Day 19, Cream Boy

Well, tonight is the turn of the last little kitten, little Dreamer. Whether he'll stay named Dreamer or not I don't know, but at the moment, that's most certainly what he is.

Sleep is this boy's middle name. you can do absolutely anything with this kitten and he carries on kipping. Pick him up to weigh him and he's so trusting that he will literally hang his head over the side of your hand, not making any effort at all to lift it for himself. You can kiss him, tickle him, do pretty much anything and he'll very slowly lift his head, survey the situation then promptly nod off again.

This little one walks just as well as the others, but he has obviously been practicing when the humans aren't looking, because I've only a few times seen him toddling. He is now following Stripe's example and just beginning to talk. His mew is pathetic. Why is it that tomcats always have the most girlie mews?

If this boy's paws are anything to go by, he's going to be absolutely massive. He's like a little bull when it comes to fighting someone else off a nipple that he wants. I've never seen such a strong headbutt from such a small kitten.

This little boy doesn't enjoy his tickles yet, but he doesn't hate them either. He's a stoic little fellow and just accepts anything that the world throws at him. He is a love bug with everyone, but especially loves little Blue Berry and Apache. Mind you, he'll cuddle up with anybody that's available.

Now to the photos! Remember these were all taken when these babies were 2 weeks old. They're now much bigger!

Day 18, Red Boy

So, today it's the turn of my little red muffin. He's the only one that I don't have a tentative name for yet. Nothing suits him yet, so he's just little boy or little fatty (why does my brain always insist that little fatty is an affectionate name!). Fatties are cute though. That huge belly is just so smooshable!

Red is now enjoying his daily smooshes, but oh is he a fierce boy! Today I got brutally savaged again, and my hand barely lived to tell the tale of the all out gumming. He gets so excited when he manages to catch your hand in his paws, then he holds on for dear life, lifts his head up, wobbles from side to side with the effort of holding it there, mashes his face into your hand just to check you're still there, falls over because his traitorous head wobbled and pushed him off balance, repeats the performance so far, then opens his mouth as wide as it will go and chomps you. I'm sure he only does it because he knows that the tummy tickling will increase when he does. When this happens, the dreadful attack will cease mainly because he's physically fallen over and is rolling around with his paws above his head.

Red has, just today, taken his first full, belly off the ground, legs actually straight, non falling over steps. He managed a whole 10 inches before he fell on his face, but after that, there was no stopping him. He was determined that he was going to leave his littermates and crawl to me for a fuss. This upset mum as it took him slightly out of her line of sight and she was feeding at the time so I kept putting him back. I must have put him back 6 or 7 times at least, and in the end, the only way I could get him to stay there was by tickling his tummy.

His teeth are definitely coming. I can feel little bulges below his gums. He's a greedy little monkey and is feeding at every chance he gets. He's also an absolute suck with Millie, a mummy's boy through and through. He climbs up and lies along her neck for a cuddle, he feeds on the front nipple just so that he can get a cuddle at the same time (Millie gives lots of lovin and snuggles to whatever bit of a kitten she can reach when they're feeding.

I'm working with this boy now on being picked up without screaming, and have discovered that I can have him in my hands inside the pen for as long as I like. He just shrieks when you lift him totally out of it. I held him under my chin for ages today, and he kept popping his head up for kisses and just to chunter at me.

He was the first kitten to break 300 g, and today he weighed in at a whopping 311. he's currently the biggest! He loves his sister Stripey, and will cry and shout for her until she comes to sleep with him or play fight. They love wrestling together! If things continue as they are, this pair might be very hard to split.

So, here's some photos of the little love. Enjoy!

Day 17, Stripe

Today it's the turn of the last of the girls, little Stripe!

This girl is a complete drama queen through and through. Diva? Doesn't even come close! She's got oodles of personality, and boy does she show it! Her one defining quality is her ability to scream. Look at her and she screams. Touch her? Well, it depends on her mood, but if she's grumpy, she screams! If her mum washes her she literally howls at the indignity. If you weigh her, she gives her lungs an excellent work out. But as well as screaming, this little girl also talks. She's one of only a few of these babies who has talked back to me, but she's the only one who does it consistently, or as consistently as a tiny kitten can. She's learned to hold her head up, and she'll pop it up all proudly out of a pile of sleeping kittens. It doesn't seem to affect her pride that it wobbles all over the place, oh no. She'll sit herself up, then get so pleased that she'll start talking to herself. If you don't answer, that's Ok as she'll just carry on telling herself how wonderful and good and clever she is. But if you happen to be there and talking to her, she'll get very excited which makes her little head wobble even more. Mostly, this makes her fall over, but if she can stay upright, she'll squeak at you again and again, and sometimes even come for a cuddle.Boy is that kitten pleased with herself when she manages something new!

Against her better judgement, she's starting to enjoy tummy tickles. She half rolls over for one, then remembers she's not supposed to like them and half stands up, then gives up, lies back, enjoys it, then screams once, just to avoid losing her reputation as drama queen extraordinaire.

Stripey can now get herself back to the group when she gets lost, and will even talk to them to do it. She and her mum are already having long conversations. Apologies to this girl's eventual owner... You'll need to buy ear plugs! She likes chin rubs and will literally fall over with cheek rubs.

I know it's not his turn, but I just have to tell you about red a little. I got my first bite today, well, more of a gumming to death as he doesn't actually have teeth yet, although I can now feel them under his gumline. I was tickling him when he flopped right over on his back, grabbed my finger in his paws and fiercely bit and bit it, then realised that he wasn't getting anywhere, gave me a kiss instead and stretched out to enjoy the tickle. I could hardly move for laughing!

Anyway, here's the photos of Stripe!

Day 16, Bluecream

So today, it's little Berry's turn. Why Berry? Blame my friend. He thought Blueberry suited her, and then another friend compounded the issue by suggesting Blueberry Muffin as a pedigree name. now I've got cake themed names running round and round in my head. She also suggested Jamaican Ginger for little red boy which I really quite like. Any other ideas?

So, little Berry. Well, she's as cute as Apache is. She's now the second biggest in the litter next to red boy, but unlike him, she doesn't feel the need to throw her weight around at feeding time, except to push Apache off that is, but then everybody does that. She was the first to manage to lift her fat tummy off the bedding long enough to take a step, and she's now merrily toddling around her mum, only using her chin for support when she thinks nobody's looking. She grunts like a little piggy when you pick her up, but she rarely cries, and when she does, it's quite polite rather than demanding.

There's a definite split happening in the litter now, and Berry is right at the heart of it. She was the first to show a preference, that being for cream boy, but then Apache started to cuddle him too, so these three have become fast friends. Red and Stripe are quite happy with the situation and take themselves off into a corner to snuggle up together.

Berry hasn't learned to enjoy tummy tickles yet, but she is the only one so far who will purr at any other time than when she's suckling. Now she also does it when she's having a clean from mum.

Now I'll leave you to enjoy the photos!

Day 15, Apache

Today, little Apache gets the spotlight.

Apache is a tortie with the most adorable little patch over one eye. She got her name quite by accident. "Is that a patchy one?" I asked a friend as I grabbed kittens at random to weigh them after their rather eventful birth... And it stuck!

Apache is the doll of this litter. She hardly ever cries, but when she does, it's a tiny, raspy, very sweet little mew. Never does she fully scream, even if someone else pushes her off her spot at the milk bar, and I think that's part of the problem as to why she's not growing as quickly as the others. When the fighting gets too fierce, you see, there's a lot of squealing that goes on. This causes mum to either begin washing everyone into submission, or to get up and change position. Either act means that most kittens are knocked free of their nipples, and so the playing field is levelled again for everyone to have a crack at securing a spot. Because Apache doesn't make a song and dance about being pushed off, mum never fights her corner for her.

Apache loves to cuddle. She cuddles Millie, she cuddles humans, she cuddles her brothers and sisters. She also looooooves gentle tickling already. She'll fall over on her back as soon as you touch her now, then wave her paws merrily in the air as you give her a rub, all the while wiggling around so that that tickling finger gets good coverage.

She's learning to walk and can do so now, but very, very wobbly is she, and she'll regularly plop over in a heap. She loves to look at me (heaven knows why) but she'll literally almost break her neck just to stare up at me whenever I crawl into the pen with them all for a cuddle. She crawled into my hands today and just sat there and stared. Strange kitten!

So, that's our little Apache girl. Can you tell I have a massive soft spot for her?

Two Weeks Old!

Wow, are these babies really 2 weeks old already? I was just thinking back again on their rather fraught entry into this world, and marvelling that we have 5 happy, healthy babies at the end of it. It's just so fab. I've got every possible colour from the mating I did, an even mix of girls and boys (again, in every possible colour for that sex), a very attentive mummy and, for most of them anyway, a nice, steady weight gain. What more could I ask for!

The kittens are now beginning to toddle about the nest, not very steadily and certainly with no grace, but toddling they most certainly are. Bluecream is the most successful so far. She can actually make it up onto all four legs, but when she tries to move, she needs to use her chin for support... Well, you can't have it all! Red boy can also make it onto four paws, but when he walks, he looks like a little worm. As he moves, he wobbles from side to side, his body squiggles and bends in the middle, and his back legs get further and further behind him until eventually, he ends up on his belly again. Stripe is red's pal, and wherever he is, there must she be also. She is pushing up onto her front paws really well, and will actively try and return herself to wherever the others are, which is more than can be said for the rest of them who just lie down and squeal when they get separated. Cream boy is too lazy to bother with all this walking glark unless there's milk at the end of it! He'll wiggle his way back to mummy, but as soon as she disappears, he just flumps down and refuses to move until she's back. The housemate wants to call him Cream Dream as his pedigree name, and I have to say that the dream bit fits him well. I might call this little boy Dreamer as his pet name until his owner finds one for him. Even when you pick him up, he just carries on sleeping and would be quite happy to let his head hang over the side of your hand and not make any effort to lift it. Apache is also learning to walk, although hers is more of a fall over and roll to where you wanna be than a true walk yet. Her front paw strength is really good though.

Now then, time for photos and a personality update.

Here's little Stripey. Stripe is the drama queen of this litter. Look at her and she screams. Pick her up and she absolutely howls. If her mum washes her, she threatens to burst your ear drums, and woe betide the kitten who manages to fight her off a teat! However, she's the most alert and savi of the group. More photos of her later in the week, I promise.

Little Apache is an absolute doll. This is the only kitten who consistently rolls over for a tickle and seems to enjoy it. She will cuddle your finger and is already squeaking hello to me whenever I talk to her. She cuddles her mum's paw and is more of a lover than a fighter. She's the one who kneads the most and hardly ever uses claws. Pick her up and she grunts at you, then quite happily settles down. She's the only consistent purrer when she's suckling too. The others do it, but you can guarantee that she will every time.

Red boy is a big bruiser, and where some of the others have lengthened, this boy is turning into a tank. His body has stayed lovely and short and chunky. His colour is beautiful, or so I'm told. He still squeals when you pick him up, but has given up on the "she's killing me, muuuuuuum!" urgency. Now he just squeaks because he can, and sometimes, if you catch him right, he'll actually give you a love instead of fighting you. Mind you, a lot of that has to do with the power of a tickle, as he's learning to like it too. He's putting up a manly fight and pretending he hates it, but he can't help rolling over and wiggling and stretching into a tickling finger.

Cream boy is our Dreamer. you can do absolutely anything to this boy and he'll lift his head, give a very indolent stretch, then go back to sleep and let you get on with whatever it is you're doing. This boy has absolutely no fear of humans at all. He's the second smallest, but a fierce fighter for a nipple when he wants one. He's pals with Apache and Bluecream who we think is going to turn into Blueberry as her name.

Bluecream is probably the most advanced after Stripe. She's another lover, although if you're a sibling who wants the teat she's got then she's one of the dirtiest fighters, using paws to literally haul you away. She's undecided about whether she likes humans, but on the whole, she does. She's happy to sit in your hands and have a nose around, but gets quite vocal during the lift in and out of the pen. Looks like she doesn't like to see empty space under her, as she's fine whenever she's got solid under her again. She also grunts, but rarely actually screams. She likes head rubs.

The kittens are starting to separate off now, red and Stripey liking each other best, and the smaller three banding together. It's interesting to see how the dynamics change on a daily basis.

13 days and We've Got Grooming!

Oh what a day we've all had today!

The kittens had their first real visitors this morning, and they were
so good! All kittens were really well handled, and Millie was cuddled
to within an inch of her life! Gabby made new friends and Tia actually
fell in love! I think that in itself is the seal of approval on
whether these folks are a good home or not. When Tia loves you, you've
gotta be something special!

All of the babies' eyes are open now, all fully except for little
cream who only has a teeny bit more to go. The boys still look a bit
dazed by everything, but the girls are readily tracking movements,
making eye contact and generally engaging. Stripe was even videoed
grooming herself (she did this more than once, and it was a systematic
licking, so not a fluke). I've never seen a kitten do this so young,
and was duely impressed.

The visitors took tons and tons and tons of photos and I'll give you a
few tonight, but I'm going to make you wait until tomorrow for the
bulk of everything. Aren't I horrible? Tonight you get to see the gang
in a group, but tomorrow you'll see them all individually. They've
grown so much in this last week it's unbelievable!

Day 12 and Apache Does It!

Day 12 is now upon us! The kittens are chugging along quite nicely
now, although they seem a little perturbed by some of the changes that
went on earlier. Millie decided she was going to upend the whole
litter tray, then do a victory dance in the water bowl. The resultant
mulch meant that I had to pull all the bedding out for washing, and
put some clean stuff in. Of course, clean stuff, while it smells sort
of familiar, doesn't have mummy smell all over it yet, so they weren't
too keen on the change. It didn't take them long to settle back down
though.

The vet came to remove the last of Millie's stitches today. She'd done
the majority of them herself, naughty girl, and it's just as well the
wound underneath was well healed! I was paranoid about her doing
herself a mischief whilst pulling though, so thought it safer that the
vet removes the last of them in a controlled fashion.

Finally, Apache has broken 200 grams! She's now sitting comfortably at
202, while the biggest, red boy, is now at 232, so now apache is
holding her own! They're all progressing with handling now too.
initially when you pick them up, Apache has a very cute little chunter
to herself. She's not crying, just talking. Bluecream also does this.
Cream boy just carries on slepeing now, he's such a pro. Red boy
whines and little fat Stripey still squeals. However, they can now be
quietened with a kiss on the top of the head to remind them that I'm
not a horrible big monster (yes, I know i'm soppy, but they're
kittens! The rules say that you have to kiss kittens! They also make
allowances for only doing it in private thankfully. Gotta maintain
some street cred, after all!). They will all go quiet now if I snuggle
them under my chin, and they'd sit there for hours if I'd let them.
Bluecream flops on her back when I touch her which means I just have
to give her a chest tickle (I don't do tummies until they learn to
control their toiletting, for obvious reasons).

I got the first meow to me today. I've no idea who it was, but I don't
think it was a fluke. I warned new owners that these cats are likely
to be conversationalists, and it looks like I was right!

11 Days and Red Boy Makes It!

Is anyone else having problems with Blogger? The same thing happened
yesterday that happened with the day 10 post. It's never heppened
before, so I don't even think it's something I'm doing wrong.

Anyway, take 2... A second time.

So, the babies are 11 days old now. Yesterday was my first half day
from work (I have one a week), and I relished the extra time I got to
spend with them all.

Red boy managed to double his birth weight yesterday, so they've all
done that now. They're chunking up beautifully. Bodies are staying
nice and short, and their tails look like they're going to be lovely
and dinky.

Apache's weight gain wasn't quite so spectacular yesterday, but she
still managed 9 grams, so I'm just keeping an eye on her. She's a lot
more confident now about fighting for a nipple, and usually gets her
own way, except that Millie has now discovered that if she digs up a
corner of the Vetbed and hides under it, the kittens can't get at her
to suckle. She's bored and it's turning her difficult.

My new kitten pen hasn't arrived as promised either which has me
absolutely fuming. Millie's in a newborn pen which is Ok for the first
little while, but she's definitely ready for more space, and I can't
give her it unsupervised with the kittens, as that More SPace would be
my bedroom and she's desperate to move them. My bedroom has too many
nice, kitten sized, difficult to get at hiding spots, and anyway, I
don't want babies scattered all over the room even if it didn't. So
she gets to come out two or three times a day for an hour or two just
to stretch her legs and say hello to the other cats.

She's been doing a bit of self doctoring though. She's decided that
it's time for her stitches to come out. I haven't even tried to stop
her as she'd just pull at them while in the pen anyway. I'm monitoring
the state of the wound underneath and cutting the stitches as soon as
she's exposed them, and so far, so good. The incision is well healed,
and most of the scabbing is well and truly gone.

The kittens have their first set of bisitors coming down at the
weekend, so lots of photos then, I promise!

10 Days Old, and Food Galore

Well, I don't know what happened to the text of my post yesterday. It
was up there when I went to bed, and now it isn't! So, here goes for a
re-write.

Day 10 already and all the kittens are doing well. Apache and cream
boy managed to double their birth weights yesterday, so now we're just
waiting on little red boy to do the same. Given that he was the
biggest by 10 grams at birth though, and only has another 10 to go to
double, I'm not concerned at all. Stripe has caught up to him in
weight and they're now both equal. Bluecream and cream are within a
gram of each other, and Apache is now only 16 grams behind cream!
She's still a bit rubbish at finding a nipple, but she now only needs
latched about 3 times a day to make sure she has the strength to
continue fighting for her feeds in between, so I've given up
tormenting myself at work over her. They're never alone for more than
2 or 3 hours at a time before someone comes to check them, and only
that long because Millie's so great with them all. She's such a fab
mum.

I've given up the food battle with her. She's now exclusively having
Felix and Hills. I don't like it, but I'm at a point where I need her
to eat, and as long as it has a nutritionally complete profile (which
both do), I've just got to overlook the fact that they're junk food.
She'll go back on the good stuff when the kits are weaned and I'm not
so worried about her stubbornness affecting them.

Still no pictures, but don't despair! I've got visitors on Saturday
who have promised me they'll take absolutely loads. I've also got the
housemate back on Friday, so you might even get one or two then as
well!

A friend reports that apparently eyes aren't actually open yet, but I
know that ears are definitely beginning to work as they've started to
talk to their mum a little bit, usually at about 4 in the morning...
Very loudly...

9 Days Old, and Millie Rebels

Time has a funny habit of getting itself all over the place, doesn't
it? The first week of these kittens' lives seemed to pass in a blink.
One minute they weren't here, the next they were a week old and I was
shaking my head and wondering bemusedly just how exactly I seemed to
have misplaced a week of my life. Now they're 9 days old, and the last
2 have dragged in. I keep thinking they're 2 weeks old for some
inexplicable reason, which is making the time until they get to that
milestone seem ages away! However, we have progress.

Apache gained 15 grams in the last 24 hour period with only minimal
help! I'm so, so pleased! I'm not comfy enough to say she's totally
out of the woods yet. I want to see a few days of big weight gain like
that first before I breathe easy again.

Little Stripe and Bluecream managed to double their birth weights
today, with bluecream just breaking 190 and little fat stripey 2 grams
ahead of her. Red boy has now taken over as the elephant of the litter
and will be the first to break 200 grams. In fact, he's probably done
it already as he was 198 a few hours ago. Apache is still the
smallest, but is now at 165 which is very, very respectable
considering that she'd only just broken 130 a few days ago, 2 I think.

Kittens are beginning to learn to toddle now. This litter is so
advanced in comparison to Tia's who didn't really start to learn to
walk until about 2 and a half weeks or possibly even later. These are
all happily pushing up on their front paws now, and I caught little
bluecream taking a very wobbly walk to mummy's tummy just a few
minutes ago. She fell over with every other step which, of course,
meant that she had to scream and cry and generally tell the whole
world that little yummy fat kitten tummies were not made for falling
on, thank you very much!

I really do thik that their eyes are either opening or have opened.
Whenever they're awake now, they will turn their faces to me whenever
I talk to them. They seem generally more interested in what's going
on, and are happier to be stroked a little more. I've started tucking
them in under my chin and handling them all for a minute or so after I
weigh. Stripey was the only one who didn't tolerate this this evening.
She screamed and screamed and screamed, but I got 30 seconds with her
before putting her back. The others, even red boy, snuggled under my
chin and seemed relatively content. So, thus begins the campaign to
convince kittens that humans would rather love them and cuddle them
than eat them for dinner. So far, Stripey disagrees.

Millie's getting a lot more restless now. She was a little monster
most of last night, banging on the door to be let out, screeching at
me to talk to her, then, when all that failed, booting her litter all
over the pen (she knows that will bring me running), then trying to
dart past me when I open the door to clean it all up. I don't mind her
being out. In fact, I'd let her mix with the other cats very briefly
earlier last evening. Her mum hasn't been eating well and nor has she.
Both stopped when they were separated, and my suspicions as to why
they weren't eating were confirmed when they rubbed all over each
other, then filled their faces together. If it wasn't for Gabby, I'd
let Tia into the room as she really shows no interest in the kittens
other than talking to them, and this doesn't bother Millie at all.
Gabby, however, is another matter. Millie has decided that the kittens
need protecting from her, so I'm hoping that letting them all mix will
give Millie the break she needs and will also ensure that nobody
forgets her and she doesn't forget them.

The problem is letting her out at night. I'm not going to stay awake
to coax her back in with the babies, and I can't and won't leave the
door open as I firstly don't want any other big cats in the pen, and
secondly, I don't want her moving them, which I suspect she would. So
she got thoroughly ignored last night, then scolded for being naughty
on the third time that she up-ended the litter tray and the food bowl.
She's never usually such a madam!

So, that's all for now. Watch this space for further updates.

Day 8 and Apache Gains!

We're on day 8 now and all babies are doing nicely.

Today was my first day back at work since they arrived with us and it
was awful! I work long hours 3 days a week so that I can have a short
day and a half day for the cats. Today was a long day, and I spent
every minute of it fretting over Apache. When I phoned at lunch time,
it was to find out that my housemate who was supposed to be keeping an
eye to them all hadn't latched Apache since 6 that morning. Well, that
was me in full panic mode, even though he assured me he'd get on the
case and rectify things. I couldn't wait to get home and was almost
sick with worry imagining that little scrap fading away and being
bullied off the nipple without anyone to help her fight her corner.
However, at her weigh in tonight, she managed to gain 7 grams all by
herself! I'm over the moon! She's now 150, 35 grams behind the biggest
and a massive 20 behind the next smallest. But, if she keeps on with
these big gains, I'm really not all that worried as she'll hold her
own and that's all that matters.

I got my first stereo purr last night while they were all suckling. I
think I had 3 going at once along with mum. What a sound that is! I
also got a little purr from Apache when I picked her up. She's
hiccupping a lot after feeding, so whenever I notice it, I take her
out and birp her. Last night, while tapping away on her chest, she
started to purr! I could hardly believe my ears, but there it was.
Mind you, it was followed by a ridiculously big birp for such a tiny
girl, so perhaps it was just relief!

Kittens are now being snuggled more, or as much as they will permit
anyway. Bluecream and Apache are little dolls when you pick them up.
Dark red screams like you were ripping his head off, cream boy
generally moans, and little Stripe is, I'm sure, trying to set a new
world record for the longest, loudest, shrillest kitten scream ever
recorded! Mind you, she's such a drama queen that she even does this
when her mum is washing her. In fact, that's even worse than when
she's picked up. I've thought more than once that her mum must be
hurting her, but no. Obviously the indignity of having your bum washed
is not to be stood for even as a baby!

My housemate reports that Apache's eyes are beginning to slit today,
so we should start seeing little blue peepers in the next few days.
Photos as and when, I promise you!

It would help if I attached the photo, wouldn't it?

One Week Old!

Has it really been a week already? It's hard to believe that this time
last week, I was in a total tiz as Millie was undergoing her C
section. That's one of the worst points in breeding, that is. You can
be moderately sure but never totally certain that your cat will come
out the other side of a C section, and as they take them away, I at
least ask myself why I'm doing this, why I'm risking a cat that I love
to distraction. I hope and pray I never lose a cat to a section, as I
suspect that would be the end of my breeding career right there.

The kittens are doing well and mostly gaining weight well. The
exception is little Apache. She's 30 grams behind 2 of the bigges, and
even the smallest is leading on her by 15. That gap was much, much
greater this morning, but I've spent all day today forcing that kitten
to latch. She's a worry. Even when she's looking for a nipple, she
pushes away from mum and will quite happily crawl off in totally the
wrong direction, still searching all the while. She allows the others
to push her off her teat really easily, and whenever she's done
eating, she will sometimes hiccup for minutes on end. I've been
winding her just like you would a human baby whenever I spot this, but
none of the others are doing it and I don't know why she is. If it
carries on much longer and her weight gain continues to tail off, then
I'll have a vet take a look at her just to get to the bottom of what's
going on. I'm pleased though. She's gained 11 grams today. Even though
she really didn't enjoy being forced to actually point in the right
direction to find a nipple, it's been good for her.

Millie's C section scar is oozing due to the kittens fighting hell for
leather over the back nipples. They really are rough with each other.
I can't help laughing at the bigger ones fighting with each other
accompanied by these tiny, very indignant cries, but when they fight
with Apache, it's not so amusing. She doesn't stand a chance. They're
much heavier and stronger than she, so they win easily. It's also not
fun when it impacts on Millie's healing. Again, if that doesn't stop
soon, I'll be calling in a vet, although I don't know what they can do
to stop the kittens scratching her. I suppose claw clipping is an
option, but at their size, I'd be very reluctant to do it for fear of
clipping more than a claw off!

I know that folks have been requesting photos, and I'd love to oblige
and will do as soon as I'm able. To make it clear to those who don't
know, I rely on others to do my photos for me as I'm blind, so can't
take them myself. The frustrating thing is that I had a friend take a
load of them at 5 days old, but has he sent me them? Nope. I'm going
to attempt to have some more taken tonight, but no promises as I'll be
depending on a very tired, rather grumpy friend to do them for me.
Regardless, as soon as I have new ones, they'll be up here!

So, things are progressing as well as can be expected. Nobody has
doubled their birth weights, but I'm not worried. They were big
kittens! For reference, here are their weights at 1 week old.

Stripe: 172 and the fatty of the litter. She's gained 80 grams in a week!
Apache: 142 grams. The smallest in the litter. She's gained 56 grams
since birth.
Dark red: 171 grams. He's the roughest when it comes to getting the
nipple that he wants regardless of who's in the way, and has gained 64
grams this week.
Cream boy: 156 grams. He was our little weakling who the vet thought
wouldn't survive, but he's done well! He's gained 59 grams since
birth.
Bluecream: 165 grams. She's come on loads actually in the last few
days. She's started piling it on, and has gained 72 grams since birth.

So, looking at that, little Apache hasn't done too badly I suppose!
She just seems so tiny against big monsters like Stripe and dark red.

And, drumroll, we have photos! Only one, but hopefully it's worth it!

Day 6 and Stripe grows

The kittens are almost a week old, and most of them are turning into
true little fatties, all except poor Apache who is still tiny compared
to the rest of them. Dark red and Stripe broke 160 today, and little
Bluecream isn't far behind them. Apache has just broken 130, so she
really has some making up to do. I dosed her with Nutri-drops today
and have been forcing her onto the back nipples as they generally
produce more milk. She gained 9 grams today, so not too bad all things
considered.

Stripe has outgrown her first baby collar already. I put very fine
sherring elastic on each kitten so that I can tell who's who, and I
noticed today that little Stripey's was digging into her. I think I'm
going to keep all these baby collars this time to give to new kitten
owners. They might just laugh at me when I hand them over, but if it
was me, I'd think this was quite a nice thing to have.

All of their umbilical chords are now gone, and their ears are
developing beautifullly and opening well. It shouldn't be long now
before little eyes are popping open too!

Five Days Old

Day 5 and things are progressing nicely. All of the kittens gained
weight this morning, but Apache is now much smaller than her siblings,
about 30 grams behind the largest. She's such a good girl though.
Neither her nor bluecream cry when you pick them up, so I got a
propper snuggle with her today. Honestly, there's nothing so soft as a
kitten belly when you run your finger oh so gently across it.

The kittens' umbilical chords are all falling off today, which is
actually a testament to Millie's good mothering. Tia's babies kept
theirs until they were about 14 days old, as she did the bare minimum
that she could get away with. The chord falls off due to the mother
licking the kitten's stomach you see.

I've given up on the food battle. Normally, I feed my cats very high
quality, high meat, grain free food, but Millie was picking at it and
not eating enough to keep the milk production strong. I keep some
hills kitten to tempt cats that have gone off their food, and when I
gave her a bowl of the stuff, she inhaled it! So I've given up and am
now feeding her on Hills until my stash runs out, which, at the rate
she's going through it, won't be very long!

You know, it's hard to find things to write about this litter because
mum is so good that there really isn't much for me to do or get
involved in other than weighing. They don't walk or open their eyes or
anything like that at this stage you see.

The kittens are constantly feeding though, and even when they're
sleeping, they're never far from a nipple. Stripe is now the biggest
kitten, closely followed by dark red. Both those guys are well on the
way to doubling their birth weights, and the others aren't too far
behind them either. Having a litter of five is just fab, and I'm
enjoying every minute of it!

Now, it's weighing time, so I really must disappear. Until tomorrow!

4 Days Old and More Pictures!

Well, today for the kittens has been rather uneventful. They're all
gaining weight reasonably well now, with some of them gaining
massively! Stripe is a little piggy. She's the only one out of the
litter that has consistently gained and never lost anything or even
had a maintain and she's currently the heaviest at 137 grams. Apache
is the lightest at 114 with the others all being over 120.

Millie got to see the other cats again for the first time today. I
bought them in one by one so that if there was a reaction, they could
be removed swiftly. If I'd been hoping for a reaction I'd have been
sadly disappointed. Tia gave the pen a few cursory sniffs, then went
off to curl up under my bed. Gabby didn't even get that far, just
peeped in then went off to savage the chord of my dressing gown. I
didn't leave them in there for more than a few minutes. Some breeders
separate adults and kittens completely but I'm reluctant to do this as
it then leaves Millie having to be reintroduced as though she was a
new cat in 9 weeks' time after the kits' first vaccination. Millie is
timid and cautious with other cats who are particularly in your face,
and both torties are definitely that, so if they were to turn hostile,
then there's no guarantee I'd ever reintegrate her again fully, and I
don't want to take that risk. I'm planning to move kittens into a
bigger pen next week (if it ever arrives), and that will be in an area
where the other cats will be able to see her and the kits, so they
need to be comfy with each other before that point.

Millie has been a little down today. She's panting on and off as well,
and looking at her tummy, I presume that this is because the kits are
now using their claws a lot more which are well on the way to
hardening. It must hurt her incision no end, but they are still too
small to have their nails clipped.

I think I'm falling in love with bluecream already, and I'm trying so
hard not to. Her determination makes me laugh out loud on a regular
basis. I'm suggesting Babble as an interim name for her, but another
friend likes berry, as in blueberry. He's decided that, in the super
important matter of naming, the cream part can simply be disregarded.
Do any of you have a preference? Apache is starting to take after her
sister and now grizzles if you touch her and she's feeding.

We also have a second kitten who's learned to purr, or partially
anyway. I caught 2 of them doing it together earlier. You'd be
surprised how loud that tiny body can make a purr. It's incredible!

I had a visitor down yesterday who took another photo for me. Not sure
of the quality, but I thought you might like to see anyway. This is
them at 3 days old.

Day 3 and Millie Finds her Voice

Well, it's day 3 for the kittens and all are doing pretty well. Weight
gains have been good for some kits and not so good for others. Little
bluecream has gained 16 grams in the last day, little fatty, and
thankfully, little cream boy who had been losing in dribs and drabs
has gained 7 since last night. The others are gaining, but the 24 hour
weight gains are much smaller. Still, a gain is a good thing and so
I'm not fretting. It's no wonder bluecream gained so much though.
She's a right little scrapper. I watched her this morning fighting for
a spot at the milk bar. She wanted the one that someone else had, and
when they wouldn't give it up, she turned on her side and literally
scrabbed and sarabbled at them until she bodily hauled them off their
teat and then promptly stole it for herself. She grumbles all the time
she's drinking whenever one of the others tries to muscle in on her
spot. It's so funny to hear as it's not even a propper meow and you
can clearly tell she's having a good old grizzle.

I spent a lot of time up with cream boy last night. As I said, he'd
not been gaining and as he lost 3 grams yesterday, I was a bit
concerned really. I did exactly what I did with Hamster this time last
year, latched him on, then stopped the others from pushing him off.
However, where Hamster would suck but not latch, cream boy will latch
readily, but his suck is lazy. I found myself having to prod him or
jiggle him quite frequently to remind him that he was supposed to be
working at getting milk , and found that the most effective way to
keep him alert and on the job was to tug him very, very gently so that
he felt as though another kit was trying to wrestle him off. It paid
off in that 7G weight gain, so the bags under my eyes are definitely
worth it. Fingers crossed he's gained further today.

Millie continues to be an excellent mum and has found her voice again.
That cat will talk to absolutely anything. She's the cat in our house
who will sit down and have a full conversation with a wall, then get
very angry and smack the poor wall if it doesn't answer her back! I'd
noticed she was getting a bit fed up yesterday and couldn't quite work
out why until I came into the room later and she gave me the most
pathetic, fed up meow. Now, I talk to my cats as a rule, so of course,
I responded. Immediately she got very excited and literally tried to
climb through the pen. Now, I don't pen my cats if they don't want to
stay in there unless I'm worried about them moving kittens, so I took
this as a sign that she wanted out. I dutifully provided an escape
route, then spent the next 10 minutes getting the most enthusiastic
cuddles and a full diatribe about what she'd been up to in my absence.
It was then that it hit me. She'd probably been talking away to things
in her pen and they hadn't been talking back. She gets very upset when
that happens, and the first day, I'd left the TV on so that she would
think she had company. I'd forgotten to do that yesterday, but this
morning I remembered and put the radio on. I've had many a sneaky
chuckle today as I stand quietly outside that door and listen to her
having a very animated conversation with a radio DJ. She must think
this is heaven. Someone who talks to her all day long and never gets
bored of it! Who said Persians were some of the quietest cats? I have
the horrible suspicion that she'll teach this gift of the gab to her
babies. Now, one Millie is enough to keep conversation lively, but can
you imagine it when the other 5 start too?

Well, she's shouting which usually means she thinks it's time for a
cuddl and a stretch of her legs, so that's it for today. Keep checking
back as I should have more pics soon.

Day 2 and Photos!

So, the kittens are now 36 hours old. Weight gains were super yesterday morning, but have tailed off somewhat since. My little light red boy gained 6 grams, but has lost 3 of those since yesterday. I've given him some nutri-drops as they're so good at perking up a weak kitten, but if he still hasn't gained by tonight then I'll resort to topping him up.

Millie remains an excellent mum, although she hasn't quite got the hang of cleaning yet. She'll stimulate them beautifully, but then doesn't quite know what to do to get rid of this icky stuff that comes out of them, so not only am I cleaning kits, but her as well! She's never been as fastidious as Tia in the grooming department, and it does show when she relies on me to do something about all the mess. Still, it's a very small price to pay for such an excellent mum.

The kittens are doing what kittens do and all fighting over the one nipple. Forget the fact that there's enough to go round and some spare for good measure. Nope. If one has it, they all want it, and then when that one goes off to find a new spot, they all want that as well!

We've now decided that the pale kitten is a bluecream which means I have 3 girls and 2 boys. Fab split, isn't it?

Apache is already a cuddler and doesn't even cry when she's picked up to be weighed.

Dark red boy squeals like you were killing him (why is it that the fattest ones always put up the most fuss!).

Stripe also regularly has a good gripe when you do anything with her.

Light red is a cuddler, although with him, that's not necessarily a good thing. I want him to put up a fight rather than stay placid.

Bluecream? Well, sometimes she cuddles, sometimes she cries.

I managed to get some photos last night, so enjoy! Let's hope they upload as I'm not sure I'm doing this right... And there's no guarantee that kits are in the right place either! For those of you thinking about breeding your moggies just because you'd like a cute litter of kittens, I'd ask you to note the size of my poor girl's incision in the tummy shot. It's not the most photogenic, but I think it's important for people to appreciate the risk that goes into even considering having a litter.

Until tomorrow.

Further Update and New Kittens!

Well folks, sorry I haven't updated on here in quite some time, but
I've been absolutely run off my feet with work, bringing in a new girl
and now kittens!

Gabby, Choxibox Moonspun Mirage, has arrived and is a little hooligan,
albeit a mighty cute one. She goes from sleep to full run whenever she
goes anywhere, with nothing in between! She jumps on the bigger girls
and totally ignores their hisses and growls at being so rudely
molested. She eats like a trooper and is so full of character that I
wonder how it all fits into such a tiny body! She's gorgeous!

Millie took at stud and went into full labour yesterday. Unfortunately
she required a C section late last night, but on the up side, that
resulted in 5 gorgeous babies, 2 tortie girls, 2 red boys and a very
pale kitten who will either resolve into a cream or a bluecream. The
smallest was 86 grams and the largest 107, so quite good weights
really. My little light red boy was very weak when he was brought
home. Cold, listless, not moving his head and barely breathing. I sat
with him for hours getting him going, rubbing, warming, helping him
latch, and I'm pleased to say that he made it through the night. This
morning, they've all transformed from wet, bedraggled little waifs
into little fatties with full tummies. They all gained except my pale
kitten, and he (he'll remain a he until we see otherwise) only lost 2
grams which is nothing concerning at all. They're all nice and
viggorous too, such a difference from her mum's litter last year.

Millie is an excellent mum. Even before she was fully awake after her
op, she was cleaning them, and the pale boy was suckling even before
we got them home again! She's been so attentive to them all night
long, and apart from the usual silly first time mum trick of
accidentally sitting or lying on them, or not hooking them back when
they wander off, she's been so perfect it's unreal.

Tia is naturally very interested in all the kitten squeaking coming
from my bedroom, but Gabby couldn't give a hoot and I think is
secretly enjoying the peace of not being shouted at by a very
pregnant, very grumpy Millie.

As before, I'll update you as often as I can on progress, hopefully on
a daily basis as it's so nice to follow their progress that way.

Birth weights (they were born at about 8 last night):
Stripe (one of the torties): 92 grams, now 95.
Apache (because when I picked her up, I asked "is that a patchy one?"
and it stuck, another tortie: 86 grams and the smallest of the litter,
now 95!
Dark red boy: 107 grams, now 117!
Light red boy: 97 grams, now 103.
Pale boy: 92 grams, now 90.