Littlest Baby Update

These little ones are amazing!  They are doing so well.  The silver tabby was 128g yesterday and 144g today.  The brown tabby was 138g yesterday and 158g today.  They drank 80 mls in the less than 24 hours I have had them.  No wonder they are gaining huge amounts. They are very strong and very active when I wake them up to feed them.  They are getting lots of love and lots of milk and are very happy little babies.

Heavy Heart and New Additions Too

     I noticed Pierce and Pipkin were not looking 100% so on Thursday I took them to the vet who decided to do bloodwork.  On Friday Pipkin was worse--feeling hot, a little wheezing, holding his head to the side and sleeping awkwardly.  The blood came back as both were anemic with possible panleukopenia.  Okay, they can survive panleukopenia but it is contagious to the other babies.  Heather was very kind and took Pipkin to the vet hospital as per the two vets recommendations and since I had to work until 10.  The vet called me at work around suppertime to discuss Pipkin.  As I feared she said it was not paneleukopenia but FIP which is a death sentence.  She explained all the reasons why she thought it was FIP but I already had my gut feeling telling me for a while that FIP was rearing its ugly head.  So she had to get ahold of Shea to get authorization for the euthanasia.  The vet then called 30 minutes before I was done work saying he was sedated and the deed would be done soon.  She is getting me a plaster paw print of him after he was gone and it will be sent to Street Cat then to me.  I hardly made it through the last 30 minutes before I could go home.  I cried all the way home having a hard time believing the boy I had loved since he was about 10 days old, had hugged and cuddled just that morning was gone.  My heart is bruised.  I gave all my babies a huge hug so firm that I made them all meow.  I needed to connect with each of them to remind me why I do this job of looking after babies when sometimes bad things happen.  I never put Pierce down and carried him everywhere I went.  I want him to beat this challenge.  I even let Pierce into the bathroom when I took my bath.  He has no fear of the water (even loves the vaccuum) so keeping an eye on him so he doesn't fall in is a big job.  I just needed him near me last night.  I still feel numb.
     At 10:30 pm after work I got the two new additons I was expecting.  They are absolutely adorable!  One is a gray tabby with silver that really shines.  The other is a brown tabby with swirly markings.  They were born on Wed so only 3 days old today.  Their mom moved the other siblings but did not come back for these two after a long time.  They are so very strong and a little hard to hold onto in the blanket when I feed them.  They are going to do well, my gut says so.  I got up at 1:30 am to feed them which they appreciated because they ate well.  I gave them a little loving then tucked them back under the heat lamp.  It was good timing to have new babies to help ease the pain of the day.

The Babies Have Names

     Names have been chosen for my sweet babies.  The gray girl is Brazil, the black/white girl is Boston, the big fluffy gray/white boy is Barnaby and the white/black male is Booker.  They are doing great.  This morning I had a symphony at 4:40 am.  I asked but no one admitted to starting it and getting the others to join in.  So I got up and fed them, loved them then went back to bed until 6:30 am.  They are eating very well.  At lunch time when I came home they polished off a whole bottle.  Then when I got home from work it took 1 & 1/2 bottles to get them all full and sleepy and happy.  They all gained weight today, again made me smile.  They are doing great and starting to get busy even after just a short nap.  They are growing and before I know it they will be grown babies.

Bring on the Coffee

     The babies are doing well.  I came home during my supper break to feed them.  Then after working until 10 pm I fed them twice before I went to bed.  These kittens, too, know how to keep their lips shut and no one will tell me who got up first and told the others to all start screaming at 4:40 this morning so they could get a bottle.  They were hungry and certainly enjoyed their bottle.  Then at 6:20 they started serenading me again.  So I got up, made a coffee, warmed the split pea bag, got a clean blanket then fed them a bottle.  They were starving again.  It must be a growth spurt.  So I am sitting at my dining room table which is right by the big cage feeding the babies, sipping my coffee and laughing at Pierce who was on my lap purring and kneading on my lap as I am wearing my fuzzy housecoat since it is cooler in the mornings.  I laughed as it felt good to be loved and important to the babies. The babies used the litter box for the first time during the night.  Soon I can stop making them pee so they don't pee in their bed.  Names will be picked today when Street Cat opens.  They tell me which names haven't been used in the last 5 years then I pick the available ones from the list I sent in.

Little Update

I found the babies last night all sleeping with their heads in one direction.  Not often will kittens sleep all ined up.  They all gained weight again today and are a little more vocal.  I think yesterday was catch up day as they were eating well (all are drinking well from the bottle) and they slept a lot.

Happy, happy

     The newest babies are doing absolutely great!  It was a noisy start but they have indeed settled in and are being normal, quiet, happy babies.  I just weighed them and the gray female gained 32g, the gray/white male gained 30g, the black/white female gained 20g and the white/black male gained 16g.  Anything over 10g makes me very happy.  They are looking settled in too and enjoy being held and loved and spoiled.  Even Pekko is happier with the new additions.  Happy, happy.

Shhhh....the B babies are Sleeping

Everything has been stable and calm here the last few days.  The only changes were the 3 "P" babies leaving so there hasn't been much to share.
     As you can see my family has grown again.  Last night the 4 "B" babies (3 weeks old) arrived.  Their mom disappeared from a dairy farm.  The babies are still settling in though they are much better already at noon today.  It is an adjustment period for them to settle into a new world.  Two are eating quite well from the bottle and two are taking a few sips then lapping the milk from the nipple as it drips from the bottle.  Their tummies are feeling full.  They are looking good. The babies have finally stopped being so vocal which makes me happy as that means they are happy and liking their new world. Last night I fed the new babies then sat on the couch watching t.v.  Pekko came and sat on my tummy.  As I was petting him he was growling a bit.  I thought he had gotten hurt playing or some other way.  I checked him out and he seemed fine.  Then he would sniff my hand and growl.  He sniffed my shirt and growled.  I realized he was not happy with the new babies.  Usually my babies don't think twice when new babies arrive.  He is fine this morning so has accepted that mom now has more babies to love.  He will get extra attention for a while.

You Can Fit At Least 4 kittens in a Window

I was washing my windows on Monday and had to come in to take this picture of the 4 kittens enjoying the sun in the window.  It looks like there was room for even a couple more kittens to squeeze in.
     Garrison loves, loves his bed with the fuzzy blanket.  He kneads the blanket strongly at least once a day and truly feels great when he is doing it.  The bed is his favorite place to be.
     Paisley left last Friday and has settled into her new forever home.  This afternoon Patton left and will certainly be a spoiled kitten in his new forever home.  Even though I still have 5 "P" babies and Garrison I had a weepy spell thinking about Patton.  He was alone with me for 4 days until the rest of his family came here.  His eyes weren't even open yet so he held a special spot in my heart.  Every baby is special and is missed as they do something in their own way that is a little different than the rest.  On Sunday Pecan will leave.  I am so dreading when Pierce leaves as he has been a real characted for a long time and is a mama's boy through and through.  He has frustrated me by not eating canned food until 2 weeks after his siblings.  He worried me with his very slow weight gain when I was having formula problems.  He is my best bud wanting to be on my lap or held all the time.  He sleeps draped across my neck as he loves to be as close to me as he possibly can.  He does a little chatter when he wants to be held, when he is ready to jump on or off the couch and when he is hungry.  I am so proud of my "P" babies and how they all survived. 

Emotional Happy/Sad Days

I had the 7 "P" babies at the vet yesterday.  All checked out okay.  I am concerned about Pierce (yes, my sweet deeply embedded into my heart Pierce).  He is thin and not eating a lot.  The vet said he is very much taller than his siblings and is perhaps growing much faster than what he is eating.  He is bright, alert and active so not at high alert stage yet.  While there I got a call from Street Cat's Shea telling me that my precious Dakota died the night before at the vet hospital from FIP.  I so hate that disease because it just hits out of no where quite often.  She and I had a good cry.  I felt empty and sad for the rest of the day.  She inherited the mutated corona virus from her mom so the outcome was a given.
     This morning I gave Paisley to her new forever home.  She is the first of the 7 to go which is always a bit hard.
     Tomorrow I will say goodbye to the mom and her 3 babies plus my 3 babies.  She will be going back to her first foster mom Maxine.  Maxine is wonderful and will give them great attention and good care.  She will have fun watching them grow into cute babies.  All their eyes aren't open yet so she hasn't missed out on much.  She has been very kind to me and allowed me to pick one of the "F" names for the orange babies.
     So changes again.  Coming in means readjusting my routine and leaving means my heart has to get a little bruise.

Sunday Morning Relaxation

This was taken after the babies had their breakfast.  They always take a nap right after breakfast.  So all 8 of my bigger babies are in this bed which looks a lot smaller now the kittens are much bigger.
     The other little 6 babies are doing well.  The 3 orange ones did not gain weight over night. I will see how their weights go at the next weigh and then maybe a bottle for some.

Little Family Update

The new blended family is doing well.  I had to freshen mom's bed for her and the babies.  The little orange one did not gain any weight in 11 hours on just mom so I just gave him a bottle.  The big orange boy (they are all boys as far as I can tell) likes to lay on his back just like a big kitten.  I gave a bottle to Jessa (gray female) and Joplin (black and white male).  Java (gray and white female) is on the mom almost constantly so did not need any bottle supplement today.  I have to remember that I am weighing them 4 or 5 times a day.  Usually I weigh them once a day and weight gain should be 10-15 g.  Divide this into 4 or 5 and the weight gains will be tiny but when added up over a whole day will be significant.  Since I got my 3 on the 28th these are their weights--Joplin from 92g to 126g, Java from 104 g to 154g and Jessa from 106g to 126g.  The original 3: littlest 115g to 154g, no collar boy 151g to 192g and blue collar boy 147g to 192g.
     The big "P" babies are doing great and full of energy.  Pecan is getting adopted and will go to her new home on Sept 16th.  Paisley is also getting adopted and will be leaving next week after the vet appointment if all goes well and she keeps gaining weight.  They will be leaving far too soon.  My heart is bracing itself.