Queens Of The Castle

A very regal pair!

Indigo is poorly again... this evening she's been sick and has had diarrhoea. Moreover she's showing classic signs (IMO, not that I'm a vet...) of some kind of UTI brewing- visiting the litter box more often to pee, seeming to put a little more 'effort' into going when she does go... so it'll be the vet for us first thing tomorrow. She's also been hanging out round the litter tray, licking herself more than she usually does (which is a fair amount even so!) and she's been weeing on my washing although to be fair this last one is probably more down to the fact she's getting hormonal again- she's had a mini heat, so in 2 weeks or so ought to be in full howl again. The joys!

In fact if it wasn't for the fact she seems quite normal in her demeanour, I'd take her to the emergency vets and hang the expense. But it's a long drive, (not the usual vets, the out of hours service is a couple towns away) it's now midnight and it would distress her and... well I hope that's the right decision I really do. God I hate it when my cats are poorly.

I don't think any of my cats have ever had a urinary tract infection before- I know Indigo has been tested for one before as I think has Theo, but both were negative. Indigo, the minx, managed to hold onto her urine for over 24 hours rather than wee at the vet's and they ended up having to extract some with a needle- then when I collected her she weed all over me and the cat carrier. I feel for her though- I (sorry, TMI) had cystitis myself several times after the lad was born and it makes you feel really grim.

Tomorrow can't come soon enough though. And I'll be sleeping, (or should that be 'sleeping') in with the kittens tonight...

Poo!

Ah, the moment when one comes in in the morning to find A POO IN THE LITTER BOX. Wonderful! It means that for one kitten, at least, the penny has dropped, and where one kitten-er- 'goes', the others will follow. And indeed by the time of typing, half five in the evening-ish, there are now three poops where indeed they ought to be. Hurrah!

Yes, I am sad and have no life! Yes, I am aware I have just advertised my kittens, linking to this site and here I am writing about poop. I can't help it, I'm thrilled! (welcome, by the way, if you've popped over from an advert or on recommendation :) )

They are funny when they first start to go on their own though. They utter agonised howls, attracting the attention of Mama and the rest of the litter, and settle down on the litter with a look of absolute concentration. *snigger* It's pretty funny.

Brigitta and Kurt in the litter trays. Brigitta is sniffing a tissue I had just wiped up someone elses piddle with. She then promptly pooped in the tray herself. Hurrah!

Interestingly, this photo shows the difference in colour between Kurt and Brigitta. Brigitta does seem darker doesn't she? I had thought both were brown solids, but now I think Brigitta is a solid and Kurt is a mink. You can see that lovely colour around his shoulders that first led brown Tonks to be called the 'Golden Siamese'? Bear in mind a) I am a pants photographer, b) they are kitten-fluffy still but they WILL be sleek and glossy when older and c) it's mid-winter and the light quality is bad- imagine Kurt (or Liesl, or Brigitta for that matter) in the summer, in a beam of sunlight, with all that goldenness shining off a sleek coat... mmmmmm!

*I cannot keep another cat, I cannot keep another cat, I cannot....*

2 Weeks Old Yesterday...



But yesterday I wanted to tell you about Friedrich. So today I'll record their 2 week weights, a day late but better late than never. Indigo is feeling rough on her antibiotic, she was sick yesterday evening, then had wobbly bowels and didn't eat at all overnight, as a consequence weights are pretty much all down today (except Marta). Her ear seems a bit better though, it was hot and inflamed and sore yesterday, so clearly the antibiotics are needed, its just a shame it's upsetting her digestion

I do think that it has been right to hold off on the supplementing this year (I supplemented Friedrich and Liesl, once, and that's it) as they have been feeding constantly from Mama and that seems to have got the milk supply up again. That and the food I'm trying to slot into Indigo. Chicken today I think, bland and easy to digest for her poor tummy. She's had a bit of breakfast so I'm hoping for a better day.

If weights are down again though, I will have to start thinking about that bottle. Oh this kitten business is worrisome!

Liesl

Birth 96g
1 week 172g
2 weeks 226g

Friedrich


Birth 101g
1 week 187g
2 weeks 239g

Kurt

Birth 102g
1 week 205g
2 weeks 280g

Louisa

Birth 82g
1 week 157g
2 weeks 219g

Brigitta

Birth 83g
1 week 179g
2 weeks 248g

Marta

Birth 91g
1 week 178g
2 weeks 249g

Gretl

Birth 81g
1 week 150g
2 weeks 220g



Comparison:

Birth

REM litter 83g-103g. Average 92g

Von Trapp litter 81g-102g. Average 91g

1 week

REM litter 182g-217g Average 195g

Von Trapp litter 150g- 205g. Average 175g

2 weeks

REM litter 257g-294g, Average 272g
Von Trapp litter 220g- 280g, Average 240g

Sexing The Kittens

Oh dear! It's proving a bit of an arduous task- it was so.... obvious last year but this year? I just don't know.

Anyway so I had the idea of photographing their bits and posting them on this blog so I could use it as a reference in years to come as I'm sure I'll have this trouble again. It might also help someone else (although I doubt it!) Anyway, so this post will mostly contain pictures of newborn kitten genitalia... sorry about that! Don't tell me you don't get all the good stuff on here...

First though, a piccie of Indigo and her brood.

Aww!

Ok, so kitten bits. What you are looking for is a wider apart two dots- the anus and the penis- for a boy, plus perhaps a small bulge inbetween those dots, and a closer together dot and a line- the anus and the vulva- for a girl. The problem is that the line can look more like an inverted V, so two flaps, which equally looks like testicles, kittens are tiny so what you are looking for is miniscule anyway, and kittens don't actually stay STILL at this age! Especially if a human is handling them. Some of the photos are not clear, but anyway, under the circumstances I've done my best.

Oh and incidentally kittens pee- and poo- when anywhere near that region is stimulated. I got covered!

Kitten 1

I think kitten 1 is a girl. I've consistently thought she was a girl. It's not clear, but see the dot and line? (also see how the line could be mistaken for testicles? Oh it's so difficult!!!)

Kitten 2

I think kitten 2 is a boy. I've consistently thought he was a boy- see the distance between the anus and the 'dot' which is his penis (boy kittens penii do not protrude until they are a good few months old) and the sac inbetween that will contain his testicles. Apparrently you can feel the testicles as tiny lumps even as newborns - I tried, I couldn't feel anything and I got weed on. Heh!

Kitten 3

Again I've been fairly sure from the off Kitten 3 is a boy (look at the distance between penis (where the droplet is!) and the anus?) and here he is peeing. He'd just pooed on me too! Charming!

Kitten 4

Kitten 4 has baffled me. First I thought girl, then I thought boy. And in the photos, the top one makes me think boy and the bottom one girl... confused.com!!!!

Kitten 5

It's not clear, but kitten 5 has the typical dot and line arrangement and has from the start. I'm fairly confident she is a girl.

Kitten 6

At birth I thought this kitten was a boy, but it's looking more girly now- not at all sure though.

Kitten 7

Again I thought this kitten was a boy at birth but she looks like a girl now.

So there you have it! Clear as mud eh? At birth I guessed at three girls and four boys, 36 hours on and I'm thinking two pretty sure girls, two pretty sure boys, two maybe perhaps possibly girls but  I could be wrong, and a 'gawd knows' kitten.

And I can't name them till I know!

8 Week Bump

She's  massive! She's so big now I even went back to check my dates AND last year's photos and notes to make sure she wasn't due this week as opposed to next, but my dates are fine, she's just huge.

Poor kitty. she lies down to wash herself now (it's pretty funny) as she tries to contort round her bump and I even had to wipe her bottom for her last night! Oh the indignation!

As one might expect, she is sleeping a lot these days (in her nest! Yay! she has weed in it a few times though lol) and when she isn't sleeping she's eating. She's putting piles of the kibble away now, but since changing it to the kitten food she's had no more nausea. Her poops aren't exactly as I'd like, but all pregnancies are different and this one for some reason just hasn't sat too well with her. I'll be glad when the kittens are safely here. Still, she's still pretty healthy given that she's eating for about... oooh 15, by the size of her!!!!

Poor Inds!

Indie's Eyes...

Ever get that feeling of deja vu?

Early pregnancy (touch wood) does not seem to be a good time for Indigo. She feels sick and tired, much like in a human pregnancy. Last year she had an ongoing and at the time unresolved allergy issue. You may be sure I have been anxiously feeling her head many times a day for any lumps, bumps or anything unusual, but so far (again, touch wood) nothing.

However, I was cuddling her the other day, she was purring at me and looking at me through partially slitted eyes and... well one didn't look quite right to me. I wasn't sure, so I pounced on her later and had a proper look and sure enough, her inner eyelids weren't retracted fully. Later on it was fine, later still not retracting again and so on. Also her eye looked watery. I rang the vet, but being Sunday I wasn't able to get an appointment till today. Not too worrying, as she's fine in herself, alert and playful.

Cats have a second, inner, eyelid to help protect their eyes- it swooshes over them to remove dirt a bit like a windscreen wiper. It helps to keep the eyes moist. It's normal enough to catch a glimpse of this lid when a cat is sleepy, but it should fully retract when a cat is alert and awake. When it doesn't, it can be a sign of illness.

Anyway, Indigo's diagnosis is, paraphrased, 'Possibly A Bit Under The Weather, Not Otherwise Specified'!!!! In other words, she just has sore eyes, the vet doesn't know why and I'm left thinking 'we've been here before...'

Actually I'm being overly dramatic. Inds has sore eyes, but it isn't like last year at all, I'm just rolling my eyes at a cat of mine having another mystery illness. They never go in for anything clear cut, my mogs! She has drops to use, as a precaution, so she will hate me for a few days I am sure, but there's no pus, no crustiness or sign of anything infectious, just a little soreness.

No photos, because I don't want to irritate her eyes further by flashing cameras about the place, I don't know if it would bother them, but why take the chance? Otherwise she's alert and happy, not seeming unwell- although see my next paragraph- and the vet isn't worried. It should go on its own within a couple of weeks, and I don't need to go back unless it develops into something else. Which she doesn't think it will. As an aside- I love my vets!  *I* know I worry overmuch about my pets, *THEY* know it too but never make comments or make me feel silly for doing things like- well bringing in a cat with a mildly sore eye. Heh!

No sign of pregnancy yet, but I didn't expect it. The vet had a feel, but all she could feel was a large and well formed poop! However, Indigo has lost a small amount of weight, and been a little nauseated and tired, which is exactly the same as last time. She's also been extra cuddly, which again is like she was before. So I'm willing to state that I think she IS expecting. Hurrah!

Litter and litter boxes

I think they are all in there, somewhere...

Ok, so I thought I'd write an entry on litter and litter boxes. Here, we use a silica litter, and I would advise you to buy a bag of this just to start off. I buy whatever is on special, it's just plain silica, so all brands are the same thing, basically. So I've used Bob Martins's, Percato Rocks, Tigerino... it doesn't matter. I don't buy the scented versions though... they don't smell nice at all and set my asthma off something chronic!

With at least four cats in the house at any one time (and ten, at the moment!) I have certain needs from my litter and the big one for me is smell control, which silica is very good at. But it's dusty, and tracks badly, and it's very expensive so you might prefer to use another kind. Lots available- clay based ones that form a lump when peed on that you then scoop out, or wheat/corn/paper based ones that are the most eco friendly and all manner of other types, so have a look and see what's out there.

Your kitten should cope with changing litters quite well. You might want to mix the old and the new litters at first. Occasionally, kitty will not like the litter at all... if you find a puddle next to the box the morning after you swapped litters, he's giving you a message loud and clear. Some cats are fussy about their litter, some are easy going and you don't know which your kitten is going to be until you try it!

As with anything, don't expect your older cat to share the litter box with the new kitten, or you might find older kitty refusing to use the box!!! A good general rule is one box per cat, plus one extra. I have six boxes for my four cats, and at one point several weeks back I had ten- three kitten trays, one covered tray and the six boxes. Two trays are a good idea even for just the one kitty. In the wild, cats pee and poop in different places, and many cats still prefer this... I know mine do.

Dogs! Some dogs think cat poop is a delicious treat! If your dog is so inclined, try putting the litter tray higher up- easily accessible by the cat, but off limits to the dog!

You can get many kinds of litter box. Mine are all used to using both deep trays and a covered box, but they will happily use a plain shallow tray as well.Take care where you put the box though, cats feel very vulnerable using the box and if it is in a busy or exposed place that they don't feel is safe they may decide to go elsewhere. Even if your cat will eventually go outside, you will still need a litter box. the RSPCA recommends a kitten is not allowed out unsupervised until 6 months, so a box is a must. Some cats will not go outside in the winter anyway.

One more thing... when taking a kitten home, I will happily provide a small bag of used litter of you would like one. I know that sounds a little gross, but if you then sprinkle it on the litter in your kitty's new box to make it 'smell right' and your kitten should start using that box with no issue at all. It really works!

Kitten Food

I've had some people asking what they should feed their kittens and how often and so on... so here's a blog post devoted to that!

The kittens will come home with samples of both the dry food they have been eating here, and the canned food as well, and I'd advise you to keep them on this food for the first few days until they have settled down a bit- it's familiar, it's comforting, it's not going to put any strain on their systems in those first few days.

They will be used to having kibble freely available, water freely available, and three wet food meals a day. When your kitten comes home they will be ok on two wet meals a day, morning and evening, as long as the kibble bowl is topped up. Fresh water must be available at all times.

After that... it's up to you, and your kitten. They have individual preferences, for example AnnElise really isn't bothered about the wet food at all. Monty isn't terribly fussed either. Kensey and Wendell, on the other hand, absolutely love it and will scoff until the plate is clear. My own adult cats are mostly dry food fed, but because they like the canned stuff they have a meal of this in the evening. You'll soon find what works for you and your kitten.

Wet food, once out, has a limited freshness, so I'd remove what is left uneaten on the plate after about half an hour, and chuck it away. You can keep stuff that's still in the sachet/ can for about 24 hours in the fridge, covered over. As for how much to put out, it depends very much on the kitten... at the moment I'm putting down about 200g for the six of them, (two sachets, or half a can) of which four are eating a good meal, one is ignoring it and one has a few bites then wanders off. They eat about 2/3 to3/4 of this (??) and then mama polishes off the rest. Obviously in three weeks they will be having more. So perhaps try 50g/ half a sachet per kitten to start with, and build up from there if they look like they want more.

You can use any kitten brand you like, as long as it says it's a 'complete' food. Be careful here... you can buy what looks like a really nice food only to find it's a 'complementary' food... thing is people don't realise this and feed it to their cats all the time, leading to all sorts of (serious) issues for the poor cat who isn't getting all the vitamins and minerals it needs to be healthy. This is doubly important for a kitten who has to grow as well.

When switching your kitten over from the sample food I'll give you to the food you have chosen, do it slowly. With the kibble, start with 25% new stuff mixed with 75% of ther old. Then the next day half and half and so on. It's a little more difficult to do this with the canned stuff, and you have to change that all at once of course, so do this first, then switch the kibble after that. If you switch everything all at once, you might find your kitten has runny poop for a day or two!

I would advise you to buy a kitten specific formulation as well, as it has a higher percentage of fat and protein, but if you have older cats do keep an eye on their weight! Kitten food is highly palatable and your older puss might be sneaking  regular treats from the kitten's bowl! My Ava had terrible trouble reaching an acceptable weight (she was less than 6lbs as a fully grown cat) and stayed on kitten kibble far longer than strictly speaking necessary in order to get her weight up. It worked... she's now 71/2 lbs and still a slim cat but not all skin and bones! Unfortunately her sister's weight went up too, this is why Sofia is a tubby cat! I couldn't feed them seperately as Ava wouldn't eat without her sister!

Also if you have an older cat, don't expect him to share his food bowl with the kitten or even feed in the same spot as the kitten... cats can get very territorial about their food. Feed them a little distance from each other, or ideally, in a seperate room at first, and don't strain their budding relationship any!

I hope that's helped, but if anyone has more questions about food, please do ask!

Acne!

Photo by S.A.

This was Indigo's head on Sunday. What an improvement! Nice eye-bogey too *grin*

Unfortunately, whilst her head has been getting better, her acne is getting worse. Yes, cats can get spotty chins! I know WHY she's getting spotty... her hormones are kicking in, she's already had a mini- heat cycle, and she's gearing up for another I suspect, by the ultra- affectionate way she's been today! Once the kittens are off to their new homes and she goes back on Ovarid, (the Pill for cats) the acne will settle down, but at the moment I'm just shaking my head at something ELSE to mar her good looks.

I'm cleaning her chin every day with Hibiscrub, which she hates, of course. I took the collar off today too, so she could give herself a proper wash (having that on isn't helping, she can't clean herself properly, especially not round her face) Which she did, but then she started scratching her head a little too vigorously for my liking so on it went again.

Poor Indigo! And to make matters worse, the antibiotics she's on are giving her slightly gloopy, and most offensive smelling poops. We've been using an awful lot of air freshener recently!

But at least her head is getting better. One problem at a time eh?!

More Homes!

We had a couple of visits last night.

Firstly, S and his partner came, with a boy in mind, and they chose Kenneth. Actually, it would be more accurate to say that Kenneth chose them. I'd given the kittens their tea, and when S arrived, most of them had opted to sleep it off... under the sofa. Kenneth was napping on the mini cat tree though, and most amenable to some attention.

Both the girls were up and about before long, but it took some time to coax the sleepy boys out from their snoozing spot. (It was a bit embarassing actually- note to self: feed the kittens earlier when we are next expecting visitors!) Eventually, they all made an appearance, but Kenneth had already worked his charms. S and partner left to discuss it, but rang less than 20  minutes later to confirm that Kenneth was indeed their kitten.

I believe S's partner works partly from home, and even better than that is that they are planning on getting another kitten to be his buddy :) Fantastic!

Later on,  E came along with her partner and a friend to look at the girls. E had a special Siamese girl when growing up, and didn't want to 'replace' her... and in looking for a similar breed came across the Tonkinese. She had a terrible time deciding between the two girls, but eventually decided Hope was the kitten for her.

Hope will also be lucky enough to have a buddy... a friendly and playful big brother Boo who is in need of a companion. Perfect. Given Hope's adoration of Theo, I'm sure she'll be very happy!

As for me I'm delighted that they are both going to have not only adoring human slaves, but feline buddies as well... I really couldn't ask for more.

Indigo was also on fine form, playing with the visitors, and got lots of compliments... which made me ridiculously proud. If I do say it myself, she IS a lovely cat, (well, when she isn't being a pest!) she's playful and affectionate and very pretty. And although I mentioned her allergy to both lots of visitors, (she has three spots lol) neither groups seemed to have noticed or were concerned. I suspect I notice it much more than anyone else, Indigo isn't bothered, and certainly I worry much more than I suspect is strictly necessary. Can't help it... she's my darling.

Anyway, after saying confidently yesterday on here that all the kittens were litter trained, I noticed a puddle AND a poo on the large cat tree this morning. Whoops!

Litter Box

The kittens have got several small kitten sized litter trays to use, so naturally they want to get into the adult cats' high backed extra deep trays that are about 20 times their size..! Here's Wendell proving my point! Theo likes to pee up the back of his litter trays, and Indigo doesn't like covered trays. Of course the only trays that suit the both of them are rather expensive and is only available mail order with postage charge as well... although sometimes they have stalls at cat shows. Anyway, the kittens do sample them from time to time, despite their size!

So. Litter training. Well... it's going rather well really! In fact they are trained.

I left the vacuum in the living room the other day, for no other reason than I was too lazy to put it properly away, and there it stood for a few days. (yes, I know, bad me...) Well of course I could smell kitten pee somewhere, and in hunting the source discovered the kittens had decided behind the vacuum was a jolly good toilet, and had used it freely. Pees only, fortunately, but that was bad enough! Well I have laminate flooring, so cleanup was more simple than it may otherwise have been, but even with laminate floors pee smells can linger. So I've popped a litter tray directly over that spot and the kittens appear to be using that quite happily again.

The kittens have always been great about pooping in the litter, fortunately. The only thing that happens here is occasionally one will tread in their poop and then trot off, leave stinky footprints behind them, but there, they are only babies and it doesn't take long to clean them up again. Of course, we haven't had a bout of wobbly tummies yet...

The litter we use is silica litter, mainly because it's the litter the adult cats (especially Indigo) are happiest about using, and it's great choice for multicat households too. Not the cheapest litter, but good for smell control and very absorbent, and quite often on special at Zooplus... I buy loads when it is! I was wondering if the kittens would find it rather too hard for their little feet, but they all seem to have taken to it quite happily. The only 'problem' is that it does track rather easily, so no matter how recently I've swept we always seem to have litter round the trays... you can see it in the photos here quite often. But other than that it's great and suits us well.

Toilet

Originally posted on my private blog- posted to http://indikon-tonkinese.blogspot.com/ on 06/01/11

Poor Indigo! Six kittens to toilet can't be much fun! Kittens can't 'go' on their own, they have to be stimulated to do so by mama cat, who licks them, then consumes the result. Completely gross, but very efficient of course- no waste left over to attract predators the the nest.

Given that the most threatening thing in this house is a soppy old floof called Theo, I'm not sure predators are a legitimate concern!

Squeak!

Originally posted on my private blog- posted to http://indikon-tonkinese.blogspot.com/ on 06/01/11

The kittens object to being weighed. Well, they have sealed up eyes and ears, so I suppose it would be pretty scary. This is one of the three paler boys, clearly Not Happy At All. Poor baby! Gently but quickly is the way to go... I put this one on my chest to try and calm him and goodness it took me ages to detatch those little claws from my nightie!

Zzzzzzzz. Yes, that's Indigo's bottom that kitty has snuggled into- it wouldn't be the place I'd choose, although she looks pretty comfy I must say.

The babies are so funny. They've found their voices now, and if you so much as lightly touch their heads with a finger, they squeak their outrage to all and sundry! As for weighing, you'd think I was torturing them. Fortunately Mummy cat doesn't get too distressed, she pokes her head up over the box to make sure kitten is OK, but will let me handle and weigh them.

Indigo had a spot of diarrhoea the day after birth, but that had cleared up now- presumably all the gunk and stress of birth. As for other news... well there isn't any really. They eat, and they sleep, and they squeak when disturbed. But they are so new and lovely that I can literally sit for hours watching them, and have to tear myself away to go and do some work.