd be ok to be fully integrated at this point.
  • I should underscore that Nash is a huge 16 pound cat, and Montana is 10ish pounds. I think that element makes their reactions even more funny.
  • Kip and Merlin both have very faint taby stripes in their gray sections. This is incredibly cute, and I'm not sure that it comes across in any of the pictures.
  • Kip has taken to waking me up in the night by running on me (less bothersome than you'd think) and chewing on my ears (more bothersome than you'd think). The first night, it was my toes--not ears--at 4:30, and he has moved on to ears at like 2:30. Though he can usually be chided successfully, it's more disruptive of my sleep schedule and overall functioning than I might like.

In summation: kittens are good. I approve. I'll keep you all posted as their careers progress.