Theo's Big Adventure

Well. He hasn't had one yet, but I'm sure he'll be having plenty in the future because... the Teenager and I have decided to make Theo an outdoor cat.

Now, you all know I have no objection to cats being indoor only. It is my preference, both for safety and health reasons. My girls couldn't care less. They've shown no inclination to go out and the one time I tried with Ava and Sofia I was very quickly persuaded it wasn't in their interests. Both were terrified and Sofia even tried to climb into my coat sleeve (with me in it)

But Theo, Theo has always been interested in the outside world. As a kitten, before he came to me, he was allowed out (I hadn't realised this until the day he came home) and spent most of his day prowling the garden with the grass under his paws. If he'd never been out, would he have missed it? I don't know

Every summer, Theo asks, several times a day, for a walk, and I can't always take him out. He prowls his boundary restlessly every day, coating it liberally in urine, and meows dismally by the door. I can't bear to have him communicating his needs to me so clearly and for me to respond, metaphorically at least, by sticking my fingers in my ears and saying 'lalalala' for another year. It just feels wrong, even if I've been doing it for the best reasons.

The teenager and I had a serious chat about it the other day and weighed up all the possibilities (Theo being stolen, getting lost, being injured...) and the courses of action we could take. Theo is the Teenager's cat, and the teenager was very against sending Theo to live somewhere with secure outside space, and I wasn't keen either, after all, Theo is our cat and we love him. So we came to the decision to let him out. The car insurance is due at the end of the month, so as soon as I can get the money together after that, I'll be buying collar, tags and possibly a GPS, and off he goes.

Those of you who have outdoor cats, what do I need to know? Has anyone tried/ used a cat GPS? What collars are the best to use? Tags? Spam me with links and information, it's all good!

Us.

 

 

 

Me 'n' her

 

 

 

her 'n' me.

 

I love Indigo ever such a lot, even though the horror did wee on my shoes overnight! I had forgotten I had had the temerity to befriend another cat at the weekend who had naturally rubbed all over my trainers. An entire male cat, in fact, so  with a nice, 'dominant' smell which must have goaded Indigo into reasserting herself. On my trainers. Either that or she just felt like being a brat.

 

Thank goodness for washing machines, and biological washing powder is all I can say!



'Everything I Did This Morning...'

Ava says SHE would never pee anywhere she shouldn't...

I am currently doing an Open University course, a level two Creative Writing. Loving it, and hoping to do the level three next year, providing I pass this one, of course. Most of this is done at home, but last weekend we had the second of two all day tutorials.

The first exercise we had to do was to write out everything we had done that morning, before getting to the tutorial. So I did. Unfortunately my mornings generally are far from usual, and my narrative contained such gems as 'washed the kitchen floor with cat disinfectant because the mancat had sprayed it during the night', 'make bed and place the incontinence mats carefully on the top so I can let the horrid girlcat out', and 'sniff clothes to make sure they hadn't been sprayed on before putting them on'. And using an entire lint roller on my coat, seperating scrapping mogs and so on and so on... you get the idea.

Clearly the disinfectant had gone to my head, and I didn't think 'WHY are we writing this?' and yup, sure enough the tutor had us read them out. Oops. Well, you can imagine, can't you? The other students just sat there, utterly appalled. It was very embarrassing.

One person was rolling with laughter though- the tutor herself. Oh my! I'd clearly found a kindred spirit! She confessed that she, too had four cats, none of whom got on, and yup, they also widdled everywhere and she did the clothes sniff every day too, recalling an unfortunate incident at Yoga where she didn't realise until half way through the class, what with the heating up of the body and so on, well you can imagine. Brilliant... and I, too, have done this. And there's no mistaking the smell of cat wee.

The point of the exercise, incidentally, was to show us that we edit even without thinking about it- things we don't want people to know or that we don't think are appropriate (ahem!!) not one of us wrote that we'd been to the toilet, for example, despite the fact we clearly must have been at some point, at least once!

You may be sure that in the next piece we wrote I was much more careful what I put! Still, it gave everyone a giggle I suppose.

The Joys Of Spring

It's that time of year again. Springtime. The time when Theo feels the need to coat the house in liberal amounts of urine to show any passing female he is indeed The Mancat About Town.

Oh.... good.

Indigo just went into semi-heat, I managed to pill her in enough time to avoid the yowls but we had several days of the most lascivious rolling imaginable, the hussy. This has encouraged Theo into his latest efforts. And he is very displeased with me at the moment, because I, understandably, do not appreciate the house being scented like a festival portaloo, and have been fighting back with every trick in the book.

Today, I'd just finished cleaning my kitchen floor with vast amounts of anti-catstink solution. Theo was watching me, with a horrified expression on his face... what did I think I was doing, mopping up all the delightful smells he had so carefully laid? Was I insane??? If ever I saw a cat look disgusted, he did. And just to emphasize his disgust he twitched his tail, and piddled all up the wall.

Charming.

He then looked at me, to see if I'd got the message, and stalked off in a huff. Whereupon I collapsed into a fit of giggles before reaching for the spray again. You can't win this one Theo my old chum... although I'm sure you will keep trying for a while.

OMG!

Ok, it's a rubbish photo, but I would like to draw your attention to the fact that I have three cats- Indigo, Sofia and Theo, in close proximity and no-one is trying to murder anyone else...

This state of affairs won't last. Indigo is in heat, and is currently wandering restlessly around howling her whiskers off- she can be SO noisy, this kitty. And that is all she is focused on. Sofia could not exist as far as she is concerned. All she can think of doing is shouting her head off and grabbig the attention of all the intact Toms (and some that are not, eh Theo??) in the neighbourhood, who then proceed to pee up my wall in an attempt to woo her. Tell me why I have cats again? Horrid beasts!

Sofia is totally baffled by this and has taken to following Indigo about, staring at her, trying to provoke her into doing something... and Inds won't, she's off on some higher plane (or down in the gutter thinking filthy thoughts more likely given the way she's flirting and presenting at Theo) and isn't playing ball.

It's all absolutely hilarious. I'm sure Inds will go back to her usual posturing in a few days, but it sure is nice to have a break from their usual 'disagreements'.

Ava is back at the vet tomorrow. I don't know when I'll have the results as this lot have to go off to another lab... but I'll be sure to let you know as soon as I can.

Ugh!

If I ever find out *cough- Theo* who it was who PIDDLED ON MY SHOES earlier *Theo* I may well have to turn him into a furry hearthrug... *ahem... Theo*

Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

 I will shove them in the washing machine and hope for the best. Really though they are getting a bit old now and I suspect they might fall apart!

Ava was back at the vet today, and, surprisingly, she had made a small gain. Hurrah! She also had a full bowel, so it's difficult to tell whether that was the cause!

The fullness of her bowel was a good thing, it shows there's not a lot wrong with her digestion, she's eating and it is clearly being processed as it should. So much to the good. It also meant that the vet couldn't feel her kidneys, and what with that and the fact that she's really feeling very bony now, I agreed to a full blood array of the kind Indigo had when she had her collapsing fit last year. And a urine test. I'm waiting on the results now, but I'm not really expecting any kind of anomaly... Ava's only symptom is skinniness, she's not appearing to be ill in any other way.

Fingers crossed.

The Princess And The Pee

Ah, these towels have clearly been left here for me...

I always feel slightly alarmed when Indigo settles down on a pile of towels like this.  Firstly because she might decide to widdle on it, and secondly because I've clearly left a pile of towels accessible... she might have already done so!

Madam, I don't like what you are implying!



But I was Ok, this time she didn't, and I got the towels into the cupboard later with no further mishap. I couldn't resist the post title though, sorry... the stacked towels made me think of the many mattresses in the old fable. She looks like she's just detected a pea too doesn't she? I love how cats can look so outraged hehe.

Inds finds piles of towels, cushions and pillows a bit of an irresistable widdle-magnet I'm afraid. So 'her' room is set up to make things easier (for me) and to minimise damage. I recently changed our sofa to a wipe clean fake-leather affair and we have laminate flooring. She still widdles from time to time on her fleeces, or a blanket, or a pile of towels I've carelessly left on the table (ahem!) but thats easy to throw in the machine on a hot wash.

Its funny how cats change our space- I'm hoping to change our hall carpet soon. I got it pre cats, and it wasn't an especially expensive one then, it's a hall carpet so has seen heavy traffic. In addition, Indigo, Ava and Sofia all sharpen their claws on it, and what with Theo's incessant puking (which he doesn't do any more- odd), spraying and the ministrations of multiple kittens, it really has seen better days. Will I be getting another carpet? Not on your nelly- it will be a nice serviceable, WASHABLE lino!!!

Cats eh? Who'd have 'em? (me, me, me!)

Peace

Your camera waving bores me, lady...

Hah... Rescue Remedy in the water and all is once again serene. The water is now plain again and the chilled outness continues, sometimes all it takes is to break the cycle of- well I don't know what it was, but something was bothering them, clearly!

Perhaps it was just me being away/ around sporadically that set them off. Cats are very much creatures of habit, and don't like change. Oddly enough, they sometimes cope better with a big change (like going into a cattery) than a little one (staying at home whilst their people are away) Indigo fits into this category.

Speaking of catteries, I have a few to visit next week. I don't think I'll  have a housesitter for my holidays this year, just neighbours to pop in and out, and whilst that will suit Ava and Sofia nicely, being sensible cats, there's no chance I'm risking the panicked widdle-fest Indigo embarked on 2 years ago when I tried the same thing. It's the kennels for her. And I suspect Theo would be happier with that setup too, so he can keep her company. Luckily we have several locally to choose from :)



Ava. The only kitty of mine who doesn't feel the need to PEE ALL OVER MY HOUSE grrrrrrrrr.

So something has upset my cats' collective equilibrium. Maybe the weather, maybe the season, maybe that I've been away on and off. But Theo seems to have gone on a piddling rampage, and has also been a PITA jumping on the other girls and generally being a brat. Which winds them up, so Sofia has been joining in the wee-a-thon. This is rare for her but when she does he likes to pee on socks. She has a bit of a fetish for socks, the strange girl, but she doesn't usually pee on them!

It's time to replace my Feliway, I think!

Ho hum. My Ava though? Ava's a lady, and wouldn't dream of weeing anywhere but in the litter box. The darling.

That Bailey

*swoon* he's a handsome one...

Pssst.... Bailey hasn't had an 'incident' for ten days now... fingers crossed he's turned a corner eh? M is still being very careful, no unsupervised bedroom access etc, but her perseverance does seem to be paying off. Thank goodness and touch wood frantically!

I also have some CoCo news just this moment! She's very confident, and her and her big sister Matilda are getting on like a house on fire- like yin and yang, R says, always curled up together. What is even better is that Matilda has stopped pulling out her own fur... she's found an interest in CoCo and seems to be recovering from her loneliness now that she has a playmate. Hurrah!!!!!

Update

Sorry, mad week, poorly child, work 'restructuring' (which will resolve itself in more work for less pay I suspect!) and things ramping up at the allotment. Will I ever get it dug in time for the spuds to go in? And why, despite telling myself I will ONLY grow what I absolutely need this year, do I find myself with 29 tomato seedlings- oh and 11 aubergines? I need about 6 and 2 respectively lol!!!

Cats are all well, Indigo's feline acne is clearing nicely now- she's on the Ovarid again. She didn't get it nearly as badly this year anyway, perhaps she's growing out of it. It tends to be the younger queens who are the most susceptible, and Inds is only just 3 so pretty young for a cat. Last year you could see it from a distance, her chin was covered in black scabbiness, but this year her chin just looks a little grubby up close. In a darker coloured cat, you'd not even notice.

Kittens all seem to be well and healthy, got a few pics to share next week. Bailey is still not safe in the bedrooms though... he uses the box appropriately otherwise but it's so frustrating for M (and me too!) Come on Bailey sort it out boy! M's had some good advice from her vet and is a seasoned Tonk owner herself, so I know Bailey's in good and sympathetic hands- but it is becoming an issue so please keep your fingers crossed for them that it all works out. Bailey's getting a brother in May all being well, so if his issue is one of overattachment and 'marking' (which I think it is, he clearly loves M very much and there's no evidence to suggest he's unwell or unhappy, quite the opposite!) I'm hoping a playmate will help calm any seperation anxiety he may be feeling.

Last year, Alfie had some similar issues, his stopped after a short while though- although I am sure it didn't seem like a short while to D and S! I'm trying to find out what, if anything, I can do to improve MY practice. What I am finding, though, is that it's not a rare issue in the 'intelligent' breeds- Orientals and Foreigns, and the same sparkiness and zest that makes their characters so desirable can also make them anxious, nervy, overattached etc at times... I've often commented that Indigo, my Tonk, is by far my most 'needy' cat. That's Tonks for you, you can't have one without the other, and I do try to communicate that here on the blog, Tonks are such a specific 'flavour' of cat and being social and communicating and loving you is what they do, only occasionally one will do this by peeing (because in the wild, that's what cats do!)

It's interesting that both Alfie and Bailey are boys, and they are boys who went 'solo' IYSWIM. I don't know if that's relevent, and I don't have nearly enough experience to be able to say whether it's a trend or just coincidence, but it's something I'm recording here for future reference. Are lone boys more prone to anxiety than any other combination? I wonder.

http://www.ramesescats.co.uk/health/page111/page111.html this page is still under construction, but I can't tell you how relieved I was to find it! As you know I very much respect this cattery and aspire to be like it, and to read between the lines I'm guessing this breeder has had a few piddling kittens herself in her time. Certainly enough to have some good advice to give! Hallelujah, I'm not the only one! (seriously, I've been having doubts as to my fitness as a breeder, bad times!)

Warm

Cats and radiators... the modern take on curling in front of the fire I guess!

So, M and I have been trying to find out why Bailey is making a nuisance of himself piddling on the beds. M doesn't want to have a cat who is only allowed in certain rooms, but obviously bed- peeing isn't something one can easily ignore is it? So we've been discussing how best to tackle the issue, and I thought some of the info might be of use on here just in case anyone stumbles on this site and are having similar issues. So here's some general advice.The following spiel will be very bitty and garbled as it's cobbled from several sources, but here we go...

Kittens weeing on beds:

It could be anxiety related? Some of the responses here seem to suggest it could be http://uk.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20080623024743AA1LLFH incidentally I do NOT agree with rubbing a kitten’s nose in urine, as one idiot suggests here!!! Anxiety and 'settling in' nerves is the reason I don't think a kitten should have bedroom access for the first little while.

Marking? Amanda suggested this as a cause in the comments yesterday.  http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20080601213157AA4h7nM suggests early neutering might be a plan if the issue persists I am not a fan of this as a general rule, but if a cat is marking persistently, I think that might be a good enough reason...

Illness? This suggests he’s choosing the beds as they are soft and smell comforting (ie of you) so he might be feeling unwell? Vets for a UTI check maybe? http://jennifercopley.suite101.com/how-to-stop-a-cat-from-peeing-on-the-bed-a274246

Also at the above, suggest using feliway (a plug in cat calming thing) and feeding him on a tray on the bed, (now that is a clever idea as they won’t generally wee where they eat) On Indikon's Facebook page, D also recommended the Feliway, as Alfie had a few accidents at first- they stopped pretty soon though.

http://en.allexperts.com/q/Cats-1606/kitten-peeing-bed.htm suggests getting some ultra cheap shower curtains or something to cover the beds to make them less attractive? Some bed coverings (cotton, silk etc) feel nice and scratchy, and the scratching stimulates the peeing reflex, so covering the bed with something soft and fluffy instead can stop that reflex kicking in.

  

Another idea, kittens start off their lives piddling in their nests, kitten might see your bed as your ‘nest’ and therefore his (as he’s treating you like a littermate, a companion) and he’s reverting to baby behaviour, putting his scent in the 'nest' to assure his place in the litter. Except for making the bedrooms off limits, I can only suggest getting lots of cheap litter trays and having one in each room he’s piddling in to reinforce that the tray is where we go not ‘the nest’- also try putting a cat bed with a waterproof base on your bed and encourage him to sleep in that (cat beds are smaller and easier to wash than whole duvets!)

Also over on Facebook, S said that if she didn't scoop every day, her Lotti would pee on the carpet just outside the box. Some cats just will not use a soiled litterbox. so that might be a cause of inappropriate wetting as well :)

Hope that helps someone at some point, and if anyone has any hints and tips to add, I'd love to hear them!

And The Vet Said...

That they couldn't find a thing wrong. Not a darn thing. Nothing in the urine, bladder feels normal, she wasn't sick again and she had a normal bowel motion overnight. She was subdued at the vets but not worryingly so, and her paws feel like normal paws again and not clammy and cold as they were before.

So she's had another painkilling injection and come home, we're all back tomorrow anyway for microchips so she'll probably have another injection then and until then I'm keeping a detailed record of her eating, toilet habits and general demeanour to see if that offers up any clues. But she's used the litter tray since I got her home with no apparent pain and what looked like a decent amount as well, not the once every ten minute and then only a drop visits of the other day.

I am utterly stumped. I'm delighted she's apparently fine, but sheesh, I'm sure the vet thinks I make these things up you know... or have Munchausens by proxy or something!!!!!!!!

Guess who was ultra needy and missed Mama the most? Louisa. I left my bedroom door open, so any lonely kittens could visit, and I think they all did at one point or another, but Louisa spent the whole night snuggled. Of course since Mama came back, she hasn't bothered with me at all :) LOL. She's going to make one affectionate kitty though, I hope her girls like cuddles!

Ah well, onwards... Brigitta (CoCo) has a visit from her R later on, so that will be nice.

Snuggling With Mama

The kittens sure do love their Mama! They'll have to do without her today though because- sigh- Indigo has been given painkillers and admitted for 24 hours at the vets for observation and tests :( She didn't get any worse last night, but this morning she started crying whilst trying to 'go' and was obviously in a lot of pain. So she needed to stay in so they can work out what is up. Last week's sickness may be connected- she had antibiotics and they made her feel instantly better but they may not have been enough to have killed off whatever she (possibly) had brewing.

You may be sure I will give the kittens plenty of cuddles myself to make up for any they might be missing today. Thankfully they are old enough to fend for themselves, Mama still feeds them but they don't NEED her milk any more, for example. And sher still washes them, but they are more than capable of doing it herself.

Last night was very interesting actually. (setting aside the worry about Inds) I slept on the couch in the living room so as to keep an eye on Indigo. Well, I can't say I slept much, what with kittens jumping all over me and Gretl landing on my face at one point which was a bit of a shock, but they all reacted to my being in with them at night in their own individual way. Liesl curled up daintily next to my pillow, head on one side, and regarded me thoughtfully. Marta and Louisa spent the night snuggled into my neck and hair. Gretl leaped around excitedly rubbing her head affectionately all over my hands and face, Freddie insisted on licking my nose and chin a lot. Kurt got under the covers where it was nice and warm and Brigitta snuggled into the crook of my knees and purrred and purred. It was nice but I was basically immobilised by all these bodies and kept waking up with cramps from where I'd stayed still so long!

(I loved it really!)

Anyway, if you could all cross fingers for Indigo's speedy recovery, I'd be much obliged. The vet says every third cat appointment at the moment is for a UTI- apparently the combo of central heating plus very cold weather isn't a brilliant one for cats' urinary health. I shall do some more reading around that... perhaps there's something I can add to the cats food in the winter time that will help protect them? Does anyone know?

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...

Warm

Freddie says jumpers are for snuggling in... especially if there's a human inside!

Indigo is feeling much better, playing and rolling around as normal. My goodness she did look a sorry scrap yesterday. Today she's her old self again. Whatever they injected her with yesterday (and I forgot to write it down, but it was an antibiotic and something else) has worked wonders.

SOMEONE weed in the hall earlier. Hmm. I suspect Kurt, who was certainly hanging around the patch looking very woebegone poor baby! They really do not LIKE being caught short... cats are clean creatures.

Out came the 'Urine Off' spray- wonderful stuff that is, I really recommend it- and hopefully it won't become the new favourite place to go. If it does I shall have to put down food or tinfoil there.  I must say an accident is pretty rare these days, it's been several days since the last. That hall carpet is vile anyway though... all my cats and kittens have weed/ pooed/ puked/ hairballed on it at some point or another, not to mention used the corners as a scratching post. As a result it's stained, stinky and threadbare- not good! I had it properly steam cleaned last year... but all that did was remove the dirt that was hiding the worst of the stains- it looked worse after the clean than it did before!

It's coming up VERY soon to be replaced with nice washable lino... but not until these kittens have flown the nest. Needless to say I didn't have any cats before I decided to put down carpet. I certainly wasn't envisaging ever having 11!

Anyway we've had no repeats so hopefully it was just a one off.

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!

9 Week Bump

Poor Inds! She's huge, uncomfortable, and her bump has dropped- this is the equivalent to the head engaging in humans. As a result she's going to the toilet frequently as there's just no room inside her for anything but kitten. Unfortunately for me she has decided to toilet pretty much anywhere but the litter trays, despite them being clean... *sigh*... so I've been doing a lot of cleaning up and washing.

I have put down some relaxing spray stuff to see if that helps chill her out a bit as I'd really rather she used the (perfectly adequate!) litter trays, as opposed to my jacket, her beds, my (fabric) computer chair...

Still. The nest is ready, the sofa cavity is stuffed up with blankets so she can't get underneath there, ditto the cubbies in the cat trees. I will be sleeping in with Inds for the next little while and getting up every hour or two to check on her. The emergency vet number is programmed into the satnav, the equipment is sterilising, all the kittening supplies are ready and waiting. We're all set. All I need now is for Indie to do her thing and we'll have us some kittens!

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!