Missy

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They were really more thrilled than they look. We promise!

10/28/12

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10/7/12

11/20/12

Mary & Garth’s Kitten Journal

Thanksgiving Day Nov. 22, 2012

3:59 am

Missy was pushing at the closet door so I moved her to the bathroom. Pip is now roaming the bedroom & I am wide awake!

I thought she was going to go into labor but it was just a trip to her cat box! It was so potent I had to go downstairs, get the scooper, a bag, and clean the box. Well, if I'm going to. Clean one box I might as well do all three. So at 3 am I'm wandering around the house, scooper in hand, cleaning out litter boxes! Had to laugh, otherwise I'd cry.

Garth slept through all of it. Of course.

Maybe I can drift off now

More when we've some kitten news.

Mary

5:10 am

We're closed in the bathroom, Missy and I. Only way she would leave the door alone. Of course, Pip is on the other side, chirping at her, wondering why he's not inside with his sister.

She's very uncomfortable, trying to purr but making odd noises. The shape of her tummy has changed and she just purring/chirping/ almost moaning, rolling around. She wants constant touching, rubbing her head and her belly. She's just talking to me, over and over.

And she has been licking her genitalia. Pip is at the door talking to her, asking what's up with his sister.

I think we may have some babies on the way. Typing this is taking forever as she is demanding attention. Pip is the Greek Chorus on the other side of the door! Cracks me up! He is echoing her chirps and moans.

I'd better use the bathroom before this all starts!

More later.

Mary

5:25 am Active Labor

Born Thanksgiving morning!

Missy and babies seem to be doing fine. We thought perhaps a fourth but she's settled down, nursing them and seems to have quit signs of labor.

All nursing happily!

Happy Thanksgiving!

10:35

Doesn't look as though there is a fourth but these are all nursing and seem to be ok sized.

Happy Thanksgiving !

More later. MaryK is sitting with her and she's happy that her Willing Slave is in attendance!

I'm going to nap. Been up since two am with her. She was determined to give birth on my lap.

Finally convinced her to stay in the birthing box.

Later.

Great day.

Mary

6:28pm

Here are her three, clean, dry, and nursing.

They are 7-8 hr old.

Fur as soft as silk.

Nov. 23, 2012

12:39 am

Wow! I don't know how you manage! I barely figured out how to take videos with the iPad !

I weighed two of them just now but it so upset her that I took them away that the third didn't get weighed. Next time for that one! The other two both gained though so I feel confident in leaving one until we weigh them again at four am. We will weigh them when Garth takes over at the end of my four hr shift.

I went to bed at 8 pm. MaryK had the duty from 7 - 9 pm, then Garth took over. He said he was good until 1 am but he woke me at midnight apologizing and saying he was falling asleep and could I take over. By then I'd had 4 hr sleep so here I am!

Missy leaves her nest every time one of us leaves the bathroom. She gets very upset if we go away but settles right down when one of Her Willing Slaves is in attendance!

She does get up and has used the litter box and has been up to eat and drink. She was panting so that we were concerned she was too hot. So I dipped my finger in the water bowl and shed lick the drop. Did that over and over until she was interested in leaning her head over and lapping a good amount. Since then she's gotten out to drink. Needs it since she's producing the colostrum the babies need.

Her nipples are enlarging and I can expect milk production in a day or so.

I will try another video too.

Thanks for the encouraging talk with Garth!

More later.

Mary

8:22 am

Just an updated pic. If I can get her up without terribly upsetting the babies I want to change the towel. Even using lots of papers we still ended up with blood on the towels. Need to get some clean ones down for her.

Babies are 24 hr. I'm so glad we've not had any problems. Hope that continues!

Her milk should come in shortly and then they will really grow.

Mary

Nov 24, 2012

4:55 am

Garth took the midnight to 4 am shift and I got a blissful six hr as MaryK took two hr prior to that. I feel halfway normal even.

The babies are all hooked up, with some help sorting out who gets what and where. They were convinced that they all needed the same spigot and we had Rat Wars for a bit. We all make sure that the small female gets hooked up first. Doing that certainly helped her gain an impressive 1/4 oz in four or five hrs.

Garth or MaryK will take the 8 am shift so I can shower then make the two mince pies I'm to take to Rob & Sue's home for Thanksgiving Dinner later on today.

So here's the first look at the brood at almost 48 hrs.

Cute babies.

Later. LM

Nov 25, 2012

7:29 am

Morning update...

Everybody has gained, the big male topping 4 oz this morning at three days exactly. He weighed in at 4&1/8. The others are three and six or seven eights.

Missy is bound and determined t move them under my dresser. This makes it challenging but Garth is going to cut cardboard and see if the cant make a barrier. She pushes in around the rolled up blanket. Then she picks one up and tries to move them. They squeal terribly, I think she doesn't get them picked up right, but it clues us that she got the hots to go again. We can keep the bathroom dark and warm. Two things we can't do with the bedroom so she's just going to have to deal with it.

We are so thrilled that they all seem to be thriving. We will call the vet tomorrow and make arrangements to either take them when no other animals are there, or perhaps Dr. Rickey will make a house call on her way home or to work one day.

We're off to church. It was really difficult to get up this morning and I was sorely tempted to just roll over and give it a pass. But we play handbells and the Christmas season of playing starts next week with the first week of Advent. We can't do that to the handbell choir, not both of us. I play two bells in each piece.... No rolling over for me!

The Lakers finally got a win on the road! Woohoo!

Life is good at Day Three.

Mary

3:35 pm

Missy was up having a bite and using her litter box so I got a pic of the three just tangled up sleeping. The male then pulled himself away, whimpering a bit. Missy cut her late afternoon snack short and jumped back into the box with them.

When I reached in to hand her back the stray his little belly was so round, he's such a chunky fellow!

She's busy now working on cleaning her hind quarters, getting the faint pink back to her usual white.

Now she's rolling them over doing potty chores on each of them. Ah, a few minutes and they're all plugged back in again. Best nap time is when you are doing asleep with a nipple in your mouth! I had a son who believed that, too!

When we weigh them later this afternoon I'm hopeful that the other two will have topped four oz too.

I'm going to go hem some of my baby flannel and make some blankets for them. I have some in my sewing room which I was using for lining projects.

I'm loving these little grey bundles of silky fur. It's so unbelievably soft.

Mary

PS we think the little female is the one in the middle lying on top of the male. The other larger female is the one with a grey slash on her head.

Click on the pictures to enlarge

**Click on the link to skip down to the most current photos & clips

Nov. 22, 2012

Nov. 23, 2012

Nov. 25, 2012

Female #1

Male

Female #2

Nov. 26, 2012

Nov. 28, 2012.

Nov. 26, 2012

Nov. 28, 2012

Nov. 29, 2012

Nov. 29, 2012 - 1 Week Old

Nov. 29,2012

Dec. 1, 2012

Here is Suzi the proud new owner of the female

Nov. 25, 2012

Nov 26,2012

Here's the picture of you with the larger of the two females. At $300 for the vet to make a house call, we are taking them all to see Dr. Rickey on Thurs at 5 pm, when there won't be any other animals there.

We will have Dr. Rickey sex the kittens but we're pretty sure this one is a female.

Have you thought of names? She is so much lighter now than when she was born!

Great that you could come by and see the babies at 4 days. They have almost doubled in weight in the four days. And such definite personalities already!

See you Sat, Suzi.

1128/12

Smallest female is on left weighing in at 5&3/8oz. Male in the middle a hefty 5&5/8. Larger female on right tipping the scales at 5&1/2 oz. mama and babies doing well. Reapplied the color coding nail polish to hind claw. Stretching and yawning is SO cute! They find the warming pad for sleep time, finding it all by themselves!

Mary

Larger two are sacked out on warming pad but Little Miss is chowing down!

11/29/12

7:51 am

At Week One. Babies have all doubled or mor in weight. Snowy Head used to be significantly smaller but now she is 1/8 oz larger than the other female! Weighed them all this morning and they slept right through it. They sleep rolled up on their backs looking like little hedgehogs!

Mama and her babies doing fine!

So Belle has gone to Florida! Well, now you can begin to think about another litter.

Mary

3:15 pm

Here are the three kittens at Week One. They go over to the vet this evening, after hours, for Dr. Rickey to check them and Missy. Mama and her babies all seem to be doing well. They've gained significantly and are doubled and more in just one week! Wow.

And I'm getting some sleep as Missy will allow us a whole night of sleep and not demand that someone sit up with her!

They are getting the Christmas tree tails. How very cute they are. Such a well developed sense of smell, too, as they can find Mama no matter where she throws herself down in the box. And when they sleep rolled onto their backs....... Oh how cute!

Hope you are well.

Mary

Dec. 1, 2012

Here we are at Day 10 already!

Well according to the vet we have 2 males and 1 female! So Mary & Garth had their first kitten sex misidentification. LOL It can happen to anyone.