8 - 12 week

The little brats and their brothers have formed S.O.F.T., or the Society Of Furry Terrorists. They have pulled down the living room curtains and are working on the window screens. They scoop all the water out of the water bowls and spill it on the floor, and then get into the bowls and groom themselves. Then they complain because they have to drink out of the toilet. They eat the wet food right out of the dogs' mouths because they know the dogs aren't allowed to fight back. They pull the toilet paper off the roll all the way down the stairs, and then shred it into tiny little bits and work it into the carpet. They eat like horses. They gallop all over the house and up and down the furniture all night. 

Apparently cat food tastes much better if you knock the bag onto the floor, rip it open, spread the contents all over the kitchen floor and eat only the bits you really want, than if you go to your dish and eat the same food from there. Besides, then you can play hockey with the bits you don't eat, and knock them under the furniture. The ants really appreciate this extra effort. 

Tampons make even better hockey pucks. They slide beautifully and create entertaining moments when visitors come in the front door. Even better are the pleased cries of surprise of the female humans when they discover that the entire box is missing from the bathroom. 

They can climb shelves like a ladder; there is no place high enough to keep things away from them. Every night they pull all the baskets out of the shelves in the front entryway, knock the contents on the floor and play with them. Every morning I pick them up, and every night they do it again. I had to put rubber bands over the door knobs of the cabinets with the liver treats in them. Now they can’t open the doors anymore, but they can pull them out just a little bit and let them go. Over and over again. All night. 

I don't remember ever fostering a more mischievous litter of kittens. I had to replace the screen on the second floor deck door because they shredded it and were going out there anytime they wanted to and climbing onto the neighbours' decks. Yuri actually fell off and was wandering around crying until I found out he was missing and went looking for him. He's fine, although he's stopped trying to get out onto the deck. I have to close my bedroom door at night because they climb onto my bed and Snowflake's and wrestle while we're trying to sleep. Then they climb into the dresser drawers and fight in there. They sound like an entire herd of hippopotami.