Time for an update, it's been a little while.
The boys are doing good, really good. Their personalities are growing almost as much as they are. This might turn into a bit of a ramble so I'll try and keep some kind of structure.
Personality wise, it's rather interesting. Each has their own ways, to say one seeks more attention than another, wouldn't be right. They each seek attention, but in different ways.
Nyx is so cute when he sleeps, if he wakes up slightly, he'll 'mew' loudly, then slowly get quieter until he's drifted back off to sleep. He's not 'as cuddly' as could be, and he's happy to claim the highest spot on either cat tree and sleep. His favorite toy is any one of the little mice that have been chewed off the cat trees, as they rattle, and he know that sound, from anywhere! He is a hungry little guy, second only to Vega, and a fast eater too. His little meal time quirk was to growl (quite literally like a dog) at anyone who got too close to his bowl.
Titan is the heavyweight atm, but surprisingly he's got a quirk with food. He had to make sure that his brothers have the same food as him before he gets stuck in to his own. Titan has a wierd thing about trying to suckle on one of his brothers bellies when he gets tired and sleepy, it's not too often, but he does do it occasionally.
Sirius is the escape artist of the four, he has a thing for attempting to get out the living / dining room and into the hall with the stairs & front door. He's the cuddliest of the four, followed by Vega, but Sirius is usually happy to settle down on a lap even while his brothers cause havoc around the rest of the room. He also has a thing for trying to suckle, but he only does it to his own belly, and makes a loud job of it too! But you should hear him purrr while he does, it's loud! He's also the picky eater. He also stands in, or paddles, at the water bowl, before he drinks, he's funny to watch.
Vega, despite his "squint" which is actually the inner eyelid not retracting properly, is one lively dude, and a hungry one at that! He doesn't let anything stop him joining in with his brothers playing and play fighting. He still ventures under the sofa now and then, but mostly to get whatever toy is under there, out. He's also guaranteed to be the first one waiting for us to come out the kitchen with their food too.
The story so far.
After just over a week, we tried the boys with some natures menu. Now I'm not knocking anyone who says to wait a while before changing the diet, if we'd have had just one kitten, we would have waited longer. The fact is, we chanced it earlier as so many things were going to plan. If we had thought any one of the boys were stressed, we would have waited. Anyhow, we have just switched to natural instinct raw food, and the boys are real hungry for it. They love the stuff atm. We keep checking the litter box for anything to be worried about, but so far everything appears to be going well. The last two weekends we have tried them with fresh washed chicken wings, this in itself was an experience. Nyx will have a lick and a sniff, but like Vega, he's not too bothered about actually eating them. Titan and Sirius however, do eat them, down to the bone, Titan prefers to throw his around a bit first, where as Sirius is happy to get right down to ripping the wings apart. They are currently eating about 125g of raw a day, and I'm sure they would eat more given the chnace. It'll be interesting to see how they weigh in the next vet visit.
We are hoping to put up some of the shelves in the next few weeks, and soon after xmas we will have words with a local carpenter about having the bespoke cabinet made which will also enable us to put up the last few shelves. At some point I'll get around to taking a pic of the shelves before and after they go up. I'm also hoping to order the cat wheel in the new year, as we need the cabinet first to accommodate some stuff.
The boys are all getting much much better at balancing, climbing (thankfully not the curtains) and jumping, and have just had the tips of their claws clipped again last night. They must have a really long day, as when I'm up at 4:45 for work, they are awake and ready to play, then the other half gives them breakfast when she gets up. She gets home a couple of hours before me and feeds them again, then they have dinner when we goto bed. We have also managed with little stress and much success to get each of them to wear a simple harness, to the point where they are happy enough to goto sleep with them on. So making progress there too.
I'm impressed with their learning of human meal times, for the most part, they now will not even jump up onto the table when we are sat eating, we just get ignored, or the occasional stretch on hind legs to sniff, but nothing major.
All in all, four Bengal kittens, with much love and attention, equal one manic, but happy happy family, I honestly wouldn't change anything so far, for the world. In a way, having the four all at once is probably easier, in some ways. Aside from 4x the cost, it's easy to remember things like worming, and checkups etc. It would be harder if we had more cats than hands, collectively, but luckily we are at an equal on that front.
More to come soon, along with graveyard pics after weekend one & two of wings! Next up, drumsticks.
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