Monday, January 16, 2012

Egg and kitten

First let's deal with the eggs. I thought all four of our new "Muff" hens were laying, but today Gordon found a teeny-tiny dark brown egg in the coop....


(The camera is doing weird things to his hands. They aren't short and stubby!)



The other Muffs are laying small white eggs. I'm thinking this was laid by the dark-legged hen. (Leg colour and and the skin-colour around chickens' ears is related to egg colour.)


The white eggs are from the other muffs. Their eggs are quite pointy. The other two on the left are normal large eggs from the Sex-Links hens.


Perfect for a tiny omelette!


Meanwhile, Naomi is appalled at the attention you're all paying to Emily the kitten...




Even though she is great with a dirty look, Naomi doesn't have a mean bone in her body and is the sweetest cat I've ever had. The tiniest, too. She weighs seven pounds. Like Emily, she showed up out of nowhere, screaming her head off outside my bedroom window one late September night back in 2008. She was six weeks old when she arrived. She's a tortoiseshell completely lacking in typical "tortitude!"


Meanwhile, Alex and Emily had some together time in the bathroom after my shower this morning. All the cats LOVE lying on that green bathrobe of mine. (And no, I wasn't naked when I took these photos!!!)



Alex weighs 14 lbs. Emily is 2.5 ls.



She kept slithering up to Alex. He was having a lot of fun with her new pink Kong Kickeroo kitten toy!



He gave her one swat and a few sniffs but mostly ignored her. I think it's driving Emily crazy. At one point she waited until he was busy washing himself, then snuck up from behind and pounced on him. He jumped a foot in the air!


I tell ya, that girl is going to rule the house!


Poor Alex. He needs to lose weight but he's not as Jabba-esque as this photo suggests. I recently started all the cats on a raw food diet and they are taking to it very well. Alex used to eat kibble like it was crack. I have raw-fed my dogs for over a decade, but was afraid to try it with the cats as they have more exacting dietary needs (read: are easier to kill if you screw up.)

 Finally I took the plunge and it has been going really well. Just got myself a new meat cleaver! Among other things, you need to be sure cats get enough taurine. Although I am careful about the meat/bone/offal ratio in their food, I sprinkle on some taurine a few times a week for insurance.

I am no zealot when it comes feeding pets. I think you should just do what works for you! I enjoy feeding our pets raw and am pleased with results, but that's just me. As long as your pets are happy and healthy, it's all good!

Hope you enjoyed your daily kitten fix, with bonus full-grown felines!

23 comments:

  1. I don't know. It looks like Alex has been eating plenty of Chunky Cat cat food (has he tried the rodent flavored version?). I have a couple on that same diet.

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    1. I have weaned Alex off his "crack" kibble. Let's see if this finally does the trick for his weight. It's tough to get that guy moving!

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  2. Cute! Glad to see that Alex considers toys to be wasted on young whippersnappers!

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  3. Hi there !
    O don´t know if I dare to tell you my weight ??
    OK are you ready ??
    I weigh 10,6 lbs , I guess I will be put on a diet soon as I´m going to a Catshow in april :)

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    1. Alex feels your pain. :) ANd he says "Diets suck!" ;)

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  4. Hey, I just found your blog and I can only say I am looking forward to learn more about you and your kingdom:)

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  5. We're raw pet food enthusiasts here, too. Our dogs have been doing it for over a year now (maybe 2?) and they love it. Have never convinced the kitties to do it. So good on you for figuring that out. I had one girl who just refused to eat for two days until I gave in and opened a can for her. lol

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    1. Alex has been the toughest nut to crack. The other three took to it immediately, but I am still putting a little bit of canned food on top of the raw to get Alex to eat it! He's getting there. Stubborn!

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  6. WAIT A MINNIT! Chickens have ears!?!
    My worldview needs revision now.

    Oh well, there are so many kitty photos that hopefully I'll soon forget ... what was I saying?

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    1. Well, I think they are more like holes in the sides of their heads, but they are able to hear, so there's some sort of apparatus for that. HAHAHAHAHA!

      Since I turned 40 (many moons ago now!), I forget everything. What WERE you saying?

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  7. "OH MY GOD, she's cute" She has no fears and it's what's about to get her to the top of the feline ladder. "Good for you, Em. You go, girl."
    In the end they will probably all love her. I'm really interested in the raw food diet although never thought "I" could do it. I cook for Kane and have the cats on mostly soft food. The kitten and mom are on no grain dry also. Keep us posted on how it goes. It's very interesting. Deb

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    1. So far it's going great except I have to get faster at making the food! The new cleaver helps.

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  8. Anonymous6:31 pm

    Has Emily met Gecko? I forget yhe name of Gecko cos he/she gets far too little blog time. I like the Gecko.

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    1. Emily will never meet Kartini the gecko, and you're right, she doesn't get enough blog time. I will work on that. She turns NINETEEN this year. I can't believe it.

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  9. Anonymous6:33 pm

    "yhe" is of course not a typo. Oh no... Traditional Scots language that I slipped into :)

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    1. No problem! I am used to deciphering Glaswegian mother-in-law-speak.

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  10. Love Naomi's dirty look and Emily''s markings are so gorgeous

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    1. I think Emily will grow up to be a beautiful cat. And Naomi is an expert at dirty looks!

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  11. You could have a regular feature - the Alex and Emily Hour on the Bathroom Towels. These are really fun photos. Keep 'em coming.

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    1. Let's just say I never shower alone, and I don't mean that in any sexy way... ;)

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  12. Anonymous9:27 pm

    I laughed out loud at Alex's tubby look. I hate it when the camera does that to me. ; )

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  13. Poor Alex, he IS too fat but he's not THAT fat!

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Thank you for all your comments, which I love to read!