Well, Halo's babies are 1 week old today and all 8 of 'em are still alive
and doing quite well.  They're all the same size, they're all nice and fat
(well, as fat as one can be when you're this small), and Halo is being a
really good mom.
 
I did have one problem though - she kept pulling them from their nesting box
and relocated them into the litter box which had Pine Fresh pellets in it.
I tried several different things - including a big dishpan, but she pulled
them out of that and back into the litter box.
 
She didn't use the box for herself - she used the carrier, which was a real
mess.  So, then I decided to put another pan of Pine Fresh in her carrier,
but she refused to use it for a litter pan as well.  It must be the Pine
Fresh smells to "woodsy" for her and reminds her more of nesting material as
opposed to litter material.
 
So, after a week of trying different things, I finally broke down, and let
her have it her way - her nesting box has Pine Fresh on the bottom of the
pan with baby blankets on top, and her litter pan has regular old clay
litter in it, and she has agreed to use the clay litter for that which it
was intended.
 
The babies are darling though - you should hear them when Halo gets back in
the box after being gone for a few minutes!  They sound like a bunch of
honking birds!  You wouldn't think such little creatures could be so loud!
It sounds more like 80 rather than 8!
 
I haven't sexed them yet, but I do have 2 albinos (no dark eye spot) and I
suspect the other 6 will look like Duss-T since all he has in his background
is albino and cinnamon/champagne.
 
Debbie Riccio
WNYFLFA
Rochester, NY
[Posted in FML issue 1554]