Day 48

I did think about not updating today, because if I do, I'll have very little to tell you tomorrow, and I'll definitely update then because they'll be a whole seven weeks old! Isn't that amazing? Doesn't seem like yesterday when I was telling you they were six weeks, and doesn't seem like a minute before that that I was whining and complaining about all my sleepless nights trying to get Hamster to suckle. Time flies, and they develop so quickly.





There's so many things to tell you about. The Kitten Attract litter is doing reasonably well. There were a couple of accidents in the pen, but not too many, and none since I changed the inco pads again. It's probably my fault. I hadn't needed to change them for a few days thanks to the litter, so I guess their little feet tracked eaux the poo from the tray and onto the pads. Natural then that they should poo there. I'm starting to think that it's associative too, as the poo is always in the same places. They've never had an accident while out, she says with crossed fingers, or if they have, they're hiding it so well that I can't find it. Anything is possible though, and I haven't seen too much usage of the outside litter trays. Only time will tell I suppose.





They've been coming out more and more frequently. Yesterday they spent half a day out, and as they coped well with it, today they've been out since this morning, and won't go back in until tonight. They're very sociable, or they are with me anyway. JP, a friend who's spent a fair bit of the summer here, is a nice guy to play with, but they purr more readily for me than for him, and will fall asleep more quickly on me too. It's a nice feeling to know that after all my hard work I'm flavour of the month!





The Baby did a wonderful thing yesterday. For the first time, she actually jumped on me for attention! Previously she'd climb, but yesterday she launched herself at my leg, hung on and squeaked until I picked her up. As soon as my hands were on her, she was all purrs and wiggles. She's a very busy little person, and even when she's loving on you, she rarely sits still for more than a tenth of a second! I've started to stop touching her as soon as she walks away from me now though, and she's getting it. Today she thought about walking away, then changed her mind and crawled onto my shoulder instead. The mood was somewhat spoiled when she attacked my earlobe, but it's the thought that counts, right?





Porker has started a trend which seems to have gone down very well in this house. Yesterday, he sat down, thought long and hard about it, then jumped straight onto the top edge of the sofa and climbed up. Then he proceeded to make himself comfortable and go for a snooze while his sillier brother and sister contented themselves with the less comfy carpet. However, it didn't take them long to realise he was missing, and once they did, they had to find out where he was. The Baby was next up, closely followed by Hamster who needed a little bit of help. They were so proud of themselves when they got there! All three decided to have a celebratory nap in the human's lap. Said human was very pleased with the arrangement until I realised that I had been sitting there for two hours barely moving, and I had things to do!





Hamster had his turn at being the leader too. He climbed right to the top of my largest scratching post. This is about 3 ft high, so when he looked down from the very top, which he'd gotten to surprisingly quickly actually, it's no wonder he felt a little panicked! He came down almost as quickly as he went up, and none of them have tried it again.





Where one door opens, another one closes. yesterday, the opening was with Porker. Somehow it clicked with him that humans are nice things that give nice tickles and tummy rubs, and that really, it'd be a good idea to purr for them. He's getting as good as the Baby now! Only problem is that Hamster has taken that as his cue to stop altogether. I haven't heard a rumble from him in days. Oh well, all in due time I suppose. Can I be blamed for being impatient? Hamster did snuggle an awful lot yesterday after he'd been groomed. It was perhaps one of the tenderest moments I've had with these kittens so far. I'd just finished doing his tummy and he was quite sleepy. I put him up by my shoulder, and he spread his paws, put the two front ones around my neck, snuggled his head in against my skin and hung on. He stayed like that for minute after minute, as calm and quiet as you like, just enjoying the closeness. Today, mind you, he fought the brush tooth and nail. He's unpredictable!





Tia's milk seems to have totally dried up thanks to the Urtica. Kits are still keen to feed, and because I don't want it to start straight back in again, I've been putting a soft cat jacket on her during the day so that they can't feed. They have a comfort suckle two or three times a day, but that's about it. This way, she can still socialise with them, sleep with them and cuddle them. They don't seem overly fussed that they can't suckle.





They're all eating from a bowl now, although I haven't seen them eat much since they've been out either. I think I'll put off weighing them until tomorrow so that I don't worry myself. They're all happy, healthy and absolutely full of beans, so I know there's nothing wrong with them, and I don't need the extra anxiety!





Right,that's about it for now. I'll tell you more tomorrow!

Rough Day

Well, it's been a rough day all right. A rough few, actually.






I've been so worried about stupid things and not so stupid things lately that my sleep has been broken every night. This leaves me tired, crabby and generally pretty miserable. Last night those worries were added to.





Tia has always been a great producer of milk. If a kitten so much as thinks about suckling, she goes off like a fountain. now that they're weaning, however, this is causing a problem. They still suckle, which means that she is making oodles of milk. However, because they don't suckle that often, the milk she creates has nowhere to go. Yesterday afternoon I noticed that one of her glands was very swolen. There was a lot of milk there just waiting to be guzzled. I didn't worry. Normally it goes down when she feeds kittens. The problem was though that no matter how much I tried, I couldn't get any kitten to feed from that particular nipple. I went to bed with it on my mind, and woke up this morning to find that the gland was now massive. I couldn't express any milk from it, so I called the vet and took her up there.





My calling it was just right, for poor Tia apparently has mastitis. In typical me fashion though, it's not straightforward. While the gland is swolen, it's not hot to the touch which is typical of mastitis. Usually this stops milk flow, but they were able to express some of Tia's milk, so again, that's a bit strange. however, it could have been to do with the hot compresses I'd put on her before leaving the house. They put her on antibiotics as she had a slightly raised temperature too, and she's not allowed to suckle the kittens at all. Milk is produced on demand, so no demand should help it go away more quickly.





I've also drastically cut her food and water intake today as I'm told that can help to dry up the milk too. So far I haven't seen a reduction in the swelling though, but perhaps I'm looking at it too often and not noticing the changes. She's been as miserable as sin all day though, and it's really upsetting to see. She'll come begging for food, howling her little heart out, following me to the kitchen, to the kitten pen, climbing on my knee and crying, crying, crying. I've tried to spend most of the day out of the house. I'm too soft, and I hate to see any of my animals upset. I knew it was time to get out and do something when I caught myself getting teary as she went to her food bowl, licked the empty bottom, then came back and pawed at my leg. I'm useless! I'm not sure it's working though, so may give in tomorrow and let her eat as normal. I've asked some other breeders for advice, so we'll see what comes of that.





Of course, because kittens aren't allowed to suckle and she's not allowed any of their food, they've had to be kept mostly separate. They scream for her about three times a day which doesn't sound like a lot, but believe me, it's terrible. They are almost inconsolable during these periods, no matter what I do. They all climb the bars towards her and she cries at them from the other side. That set me off today too! I've had them out and running around in the living room so that they can have a cuddle with her, but the only problem is that when they do, their overwhelming urge is to feed. It's security for them, and it's terrible to have to pull them off and force separation again when they do it. I really wish that one of them would get so desperate that they would drain this full gland for me. I'd let them suckle if they'd only do that. They're too young to be stopped completely, but what else can I do!





They got their pedigree names yesterday, as I registered them with the GCCF. The Baby is now Moonspun Isn't She Lovely, Porker is Moonspun Mercutio (he's going to someone who studied English lit at university and Mercutio is my favourite Shakespeare character so I thought it appropriate on many levels), and Hamster is Moonspun Red Hot Gossip as he's a red point kitten. I quite like the names myself!





Perhaps unsurprisingly, pictures haven't been taken today. Nobody was in the mood. The kittens were even subdued during their last play session of the evening, and it's not like them! Hopefully people will be happier tomorrow. until then. Oh, and if any of you have any advice on mastitis, I'd love to hear it.