A Year-Of-Kittens-Apology-Compilation

Evening all,

Firstly, I am delighted to confirm that the Patroncast is ready, and being released in a matter of hours.

However, I appreciate that, due to the Patroncast's ever-so-brief absence, you have been denied pet pictures, which is especially sad as we have two cats who have grown up from kittens to adolescent cats over the last year.

So, first up, as an apology, we're going to fix that.

Welcome to the Kitten Compilation - a time capsule that shows you Xena and Willow growing up over the last year, featuring plenty of extra Ted, as he is both adorable, and a very good frame of reference to help show how much the kittens have grown.

So let's start right at the beginning. It's May 2024, and the kittens have just come to MATN HQ within the last week. Their exact age is uncertain, as they were rescued, but they're probably about 10 weeks old here. Ted has just been allowed to meet them. Luckily, he loves them straight away, and they seem extremely relaxed around him too.

It's now June 2024. After briefly being restricted to a single room while they settled in, the kittens are now allowed to freely roam MATN HQ. This freedom is apparently less interesting than cuddling with Ted. Fortunately, when we first adopted Ted, we got him a slightly-excessively-large dog bed, so there's plenty of room for sleepovers.

It's now July 2024, and we're starting to get an idea of the kittens' personalities. Xena seems to be a little more adventurous, a bit more interested in play, and especially intrigued by Ted. She regularly follows him around, and cuddles up next to him on the sofa, on this occasion converting his ear into a blanket.

However, as you can see in August 2024, this most definitely doesn't mean that Willow doesn't also occasionally enjoy a cuddle with Ted.

It's now October 2024, and, lacking Xena's increasingly long fur coat, Ted is spending a bit more time under a blanket or by the radiator to keep warm. Xena routinely comes and nestles into his paws or chest, and sometimes even wants to be under the blanket with him.

It's now November 2024, and it's become a bit of a routine for everybody to hang out together after the kittens get their food. Ted just has a bit of a nap, but the kittens often suckled together into an old blanket - we've been told that this is a fairly common behaviour for kittens that lost their mother very young, and that it's a harmless self-soothing activity. Willow still does this fairly regularly to this day, but Xena partly grew out of it, and more often just cuddles Ted instead.

It's December 2024, and the first Christmas together. I think this is around the time Willow started to look a little less kitten-y, and more like an adult tabby-cat.

It's now January 2025, and Xena would like it to be known that she is extremely happy for anybody to pet her tummy.

It's now March 2025, and Xena is still showing off her tummy, though I also appreciate that it looks like she's high-fiving Ted here.

It's now April 2025, and at roughly a year old, the kittens are probably about fully grown at this point - Xena is slightly larger at around 5kg, and Willow is 4.5kg, with the vet very happy with both at their annual checkup.

It's now June 2025, and Xena has grown out a slightly longer coat than we might have first expected. But that doesn't change how much she loves Ted.

And, finally, in July 2025, we have a close-up of Willow's tummy, just to avoid any accusations that we are biased in favour of Xena's tummy. It does have a really lovely pattern on it.

So there we go - that's the Kitten Compilation. And don't worry - the Patroncast is coming later this evening too.

All the best,

Jon, Claire, Ted, Xena & Willow