Must admit, when Tilde is feeding, I do give them a little stroke or two! Her instincts are in full swing now. She is catching mice like nobody's business. Evolution has unfortunately left her kittens without the ability to eat raw meat from birth. I think of a nest of eagle babies, mice dropped in their waiting beaks.
Tilde is taking such good care of them. She leaves the box more often now, and for longer periods, but if she is gone for very long, she comes back with a mouse. How convenient that mice produce young at the same time as cats!