Upgrades - Day 20

Day 20 and Phoenix is still going strong.  He's been gaining weight like a monster (hit 250g today), and I think the poop storm is starting to slow down.  Eyes are wide open, energy levels are high, and fluffy factor is continually increasing.

Upgrades

Phoenix got a home upgrade today.  I had purchased a collapsible pen that arrived a few days ago.  This morning, the little guy was complaining even after eating a bunch of food.  So I decided to go ahead and upgrade from a container to this new pen.

I regret not getting one size bigger.  I'll need to think about a litter box soon, and it would have fit a lot bigger if I upped the size.  We'll see what happens.  I also haven't figured out what I'll do at night.  He usually sleeps next to me, but maybe it's time to leave him in one spot and keep him out of the bedroom?  I just worry I won't be able to hear him crying if something goes wrong.

All in all, I'm generally happy with this new pen!  It gives Phoenix more room to move around, especially now that he's using his back legs more and more.  When I first put him in there, he finally quieted down.  He had been crying for about 30 minutes prior, but this new environment seemed to give him something to think about.  And then he went back to walking around and meowing.  He did eventually fall asleep comfortable right in the middle of his heat pad (under the pink blanket in the photo).  Check out a video of him exploring!

We've also pulled out some toys that we had (Asher's, but will work will for a kitten).  We haven't given them to Phoenix yet, but maybe in a week or so, we'll be ready to give him some toys!  We also have some non-clumping litter on the way.  Kittens can start being ready for a litter box around 3 weeks of age.  Phoenix will be 3 weeks tomorrow!  But given that he's a little bit behind on some of his development, we're probably about 0.5-1 week behind.

The little guy also seems to enjoy spending more time with us.  While he still sleeps for 3-4 hours at a time, after meals, he seems to like being rubbed.  I told Nguyen to give him a belly rub, and the little guy seemed to be super happy.  Take a look!

Poop!

As you know, poop is a pretty big theme in my life right now!  While the video above is super cute, you can also see how irritated his butt/tail area is.  The poop does seem to be getting better.  It's less curdled, the color is improving, and it seems to be less mucousy.  We track his poop daily, and he still poops way more than we would hope.  So poop continues to be a common theme.

But, this section actually isn't about the star of this blog.  Asher decided to contribute to the poop theme today, so I thought I'd share.

Do you see it?

The best part was that he suddenly seemed to realize it was there, and he tried to walk away from it.

He ended up getting up and walking away when I tried to approach him to get the poop.  He decided he wanted to be rubbed, so when I got near, he took it as a sign to run to the bedroom and hop of the bed 😓.  At least then I was able to disconnect the straggler from him.  The best (or maybe worst) part is knowing that that must have been from my hair 😂.

One Last Video for Today

Here's another fun one that happened during a morning belly rub!  Don't worry, he's ok!