Murray the Moose?

Have the Netbook webcam set up and able to take a short break from Kboo and kittens. They're all asleep and maybe I can get this published without running upstairs five times. But I doubt it...

Murray is going to be a big boy, and he is full of personality. VERY full. He was serval-leaping at his mother this morning, would fall short, then roll, grab her front leg, bite and kick like mad. Really feeling his testosterone. He's a lover, but he's not intimidated by anything. He chose Andrew, big time.

Jericho lays in wait under the end table, then launches out and tackles whoever is close, then dashes back in to do it again. He still does not like heights. He spreads all four feet out like those stuffed cats that suction cup to glass. That's Jericho. Maybe I should have named him Geronimo, like when you jump out of planes or off high places. The name Geronimo would fit.

Emmett wanders around looking for trouble and he grumbles if we hold him when he wants to be down running around. He and Vester both climb to the top of the small scratching post, then wait for Ayo to come by, then pop her on the head. Vester tried to bite an ear, but so far, hasn't connected. Lucky for him. He also jumps down from the scratching post but not very well, he tumbles end over end. Emmett just jumps down and keeps going.

It's so hard to tell what their size will be, except that the big boys will definitely be big. The average-size and above-average kittens OFTEN surprise us. And even Jack, who was just a bit larger than average, is now HUGE.

If you haven't visited recently, check out the Aja and Shombay blog, Rita updated it last week.

This younger photo shows Isabella (larger than her mother already) Jack, and Genevieve (Fina) with Kboo at approximately the same age as Ayo's kittens -- to give you an idea of size. Jack at almost six weeks is equivalent to Murray at the same age. And Murray has very large feet (and a bigger attitude, but in a good way).



The Audrey and Jack photo below is from right before they went home; Jack was 12 weeks of age.



Wait til you visit their blog and see Audrey and Jack (Aja and Shombay) now. Love the one in the doorway where he has his paw around her. Our kittens who go home together, bond with their humans first, but they also love each other. Audrey mothered Jack when they were younger. Now just look how he protects her!

Shombay (Jack) is gigantic, 19 pounds and only 15 months old. Jack is Tessa, Genevieve (Andrew's Fina) and Isabella's brother.

So... if you find yourself in love with a kitten's personality and temperament, but it's a matter of not quite large enough, I'd say take a chance. Because our kittens always surprise us with their eventual size.

Even our F3C Brie (Matthew who has Brie and Lucy) is going to be big. And she was tiny. We told Matthew we never expected her to be any larger than 10 pounds, and she's 16 pounds now at only 20 months. And a total lap cat for Matthew. She took one look at Matthew and decided he was hers. He met us to see Lucy -- and Brie chose him. So he got both girls, photos on Lucy and Brie's blog. And Brie (and Lucy) is everything he wanted because he's the human that BRIE wanted and she made it happen. She's a dynamo.

Need to update for Kboo's kittens next.

Personalities and Body Types

No new photos yesterday, we tried but no one was cooperating. In part because Vesper's eyes are open, finally! She's catching up on her exploring and would not stay put for even two seconds. She's going to have a beautiful face, at this point, we think very similar to our F2B giraffe, Cary. And she's going to be a very large F2, she weighs more than Olivia at the same age.

Murray is going to have Cary's long, long legs, as you can tell from the photos in the last post. His face reminds us of our F2B Komari, also from Ayo and Wari. He's very outgoing and people-oriented already. Murray always comes to me, even if he's close to Ayo. Vesper used to come to my voice, but now she'd rather explore. Murray is starting to catch up to his siblings. His weight is just a bit less than Aaron's at the same age.

Emmett is staying very vocal. He seems to enjoy talking and starts as soon as he hears my voice. Emmett also comes running but he's figured out how to make it over the lip of their crate without tumbling. Probably because he has to wait for me to take the barrier down and has time to slow down before he goes over the edge. Ayo does NOT want the barrier down because each kitten takes off in a different direction and she can't keep them herded together. Emmett is a big boy, too, and weighs almost as much as Jericho. But Emmett has a very tightly packed, taut, spring-loaded body type so he appears smaller than Jericho. Emmett's style is similar to our F2B Oliver from Gabatta and Mbau.

Jericho is a bit larger than Emmett, but not by much. Jericho has that very fluid, drapey, laid-back body type like our F2B Spencer, also from Ayo and Wari. Jericho is very relaxed, to put it tactfully. He would rather curl up against Ayo and eat than to greet me, explore, play with his siblings. It's eat, sleep, grow for Jericho!

Olivia and Aaron have been introduced to solid kitten food and Gabatta is very glad since both kittens' baby teeth are coming in. I put a tiny bit of food on my fingertip, offered to Olivia and after the second lick, she decided she'd try to take a bite instead. I can commiserate with Gabatta, for the sharp teeth! I kept moving Olivia closer to her flat food dish, as she followed the food on my finger, and she caught on right away. She was eating next to Gabatta almost immediately. Aaron isn't interested yet. He'd rather nurse. The boys usually take longer to catch on... maybe on purpose? If he's like most of our boys, he'll be about five days behind his sister for learning to eat, use litter, everything. Except for being photogenic. Aaron has everyone beat when it comes to playing to the camera.

Both kittens are exploring their room and we'll add a small Little Tikes toy for them later today. Probably the covered slide because they can go under and play hide-and-seek til they figure out how to make it up the slide. They'll be able to play with the rings on each side and play with Gabatta through the portholes. Everyone seems to love the Little Tikes toys. Ellie's family got her a very nice, large playhouse fort and she loves it. She went in almost as soon as she saw it and knew she was home.

We have a variety of sizes and shapes for our smaller kittens. Even our F1s love the Little Tikes. It's always funny to see Gabatta trying to balance on top the tunnel while her babies are playing below.

Jason is starting to feel better, but I'm not feeling too well. We'd wear a mask when we handle the babies, but Ayo and Gabatta would NOT be happy. Especially since Ayo was upset at Jason's lower voice a few days ago.

Harvey

You were expecting kittens? Our F2B Harvey is only a few days over five months of age, so he IS a kitten. Just that he already weighs 17 pounds! Harvey will be staying with us. We had always intended to keep one of our big boys, we just thought we'd wait til the girls were ready to retire. But Harvey had other plans. Apparently, he bonded to me during our Stranded in Las Vegas adventure (blogged, if you'd like to read the details) a few days before Christmas. It was very obvious to Mike after two months of trying, that Harvey was always going to love me best... so I flew back to San Jose (didn't get stranded this time) and when Harvey heard my voice, he started chirping. He exploded out of his crate, threw himself into my arms and rubbed his face all over mine, purring so hard he almost choked. He's been pretty much glued to me ever since, he sleeps with his head on my shoulder or if I stretch out my arm he'll put one or both paws into my hand. I'm spoiling him badly and driving Jason crazy making him come "See what Harvey is doing". Kboo, Harvey's mother, is as bonded to me as her son. Harvey is going to dwarf his mother and she averages 21-23 pounds and can stand up against me and almost touch my collar bone -- Gabatta CAN reach that high. I'm barely 5' tall. All of our kittens have transitioned perfectly to their new homes and all live in multi-cat or multi-pet homes. It usually takes about 15 minutes before each kitten is running around playing with toys and exploring, then cuddling and bonding to his new family. Harvey was 12 weeks old when we got stranded. Even our kittens who go home at 12 or 13 months of age have bonded immediately. Check out Spencer, Kai, Audrey, Nissa, Brie, Lucy, Moja and Ellie, all on our Testimonials pages, to read about a typical transition. Since I fly with each kitten in-cabin and hand-deliver, there's very little stress associated with their move to a new home. Unless we get stranded in Las Vegas with the first snowstorm the city has had in 30 years! While we were stranded, Harvey spent every minute of each hour either in his carry bag tucked under my arm and against my side. Or he was with me in the hotel room, serval leaping from one bed to the other, then running up and patting me to chase him, then sliding across the desk, then playing in the bathtub while I tried to make new flight reservations, then kissing me just to make sure I was still there. In short (not!), he imprinted on me, big time, due to the sounds and smells and stress of being stranded. I just didn't know it when we met Mike because Harvey sat in his lap, purred, acted like all our kittens after we make a long coast-to-coast flight. But then he got home, woke up and I wasn't there, and decided he was not going to stay. And he didn't! We offer a lifetime buyback guarantee to insure our kittens are never given away, sold, traded, surrendered to a shelter or rescue organization, that they will always come back to us. This was the first time we've had it happen. We refunded Harvey's entire purchase price and paid for the airfare to retrieve him and he'll stay with us forever. He's made his choice. Mike waited almost two years for Harvey, for his Humongous Boy. To see some of our other gentle giants, please visit our Testimonials pages and see Konga, Oliver, Cary, Spencer, Moja, Izzy, Bruce, Jack, our beloved Dale and Ozzy... and Elwood and Calla are still growing. Our girls tend to give us very big boys (and girls!) who are extremely loving. But back to Mike -- he knows us and our kittens -- and knows this was a Las Vegas Snowstorm fluke... so he will likely take Jericho from Ayo and Wari. Depending on how Jericho matures. And we have at least three other AJSavannahs families who want Jericho, as well as Oliver's aunt, and four new families. Mike will break hearts if he decides on Jericho. And I'll get to make yet another 13-hour cross-country odyssey! But Harvey is home and he's MINE. And thankfully, he loves Jason, too. And as most of our readers (and all our AJSavannahs families) know, I am VERY bonded to all our kittens. But Harvey is special, mainly because he thinks I'M so special. So thanks for humoring me as I go on-and-on about MY "new" baby. I sound like all our new families. Isn't it GREAT???